Category: Stock Picks

The premiums on VXX are just hard to resist, so I didn’t.  I like VXX as an indirect hedge for most of my other long positions and think even on a lull in volatility the premiums are still worth selling out of the money.  While VXX was trading at $22.32 this morning (above its low) I sold three VXX October 20 naked puts at $0.70 each and received $207.86 after commissions.  My move into more VXX naked puts today wasn’t completely based on …

I’ll admit I got a little excited about the prospects of a little rally this morning while I was long so many positions still open long without covered calls.  That misplaced euphoria vanished quickly as the markets retreated.  By noon I had already sold three covered calls and I’m still debating some others.

While ITRI was trading at $56.84 I sold one October $60 covered call for $2.15 and received $213.99 after commissions.  If these shares are called away I’ll take a big …

I charted the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the markets closed on Friday, 8/20/10, when it finished the week at 1,071.69.
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The first thing …

 Today’s option expiration finished somewhat differently than I thought it was going to as of a week ago.  Here’s the breakdown of how it went down:

VXX, two August 24 Puts – I’ll be assigned 200 shares of VXX on Monday morning.  Instead of trying to roll these puts I sold covered calls on the shares I’m about to be assigned.  While VXX was trading at $23.07 I sold two September 24 covered calls at $1.25 and received $248.97 after commissions.
AVAV, two August …

I have AVAV covered calls expiring tomorrow and it looks like I’ll be holding onto my shares, i.e. the options are out of the money by more than 6% with one day to go.  I’ve been debating what I should do; exit my position now or hold on for one more round of covered calls. If I do write covered calls again, should I sell at the $22.50 or $25.00 strike?  I looked at AVAV’s daily prices for the past …

I charted the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA, $INDU, $DJI) after the index closed on Friday, August 13, 2010, at 10,303.15.
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Two weeks ago I questioned …

I charted the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the markets closed on Friday, 8/6/10, when it finished the week at 1,121.64.
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A couple of weeks ago I …

I charted the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA, $INDU, $DJI) after the index closed for the month on 7/30/10 at 10,465.94.
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The Dow Jones was stopped once again at the …

I’ve waited long enough without covering my UCO shares with calls.  When I finally got around to it this morning I decided to add some more downside exposure at the same time with new naked puts to go with the covered calls.  Until today I couldn’t get myself to accept the premiums for the risk (upside and downside) I was going to accept.  I had been eyeing the $8 strike for puts and $12 strike for calls, but while oil …