Feb42017
When Donald Trump this week gave his first press conference since winning the presidential election, he alternately lauded the press and shouted down reporters he didn’t like with jeers such as: “Fake news!” He slipped into stream-of-consciousness rants about everything from Chinese hackers to hidden cameras in hotel rooms “all over the place.” And he denounced… read more
Jan312017
At a tie that I really want to be conserving cash, I find myself doing odd things.
Saturday night and then again on Sunday, I actually thought about buying options.
In this case, that alone was pretty odd.
What wasn’t odd was that the thought was to buy S&P 500 puts.
They were really pretty inexpensive, reflecting the continuing belief that volatility was extinct and that the market was expecting to go higher and higher.
Well, long story short, I didn’t buy those options.
But I did spend money, even though that’s not so rare.
What was rare is that this morning, before the opening bell, I bought some shares of Under Armour, after it plunged on earnings and the news that its CFO was leaving.
What made that exceptionally rare was that by making that purchase before the opening bell, there was no opportunity to sell calls at the same time.
So that shares sat there naked. read more
Jan302017
Well, for a minute, anyway.
I did close 2 positions today, one for a substantial loss.
That was Joy Global, which for the longest time has been ready to close on a deal to be bought out.
That has really been dead money, but I kept thinking that maybe someone or somebody else would come along and sweeten the offer, especially as the economy was eventually going to improve in China.
But suddenly, there has been a lot of selling of those shares by institutional holders, so I gave up and took the cash.
The same for that EMC spin-off after the buyout from Dell.
That one, at least had a decent profit. read more
Jan292017
Time was when U.S. senators enjoyed some “informational advantage” that helped them make some abnormal gains on the stock market – as much as 8.8% annualized. Such gains have vanished since an exposé by the legendary 60 Minutes television show, followed by the passage of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act in 2012,… read more
Jan252017
Or, what now?
The market moved pretty decisively today as it finally broke through that elusive 20,000 barrier, that really wasn’t so very elusive.
It really didn’t take that long to breach the 20,000 level, but you do have to wonder what comes next.
Historically, if you are a covered option trader, your portfolio performs better, in relative terms during a downward trend.
I know that to be true in my own experience, but I have really been enjoying this post-election stock market celebration, even as I may not yet find anything to celebrate in the election itself.
Certainly not the process, but I’m still open-minded as far as what comes next. read more
