Nov252016

Weekend Update – November 27, 2016

Weekend Update Comment

For anyone who is capable of remembering the sentiment that pervaded markets less than 3 weeks ago, the continuing shattering of stock market records day after day has to come as a surprise.

For those that had the conviction of their opinions, and there were some very prominent people expecting a sell-off in the event of a Trump victory, you have to wonder whether it was worse to miss out on the rally or worse to have been so wrong while in the public eye.

As that watchful eye looked at the DJIA, S&P 500, NASDAQ 100 and Russell 2000, all ended the week closing at their all time highs.

Do you remember what happened when the FBI announced that they were looking into some emails discovered on a laptop owned by one of Hillary Clinton’s top aides? Do you then remember what happened when the all clear was then given just days ahead of the election?

The conventional wisdom was that the uncertainty associated with the unpredictability of a Trump Administration was the antithesis to what the stock market needed to move higher.

That conventional wisdom was certainly reflected in the stock market’s exaggerated movements.

Do you remember the worldwide overnight plunges when it appeared as if Donald Trump would emerge victorious?

And then a funny thing happened.

After a quick 500 point gain in the DJIA when all of those earlier convictions were thrown out the window, the market has just had a slow and steady climb higher.

Nothing spectacular over the past 10 trading days, but it reminds me a little of the 1991-1996 period for no other reason than the move was steady, but only spectacular in its totality.

Obviously, 10 days isn’t the sort of thing that trends are made of, but there is ample reason to believe that as we do hit more and more new highs we are at the beginning of a pronounced move even higher.

Unfortunately, there’s also ample experience to suggest that new highs beget second thoughts that lead to profit taking.

Sometimes those second thoughts are pronounced and sometimes those second thoughts lead to third and fourth thoughts and continued assaults on those new highs until the original scenario of even higher new highs finally becomes reality.

As we await next week’s GDP and Employment Situation Report, it will take a really significant surprise to move the FOMC off from the path they were ordained to take a full year ago, but could then never find quite the right footing.

But once they do find the right footing in just a few weeks, and it now seems that the market has fully accepted the inevitable’s arrival, we may have a period of a market driven by old fashioned fundamentals.

With earnings season just about over and without the dourness that had accompanied reports over the past few years, there’s an optimism that may be well warranted.

Higher employment, higher wages, continuing low oil prices and now growing corporate profits and you have the right mix for 2017

Add to that a newly found optimism with what a Trump administration may hold for the financial health of American businesses and for better or worse, fundamentals may be for the better.

Of course, that’s the conventional wisdom.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in the Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

I’ve been looking for an entry back into the Blackstone Group (BX) for quite some time. One of the impediments to doing so has been the unease regarding the highly volatile dividend, whose yield kept getting more and more distanced from sanity.

That yield is still high, but no longer insane.

WHat may be a substantive issue is what the impact of a rising rate environment may have on firms such as Blackstone, that have greatly benefited from the leverage possible with exceedingly low rates.

While an increasing interest rate environment is less conducive to profitable deals, I believe that the year long wait for an interest rate increase has already burdened Blackstone shares in the anticipation.

The certainty of an increase, even if followed by further increases with similar levels of certainty, may be far more conducive to investor confidence than the past year has been.

In the meantime, Blackstone shares offer the trifecta of the possibility of continued capital appreciation, an attractive option premium and a very generous dividend.

Cisco (CSCO) recently reported earnings and topped earnings expectations, but it didn’t join the optimistic guidance party and subsequently fell about 5%.

That decline brought Cisco shares in line with the performance of the S&P 500 for 2016 and may leave it as one of a handful of quality companies not participating in the post-election rally.

AQS a result it may present as another triple threat, as does Blackstone Group.

I think that there is opportunity for capital gains on shares, as well as a reasonable call option premium. WHile its dividend isn’t as enticing as that of Blackstone Group, it’s attractive enough to consider.

In this case, I’m most likely to think in terms of a buy/write with an expiration date shortly after the ex-dividend date, which is expected sometime in early January. 

Finally, I thought this was going to be the week that I finally stopped thinking about establishing another position in Marathon Oil (MRO). 

It had been my go to position, either as a buy/write or increasingly as a short put sale for the past 7 months. I had been hoping to open a new position this past week after closing 2 other positions the week prior, but it started to break out of the range that had worked so well for me.

That is until the close of trading last week when shares fell by about 3%.

That still left Marathon Oil shares at a level higher than I would want to enter into a new position, but may put me at a crossroads between deciding that the trade is over or that it can still continue, albeit at higher levels.

For now, I would prefer to see another decline similar to the 3% that ended the week before committing new funds, but might still consider doing so in the latter part of the week if share price hovers around $16.

In the event of a sharp decline, my inclination would be to enter into a position with the sale of put options.

Whether engaging in a buy/write or selling calls, due to the volatility enhanced premiums, there may even be reason to consider rolling over the short options even in face of assignment of calls or expiration of puts.

For me, Marathon Oil has been a position worth trying to keep open and engaging in serial rollovers for as long as possible. Doing so is sometimes as simple as doing a calculation looking at the ROI that may be received even in the face of a particular level of decline in the share price.

I often like seeing situations that I can still receive a 1% ROI for a weekly position in the face of a 3% decline in shares, in the case of short calls, for example.

Just like it feels great to be right when the conventional wisdom is wrong, it also feels great to be able to turn a profit when your stock actually goes down in value, without having to find yourself mingling with those who sell stocks short.

Not that there’s anything wrong with them or the conventional wisdom.

Traditional Stocks:  Blackstone Group, Cisco

Momentum Stocks: Marathon Oil

Double-Dip Dividend: none

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: none

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable – most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts – in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week, with reduction of trading risk.

 

 

 

 

 

Jun252016

Weekend Update – June 26, 2016

Weekend Update Comment

 A week ago, the world was getting ready for what all the polls had been predicting.

Only those willing to book bets seemed to have a different opinion.

Polls indicated that Great Britain was going to vote to leave the European Union, but those willing to put their money where their mouths were, didn’t agree.

Then suddenly there was a shift, perhaps due to the tragic murder of a proponent of keeping the EU intact.

That shift was seen not only in the polls, but in markets.

Suddenly, everyone was of the belief that British voters would do the obviously right thing and vote with their economic health in mind, first and foremost.

The funny thing is that it’s pretty irrational to expect rational behavior.

In a real supreme measure of confidence, just look at the 5 day performance of the S&P 500 leading up to the vote.

Although, if you really want to see what confidence looks like, just look at the gap higher to open Thursday’s trading, as voting had already started “across the pond.”

A rational person might wonder how in the world such confidence could be inspired. Not only confidence that British citizens would vote to stay in the EU, but that the preceding day’s gains were but a prelude to more gains, rather than the prelude to the “sell on the news” phenomenon.

That could all only be explained by the often irrational action provoking “fear of missing out.”

Certainly, Great Britain’s electorate would choose to stay in the EU for fear of missing out on all of the wonderful economic benefits ahead and investors feared missing out on the party that would ensue.

What they should have feared was the arrogance that allows you to get it all wrong.

Besides, if the bookies can get it wrong, what chance do mere mortals have?

With a 4 day advance of 2%, that left the S&P 500 up a whopping 3.4% for the year, that is, until traders realized that they all got “it” wrong.

By “it,” I mean the only thing that mattered at all during 2016.

In general, the only thing that does matter is whatever occurred most recently. Nothing prior to the “Brexit” is important any longer, just as that very same vote may become an ancient and irrelevant memory in just a few days as we now start worrying about the recession that JP Morgan (JPM) economists first put on the radar screen about a month ago.

For the bookies out there, the chance of a recession in the coming 12 months was put at about 35% at that time. I may not have learned a lesson about unwarranted confidence, but I feel pretty certain that those odds may have climbed a little in the past day or so.

Following Friday’s debacle in the European Union and the fears of other member nations considering the same referendum, in addition to Scotland  putting its own breakaway referendum back on the table, there may be turmoil and uncertainty for a while.

The big question is whether with stocks now sitting at the level at which they started the year, it is time to scoop up some bargains after those big one day declines?

I certainly don’t have the confidence to do so.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in the Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

The one thing you may be able to say about Friday’s sell off, if you absolutely have to find a positive spin, is that it wasn’t really marked by panic.

Neither was there any half hearted attempt at a rally. 

Those intra-day rallies often suck people in under the pretense that everything was simply an over-reaction and it’s all alright now.

I’m not expecting any kind of a meaningful bounce higher as we get ready to trade the new week and am not particularly anxious to hunt for bargains.

It might have been easier to consider doing so if “Brexit” had some certainty about its short term impact, but also if there was some certainty that other member nations wouldn’t be lining up to consider their own version of an EU exit.

Where I may be willing to venture is where dividends are forthcoming this week, particularly if Friday took a potentially unwarranted toll on a company’s share price.

The two that come to mind very quickly are Cisco (CSCO) and Dow Chemical (DOW).

Cisco may have actually received some good news late in the week as the International Trade Commission ruled that some of its patents were infringed upon by a competitor. That initial ruling actually came in February and may have already been discounted in Cisco’s price, but the issuance of a “cease and desist” order to the competitor may help moving forward.

Nonetheless, after Friday’s decline, Cisco shares are at about the mid-way point between its recent high and recent low and for me, that is often a good point to consider entry.

With the ex-dividend date upcoming on the first trading day of the following week, which will be a Tuesday, due to the Fourth of July holiday, I would consider the sale of extended weekly call options if purchasing shares and perhaps attempting to get 2 weeks of premium even if shares are lost to early assignment.

Dow Chemical didn’t really get much in the way of good news or any bad news on Friday. it merely went along for the ride lower.

That ride lower does have several minor areas of price support beneath it and shares have traded very steadily for the past 3 months. I tend to like Dow Chemical when it is range bound. 

It generally offers an attractive option premium while doing so and if also capturing the dividend, it can pay to wait.

Among the issues ahead that many have been waiting for is a decision over the proposed complex transaction with DuPont (DD). While there isn’t much too about anything getting in the way of the proposed deal, I think that Dow Chemical is not trading at a level that has any deal premium incorporated into the share price.

I believe that whatever the outcome, Dow Chemical shares are poised to go higher, so I would consider this as a longer term holding and I already do have shares that fall into the longer term category.

Just as with Dow Chemical, I wrote about eBay (EBAY) last week.

There had been lots of speculation that eBay was among those stocks that had substantially more to lose than many others in the event of a vote to leave the European Union.

In this case, they got it right and shares tumbled nearly 7% on Friday, although they were down only 3% for the week.

Only 3%. That’s the kind of week it was.

Now that the immediacy of the shock may have passed, this may be one position that I might have a hard time passing up.

There’s no dividend to entice anyone, but it has traded very well for the past 4 months in its current range, as it now sits near the bottom of that range.

As it has historically, eBay has provided a very nice option premium, despite the fact that it tends to trade for prolonged periods in a tight range, occasionally punctuated by moves such as experienced on Friday.

Those moves help to keep those premiums healthy and attractive.

Finally, I’m not certain that Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF) has necessarily done anything really wrong, certainly not by their historical standards of poor behavior and execution, to have warranted such a large decline in the past 2 months.

I continue to hold a single lot of much more expensive shares as shares now sit at a 2 year low.

With the ex-dividend date having been earlier this month, my inclination would be to consider a position through the sale of out of the money puts. While I might not mind taking ownership of shares at a lower price, this is definitely a position that i would prefer to rollover, if faced with assignment of shares.

I’m pretty confident of that.

 

 

Traditional Stocks: eBay

Momentum Stocks: Abercrombie and Fitch

Double-Dip Dividend: Cisco (7/5 $0.26), Dow Chemical (6/28 $0.46)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: none

 

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable – most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts – in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week, with reduction of trading risk.

 

 

 

May142016

Weekend Update – May 15, 2016

Weekend Update Comment

It took every last bit of my courage to jump out of a plane.

That was with a parachute and I only did so after suspending all of the logical and rational thoughts that I possessed.

Sometimes you do very uncharacteristic things when you want to impress someone for some other kind of excitement.

No other level of excitement could ever be high enough to get me to further suspend logic to engage in a free fall, though.

I don’t care how exhilarating it might be, staying alive seems more exhilarating to me.

Some free falls don’t require your consent, though and unless you’ve positioned yourself short in advance of the free fall, it’s definitely not an exhilarating process.

The past week was one in which oil wasn’t the prevailing theme even as it had its own large moves.

Instead, it was the free fall of retail, led by Macy’s (M) and Nordstrom (JWN), arguably among the best of the major national retailers, that characterized the stock market.

Of course, Macy’s and then Nordstrom took most every other retailer down with them and were able to drag along many others.

That kind of free fall, though, leaves open the question of exactly where the floor happens to be. 

On a positive note, hitting the floor after a market free fall is probably a lot better than hitting the floor following a recreational free fall and you do get the chance to play the game a bit longer.

What Macy’s and Nordstrom may be telling us, and what Limited Brands (LB) suggested the prior week, is that the consumer isn’t exactly a willing participant and may instead be a lead weight on the economy.

That lead weight won’t speed up a free fall descent, as we are fortunate to be governed by some inviolate laws of physics, but they sure can make it difficult to climb back up again.

With a disappointing Employment Situation Report and disappointing GDP growth, for those, such as myself, who had hoped that perhaps retail could paint a somewhat different picture of consumer participation, there was no different picture.

It seems that investors are appropriately recognizing the weakness in retail and the weakness in job growth as not being worthy of celebration.

Sometimes bad news really is bad news.

There are many more important retailers reporting this week, but it’s not too likely that there will much in the way of upside surprises, unless expectations for Wal-Mart (WMT) are so low and results buoyed by those who, in the past quarter. stopped shopping at Macy’s.

With last week’s loss, we are about to enter the sixth month of the year with the S&P 500 barely 0.1% higher. 

The first 3 months of 2016 was a story of two equal halves moving in big ways and in opposite directions. The past two months, however, have been a story of vacillation and moving nowhere and leaving few fulfilled.

We may find out exactly where the floor may be as the coming week comes to its end.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in the Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

For the first time in 2016 I have a decent number of options contracts expiring as the monthly cycle comes to its end.

For me, 2016 has been a year of very little trading and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get some assignments and rollovers, as long as that free fall doesn’t continue.

While there are some positions that I wouldn’t mind adding this week, it may be yet another week with very little reason to add any new positions.

Among those that have some interest for me are ex-dividend stocks Mattel (MAT) and Microsoft (MSFT).

I had shares of Mattel assigned at $33 in January 2016, after 15 months of holding.

There was a time when I would have thought that an 18.4 % return, including dividends, for a 15 month period was pretty mediocre.

During that same time period, the S&P 500, without accounting for dividends, was 3.3% higher. 

That’s even more mediocre.

Mediocre may be a good way to describe Mattel, particularly in relationship to Hasbro (HAS), as Mattel just seems to wax and wane along with Barbie. Going on the “Mattel Shop” website doesn’t do too much to make you believe that there is anything exhilarating to be had.

What I do like about Mattel is a chance to buy shares, at a price lower than which I had them assigned away from me and a chance to capture the dividend.

When I last owned Mattel shares it only offered monthly option contracts, but now there are weekly and extended weekly contracts. If buying shares, I would sell the weekly at the money call, but if faced with the need to rollover the position, I would consider a longer term and a higher strike price.

Microsoft has just started to have a little recovery from its sharp earnings related decline. It’s not that often that you can find Microsoft trading at a nearly 10% discount to where it had recently been, but this is one of those opportunities.

It’s not likely held hostage y the price of oil, nor by the fortunes at Macy’s, nor Wal-Mart.

What it has is upside potential following that fall, a nice dividend and an attractive premium.

As it goes ex-dividend, I would likely consider the same strategy, as with Mattel, if faced with the need to rollover the short call option position.

As long as in the technology arena, Cisco (CSCO) reports earnings this week and will be ex-dividend in early July.

Normally, I like to consider the sale of weekly puts on an earnings related trade when it offers a 1% ROI or greater at a strike level that’s outside of the limit defined by the “implied move.”

In Cisco’s case, that’s not the case, as the implied move is 5.6% and the reward that I seek for that risk just isn’t there, at least not for a weekly put sale.

Where I do see some potential for reward is in the belief that Cisco may have already sustained a decline fueled by Microsoft and may have some upside potential in the months following.

For that reason I am considering the purchase of shares and sale of longer term calls prior to earnings being reported. However, if that is more exhilaration than someone is willing to endure, the alternative is to wait until after earnings and then in the event of a decline in price, to consider doing the same, but at a lower strike price.

General Motors (GM) is recovering from its February 2016 lows and doing so through a series of higher lows. I like that pattern and also have an eye on its upcoming ex-dividend date in the early part of June.

With a price increase in mind and that eye toward the dividend, I would consider the purchase of shares and again select a longer term call option sale than I would normally prefer when initiating a new position. In this instance, that would mean a June 2016 or beyond expiration date and select an out of the money strike level.

Finally, if you believe in “death by retail,” there’s always Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF).

These days, no one has great admiration for the company, but you do have to admire the steady climb it made, beginning with earnings in November 2015 and again in February 2016.

Of course, you also have to be in awe of its history of sharp declines, which now includes the past two moths.

Abercrombie and FItch doesn’t report earnings until May 26, 2016 and could easily get dragged down this coming week as other retailers take center stage.

Along with that uncertainty associated both with the sector and with Abercrombie and Fitch itself, the premium for the sale of out of the money puts is fairly attractive.

In the event that shares do take a decline and you are faced with having to take assignment of shares, a decision has to be made as to whether to attempt to rollover those short puts into the week of earnings when the premium will truly be enhanced or to take the assignment.

The key factor may be the, as yet unannounced, ex-dividend date.

Abercrombie and Fitch has an attractive dividend and I am loathe to sell puts in the face of an ex-dividend date.

If the ex-dividend date is n the same week as earnings, I would be more inclined to take assignment of shares and then sell out of the money calls on those newly assigned shares, utilizing a longer term time frame.

If the ex-dividend date is the week following earnings, then I would consider simply rolling over the puts to the week of earnings and then playing it by ear, once again coming to the same decision tree if faced with the option buyer exercising their rights.

These days, dividends and premiums and the chance to serially accumulate them are all the exhilaration that I need or can survive. 

 

Traditional Stocks:  General Motors

Momentum Stocks: Abercrombie and Fitch

Double-Dip Dividend: Mattel (5/17 $0.38), Microsoft (5/17 $0.36)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Cisco (5/18 PM)

 

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable – most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts – in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week, with reduction of trading risk.

 

Mar252016

Weekend Update Comment

All in all, if you think about the man made tragic events of the past week in Brussels, the very rational and calm manner in which world markets reacted was really re-assuring.

When we sometimes scratch our heads wondering whether the market will this time interpret good news as being bad or whether it will deem it good, you know that something is amiss.

It’s nice when clear and rational heads are in charge of things.

So often the way the market seems to react to events it’s not too easy to describe the action as having been rational and you really do have to wonder just who is running the place.

The same may be said for the Federal Reserve and its Governors.

It wasn’t always that way, though.

We always knew who was running the place.

While dictatorships may not be a good thing, sometimes a benevolent dictatorship isn’t the worst of all possible worlds.

There was a time that the individual members of the Federal Reserve and the FOMC kept their thoughts to themselves and knew how to behave in public and in private.

That is, up until about 11 years ago when newly appointed and now departed President of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, Richard Fisher, had made a comment regarding FOMC monetary tightening policy and was subsequently taken to the woodshed by Alan Greenspan.

That error in judgment, offering one’s opinion, wasn’t repeated again until the new Federal reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, ushered in an era of transparency, openness and the occasional dissenting vote.

At that time, Fisher didn’t even disagree with Federal reserve policy. He was simply giving his opinion on the timing left in an existing policy, or perhaps just disclosing what he knew to be the remaining time of that particular approach.

Still, that kind of behavior was unheard of and not terribly well tolerated.

Now, under Janet Yellen, it seems as if the various Governors are battling with one another over who gets the most air time and who can make the most noise.

Clearly, inmates can be intelligent people, but there may be a very good reason why they’re not running the show.

Why the market often latches onto the words of an FOMC inmate or one who’s not even in that inner circle, particularly when those words may run counter to the Chairman’s own recent words, is every bit of a mystery as why those words were uttered in the first place.

But that is where we seem to be at the moment as the crystal clear clarity that we’ve come to expect from the Federal Reserve is sounding more like the noises coming from the Tower of Babel.

And we all know how that worked out.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in the Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or "PEE" categories.

When there is so much confusion abounding, sometimes it makes some sense to get right back to basics.

There isn’t a much more basic approach to stocks than looking for safe and reliable dividend paying companies, especially when the waters are murky or choppy.

While I don’t disagree with those who point to the out-performance of the universe of dividend paying stocks to the universe of non-dividend paying stocks, I’m not a big fan of the dividend itself and it’s usually fruitless to argue the belief held by many that it is the dividend that makes the company a worthwhile investment that is prone to outperform others.

Ultimately you pay for that dividend by virtue of your share price having gone down the amount of the dividend and you may have to pay taxes as well, on that distribution.

What I do like about dividends is how some of that inherent decline in the share price may end up being subsidized by an option buyer and that can boost the return.

Most of the time, my preference would be to be able to get the premium from having sold the option, most often of weekly duration, and also to be able to collect the dividend.

What i especially like, although it doesn’t happen too often, is when a stock is ex-dividend on a Monday.

In such cases, if the option buyer is going to exercise his right to snatch those shares at a pre-determined price, he must do so no later than the previous Friday.

What I like to do with those Monday ex-dividend positions is to sell an extended weekly option and then I don’t really care too much if those shares get taken away from me early. 

That’s because the additional week’s premium offsets the loss of the dividend while being able to take the cash from the assignment to invest in some other position.

Maybe even an upcoming ex-dividend position.

While not every position that I’m considering in the coming week will be ex-dividend the following Monday, that does characterize most of the potential trades for the coming week.

To put them all of those into a single basket, Cisco (CSCO),  Comcast (CMCSA), Deere (DE) and JP Morgan Chase (JPM) are all ex-dividend next Monday.

They each have their own story to tell and since 2016 has been an incredibly quiet one for me in terms of adding new positions, there is virtually no chance that i will be adding all of them.

At the moment I do own shares of Cisco, but none of the other positions, all representing different sectors.

With everything else being equal, I’d probably be more inclined to consider adding shares to a sector in which I may be under-invested.

For me, that would be the finance sector, which has been embattled all year as the expected interest rate climbs haven’t materialized.

For many, the decision by JM Morgan’s Jamie Dimon to buy $26 million in his own shares was the impetus to turn the market around from its steep 2016 losses.

That turnaround started on February 11, 2016.

Those shares are still far from their 2016 high and sooner or later the inmates trading stocks and the inmates making policy will be right about the direction of interest rates.

I still hold somewhat of a grudge against Comcast when I was a consumer of its services. However, it would be the height of irrationality to ignore it for what it could contribute to my non-viewing or non-internet surfing well-being.

Once a disruptor in its own right, Comcast is working hard to remain at the cutting edge or itself be displaced as the competition and the various means of delivering content are getting more and more complex to understand.

That may be its saving grace.

When you get right down to it, nothing is as simple as having a box, your television and your computer. While there’s decidedly nothing simplistic about what Comcast is doing and where it envisions going, at some point consumers may get overwhelmed by the growth in disparate and unconnected systems and may again long for bringing it all back together under a single roof.

Even if it is and continues to be challenged, Comcast is a few dollars below some resistance and I would feel comfortable adding shares in advance of its ex-dividend date.

I haven’t owned shares of Deere for a long time, just as I haven’t owned shares of caterpillar (CAT). The two of those used to be mainstays of my portfolio, if not both at the same time, then at least alternating, often with a new purchase being initiated as an ex-dividend date was approaching.

What appeals to me about Deere at the moment is that it is a little bit off from its recent highs and only a bit higher than where it stood on February 11th.

But more importantly, this week, as with all of the other potential selections, there is a nice dividend and an equally nice option premium. That combination lends itself to any number of potential contract lengths and strike levels, depending on one’s horizon.

While I especially like the Monday ex-dividend date, this is a position that i might consider wanting to hold for a longer period of time in an effort to either reap additional option premiums or some capital gains from shares, in addition to premiums and the dividend.

While I do already own shares of Cisco and it has bounced back nicely in the past 6 weeks, I think that it, too, has some more upside potential, if only to get it back to some resistance about 5% higher from its current level.

Like most others mentioned this week, there is a generous dividend and a generous option premium that make any consideration worthwhile.

As with Deere, while the Monday ex-dividend date may lead to one specific strategy, there may also be some consideration of utilizing longer dated contracts and further out of the money strike prices in order to capitalize on some anticipated price appreciation.

By contrast, I own shares of both The Gap (GPS) and Dow Chemical (DOW).

There has been absolutely nothing good that has been said about The Gap in far too long of a time.

There was a time that The Gap could be counted upon to alternated its monthly same store sales between worse than expected and better than expected results. as a result The Gap’s shares would frequently bounce back and forth on a monthly basis and it had periodically enhanced option premiums to reflect those consistent moves.

Lately though, the news has always been disappointing and the direction of shares has been unilateral, that is, until February 11th.

There’s not too much of a likelihood that The Gap’s recent performance is related to oil prices or interest rates, but it is certainly long overdue for a sustained move higher.

At its current level, i wouldn’t mind shares staying in the same neighborhood for a while and building some support for another leg. In the meantime, at this level there is some opportunity to collect the dividend and some reasonably health premiums, as well.

Finally, just as last week, I think that there may be opportunity in Dow Chemical.

While it has unjustifiably been held hostage by falling oil prices for more than a year, it has performed admirably. The market reacted positively when the announcement was made of its fairly complex merger and subsequently planned uncoupling with DuPont (DD), although the favor was lost as the rest of the market sank.

I continue to believe that there is relatively little risk associated with shares in the event the proposed merger runs into obstacles, as shares are trading at pre-announcement levels.

That combination of dividends and option premiums keeps making Dow Chemical an appealing consideration even as lunatics may be running around elsewhere.

 

Traditional Stocks: none

Momentum Stocks: none

Double-Dip Dividend: Comcast (4/4 $0.27), CSCO (4/4 $0.26), Deere (3/29 $0.60), DOW (3/29 $0.46), GPS (4/4 $0.23), JPM (4/4 $0.44)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: None

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable – most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts – in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week, with reduction of trading risk. 

Dec252015

Weekend Update – December 27, 2015

Weekend Update Comment

Mathematicians have always been fascinated by the special properties of the number “zero.”

It’s not really certain how long the concept of zero has been around or who may have been responsible for introducing the concept, but from my perspective all of the fascination is much ado about nothing.

If the alternative is going to be something bad, I suppose that nothing is good, but it isn’t always that way.

Not all nothings are created equally.

Ancient mathematicians were themselves fascinating people whose minds were so expansive during an age when physicality was more important than cogitation.

I can only imagine what a royal court or patron would have thought after having supported those activities of a deep thinking mathematician, only to ask “Well, what have you done for the past year? What do you have to show for your efforts and my patronage?”

“I have discovered Nothing,” wasn’t likely to be well accepted without some significant opportunity for explanation. Fast talking would have to replace slow and methodical thinking if the gallows were to be avoided.

That’s especially true if the other mathematician your patron had been thinking of taking into the royal court went on to discover the magic of compound interest for the sovereign next door.

If you’re a hedge fund manager that example has some modern day application. Although we don’t generally send people to the gallows anymore for poor performance, it has been another rough year for hedge funds who are certain to realize that the very idea of “making love out of nothing at all” won’t apply to their investors.

In general, as someone who sells covered options, I like the idea of no net change, as long as there are some spasms of activity to keep people on their toes and guessing about what’s next.

Those spasms of activity create the uncertainty that is also referred to as “volatility,” and that volatility drives option premiums.

Most option buyers are looking to ride the wave of that spasm and trying to predict its onset.

In what was thought to be an oddity, 2011 ended the year with virtually no change in the S&P 500.

2011 was a great year for a covered option strategy as volatility remained high in the latter half of the year and the premiums were so engorged, it even made sense to rollover positions that were going to get called away or to sell deep in the money options.

2015? Not so much.

With now just a week remaining in 2015, that historical oddity may repeat itself as the S&P 500 is 0.1% higher, but for those who revel in volatility, 2015 was far different from 2011.

In both cases the market’s deterioration began in August and in both cases volatility spiked, but in 2015 volatility is likely to end the year lower than where it had started the year.

Beyond that, however, the nature of the “no change” seen in the S&P 500 was far different between 2011 and 2015.

The lack of change in 2011 was fairly well distributed among a broad swath of stocks. Very few stocks thrived and very few stocks plunged. The vast majority of the S&P 500 component stocks just muddled their way through the year.

In 2015, though, a fairly small handful of stocks really, really thrived and many, many stocks, really, really plunged. The skew in the fortunes of stocks was as pronounced as I can recall, with far more vastly under-performing the averages.

The net result in both 2011 and 2015 was nothing, unless you used your personal bottom line as a metric.

It bears repeating: Not all nothings are created equally.

For those who look at these sort of things, the general belief is that the year following a year of no change in the markets tends to be a good year. That was the case in 2012. Not a great year, but a good year by most measures.

If you liked 2012 and you wouldn’t mind a repeat of 2014 and aren’t necessarily holding out for another repeat of 2013, the hope has to be that this year of nothing leads to a year of some redemption, as is a befitting wish during this holiday season of redemption.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in the Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

I’ve opened fewer new positions in the past 3 weeks than I have in at least 5 years. Looking back at records, I was more actively trading the day after a heart attack, using the electrical outlet for a heart monitor in a London hospital to get the more important connections needed, than in December 2015.

Hopefully January 2016 will be different, but in another holiday shortened trading week, there’s very little reason to have any confidence of what the last week of 2015 has in store.

Looking back at the previous 51 weeks, there wasn’t much reason to believe that there was a rational basis to much of anything that ended up occurring.

This week, looking at the potential trades outlined, it’s fairly clear that I didn’t make it very far down the alphabetical list of stocks that I follow.

Cisco (CSCO), Coach (COH), Comcast (CMCSA), Cypress Semiconductor (CY), Deere (DE) and Dow Chemical (DOW) don’t represent a very broad view of what’s available, but it’s broad enough for me this week.

With the exception of Coach, all of the remainder are ex-dividend next week or on the first Monday of 2016 and with uncertainty still in the air, the idea of dividends holds more and more appeal for me.

Dow Chemical and Coach were both assigned away from me last week, although I still hold shares of each and wouldn’t mind adding to those.

With next week likely to be one that has some news of holiday sales, the predominant theme that we’re likely to hear as how the unusually warm weather across much of the country has depressed sales. We’ll probably also hear a lot about the continuing growth of on-line sales, although the inability of online retailers to get Christmas packages to homes in time will also garner attention.

While traditional retailers may suffer from the warm weather, I don’t think that Coach will be in quite the same predicament. 

Having just captured its dividend and with earnings coming up in a month, I would consider adding shares if it either stays flat to open the week or gives back a bit more of what it did to end the previous week. I’d like to consider a re-purchase of those assigned shares somewhere below $32.50, but I do see some upside potential heading into earnings and perhaps beyond.

Dow Chemical is ex-dividend this week and for the time being it may be dominated by news regarding its complex merger with DuPont (DD), whose complexity is likely designed to placate regulators. The proposed plan involves a certain amount of trust, in that a post-merger break up, a year or so down the line, is part of strategy and we all know how things may be subject to change.

Regulators may know that, too.

The nice thing about considering a position in Dow Chemical, however, is that it doesn’t appear as if there’s very much premium in the share price, reflecting the merger, any longer. Following a brief spike when the news leaked, the share price has returned to pre-leak levels.

Unlike most “Double Dip Dividend” trades where I typically prefer to sell in the money call options, in this case I may want to sell an out of the money option in anticipation of  continued price strength.

Among the potential dividend related trades are Comcast and Cisco, both of which are ex-dividend on the Monday of the following week.

In such cases, I like to look for an opportunity to consider selling an in the money extended weekly option in the hopes of seeing early assignment by the option holder in their attempt to secure the dividend.

That kind of strategy is better when volatility is higher, but can still effectively offer the option seller a portion of the dividend or in essence an enhancement to the option premium that would have been obtained if having sold a weekly option.

For example, based on the week’s closing prices, purchasing Comcast shares at $57.30 and selling a January 8, 2016 $57 option would provide a $1.04 premium.

If those shares were assigned early in a bid to grab the $0.25 dividend, the ROI for the single week of holding would be 1.3%.

If however, the shares were not assigned early, but were rather assigned the following week, the ROI would be 1.7%, so there is some justification for wanting an early assignment, particularly if you believe you can then recycle the money received back upon assignment into something else that can have a weekly ROI in excess of the additional 0.4% that could have been achieved if not assigned early.

Of course, there also has to be an underlying reason to believe that the shares are an appropriate holding in your portfolio.

Following some weakness, I think this is a good time to consider Comcast shares, as I don’t see any near term threat, although the longer term for all traditional media outlets and content providers is murky.

Cisco, on the other hand, has been successfully bouncing off from its support level at about $1 below the week’s closing price. The ROI numbers aren’t quite as compelling as for Comcast if considering selling an in the money option. However, in this case, I would consider selling an extended weekly out of the money option, again, not despairing if the shares are assigned early in an attempt by the contract holder to secure the dividend.

Deere is also ex-dividend this week and its chart from August onward, reminds me of Cisco’s chart from the end of October and I would also consider the use of an out of the money option. However, as the Deere ex-dividend date is on Tuesday, you can still consider selling a weekly in the money option if looking for a potentially quick “take the money and run” opportunity.

Since Deere’s dividend of $0.60 is larger than the strike level gradations of $0.50 and with volatility low, using a weekly  in the money option isn’t likely to result in early assignment unless shares are more than $0.60 in the money at Monday’s close.

Using a slightly more in the money option, such as the December 31, 2015 $78 option, based on last week’s closing price of $78.79 is more likely to result in an early assignment, but with only a net $0.37 to show for the effort.

Still, for a single day of holding, that’s not too bad.

On the other hand, using a January 8, 2016 $78 option could yield a net premium of $0.73 if shares are assigned early, or a total return of $1.33 if assigned at the intended expiration.

Finally, Cypress Semiconductor is also ex-dividend this week. 

It has fallen a long way ever since its strategic buyout of rival Integrated Silicon Solution was blocked by a successful rival bid.

One thing that I wouldn’t do is to discount the ability of its founder and CEO to use his own expansive mind to position Cypress Semiconductor better in a very competitive environment.

T.J. Rodgers has certainly been a visionary and strategic master. While I do currently own two lots of Cypress Semiconductor, I wouldn’t rule out adding another lot in order to secure the dividend and some share gains before the January 15, 2016 contract expiration.

However, if those contracts aren’t likely to get assigned, I would probably consider rolling over to the March 2016 contract, as earnings are reported on January 21, 2016 and shares can be volatile upon earnings news and some additional time for recovery could be appreciated while still having been able to add some premium income into the position’s net return.



Traditional Stocks: none

Momentum Stocks: Coach

Double-Dip Dividend: Cisco (1/4/16 $0.21), Comcast (1/4/16 $0.25), Cypress Semiconductor (12/29/15 $0.11), Deere (12/29/15 $0.60), Dow Chemical (12/29/15 $0.46)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: none

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable – most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts – in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week, with reduction of trading risk.

Sep262015

Weekend Update – September 27, 2015

Weekend Update Comment

Subscribers to Option to Profit received preliminary notification of this week’s stock selections on Friday, September 25th, 8:00 AM EDT and updated at 10:20 AM. The full article was distributed on Saturday, at 11:25 AM)

I doubt that Johnny Cash was thinking about that thin line that distinguishes a market in correction from one that is not.

jhgty

For him, walking the line” was probably a reference to maintaining the correct behavior so that he could ensure holding onto something of great personal value.

Sometimes that line is as clear as the difference between black and white and other times the difference can be fairly arbitrary.

Lately our markets have been walking a line, not necessarily borne out of a clear distinction between right and wrong, but rather dancing around the definition of exactly what constitutes a market correction, going in and out without much regard.

The back and forth dance has, to some degree, been in response to mixed messages coming from the FOMC that have left the impression of a divergence between words and actions.

Regardless, what is at stake can hold some real tangible value, despite a stock portfolio not being known for its ability to keep you warm at night. Indirectly, however, the more healthy that portfolio the less you have to think about cranking up the thermostat on those cold and lonely nights.

It had been a long, long time since being challenged by that arbitrary 10% definition, but ever since having crossed that line a month ago there’s been lots of indecision about which direction we were heading.

This week was another good example of that, just as the final day of the week was its own good example of the back and forth that has characterized markets.

Depending on your perspective our recent indecision about which side of the line we want to be on is either creating support for a launching pad higher or future resistance to that move higher.

When you think about the quote attributed to Jim Rogers, “I have never met a rich technician,” you can understand, regardless of how ludicrous that may be, just how true it may also be.

While flipping a coin may have predictable odds in the long term, another saying has some real merit when considering the difficulty in trying to interpret charts and chart patterns,

That is “the market can stay irrational far longer than you can stay liquid.” Just a few wrong bets in succession on the direction can have devastating effects.

The single positive from the past 10 days of trading, however, is that the market has started behaving in a rational manner. It finally demonstrated that it understood the true meaning of a potential interest rate hike and then it reacted as a sane person might when their rational expectation was dashed.

Part of the indecision that we’ve been displaying has to be related to what has seemed as a lot of muddled messages coming from the FOMC and from Federal Reserve Governors. One minute there are hawkish sentiments being expressed, yet it’s the doves that seem to be still holding court, leading onlookers to wonder whether the FOMC is capable of making the decision that many believe is increasingly overdue.

In a week where there was little economic news we were all focused on personalities, instead and still stewing over the previous week’s unexpected turn of events.

It was a week when Pope Francis took center stage, then Chinese President Xi trying to cozy up to American business leaders before his less welcoming White House meeting, and then there was finally John Boehner.

The news of John Boehner’s early departure may be the most significant of all news for the week as it probably reduces the chance of another government shutdown and associated headaches for all.

It also marked something rare in Washington politics; a promise kept.

That promise of strict term limits was included in the “Contract with America” and John Boehner was a member of that incoming freshman Congressional Class of 1995 running on that platform, who has now indicated that he will be keeping that promise after only 11 terms in office.

None of that mattered for markets, but what did matter was Janet Yellen’s comments after Thursday’s market close when she said that a rate hike was likely this year and that overseas events were not likely to influence US policy.

That was something that had a semblance of a definitive nature to it and was to the market’s liking, particularly as the coming week may supply new economic information to justify the interest rate hawks gaining control.

Friday’s revised GDP data indicating a 3.9% growth rate for the year is a start, as the coming week also bring Jobless Claims, the Employment Situation Report and lots of Federal Reserve officials making speeches, including more from Janet Yellen, who had been reclusive for a while prior to the September meeting and Vice Chair Stanley Fischer.

As a prelude to the next earnings season that begins in just 2 weeks, the stage could be set for an FOMC affirmation that the economy is growing sufficiently to begin thinking about inflation for the first time in a long time.

After being on the other side of the inflation line for a long time and seeing a lost generation in Japan, it will feel good to cross over even as old codgers still dread the notion.

Both sides of the line can be the right side, but not at the same time. Now is the time to get on the right side and let rising interest rates reflect a market poised to move higher, just as low interest rates subsidized the market for the past 6 years. However, as someone who likes to sell options and take advantage of this increased volatility, I welcome continued trading in large bursts of movement up and down, as long as that line is adhered to.

Since the mean can always be re-calculated based on where you want to start your observations, this reversion to the new mean, that just happens to be 10% below the peaks of the summer, can be a great neighborhood to dance around.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in the Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

Last week I was a little busier than has been the usual case of late with regard to opening new positions. Following the sharp sell offs to end the previous week I had a reasonably good feeling about the upcoming week, but now feel fortunate to have emerged without any damage.

I don’t feel the same level of optimism as the new week is set to begin, but there really is no reason to have much conviction one way or another, although there appears to be a more hawkish tone in the air as Janet Yellen is attempting to give the impression that actions will be aligned with words.

With the good fortune of getting some assignments as the week came to its close and having some cash in hand, I would like to build on those cash reserves but still find lots of temptations that seek to separate me from the cash.

The temptations aren’t just the greatly diminished prices, but also the enhanced premiums that accompany the uncertainty that’s characterizing the market.

That uncertainty is still low by most standards other than for the past couple of years, but taking individual stocks that are either hovering around correction or even bear market declines and adding relatively high premiums, especially if a dividend is also involved, is a difficult combination to walk away from.

The stocks going ex-dividend in the upcoming week that may warrant some attention are EMC Corporation (EMC) and Cisco (CSCO).

I own shares of both and both have recently been disappointing, Cisco, after its most recent earnings report looked as if it was surely going to be assigned away from me, but as so many others got caught up in the sudden downdraft and has fallen 14% since earnings, without any particularly bad news. EMC for its part has dropped nearly 13% in that same time period.

As is also so frequently the case as option premiums are rising, those going ex-dividend may become even more attractive as an increasing portion of the share’s price drop due to the dividend gets subsidized by the option premium.

That is the case for both Cisco and EMC. In the case of EMC, when the ex-dividend is early in the week you could even be excused for writing an in the money call with the hope that the newly purchased shares get assigned, as you could still potentially derive a 1% ROI on such a trade, yet for only a single day of holding.

Cisco, which goes ex-dividend later in the week may be a situation where it is warranted to sell an expanded weekly option for the following week that is also in the money by greater than the amount of the dividend, again in an effort to prompt an early assignment.

Doing so trades off the dividend for additional premium and fewer days of holding so that the cash may potentially be recycled into other income generating positions.

On such position is Comcast (CMCSA) which is ex-dividend the following Monday and if assigned early would have to be done so at the conclusion of this week.

While the entire media landscape in undergoing rapid change and while Comcast has positioned itself as best as it can to withstand the quantum changes, a trade this week is nothing more than an attempt to exploit the shares for the income that it may be able to produce and isn’t a vote of confidence in its strategic initiatives and certainly not of its services.

The intention with Comcast is considering the sale of an in the money October 9 or October 16, 2015 call and as with Cisco or EMC, consider forgoing the dividend.

However, for any of those three dividend related trades, I believe that their prices alone are attractive enough and their option premiums enhanced enough, that even if not assigned early, they are in good position to be candidates for serial sale of call options or even repurchases, if assigned.

As long as considering a Comcast purchase, one of my favorites in the sector is Sinclair Broadcasting (SBGI). I currently own shares and most often consider initiating a new position as an ex-dividend date is approaching.

That won’t be for a while, however, the second criteria that I look at is where its price is relative to its historical trading range and it is currently below the average of my seven previous purchases in the past 16 months.

While little known, it is a major player in the ancient area of terrestrial television broadcasting and has significant family ownership. While owners of Cablevision (CVC) can argue the merits or liabilities of a closely held public company, the only real risk is that of a proposal to take the company private as a result of shares having sunk to ridiculously low levels.

I don’t see that on the horizon, although the old set of rabbit ears may be to blame for any fuzzy forecasting. Instead of relying on high technology and still being available the old fashioned way for free viewing, Sinclair Broadcasting has simply been amassing outlets all over the county and making money the old fashioned way.

As I had done with my current lot of shares, I sold some slightly longer term call options, as Sinclair offers only the monthly variety. Since it reports earnings very early in November and will likely go ex-dividend late that month, I would consider selling out of the money calls, perhaps using the December 2015 options in an effort to capture the dividend, the option premium and some capital gains on shares.

While religious and political luminaries were getting most of the attention this past week, it’s hard to overlook what has unfolded before our eyes at Volkswagen (VLKAY). Regulatory agencies and the courts may be of the belief that you can’t spell “Fahrvergnügen,” Volkswagen’s onetime advertising slogan buzzword, without “Revenge.” Unfortunately, for those owning shares in the major auto manufacturer’s, such as General Motors (GM), last week’s news painted with a very broad brush.

General Motors hasn’t been immune to its own bad news and you do have to wonder if society places greater onus and personal responsibility on the slow deaths that may be promoted by Volkswagen’s falsified diesel emissions testing than by the instantaneous deaths caused by faulty lock mechanisms.

For its part, General Motors appears to really be bargain priced and will likely escape the continued plastering by that broad brush. With an exceptional option premium this week, plumped up by the release of some sales data and a global conference call, GM’s biggest worry after having resolved some significant legal issues will continue to be currency exchange and potential weakness in the Chinese market.

With earnings due to be reported on October 21st, if considering a purchase of General Motors shares, I would think about a weekly or expanded weekly option sale, or simply bypassing the events and going straight to December, in an effort to also collect the generous dividend and possibly some capital gains while having some additional time to recover from any bad news at earnings.

MetLife (MET) is a stock that is beautifully reflective of its dependency on interest rates. As rates were moving higher and the crowd believed that would go even higher, MetLife followed suit.

Of course, the same happened when those interest rate expectations weren’t met.

Now, however, it appears that those rates will be getting a boost sooner, rather than later, as the FOMC seems to be publicly acknowledging its interests in a broad range of matters, including global events and perhaps even stock market events.

With a recently announced share buyback, those shares are now very attractively priced, even after Friday’s nearly 2% gain.

With earnings expected at the end of the month, I would consider the purchase of shares coupled with the sale of some out of the money calls, hoping to capitalize on both capital gains and bigger than usual option premiums. In the event that shares aren’t assigned prior to earnings, I would consider then selling a November 20 call in an effort to bypass earnings risk and perhaps also capture the next dividend.

Finally, I’ve been anxious to once again own eBay (EBAY) and have waited patiently for its price to decline to a more appealing level. While most acknowledge that eBay gave away its growth prospects when it completed the PayPal (PYPL) spin-off, it has actually out-performed the latter since that spin-off, despite being down  nearly 12%.

While eBay isn’t expected to be a very exciting stock performer, it hadn’t been one for years, yet was still a very attractive covered option trading vehicle, as it’s share price was punctuated by large moves, usually earnings related. Those moves gave option buyers a reason to demand and a reason for sellers to acquiesce.

That hasn’t changed and the volatility induced premiums are as healthy as they have been in years. As that volatility rises in the stock and in the overall market, there’s more and more benefit to be gained from selling in the money options both for enhanced premium and for downside protection.

It would be good to welcome eBay back into my portfolio. Even if it won’t keep me warm, I could likely buy someone else’s flea bitten blanket at a great price, using its wonderful services.

 

Traditional Stocks:  eBay, General Motors, MetLife, Sinclair Broadcasting

Momentum Stocks: none

Double-Dip Dividend: Comcast (10/5 $0.25), Cisco (10/1 $0.21), EMC Corp (9/29 $0.12)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings:  none

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable – most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts – in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week, with reduction of trading risk.

Jun272015

Weekend Update – June 28, 2015

Weekend Update Comment

To call the stock market of this past week “a dog” probably isn’t being fair to dogs.

Most everyone loves dogs, or at least can agree that others may be able to see some positive attributes in the species. It’s hard, however, to have similar equanimity, even begrudgingly so, toward the markets this week.

What started off strongly on Monday and somehow wasn’t completely disavowed the following day, devolved unnecessarily on Wednesday and without any strong reason for doing so.

In fact, it was a week of very little economic news. We were instead focused on societal news that likely made little to no impression on the markets as a whole, although one sector did stand out.

That sector was health care, as the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act was a re-affirmation of a key component of the legislation and delayed any need to come up with an alternative, while still allowing Presidential contenders to criticize it heading into election season.

That’s a win – win.

It also keeps the number of uninsured at their lowest levels ever and puts more money in the pockets of hospitals and insurers, alike.

That’s another win – win.

While those two are usually on the opposite sides of most health care related arguments investors definitely agreed that the Affordable Care Act was and will continue to be additive to their bottom lines.

There is no health care flag, however.

The “Rainbow Flag” got a big thumbs up last week as the Supreme Court re-affirmed the right to dignity and the universal right to have access to divorce courts. The Court’s decision and its impact on businesses and the economy was a topic of speculation that was designed to fill air time and empty columns in the business section, as it came on a quiet day to end the week.

The Confederate Flag, of course, got a big thumbs down, after 150 years of quiet and thoughtful deliberation over its merits and what it represented. The decision by major retailers to stop sales of items with the Confederate flag on them can only mean that their demand wasn’t very significant and those items will probably be sent overseas, just as is done with the tee shirts of the losing Super Bowl team, so we can expect to see lots of photos of strangely attired impoverished third world children in the future.

And that leaves Greece, the EU, the IMF and the World Bank. For those most part, those aren’t part of our societal concerns, but they do concern markets.

Just not too much this past week.

The European Union was very forward thinking in the design of its flag. Rather than being concrete and having the 12 stars represent its member nations, those stars are said to represent characteristics of those member states. In other words Greece could leave the EU and the flag remains unchanged. Although the symbolism of the stars being arranged in a circle to represent “unity” may have to come under some scrutiny.

The growing realization is that would likely not be the same for the EU itself, as an exit by Greece would ultimately be “de minimis.” Either way, we should get some more information this week, as IMF chief Christine Legarde’s June 30th line in the sand regarding Greece’s repayment is quickly approaching.

It may be too late for a proposed “Plan B” for Greece to prevent default, as the European Union is now in its 86th trimester.

Still, despite a week of little news, somehow it was another week of pronounced moves in both directions that ultimately managed to travel very little from home.

New and existing home sales data suggested a strengthening in that important sector and the revised GDP indicated that the first quarter wasn’t as much of a dog as we all had come to believe. But there really wasn’t enough additional corroborating data to make anyone jump to the conclusion that core inflation was now exceeding the same objective that Janet Yellen had just stated weren’t being met.

So any concerns about improving economic news shouldn’t have led anyone to begin expressing their fears of increased interest rates by selling their stocks.

But it did.

Wednesday’s sell-off followed the news that the revised 2015 first quarter GDP was only down by 0.2% and not the previously revised 0.7%.

That makes it seem as if nerves and expectations for a long overdue correction or even a long overdue mini-correction are ruling over common sense and rational thought.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double-Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

The coming week is a holiday shortened one and will have the Employment Situation Report coming on Thursday, potentially adding to interest rate nervousness if numbers continue to be strong.

After Micron Technology’s (NASDAQ:MU) earnings disappointment last week it may be understandable why a broad brush was used within the technology sector to drive prices considerably lower on Friday. However, it wasn’t Micron Technology that introduced the weakness. The past two weeks haven’t been particularly kind to the sector.

At a time that I’m under-invested in technology and otherwise very reluctant to commit new funds, the sector has a disproportionate share of my attention in competition for whatever little I’m willing to let go.

With Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) having also recently reported disappointing earnings and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) reporting in the next 3 weeks, it may be an interesting period.

While Micron Technology brought up concerns about PC sales, they are more dependent upon those than some others that have found salvation in laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

What was generally missing from Micron’s report, however, was placing the blame for lower revenues on currency exchange, unlike as was just done by Oracle. Micron focused squarely on decreasing product demand and pricing pressure.

That lack of adverse impact from currency exchange is a theme that I’m expecting as the upcoming earnings season begins. Whereas the previous earnings reports provided dour guidance on expectations of USD/Euro parity, the Dollar’s relative weakness in the most recent quarter may provide some upside surprises.

With share prices in Microsoft and Intel having dropped, this may be a good time to add positions in both, as they could both be significant beneficiaries of an improvement in currency exchange, as both await any bump coming from the introduction of Windows 10. I haven’t owned shares of Microsoft for a while and have been looking for a new entry point. At the same time, I do own shares of Intel and have been looking for an opportunity to average down and ultimately leave the position, or at least underwrite some of the paper losses with premiums on contracts written on an additional lot of shares.

While Seagate Technology doesn’t report its earnings until July 15th, following its weakness over the last 7 weeks, I’m considering the sale of puts in the weeks in advance of earnings. Those premiums are elevated and will become even more so during the actual week of earnings. In the event of an adverse price move, there might be a need to rollover the puts to try and avoid or delay assignment. However, at some point in the August 2015 option cycle the shares will be ex-dividend, so a shift in strategy, pivoting to share ownership maybe called for if still short the put options.

While Oracle and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) don’t report earnings for a while, both have upcoming ex-dividend dates that add to their appeal. In the case of Oracle, it’s ex-dividend date is on Monday of the following week, which opens the possibility of ceding the dividend to early assignment in exchange for getting two weeks of premium and the opportunity to recycle proceeds from an assignment into another income producing position.

Also going ex-dividend on the Monday of the following week is The Gap (NYSE:GPS). It is one of my favorite stocks, even though it rarely seems to be doing anything right these days.

Part of its allure is that it continues to provide monthly sales data and the uncertainty with those report releases consistently creates option premium opportunities usually seen only quarterly for most stocks as they prepare to release earnings.

As long as The Gap continues to trade in a range, as it has done for quite some time, there is opportunity by holding shares and serially selling calls, while collecting dividends, as the company attempts to figure out what it wants to be, as it closes stores, yet announces plans to take over the Times Square Toys ‘R Us location, for those NYC tourists that just have to jet a pair of khakis to remember their trip.

Finally, American Express (NYSE:AXP) goes ex-dividend this week. It has been extremely range bound ever since the initial shock of losing its co-branding relationship with Costco (NASDAQ:COST) in 2016.

My wife informed me this morning that after about 30 years of near exclusive use of American Express, she has replaced it with another credit card. While that’s not related to the Costco news, it is something that American Express will likely be experiencing more and more in the coming months. That may, of course, explain the spate of mailings I’ve recently received to entice continuing loyalty.

While that comes at a cost, that’s still tomorrow’s problem and the market has likely discounted the costs of the partnership dissolution, as well as the lost revenues.

I like the price range and I like the option premium and dividend opportunities for as long as they may persist, but my loyalty to shares may only go for a week at a time.

Traditional Stocks: Intel, Microsoft

Momentum Stocks: Seagate Technology

Double-Dip Dividend: American Express (6/30), Cisco (7/1), Oracle (7/6), The Gap (7/6)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: none

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

Jun62015

Weekend Update – June 7, 2015

Weekend Update Comment

 

In statistics, there is a concept of “degrees of freedom.”

It is the number of independent ways by which a dynamic system can move, without violating any constraint imposed upon it.

For example, if you know that you have a dollar in change distributed between your 2 pockets and one of those pockets has $0.75 in it, there aren’t too many possibilities for what the other pocket will contain. That’s an example of a single degree of freedom. However, as soon as you throw a third pocket into the mix there are an additional 25 permutations possible, as a second degree of freedom opens up lots of possibilities.

Poor Janet Yellen. So few possibilities and so many constraints tying her up.

Since US interest rates can’t go much lower, she doesn’t have too much choice in their direction. She has no choice but to raise rates.

Eventually.

Her only freedom is in the timing of action. If you’re married to data, as is now being professed, she has to balance the opinion of a well regarded economist with the latest employment data release and the prospects of upwardly revised GDP statistics.

Her degrees of freedom situation got a little muddled this past week as Christine Lagarde, who is the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, urged her to stay in line with the European Central Bank and keep interest rates low. At the same time the Employment Situation Report, released on Friday morning came in with job growth stronger than expected.

As the popular song once asked “should I stay or should I go?” is the kind of decision facing Janet Yellen right now and regardless of her decision, it’s going to be second guessed to death and much more likely to receive blame than credit for whatever near term or longer term outcomes there may be.

Doing nothing may be the safest decision, although this week the US bond market made its feelings known as rates moved in the only direction that makes sense.

That’s because suddenly the data has shifted the discussion back to the potential for the announcement of an interest rate increase as early as June 17th, the date of the next FOMC Statement release. That’s happened within days of the discussion having been about whether that increase would even occur in 2015.

With competing pressures of being out of synchrony with the direction of rates in the rest of the world and the reality of an economy that now may actually be growing at a stronger rate than had been believed, inaction would seem to be the obvious path to take.

Being tied up makes it easier to fail to act, but I’m betting that if any one can break free of the duct tape constraints that seek to bind her, it will be Janet Yellen.

The expression became long ago hackneyed, but while we all await a decision of interest rates, I suspect that Janet Yellen will break out of the box. As Bernanke before her, she will put her own twist on our narrow and limited expectations, leaving Christine Lagarde to realize that being late to the game is not a good reason to heed advice.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double-Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) had a really terrible week last week as the news that everyone had come to expect regarding its intentions with Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR) became confirmed.

The funny part, although not if you’re an Intel shareholder, is that when rumors first surfaced earlier in the year, the initial response was positive for Intel’s share price.

Not so much, though, as rumors became news and suddenly every one started questioning intel’s strategy with the acquisition.

As weak as the overall market was this past week, it was well ahead of Intel, which lost nearly 8%. That drop in price has made the shares once again appealing, as its CEO, Brian Krzanich, shouldn’t strike anyone as being frivolous, particularly as it comes to operations, having previously served as Intel’s COO. I would guess that Krzanich can sense a strategic fit better than most at a company where he has spent nearly 33 years of his life.

With Chuck Robbins set to start soon as the new CEO at Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), more executive level changes were announced this past week, as shares also well under-performed the S&P 500 for the week.

Although nowhere as severe as Intel’s weekly decline, the drop in Cisco’s shares bring them closer to an appealing price once again, as its ex-dividend data nears in a few weeks.

While shares are still a little higher priced than I might like to initiate a position, its recent weakness hasn’t had very much basis. Robbins’ new team, even though comprised of many Cisco insiders, is likely to hit the ground running with strategic initiatives and will probably be more focused on near term victories, than was outgoing CEO John Chambers.

I think that creates short term opportunities even as Robbins may pull out varied accounting tricks in the waning days of June in order to make the next quarter’s earnings pale in comparison to the subsequent quarter, thereby creating a positive early image of his leadership.

Altria (NYSE:MO) and Merck (NYSE:MRK) are both ex-dividend this week and both offer a very attractive dividend. While one seeks to improve people’s lives through better chemistry, the other takes a different path.

Tobacco companies faced some challenges last week as the market didn’t react well to news of a $15 billion Canadian court penalty. Nor did it react well to news that a lawsuit regarding package labeling against the FDA was being dropped. A nearly 6% drop for the week is enough evidence of market displeasure.

Those drops helped to bring shares near some support levels just in time for the dividend and surprisingly good option premiums. While I don’t take any particular delight in the products or in the consequences of their use, there has never been a very good time to bet against their continued ability to withstand challenges.

That ability to withstand challenges is one of the signs of a great company and Merck falls into that category, as well.

Most often, companies like Altria and Merck, that have better than average dividend yields and whose dividend is about the size of a strike price unit or larger, in this case $0.50, are difficult to double dip in an effort to have some of the share price reduction brought about by going ex-dividend get subsidized by the option premium. However, with pharmaceutical companies being in play of late, the option premiums are higher than they have been for quite some time, even during an ex-dividend week.

Merck is rarely a candidate for a double dip dividend trade, but may be so this coming week, having also concluded a very weak past few trading days that highlighted a number of drug study trial results.

Finally, Williams Company (NYSE:WMB) is also ex-dividend this week having fallen sharply following the very positive reception it received after announcing the planned purchase of the remainder of its pipeline business, Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ).

With a nearly 10% decline in the past month since that announcement, as with both Altria and Merck, it offers a better than average dividend yield and a dividend that is greater than its strike price units. However, it too, is now offering an option premium that allows for double dipping that is so often now possible or feasible.

However, as with Altria, the recent decline seems to have been over-exaggerated and rather than selling an in the money call in an attempt to double dip on dividend and premium, I think that i may be inclined to forgo some of that double dipping in exchange for capital gains on the underlying shares by using out of the money options.

Either way, it’s an exercise in greed, but I like having the increased degree of freedom to do so.

Traditional Stocks: Cisco, Intel

Momentum Stocks: none

Double-Dip Dividend: Altria (6/11), Williams Company (6/10), Merck (6/11)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: none

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

May162015

Weekend Update – May 17, 2015

Weekend Update Comment

The nice thing about the stock and bond markets is that anything that happens can be rationalized.

That’s probably a good thing if your job includes the need to make plausible excuses, but unless you work in the finance industry or are an elected official, the chances are that particular set of skills isn’t in high demand.

However, when you hear a master in the art of spin ply his craft, it’s really a thing of beauty and you wonder why neither you nor anyone else seemed to see things so clearly in a prospective manner.

Sometimes rationalization is also referred to as self-deception. It is a defense mechanism and occasionally it becomes part of a personality disorder. Psychoanalysts are divided between a positive view of rationalization as a stepping-stone on the way to maturity and a more destructive view of it as divorcing feeling from thought and undermining powers of reason.

In other words, sometimes rationalization itself is good news and sometimes it’s bad news.

But when it comes to stock and bond markets any interpretation of events is acceptable as long as great efforts are taken to not overtly make anyone look like an idiot for either having made a decision to act or having made a decision to be passive.

That doesn’t preclude those on the receiving end of market rationalizations to wonder how they could have been so stupid as to have missed such an obvious connection and telegraphed market reaction.

That’s strange, because when coming to real life personal and professional events, being on the receiving end of rationalization can be fairly annoying. However, for some reason in the investing world it is entirely welcomed and embraced.

In hindsight, anything and everything that we’ve observed can be explained, although ironically, rationalization sometimes removes rational thought from the process.

The real challenge, or so it seems, in the market, is knowing when to believe that good news is good and when it is bad, just like you need to know what the real meaning of bad news is going to be.

Of course different constituencies may also interpret the very same bits of data very differently, as was the case this past week as bond and stock markets collided, as they so often do in competition for investor’s confidence.

We often find ourselves in a position when we wonder just how news will be received. Will it be received on its face value or will markets respond paradoxically?

This week any wonder came to an end as it became clear that we were back to a world of rationalizing bad news as actually being something good for us.

In this case it was all about how markets viewed the flow of earnings reports coming from national retailers and official government Retail Sales statistics.

In a nutshell, the news wasn’t good, but that was good for markets. At least it was good for stock markets. Bond markets are another story and that’s where there may be lots of need for some quick rationalizations, but perhaps not of the healthy variety.

In the case of stock markets the rationalization was that disappointing retail sales and diminished guidance painted a picture of decreased inflationary pressures. In turn, that would make it more difficult for an avowed data driven Federal Reserve to increase interest rates in response. So bad news was interpreted as good news.

If you owned stocks that’s a rationalization that seems perfectly healthy, at least until that point that the same process no longer seems to be applicable.

As the S&P 500 closed at another all time high to end the week this might be a good time to prepare thoughts about whether what happens next is because we hit resistance or whether it was because of technical support levels.

^TNX Chart

On the other hand, if you were among those thought to be a member of the smartest trading class, the bond traders, you do have to find a way to explain how in the face of no evidence you sent rates sharply higher twice over the past 2 weeks. Yet then presided over rates ending up exactly where they started after the ride came to its end.

The nice thing about that, though, is that the bond traders could just dust off the same rationalization they used for surging rates in mid-March 2015.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) has had a big two past weeks, not necessarily reflected in its share price, but in the news it delivered. The impending departure of John Chambers as CEO and the announcement of his successor, along with reporting earnings did nothing to move the stock despite better than expected revenues and profits. In fact, unlike so many others that reported adverse currency impacts, Cisco, which does approximately 40% of its revenues overseas was a comparative shining star in reporting its results.

However, unlike so many others that essentially received a free pass on currency issues, because it was expected and who further received a free pass on providing lowered guidance, Cisco’s lowered guidance was thought to muzzle shares.

However, as the expected Euro – USD parity is somehow failing to materialize, Cisco may be in a good position to over-deliver on its lowered expectations. In return for making that commitment to its shares with the chance of a longer term price move higher, Cisco offers a reasonable option premium and an attractive dividend.

Both reporting earnings this week, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ), have fortunes that are, to a small degree, related to one another.

In two weeks I will try to position myself next to the husband of the Hewlett Packard CEO at an alumni reunion group photo. By then it will be too late to get any earnings insights, not that it would be on my agenda, since I’m much more interested in the photo.

No one really knows how the market will finally react to the upcoming split of the company, which coincidentally will also be occurring this year at the previous employer of the Hewlett Packard CEO, Meg Whitman.

The options market isn’t anticipating a modest reaction to Hewlett Packard’s earnings, with an implied move of 5.2%. However, the option premiums for put sales outside the lower boundary of that range aren’t very appealing from a risk – reward perspective.

However, if the lower end of that boundary is breached after earnings are released and approach the 52 week lows, I would consider either buying shares or selling puts. If selling puts, however and faced with the prospects of rolling them over, I would be mindful of an upcoming ex-dividend event and would likely want to take ownership of shares in advance of that date.

I currently own shares of Best Buy and was hopeful that they would have been assigned last week so as to avoid them being faced with the potential challenge of earnings. Instead, I rolled those shares over to the June 2015 expiration, possibly putting it in line for a dividend and allowing some recovery time in the event of an earnings related price decline.

However, with an implied move of 6.6% and a history of some very large earnings moves in the past, the option premiums at and beyond the lower boundary of the range are somewhat more appealing than is the case with Hewlett Packard.

As with Hewlett Packard, however, I would consider waiting until after earnings and then consider the sale of puts in the event of a downward move. Additionally, because of an upcoming ex-dividend date in June, I would consider taking ownership of shares if puts are at risk of being exercised.

It’s pretty easy to rationalize why MetLife (NYSE:MET) is such an attractive stock based on where interest rates are expected to be going.

The only issue, as we’ve seen on more than one recent occasion is that there may be some disagreement over the timing of those interest rate hikes. Since MetLife responds to those interest rate movements, as you might expect from a company that may be added to the list of “systemically important financial institutions,” there can be some downside if bonds begin trading more in line with prevailing economic softness.

In the interim, while awaiting the inevitable, MetLife does offer a reasonable option premium, particularly as it has traded range-bound for the past 3 months.

A number of years ago the controlling family of Cablevision (NYSE:CVC) thought it had a perfectly rationalized explanation for why public shareholders would embrace the idea of taking the company private.

The shareholding public didn’t agree, but Cablevision hasn’t sulked or let the world pass it by as the world of cable providers is in constant flux. Although a relatively small company it seems to get embroiled in its share of controversy, always keeping the company name in the headlines.

With a shareholder meeting later this month and shares going ex-dividend this week, the monthly option, which is all that is offered, is very attractive, particularly since there is little of controversy expected at the upcoming shareholder meeting.

Also going ex-dividend this week, and also with strong historical family ties, is Johnson and Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). What appeals to me about shares right now, in addition to the dividend, is that while they have been trailing the S&P 500 and the Health Care SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLV) since early 2009, those very same shares tend to fare very well by comparison during periods of overall market weakness.

In the process of waiting for that weakness the dividend and option premium can make the wait more tolerable and even close the performance gap if the market decides that 2022 on the S&P 500 is only a way station toward something higher.

Finally, there are probably lots of ways one can rationalize the share price of salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM). Profits, though, may not be high on that list.

salesforce.com has certainly been the focus of lots of speculation lately regarding a sale of the company. However, of the two suitors, I find it inconceivable that one of them would invite the CEO, Marc Benioff back into a company that already has a power sharing situation at the CEO level and still has Larry Ellison serving as Chairman.

I share price was significantly buoyed by the start of those rumors a few weeks ago and provide a high enough level that any disappointment from earnings, even on the order of those seen with Linkedin (NYSE:LNKD), Yelp (NYSE:YELP) and others would return shares to levels last seen just prior to the previous earnings report.

The options market is implying a 7.3% earnings related move next week. After a recent 8% climb as rumors were swirling, there is plenty of room for some or even all of that to be given back, so as with both Best Buy and Hewlett Packard, I wouldn’t be overly aggressive in this trade prior to earnings, but would be very interested in joining in if sellers take charge on an earnings disappointment. However, since there is no dividend in the picture, if having sold puts and subject to possible exercise, I would likely attempt to rollover the puts rather than take assignment.

But either way, I can rationalize the outcome.

Traditional Stocks: Cisco, MetLife

Momentum Stocks: none

Double Dip Dividend: Cablevision (5/20), Johnson and Johnson (5/21)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Best Buy (5/21 AM), Hewlett Packard (5/21 PM), salesforce.com (5/20 PM)

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

Mar272015

Weekend Update – March 29, 2015

Weekend Update Comment

Fresh off of his estate’s victory in a copyright infringement suit, Marvin Gaye comes to my mind this week as I can’t help but wonder what’s going on.

With the Passover holiday approaching this week, I’m also reminded that much of the basis of re-telling the story of the exodus from Egypt is in response to the questions asked by children.

Among the classes of children traditionally described are the wise child, the evil child, the simple one and the one who doesn’t even know how to ask a question.

When it comes to trying to understand the past week I’m feeling a bit more like one of the latter two of those categories, although I still retain the option of holding onto my evil persona.

The week started with the Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve, who coincidentally had been the Governor of the Bank of Israel many years after the exodus, getting some laughs with jokes that maybe only economists would appreciate. However, to his credit he was able to tone down his hawkish sentiments while still staying true to his tenets, but without frightening markets. That was nice to see, as it was his comments just 2 days after Janet Yellen’s congressional testimony that brought an end to the February rally and, perhaps coincidentally, set us on the path for March.

That hasn’t been a very good path for most investors and with only 2 days of trading remaining in the quarter has it threatening to be the first losing quarter in quite a while as we learned that the most recent quarterly corporate profits over the same time period fell for the first time since 2008.

Yet that news didn’t seem to bother markets this morning as they had a rare session ending with a higher close.

With Stanley Fischer putting everyone into a good mood from a dose of Federal Reserve humor all went pretty well to start the week, with Monday looking like it would mark the first time of having two consecutive days higher in over a month. That was the case until the final 15 minutes of trading and then the market just continued in that downward path throughout most of the rest of the week.

But why? Someone, somewhere had to be asking the obvious question that 3 out of 4 categories of children are capable of asking.

What’s going on?

Friday’s GDP data for the 4th Quarter of 2014 showed no change with the economy growing at an annual 2.2% rate. That’s considerably less than projections based upon lower energy prices fueling a resurgence of consumer activity in the coming year, even recognizing that those perceived benefits were theoretically in only their very nascent stages in late 2014.

While the GDP data is certainly backward looking there’s been nothing happening to support that consumer led growth that we’ve all believed was coming.

Corporate profits are falling, retail sales are flat and home sales aren’t exactly setting the economy on fire, all as energy prices are well off their earlier eye popping lows.

So you might think that would all add an arrow to the quiver of interest rate doves, but the market hasn’t been embracing the idea of continuing low interest rates as much as it’s been fearing the prospects of increasing interest rates.

But this week had nothing to fear. Even the most influential of the hawks seemed and sounded accommodating, but the market wasn’t buying it.

This past week, like recent weeks, has made little sense no matter how much you try to explain it. Just like it’s hard to explain how the defendant’s weren’t aware of the existence of Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” or that somehow pestilence, boils and locusts rained down upon the Pharoahs.

No matter how you look at it reason is not reigning.

Even a child who doesn’t know how to ask knows when something is going on.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

I purchased some American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares a few weeks ago shortly after the news of their loss of Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as a co-branding partner. Coincidentally that decision came at the same time as both my wife and I had individual issues with American Express customer service.

With a combined history of more than 65 years of using American Express as our primary personal and business cards, we’ve done so largely for their customer service. My wife, after speaking to almost 15 representatives is ready to give her card the boot and she reminded me that she’s had that card longer than she’s had me, so I should be on notice.

Coming as no surprise, American Express just announced workforce cutbacks that will only serve to weaken what really distinguished them from the rest, but that may be what it takes to start making shares look attractive again as the company substitutes cost savings for revenues.

Fortunately, my shares from a few weeks ago were quickly assigned and now it looks as if another opportunity may be at hand as it has re-traced its bounce from the sizable drop it took when the Costco news was made known. It’s upcoming ex-dividend date this week adds to the attraction as the company is wasting no time in taking steps to offset what are now expected to be significant revenue losses beginning in 2016.

Who knew to ever ask just how important Costco was to American Express?

I purchased shares of Dow Chemical last week in order to capture the dividend. What I wasn’t expecting was the announcement coming Friday morning of their plans to merge a portion of the company with Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN) while becoming a majority owner of Olin.

Fortunately that announcement waited until Friday morning so that I was able to retain the dividend. Had it come after Thursday’s close and based on the initial price reaction, those shares would have been assigned early.

While Dow Chemical has been somewhat phlegmatic lately as it tracks energy prices, the sale to Olin appears to be responsive to activist Dan Loeb’s desire to shed low margin businesses. This deal looks to be a great one for Dow Chemical and may also demonstrate that it is serious about improving margins.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) reported earnings this past Friday and recovered significantly from its preliminary decline. I was amazed that it did so after watching what appeared to be a very wooden and canned performance by its CFO during an interview before trading began that didn’t seem very convincing. However, shortly after trading did begin shares climbed significantly.

I like considering adding shares of GameStop after a decline, as there is a long history of people predicting its coming demise and offering very rational and compelling reasons of why they are correct, only to see shares have a mind of their own.

I had shares assigned just a week earlier and was happy to see that assignment come right after its ex-dividend date but before earnings. Now at a lower price it looks tempting again, although I would probably hold out for a little bit more of a decline, perhaps approaching Friday morning’s opening lows.

While GameStop has a reasonably low beta you wouldn’t know it if you owned shares, but fortunately the options market knows it and typically offers premiums that reflect the sudden moves shares are very capable of taking.

Up until about 30 minutes before Friday’s close it hadn’t been a very good week to be in the semiconductor business. That may have changed, at least for a moment or two, as it was announced that Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) was in talks to purchase Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR).

Among those stocks benefiting from that late news was Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), which has fallen even more than Intel in 2015.

Micron Technology reports earnings this week and is no stranger to large earnings related moves. The options market, however is implying only a 5.5% price move next week. While I normally look for a strike level that’s outside of the range defined by the implied move that offers at least a 1% ROI for the week, this coming week is a bit odd.

That’s because Micron Technology reports earnings after the market’s close on Thursday, yet the market will be closed for trading on Good Friday.

For that reason I would consider looking at the possibility of selling puts for the following week, but would like to see shares give up some of the gains made in response to the Intel news.

While Intel’s late news helped to rescue it from having sunk below $30 for the first time in 9 months, it did nothing for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) nor Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO). They, along with Intel had been significantly under-performing the S&P 500 this week and for the year to date.

Both Cisco and Oracle are ex-dividend this week and following their drops this past week both are beginning to have appeal once again.

With a holiday shortened week and also going ex-dividend the expectation is that option premiums would be noticeably lower, However, both Cisco and Oracle are offering a compelling combination of option premiums and dividends along with some chance of recovering some of their recent losses.

The real challenge for each may be related to currency exchange and how it will impact earnings. However, barring early earnings warnings, Cisco won’t report earnings for another 7 weeks and Oracle not for another 12 weeks, so hopefully that would allow plenty of time to extricate from a position before the added risk of earnings comes into play.

Finally, I came close to buying shares of SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) just a couple of days ago, looking to replace shares that were assigned just 2 weeks earlier.

It’s not often that you see a company give earnings warnings twice within the space of about 2 months, but SanDisk now has that distinction and has plunged on both of those occasions.

What SanDisk may have discovered is what so many others have, in that being an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier may be very much a mixed blessing or curse, depending on your perspective at the moment.

While its revenues are certainly being squeezed I’m reminded of a period about 10 years ago when SanDisk was essentially written off by just about everyone as flash memory was becoming to be considered as nothing more than a commodity.

In that time anyone with a little daring would have done very well in that time period with shares nearly doubling the S&P 500 performance.

With a nearly 25% drop over the past few days, even as a commodity or a revenue stressed company, SanDisk may have some opportunity as it approaches its 18 month lows.

As with many other stocks that have taken large falls, I would consider entering a new position through the sale of put options and if faced with the possibility of assignment would try to roll the position over to a forward week in an attempt to delay or preclude assignment while still collecting a premium.

Traditional Stocks: Dow Chemical

Momentum Stocks: GameStop, SanDisk

Double Dip Dividend: American Express (3/31), Cisco (3/31), Oracle (4/2)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Micron Technology (4/2 PM)

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

Sep272014

Weekend Update – September 28, 2014

Weekend Update Comment

For those that remember 2011 it was really an incredible year, one that I still miss and was certainly sad to see go.

Although it doesn’t have a very snappy ring to it, this past week was one to party like it was 2011 or at least revel in the thought that 2011 was about to make a return.

What I’m hoping is that this past week has lots of party left in it and will serve as a model for what lies ahead, despite the market having ended the week 1.1% lower.

For those who don’t remember 2011 simply looking at the net change for the year may leave you a little curious why I would think that it was a great year.

That’s because what you would see is that the S&P 500 was unchanged for the year, which is, at the very least, a statistical oddity. For those requiring some precision, the index actually changed 0.04 points for the year or 0.003%.

However, for those that love volatility and what it does for option premiums, despite the superficial appearance of nothing having happened for the year, the volatility increased by 31.8% for that year, ending at 23.4, which is still 57.6% higher than where it closed this past Friday.

How could that be?

That’s because that year the DJIA, which ended the year at 12217, far below the current level, had no fewer than 96 triple digit closing days. That was back in the days when 100 points actually meant something.

What was fascinating was that 46 of those moved lower and 50 moved higher. Lots and lots of exertion, but basically not too much different from running in place.

Now that’s not only volatility, but the ideal kind for an option seller. Lots of ado, but accomplishing absolutely nothing, other than the generation of lots of enriched option premiums because those alternating currents of moves generate uncertainty and anxiety.

For the option seller the nice thing about running in place is that it becomes very difficult to get lost and less necessary to give into the feelings of anxiety that accompany the uncertainty of an unknown path.

Even if you weren’t paying too much attention you may have noticed that this past week had 5 triple digit days. The absolute value of those moves was 810 points, while the net movement was only a loss of 166 points.

This was a week that moved on a wide range of factors and in a wide range.

You could point to the loose cannon words from outgoing Federal reserve Governor Richard Fisher, who, despite being chastised by then FOMC Chairman Greenspan for speaking his mind, never really stopped doing so. Ironically, his first market moving comments back in 2005 for which he was taken to the woodshed was related to suggesting that the Federal Reserve’s series of rate increases would be coming to an end sooner than most expected. This time around he created something of a panic by suggesting that this Federal Reserve, under Janet Yellen, would begin raising interest rates before most people had expected. Those words came barely a week after we found comfort in the belief that a “considerable time” would still pass before those rates would see increases.

The fact that Fisher is fairly dogmatic and has been on the wrong side of history in the past, in addition to no longer having a vote within the next few months, was lost on those who for some reason believe that he has some great insight and sway.

Or you could point to the widespread belief that the Alibaba (BABA) IPO was another in a line of “biggest” IPOs that marked market tops that simply accepted the contention without realizing how precisely cherry picked the data had been and how it had conveniently excluded some significant data points that would have lead to refuting the “obvious” conclusions.

Or you could point to the widespread fascination with the non-validated “death cross” that has adherents and believers, despite its inconsistency as a predictive tool of the market heading into a correction.

Or you could point to the market dipping below its 50 day moving average as a bullish indicator that would coerce some into initiating buying programs.

Clearly, the market had little basis to do much of anything this week, but when it was all said and done, despite the three large downward moves, there wasn’t too much damage done, leaving the S&P 500 only 1.5% off of its all time high point but having raised volatility 21.8% at the same time.

Just like 2011 when all was still good with the world as long as you retain a faulty sense of memory.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories.

With Friday’s week ending rally that for a brief while looked as if it was getting poised to erase the previous day’s loss of 264 points some of the apparent price bargains that had developed during that loss were lessened. However, those bargains are always relative to whatever time frame you elect to utilize and whatever direction you believe awaits.

After the past week its exceptionally difficult to have a sense of what kind of market awaits, but the past two years gives reason to believe that we are in store for another of the periodic mini-corrections that have prefaced every climb higher. That periodicity suggests that the current 1.5% decline is but a beginning.

I would gladly trade off additional climbs higher for the type of volatility we’ve seen in the past week. While I’m not anxious to necessarily start a shopping spree, the real challenge is knowing when to get on the party train. Although I don’t place too much emphasis on charts I would be inclined to watch a decided move below the 50 day moving average for a week or so before feeling a sense of confidence.

British Petroleum (BP) fulfills that criteria as does Conoco Phillips (COP), both in the beleaguered energy sector. British Petroleum’s descent below the 5o day moving average has been more prolonged and marked than has Conoco’s, so may have some greater appeal for me, particularly if I plan to be very discerning about spending money on new positions. Part of British Petroleum’s additional burden, beyond what the energy sector is experiencing, continues to be related to its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 and it suffered a quantum drop just a few weeks ago when the company was found to be grossly negligent in US District Court for its role in the spill.

Conoco Phillips, on the other hand is just caught up with the rest as energy prices are under pressure. It has, however, traded in a relatively stable range for nearly two months, perhaps making it a reasonable covered option trade, particularly as its ex-dividend date approaches.

Caterpillar (CAT) after having embarrassed the legions of those lambasting it and its CEO, is a stock that has demonstrated the ability to bounce back from having dipped below its 50 day moving average over the past 2 months and following some recent weakness ostensibly related to weakness in China, may also now be ready for a climb higher. Like Conoco, its upcoming dividend late in the October 2014 cycle or early in the November cycle can make the decision to purchase shares somewhat easier.

If Richard Fischer is correct on interest rate hikes and eventually he will be, Citigroup (C) and MetLife (MET) will both stand to benefit from a rising interest rate environment.

Eventually even the phrase “considerable time,” as found in the FOMC statements must give way to something a little less imprecise and some of the uncertainty regarding the timing of interest rate increases will be lost. While I’ve recently had shares of both MetLife and Citigroup assigned, I would like to add them back to the portfolio, despite their current price levels. While both are similarly lower from their very recent highs those levels may represent resting points for what may be deserved climbs even higher.

The Gap (GPS) is one of those stocks that I tend to buy too early during a period of descending price and frequently end up owning longer than I would have liked. However, it has now fallen nearly 10% in the last 3 weeks following a negative response to its most recently monthly same store sales report.

Those reports are a major part of the surprises during previous bouts of ownership, as they, just like this week’s triple digit moves, frequently alternated between well and poorly received results.,

With same store sales again expected the week after next, as well as going ex-dividend in that week, I may consider bypassing the use of a weekly or expanded weekly option and instead considering the monthly expiration in order to create some time cushion in the event of a second consecutive adverse response.

Intel (INTC) and Cisco (CSCO) both regained some lost ground on Friday as technology stocks rebounded from some of their strong losses earlier in the week. In a week that I would like to add some technology exposure both are appealing, although both also have different considerations.

While Intel will be among those companies reporting earnings early in the upcoming cycle, Cisco will not do so for another month, but will be ex-dividend in the coming week. Both are also approaching their 50 day moving averages but from opposite directions.

Making a decision regarding either of these two would likely be predicated on their next decisive price moves around their respective 50 day moving averages. I might be more inclined to purchase either if they stay above the line. However, if moving below, I would defer the purchase, although the Cisco dividend may offer a more compelling reason to decide between these two stocks, particularly as Intel has a tough act to follow after its most recent earnings report.

Finally, Walgreen (WAG) reports earnings this week just as the rest of the world is getting ready to begin the next cycle of quarterly reports the following week.

Walgreen, after having announced that it was not going to pursue a tax inversion, nearly two months ago, is still seeing its shares trading at a significantly depressed level.

While I usually like to consider earnings related trades on the basis of a calculation of the implied price move relative to the potential for achieving a threshold return on investment and would prefer not to own shares, in this case I wouldn’t mind taking ownership at the right price.

With option premiums enhanced somewhat due to the upcoming earnings release I would consider the sale of out of the money weekly puts and if facing the possibility of assignment would consider taking that assignment if the price of shares was near the strike price so that I could initiate a short call position upon taking ownership of shares. However, in the event that shares plunge beyond that price level I would likely prefer to attempt to rollover the puts in an effort to prevent that assignment.

Hopefully, regardless of the outcome there will still be a party going on.

Traditional Stocks: British Petroleum, Caterpillar, Conoco, Intel, MetLife, The Gap

Momentum: Citibank

Double Dip Dividend: Cisco

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Walgreen

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

Feb162014

Weekend Update – February 16, 2014

Weekend Update

Is our normal state of dysfunction now on vacation?

Barely seven trading days earlier many believed that we were finally on the precipice of the correction that had long eluded the markets.

Sometimes it’s hard to identify what causes sudden directional changes, much less understand the nature of what caused the change. That doesn’t stop anyone from offering their proprietary insight into that which may sometimes be unknowable.

Certainly there will be technicians who will be able to draw lines and when squinting really hard be able to see some kind of common object-like appearing image that foretold it all. Sadly, I’ve never been very adept at seeing those images, but then again, I even have a hard time identifying “The Big Dipper.”

Others may point to an equally obscure “Principle” that hasn’t had the luxury of being validated because of its rare occurrences that make it impossible to distinguish from the realm of “coincidence.”

For those paying attention it’s somewhat laughable thinking how with almost alternating breaths over the past two weeks we’ve gone from those warning that if the 10 year Treasury yield got up to 3% the market would react very negatively, to warnings that if the yield got below 2.6% the markets would be adverse. There may also be some logical corollaries to those views that are equally not borne out in reality.

Trying to explain what may be irrational markets, which are by and large derivatives of the irrational behaviors found in those comprising the markets, using a rational approach is itself somewhat irrational.

Crediting or blaming trading algorithms has to recognize that even they have to begin with the human component and will reflect certain biases and value propositions.

But the question has to remain what caused the sudden shifting of energy from its destruction to its creation? Further, what sustained that shift to the point that the “correction” had itself been corrected? As someone who buys stocks on the basis of price patterns there may be something to the observation that all previous attempts at a correction in the past 18 months have been halted before the 10% threshold and quickly reversed, just as this most recent attempt.

That may be enough and I suppose that a chart could tell that story.

But forget about those that are suggesting that the market is responding to better than expected earnings and seeking a rational basis in fundamentals. Everyone knows or should know that those earnings are significantly buoyed by share buybacks. There’s no better way to grow EPS than to shrink the share base. Unfortunately, that’s not a strategy that builds for the future nor lends itself to continuing favorable comparisons.

I think that the most recent advance can be broken into two component parts. The first, which occurred in the final two days of the previous trading week which had begun with a 325 point gain was simply what some would have called “a dead cat bounce.” Some combination of tiring from all of the selling and maybe envisioning some bargains.

But then something tangible happened the next week that we haven’t seen for a while. It was a combination of civility and cooperation. The political dysfunction that had characterized much of the past decade seemed to take a break last week and the markets noticed. They even responded in a completely normal way.

Early in the week came rumors that the House of Representatives would actually present a “clean bill” to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. No fighting, no threats to shut down the government and most importantly the decision to ignore the “Hastert Rule” and allow the vote to take place.

The Hastert Rule was a big player in the introduction of dysfunction into the legislative process. Even if a majority could be attained to pass a vote, the bill would not be brought to a vote unless a majority of the majority party was in favor the bill. Good luck trying to get that to occur in the case of proposing no “quid pro quo” in the proposal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

The very idea of some form of cooperation by both sides for the common good has been so infrequent as to appear unique in our history. Although the common good may actually have taken a back seat to the need to prevent looking really bad again, whatever the root cause for a cessation to a particular form of dysfunction was welcome news.

While that was being ruminated, Janet Yellen began her first appearance as Federal Reserve Chairman, as mandated by the Humphrey-Hawkins Bill.

Despite the length of the hearings which would have even tired out Bruce Springsteen, they were entirely civil, respectful and diminished in the use of political dogma and talking points. There may have even been some fleeting moments of constructive dialogue.

Normal people do that sort of thing.

But beyond that the market reacted in a straightforward way to Janet Yellen’s appearance and message that the previous path would be the current path. People, when functioning in a normal fashion consider good news to be good news. They don’t play speculative games trying to take what is clear on the surface to its third or fourth derivative.

Unfortunately, for those who like volatility, as I do, because it enhances option premiums, the lack of dysfunction and the more rational approach to markets should diminish the occurrence of large moves in opposite directions to one another. In the real world realities don’t shift that suddenly and on such a regular basis, however, the moods that have moved the markets have shifted furiously as one theory gets displaced by the next.

How long can dysfunction stay on vacation? Human nature being what it is, unpredictable and incapable of fully understanding reality, is why so many in need stop taking their medications, particularly for chronic disorders. I suspect it won’t be long for dysfunction to re-visit.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum and “PEE” categories this week (see details).

Speaking of dysfunction, that pretty well summarizes the potash cartel. Along with other, one of my longtime favorite stocks, Mosaic (MOS) has had a rough time of things lately. In what may be one of the great blunders and miscalculations of all time, there is now some speculation that the cartel may resume cooperation, now that the CEO of the renegade breakaway has gone from house arrest in Belarus to extradition to Russia and as none of the members of the cartel have seen their fortunes rise as they have gone their separate ways.

In the interim Mosaic has traded in a very nice range after recovering from the initial shock. While I still own more expensively priced shares their burden has been somewhat eased by repetitive purchases of Mosaic and the sale of call contracts. Following an encouraging earnings report shares approached their near term peak. I would be anxious to add shares on even a small pullback, such as nearing $47.50.

^TNX ChartOne position that I’ve enjoyed sporadically owning has been MetLife (MET) which reported earnings last week. As long as interest rates are part of anyone’s equation for predicting where markets or stocks will go next, MetLife is one of those stocks that received a bump higher as interest rates started climbing concurrent with the announcement of the Federal Reserve;’s decision to initiate a taper to Quantitative Easing.

Cisco (CSCO), to hear the critics tell the story is a company with a troubled future and few prospects under the continued leadership of John Chambers. For those with some memory, you may recall that Chambers has been this route before and has been alternatively glorified, pilloried and glorified again. Currently, he has been a runner-up in the annual contest to identify the worst CEO of the year.

Personally, I have no opinion, but I do like the mediocrity in which shares have been mired. It’s that kind of mediocrity that creates a stream of option premiums and, in the case of Cisco, dividends, as well. With the string of disappointments continued at last week’s earnings report, Cisco did announce another dividend increase while it recovered from much of the drop that it sustained at first.

I’m never quite certain why I like Whole Foods (WFM). What this winter season has shown is that many people are content to stay at home any eat whatever gluten they can find rather than brave the elements and visit a local store for the healthier things in life. I think Whole Foods is now simply making the transition from growth stock to boring stock. If that is the case I expect to be owning it more often as with boring comes that price predictability that appeals to me so much.

This week’s potential dividend trades are a disparate group if you ignore that they have all under-performed the S&P 500 since its peak.

General Electric (GE) is just one of those perfect examples of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and perhaps not being in the right place at the right time. Much of General Electric’s woes when the market was crumbling in 2008 was its financial services group. Since the market bottom its shares have outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 50%, as GE has taken steps to reduce its financial services portfolio. Unfortunately that means that it won’t be in a position to benefit from any rising interest rate environment as can reasonably be expected to be in our future.

Still, coming off its recent price decline and offering a strong dividend this week its shares look inviting, even if only for a short term holding.

L Brands (LB) along with most of the rest of the retail sector hasn’t been reflective of a strong consumer economy. Having recovered about 50% of its recent fall and going ex-dividend this coming week I’m ready to watch it recover some more lost ground as its specialty retailing has appeared to have greater resilience than department store competitors. 

Transocean (RIG) still hasn’t recovered from its recent ratings cut from “sector outperform” to “sector perform.” I’ve never understood the logic of that kind of  assessment, particularly if the sector may still be in a position to outperform the broad market. However, equally hard to understand is the reaction, especially when the entire sector goes down in unison in response. Subsequently Transocean also received an outright “sell” recommendation and has been mired near its two year lows.

With a very healthy ex-dividend date this week I may have renewed interest in adding shares. While he has been quiet of late, at its latest disclosure, Icahn Enterprises (IEP) owned approximately 6% of Transocean and to some degree serves as a floor to share price, as does the dividend which is scheduled to increase to $3 annually.

However, as with L Brands, which also reports earnings on February 26, 2104, I would also consider an exit or rollover strategy for those that may want to mitigate earnings related risk that will present itself. Such strategies may include closing out the position below the purchase price or rolling over to a March 2014 option in order to have some additional time to ride out any storms.

There’s really not much reason to take sides in the validity of claims regarding the nature of Herbalife (HLF). It has certainly made for amusing theater, as long as you either stayed on the sidelines or selected the right side. With the recent suggestion that some on the long side of the equation have been selling shares this week’s upcoming earnings release may offer some opportunity, as shares have already fallen nearly 16%.

While the option market is only implying a 7.2% move in share price, the sale of a put can return a weekly 1% ROI even at a strike price 13.7% below the current price. That is about the largest cushion I recall seeing and does look appealing for those that may have an inclination to take on risk. I’m a little surprised of how low the implied price movement appears to be, however, the surprise is answered when seeing how unresponsive shares have been the past year upon earnings news.

Also reporting earnings this week is Groupon (GRPN), a stock that has taken on some credibility since replacing its one time CEO, who never enjoyed the same cycle of adulation and disdain as did John Chambers. While the “Daily Deal” space is no longer one that gets much attention, Groupon has demonstrated that all of the cautionary views warning of how few barriers to entry existed, were vacuous. Where there were few barriers were to exit the space. 

In the meantime the options market is predicting a 13.9% move related to earnings, while a weekly 1.3% ROI could possibly be achieved with a price movement of less than 19%. While that kind of downward move is possible, there is some very strong support above there.

Finally, there is the frustration of owning AIG (AIG) at the moment. The frustration comes from watching for the second successive earnings report shares climb smartly higher in the after-hours and then completely reverse direction the following day. I continue to believe that its CEO, Robert Benmosche is something of a hero for the manner in which he has restored AIG and created an historical reference point in the event anyone ever questions some future day bailout of a systemically vital company.

None of that hero worship matters as far as any proposed purchased this coming week. However, shares may be well priced and in a sector that’s ready for some renewed interest.

Traditional Stocks: AIG, Cisco, MetLife, Whole Foods

Momentum Stocks: Mosaic

Double Dip Dividend: General Electric (ex-div 2/20), L Brands (ex-div 2/19), Transocean (ex-div 2/19)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Groupon (12/20 PM) , Herbalife (2/18 PM)

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The overriding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

Nov142013

Cisco was a Friend of Mine

Articles

You have to be of a certain age to recognize the Cisco Kid character, but somewhat younger to be familiar with the song that paid homage to the fictional character.

After terrible earnings and poorly received guidance that stunned most everyone, Cisco (CSCO) hasn’t made many friends, but it’s still a friend of mine.

Maybe the problem is all in the name. No, not Cisco, there are worse things in the world than being confused for a food services company. Maybe the problem is in the name John Chambers.

Barely two years ago it was a John Chambers, as head of Standard and Poors’ Sovereign Debt Committee who lowered the debt rating of US Treasury debt. He wasn’t very popular at the time, as many people are put off when they can connect the dots and point fingers at the catalyst for a market wide plunge.

But the John Chambers who is the CEO of Cisco has seen his popularity mirror that of many stocks, in general, as it has gone up and down and up again.

Now it’s down.

Not too long ago John Chambers was said to be on the short list to be the Treasury Secretary in the Bush administration. He was regarded as a model CEO of the new economy and his slow drawl and transparency were welcome alternatives to the obfuscation spun by so many others. His candor during interviews in the immediate moments of earnings being released were always respected.

Then the bottom fell out from Cisco and there were calls for his ouster. Seeing share price in 2011 challenge the lows of 2009 wasn’t the sort of thing that engendered confidence and the calls went out for his head. At that point Treasury Secretary may have been looking pretty good, but that ship had long sailed.

But Chambers was eventually rehabilitated. Rising stock prices, perhaps buoyed by aggressive buybacks, will do that for you. In fact, if you conveniently have data points extend only from the lows in August 2011 to yesterday, Cisco actually out-performed the broader index.

Ironically, John Chambers is somewhat like fictional The Cisco Kid, who actually started his life as a cruel outlaw, but became regarded as being a heroic character. It’s just that Chambers can stay a hero.

Chambers has been there and done that, but now he’s back in that dark place, where people are even poking fun at his drawl and once again saying that his ship has sailed. Perhaps plunges on two successive earnings releases will create that kind of feeling. He certainly may have cut back a bit on his candor, as even his appearance yesterday offered little insight into the disappointment that awaited.

In fact, many asked, given how substantive the alterations in forward guidance were, why Cisco didn’t pre-announce or issue revised guidance weeks ago.

Personally, I don’t see the difference between getting hit with an earnings related surprise earlier, rather than when scheduled. I actually prefer knowing the date and time that i may see my shares subject to evisceration.

I owned Cisco shares and have done so on 5 different occasions this year. My shares had calls written upon them and were due to expire November 22, 2013. Barely a few hours ago they seemed certain to be assigned. Now they are more likely to be seeking rollover opportunity to a future date.

As most everyone has piled on the sell wagon, much as had occurred with Oracle (ORCL), which also had two successive share plunges after disappointing earnings, I believe that for the short term trader and particularly for the covered option trader, this most recent fall in share price is just an entry opportunity.

Yesterday, I did something that I very rarely do. I purchased shares in the after hours. Usually when I do so, in the anticipation that by morning calmer heads will prevail, I’m typically wrong. That was the case with Cisco this morning.

In addition to buying shares in the after hours, another thing that I rarely do is to purchase shares without immediately or very shortly after selling calls on those shares. In essence, both actions were counter to my overall desire to limit risk.

While I’m usually on the wrong side of momentum when entering, I look at these positions as ones to generate both capital gains from shares and option premium income, whereas for the majority of my positions I emphasize premium and dividend income.

In the case with Oracle, opportunity existed after bad news and exaggerated downward price movements. SInce I tend to be short term oriented, I only care about the opportunity and not about structural issues that may have longer term impact.

While earnings represented a risk and shares moved quite a bit more than the implied movement, suggesting that investors were surprised and unprepared, I think the risk is now greatly discounted.

I make no judgment regarding the ability of Cisco, whether under Chambers’ leadership or anyone else to compete in the marketplace and to recapture its glory or restore Chambers to a position of honor.

Instead, Cisco is nothing more than a vehicle. The Cisco Kid had his horse, John Chambers had his buybacks and for some the shares of this beleaguered company are the vehicle of the day.

Aug242013

Weekend Update – August 25, 2013

Weekend Update

You’re only as good as your earnings. Having stopped making an honest living a little on the early side, I still need to make money, or otherwise my wife would insist that I do something other than watch a moving stock ticker all day.

Since there’s far too much competition on the highway exit near our home and my penmanship has deteriorated due to excessive keyboard use, I’ve come to realize that stock derived earnings, predominantly from the sale of options and accrual of dividends, are the only thing keeping me from joining those less fortunate.

I’m under no delusions. I am only as good as my earnings, just as Bob Greifeld, CEO of NASDAQ (NDAQ) should be under no delusions, as he is only as good as his response to the most recent NASDAQ failing.

On that count, I may have the advantage, although he may have better hygiene and a wardrobe that includes a clean hoodie.

There was a time that we thought of stocks in very much the same earnings centric way. If earnings were good the stock was good. There was a time that we didn’t dwell quite as much on the macro-economic data and we certainly didn’t spend time thinking about Europe or China.

However, after this most recent earnings season, which will come to an end a few days before the next season is kicked off on October 8, 2013, maybe it’s a good thing that it’s only during the otherwise slow summer months when other news is sparse, that we focus on earnings.

If you’ve been paying attention, this hasn’t been a particularly encouraging month, especially as far as retail sales go, which are about as good a reflection of discretionary spending as you can find. Beyond that, listening to guidance can make shivers run down one’s spine as less than rosy earnings pictures are being painted for the future. The very future that our markets are supposed to be discounting.

As it is the S&P 500 is now about 0.3% below the earlier all time high that was hit on May 21, 2013. That in turn gave way to a rapid 5.7% fall and equally rapid 8.6% recovery to new highs. By all historical measures that post-May 21st drop was small as compared to the gains since November 2012 and we are right back to that level.

Perhaps once summer is over and our elected officials return to Washington, DC, not only would they have an opportunity to see me at a highway exit, but they may also get back to doing the things that create the dysfunction that makes earnings less salient.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum and “PEE” selections this week (see details).

Most of the positions considered this week are themselves lower than they were at the low point following the May 21st peak and have underperformed the S&P 500 since that time. For the moment, as I contribute to cling to the idea that there will be some additional market weakness, my comfort level is increased by focusing on positions that don’t have as much to fall.

I’ve been anxious to buy either Cisco (CSCO) or Oracle (ORCL) ever since Cisco’s disappointing earnings report. During more vibrant markets a drop in the share price of an otherwise good company would stand out as a buying opportunity. However, recently there has been more competition among those companies suffering precipitous earnings related price drops. While striving to keep my cash reserves at sufficient levels to allow me to go on a wild spending spree, I’ve resisted opportunities in CIsco and Oracle. Both, however, are getting more and more appealing as their prices sink further.

Oracle will report its earnings right before the end of the September 2013 option cycle and I have a very hard time believing that it could be three disappointments in a row, especially after some high profile remarks by CEO Larry Ellison regarding leadership at Apple (AAPL) that could come back to haunt him, even if only in terms of comparative share performance.

A technology company that always intrigues me, if at the price point relative to its option contract strikes, is Cypress Semiconductor (CY). It’s products and technology are quietly everywhere. However, its CEO, T.J. Rodgers has become precisely the opposite, as he is increasingly appearing in the media and offering political and policy opinions that make you wonder whether he is getting detached from the business, as perhaps may be said of Ellison. In Cypress Semiconductor’s case I think the business is small and focused enough that it can withstand some diversions. It is one of the few positions that has outperformed the S&P 500 since May 21st.

Among companies reporting earnings this week is salesforce.com (CRM), which also has Larry Ellison connections. the most recent of which is a great example of how business and strategic needs may trump personal feelings. For those who would innocently suffer collateral damage otherwise, that is the way it should be, as two companies seek to have the sum of their parts create additional value. While I do own shares of salesforce.com, I would be inclined to consider the sale of puts as a means to add additional shares and achieve an earnings stream of 1% for the week while awaiting the market’s reaction to earnings. My only hesitancy is that the strike at which that return can be achieved as more close to the strike of the implied move downward than I would ordinarily like.

Having recently lost shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) to early assignment in order to capture its dividend, I’ve wanted to re-purchase shares. Along with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) that I have been wanting to add for a while, they both offer attractive option premiums and are both 5% below their May 21st prices, which I believe limits their short term risk, during a period that I prefer to be somewhat defensive. Additionally, Bristol Myers offers extended weekly options that can be used as part of a broader strategy to attempt and stagger option expiration dates and perhaps infusions of cash back into portfolios for new purchases.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group (SBGI) is a local television broadcasting powerhouse that just purchased the important Washington, DC ABC affiliate. But it is far more than a local presence, as it has quietly become the nation’s largest operator of television stations, barely 4 years after fears of bankruptcy. Of course its recent buying spree may put pressures on the bottom line, but for now it is coming off a nearly 8% earnings related price decline and goes ex-dividend this week. Both of those work for me.

JP Morgan (JPM) which is increasingly becoming the poster child for everything wrong with big banks, at least from the point of view of regulators and the Department of Justice, finally showed a little bit of price stability by mid-week. Although I don’t know how any initiatives directed toward JP Morgan will work out, I’m reasonably sure that talk of looking at Jamie Dimon as a potential Treasury Secretary won’t be rekindled anytime soon. At current price levels, however, I think shares warrant another look.

While I’m not a terribly big fan of controversy, I think it may be time to publicly proclaim support for Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF). Having suffered through ownership beginning prior to the dividend cut, it has been an uncomfortable experience, ameliorated a bit by occasional purchase of additional shares and sacrificing them for their option premiums. Beginning with a report approximately 6 weeks ago that China had purchased a massive amount of nickel in the London commodity market, Cliffs has been slowly showing strength that may suggest demand for iron ore is increasing. Held hostage to our perceptions of the health of the Chinese economy, which can vary wildly from day to day, Cliffs’ share price can be equally volatile, but I believe will be rewarding for the strong of stomach.

Finally, Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF) was widely criticized as no longer being “cool.” That suits me just fine, figuratively, but not literally, as I resist wearing anyone’s logo with compensation. However, after joining other teen retailers in receiving earnings related punishment, I sold puts on its shares and happily saw them expire. Long a favorite stock of mine on which to generate option premium income, I think it’s at a price level that may offer some stability even with a demographic customer base that may not offer the same stability. This has been a great company to practice serial covered call writing, as long as you have a parallel strategy during the week of earnings release. In this case, that leaves three months of evaluating opportunities and perhaps even receiving a dividend before the next quarterly challenge.

Traditional Stocks: Bristol Myers Squibb, Cisco, Cypress Semiconductor, Eli Lilly, JP Morgan, Oracle

Momentum Stocks: Cliffs Natural Resources

Double Dip Dividend: Abercrombie and Fitch (ex-div 8/29), Sinclair Broadcasting (ex-div 8/28)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: salesforce.com (8/29 PM)

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may be become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The over-riding objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

 

May122013

Weekend Update – May 12, 2013

Weekend Update

There’s certainly no way to deny the fact that this has been an impressive first 4 months of the year. The recently touted statistic was that after 4 months and one week the market had gone up 13%.

To put that into the perspective the statistic wanted you to have, the statistical factoid added that for all of 2012 the market was up only 7.2%. That certainly tells you not only how impressive this gain has been but how 2013 will undoubtedly leave 2012 in the dust.

What is left unmentioned is that in 2012, in a period of only 3 months and 1 week the market was up 12.9%.

What happened? Could that happen again? Those are questions asked by someone who turned cautious when the market was up less than 8% in 2013 and wasn’t adequately cautious in 2012.

SInce 1970, the S&P 500 has finished the year with gains of greater than 14% on a total of 16 occasions, so there could easily be more to come. That can easily be a justifiable perspective to hold unless you also look at the margins by which 14% was exceeded. In that event, the perspective becomes less compelling. It’s still possible to end the year substantially higher than 14%, just not as likely as such a great start might suggest.

But remember, statistics don’t mislead people. People mislead people.

There was little to no substantive news this past week as the market just continued on auto-pilot. If you owned shares of any of the stocks that had super-sized moves after earnings, such as Tesla (TSLA) or Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), that was news enough. But for the rest of us it was quiet.

What was interesting, however, was the behavior of the market during the final hour of Thursday’s trading.

That period marked a turnaround sending the market quite a bit lower, at least based on recent standards when only higher seems to be the order of the day. Initially, the drop was ascribed to a strengthening of the dollar and further drop in gold. Those, however, had been going on for a while, having started earlier in the trading session.

What came to light and whose timing was curiously coincident with the market change in direction was a rumor of a rumor that someone from within JP Morgan (JPM) was suggesting that the Federal Reserve was ready to begin tapering its Treasury purchases, those signaling the beginning of an end to Quantitative Easing.

For the growing throng that believe that QE has been responsible for the market’s climb higher, life after QE couldn’t possibly be rosy.

First comes an errant AP Tweet, then an unconfirmed rumor of a rumor. Those incidents would seem to indicate vulnerability or at least an Achilles heel that could stand in the way of this year becoming the 17th in the list.

Easily said, but otherwise, there’s really not much else on the radar screen that appears poised to interfere with the market’s manifest destiny. Unless of course, Saturday’s Wall Street Journal report that the Federal Reserve has indeed mapped out a strategy for winding down QE, transforms rumor into potential reality.

As usual, the week’s potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or “PEE” categories (see details). Additionally, as the week unwinds, I may place relatively greater emphasis on dividend paying stocks and give greater consideration to monthly contracts, in order to lock into option premiums for a longer period in the event that 2012 is the order of the day.

This week’s selections seem to have more healthcare stocks than usual. I know that healthcare may have already run its course as it was a market leader through the first 4 months of 2012, but some individual names haven’t been to the party or have recently fallen on hard times.

Amgen (AMGN) didn’t react terribly well following its recent earnings report, having fallen 6%. That’s not to say that it hadn’t enjoyed a nice gain in 2013. However, it does offer an attractive short term option premium, despite also being ex-dividend this week. That’s a combination that I like, especially when I still remain somewhat defensive in considering opening new positions.

Eli Lilly (LLY) is also trading ex-dividend this coming week. It has under-performed the S&P 500 this year, but still, a 10% gain YTD isn’t a bad four months of work. It has fallen about 7% since reporting its most recent quarter’s earnings.

Merck (MRK) isn’t joining the ex-dividend parade this week, but will do so during the June 2013 option cycle for those a little more long term oriented than I typically tend to be. However, during a period of having repositioned myself defensively, the longer term options have utility and can provide a better price cushion in the event of adverse market moves.

I’ve owned shares of Conoco Phillips (COP) only once since the spin-off of its refinery arm, Phillips 66 (PSX). It used to be a very regular part of my portfolio prior to that occasion. The parent certainly hasn’t fared as well as the child in the 15 months since Phillips 66 has traded as a public company. The 80% difference in return is glaring. But like so many stocks, I think Phillips 66 isn’t priced for a new purchase, while Conoco Phillips represents some opportunity. Additionally, though not yet announced, there should be a dividend forthcoming in the next week or two.

I don’t recall why I didn’t purchase shares of Marathon Oil (MRO) last week after a discussion of its merits, but it probably had to do with the limited buying I was doing across the board. It reported earnings last week, perhaps that was a risk factor that didn’t have commensurate reward in the option premiums offered. But this week, with that risk removed, it goes ex-dividend and the consideration begins anew.

Although I already own shares of JP Morgan, I would consider adding to that position. Regardless of what your opinion is on the issue of separating the roles of Chairman and CEO, there’s not too much disagreement that Jamie Dimon will forever be remembered as one of the supporting pillars during and in the immediate aftermath of our financial meltdown. The recent spate of diversions has kept JP Morgan from keeping pace with the S&P 500 during 2013, but I believe it is capable of cutting that gap.

Autodesk (ADSK) reports earnings this week and is down about 4% from its recent high. I often like to consider earnings trades on shares that are already down somewhat, however, shares are up quite a bit in the past 3 weeks. While the options market was implying about a 6% move upon earnings, anything less than a 7% move downward could offer a 1.1% option premium for the week’s exposure to risk.

Salesforce.com (CRM) is another of those rare companies that haven’t kept up with market lately. That’s been especially true since its recent stock split. Although it does offer a an attractive weekly premium, the challenge may lie the possibility that shares are not assigned as the May 2013 option cycle ends, because earnings are reported during the first week of the June 2013 cycle. Barring a large downward move prior to earnings, there would certainly be ample time to re-position with another weekly or even monthly option contract prior to earning’s release.

To round off my over-exposure to the technology sector, I may consider either adding more shares of Cisco (CSCO) or selling puts in advance of this week’s earning’s report. I’ve added shares in each of three successive weeks and don’t believe that Cisco’s earnings will reflect some of the woes expressed by Oracle (ORCL). My only personal concern is related to the issue of diversification, but for the moment, technology may be the sector in which to throw caution to the wind.

US Steel (X) has been one of those stocks that I’m not terribly happy about, although that really only pertains to the current lot that I hold. Along with pretty much everything in the metals complex, US Steel hasn’t fared very well the past few months. However, I think that I am ready for a resurgence in the sector and am hoping that the sector agrees with me, or at least continues to show some strength as it has this past week.

Finally, despite having owned Facebook (FB) since the IPO and currently owning two individual lots, priced at $29 and $27.17, it remains one of my favorite new stocks. Not because I can count on it going to $30, but because I can count on it staying in a reasonable pricing neighborhood and becoming a recurrent stream of option income.

Traditional Stocks: Cisco, Conoco Phillips, Merck, Salesforce.com

Momentum Stocks: Facebook, US Steel

Double Dip Dividend: Amgen (ex-div 5/14), Eli Lilly (ex-div 5/14), Marathon Oil (ex-div 5/14)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Autodesk (5/16 PM)

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. Some of the above selections may be sent to Option to Profit subscribers as actionable Trading Alerts, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts. Alerts are sent in adjustment to and consideration of market movements, in an attempt to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.