Saturday, July 26, 2014

Weekly: Back from my trip


Back from my trip. I didn't take my computer and didn't do any trading. I did check the markets from time to time. I got right back into the swing with an active day on Friday. Highlights include new positions in FB, SWK, VRSN.

Fri Sell FB strangles: 
Sell FB Aug 60 puts / Sell Aug 95 calls @75.5. Facebook broke out from a chart base on earnings yesterday. It is extended, so I sell a net long strangle.

Sell VRSN Sep 49 puts @56.0. New long position in VeriSign, an Internet services company. VRSN up on earnings and also added more money to stock buy back program.

Sell APC Sep 90 puts @109.6. I open a September position in Anadarko Petroleum, adding to longs.

Sell SWK Sep 82.5 puts @90.7. New long position in Stanley Black & Decker. SWK up on earnings.

Sell BRKB Sep 115 puts @127.4. Add to longs in Berkshire Hathaway.

Position summary:
long AIG AMGN ASH BRKB CMI DIS EWG FDX HON
long JWN MON MSFT SLB SWK TWX UNH VRSN XLU
Net-long APC DIS FB GLD IWM SPY

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Early report: I'll be away, prelim C+ 30-5

I'm doing an informal early report for now because I will be traveling. I'll resume near normal blogging in about a week. What a time to be away, with the markets tumbling on news. So far the grade for the trading month is C+ with 30 winners 5 losers. If the markets continue to crater on Friday, I may have more losers.

The highlights for this week include a short strangle in Michael Kors KORS, a new long in Time Warner TWX in and a roll down for a loss in Monsanto MON. Trades follow:

Thu Cover short IWM Jul 112 puts @112.2. I cover these puts at a loss as the Russell 2000 moves lower on unsettling geopolitical news from Ukraine and Gaza.

Wed Sell TWX Aug 72.5 puts @84.2. New long position in Time Warner Cable. TWX up on a takeover bid from Fox. The strike price is the gap. Not much premium, but with option expiration coming on Friday, I will soon have a lot of free capital. Even if take over doesn't go, there will likely be some speculation premium for some time. Rarely do these events go that quickly.

Tue Sell APC Aug 95 puts @109.2. I rebalance my complex position in Anadarko Petroleum by adding another layer of short puts.

Sell KORS strangles I leg into the position selling the Aug 65 puts @80.5 and and the Aug 100 calls @80.1. New net long position in Michael Kors. KORS moving lower on analysts downgrades. The thinking is fewer Google searches on the name, and more discounting of the luxury merchandise. Why net long then? Because volatility is up, after two big down days. The strike prices of 65 and 100 are way out of the money.

Mon Roll down and out on MON. I cover short MON Jul 120 puts @119.8. I close my long position in Monsanto at a about a 100% loss basis the premium collected. Stock broke through the strike price. I am still bullish on MON so a minute later I sell some August 110 puts: Sell MON Aug 110 puts @119.9. 
 
Position summary:
long AIG AMGN ASH CMI DAL DIS EPI EWG FDX HON
long JWN MON MSFT SLB TWX UNH VRX WAG XLU
net long APC DIS GLD IWM SPY

expiring EPI VRX WAG

Friday, July 11, 2014

Weekly: Portugal and Wells Fargo

News events this week include a large bank in Portugal missing a bond payment, and poor earnings from Wells Fargo. I close two positions for big losses: short puts on Delta Air and on the Russell 2000 etf. Both rebounded off their lows, making the large percentage losses a bit more painful. Other highlights include new long positions in Cummings Engine CMI, Occidental Petroleum OXY, Federal Express FDX, and AIG insurance. 

My Russell 2000 position flipped to net long on the decline. A lot of my other longs declined in price, with Monsanto MON, and EWG the German stock etf being the most worrisome as they near their respective strike prices of 120 and 30. For now I am holding. Here are this week's trades:

Fri Sell APC Aug 130 calls @104.8. I hedge my long position in Anadarko Petroleum by selling calls. I am going way out of the money, because there were those unconfirmed take over rumors. The nearest short puts are the July 100s.

Thu Cover short IWM Jul 114 puts @114.1. News from Portugal sends U.S. stocks lower. I cover this layer of short put on the Russell 2000 for a 700% loss (basis the premium collected) in nine days. I dance a little too close to the flame, selling these puts so close in, and got burned. The low of the morning is 113.97, so IWM broke the strike price and that is one rule I use for covering. Again, there is a chance that this is the worst of it. As I type this up, IWM has rebounded. I have many layers of short IWM puts at various strikes and expirations. I will not roll the dice, in case this is part of a waterfall decline. I got out using one of my rules, not on emotion. As always, trading is easy in hindsight, not so easy in real time.

Sell OXY Aug 90 puts @104.5. New long position in Occidental Petroleum. I've been in the stock before in 2014. Chart is supportive, company continues to buy back stock, providing additional support.

Wed Sell CMI Aug 140 puts @155.2. New long position in Cummings Engine. CMI announced another $1 billion buy back, market cap is $28 billion. There is chart support, and 140 is a couple of support levels lower.

Sell AIG Aug 50 puts @55.0. New long position in AIG. Chart support at 52 and then 50.

Sell GLD Sep 118 puts @127.8. I open a September long position in gold. Seasonal factors and an ok chart are reasons.

Tue Cover short DAL Jul 35 puts @35.1. I cover these short puts on Delta Air for a humbling 400% loss basis the option premium collected. DAL continues to tumble lower, breaking below 35. When in doubt get out, especially when the stock crosses the strike price of short option. A few hours later, the stock has rebounded, perhaps after taking out some big stop-loss orders around the 35 level. Again, these things happen. It is frustrating to cover at near the worst levels of the move.

Mon Sell FDX Aug 140 puts @152.1. New long position in Federal Express. FDX broke out on earnings in June. 140 is where the stock was before earnings.

Position summary:
long AIG AMGN ASH CMI EPI EWG
long FDX HON JWN MON MSFT
long SLB UNH VRX WAG XLU
net long APC DIS IWM
net neutral DAL DIS GLD SPY

Thursday, July 03, 2014

Weekly: Will the Sky fall on the Bears?

A big push higher on Monday, followed by typical dull summer trade, then the holiday. I didn't do a 2nd quarter recap. The quick version is that stocks were up, bonds and gold are still having very good up years. I have done okay, but nothing to write home about. My weekly trade recap is at the end of this post with new longs in MSFT and XLU.
I found a sky will fall kind of article on Forbes (link1). Countering that a very bullish seasonal pattern that is soon to unfold.

The only certainty is that the more popular these crash columns are, the less likely that a crash is going to happen. This particular writer made a name for himself by calling the 2008 crisis. The old cliche don't mistake a bull market for brains may be in operation. Don't mistake one good call, one profound insight, calling the 2008 crisis, for real expertise in bull and bear markets. 

Sure some of the charts and warnings in the article are valid, even compelling. I have cited some of the same things such as the Schiller PE10 CAPE indicator. I wrote about the signs of a top a month ago (Tea Leaves for a Market top link2 and mentioned it back in 2013 link3).

The Forbes writer does some cherry picking on indicators. While some indicators are in bearish territory, many more are solidly in the average range. Selective vision tends to be the nature of fear mongering, sky is falling, points of view. 

Seeing the big picture the whole picture means the sky is falling (the financial sky will fall, but major market crashes are every 20 to 50 years (depending on how big a decline is a crash), not every five or seven years like so many of the wrong-way bears seem to think. The widely cited CAPE (ten year average of earnings) will see a big shift in 2018, because the year 2008, when many major companies reported a loss, will drop off the ten year average of earnings.

The big surprise for the mega bears might be that the stock market's ten-year pattern is about to enter its most bullish 18 months. This bull period starts September 30, 2014, ends March 30, 2016. In the middle of that, is the decennial pattern, that has year five of the decade as the most bullish of all years (Martin Pring has a good write up but the pdf will not link, search on "stock market decennail pattern, search link).

This means there is a chance that the widely forecast big banana stock market event in the fall turns into a big banana split and ice cream for everyone. With so many traders positioning for a big down move in the fall of 2014, by raising cash, buying puts, buying VIX calls, will the orderly drumbeat of the virtual army of bears turn into a panic and complete rout? Will the bears break ranks and scatter if there is yet another big rally? Will some bigger bolder bears go broke by going against the trend? Stay tuned Bat fans.

As long time readers know, I am not a fan of predictions. Predictions are mostly for entertainment, a fun game, but only have a little to do with making money. The money tends to be made doing the mechanics of trading, right sizing of positions, asset allocation, managing risk, taking losses as needed.

Some bullish arguments include an economy that may finally have some semblance of a normal recovery. The fracking oil boom means energy independence for the U.S. by 2020. Recent quarterly car sales were strong, above expectations. A good economy, might mean that every day people might have some money to spend, and businesses will do well. That would translate to higher earnings for public companies.

Most major market tops typically experience exuberance. While market timers may be super bullish, I observe fewer and fewer people paying much attention to paid market timers. Big time hedge fund managers seem to be more in the public spotlight than in the past. The people I meet in person and online, remain mostly cautious. I continue to be cautiously bullish. Some are raising cash, a few are buying puts for insurance. Yes, there are some signs of froth. The GoPro camera company IPO doubled in its first four days of trading. It is too fast a situation for me to trade. Some other big speculative stocks such as Netflix leaped to an all time record high. I am still looking for much more public exuberance before a major top is in place.

The caveat for the bullish seasonal pattern, is that seasonal patterns tend to the weakest and the most likely to be front run. For a made up example, if it is found that the market is always up on the 3rd trading day of the month, traders will buy on the 2nd day, and then the first as people spot these tendencies. If enough traders do this, the pattern becomes mush. With that, there may be broader psychological and social factors that influence the ten-year pattern because people behave differently at big milestone years such as 2000.

Another caveat is that while a major market top seems extremely unlikely, a correction of 5% to 10% can happen at any time. The recent past has been an unnaturally calm period. This USA Today article says 1000 days, 33 months, without a 10% correction (link5).

Much more natural is up and down trade. Big down days, weeks, months are part of normal action. They will come back, but their first appearance doesn't likely mean an imminent crash. If we do see a continued melt up, there might be a major top without a warning shot correction, but much more common is one or more warning shocks before the big one hits.

My weekly trading summary follows:
Thu Sell MSFT Aug 38 puts .16 @41.8. New long position in Microsoft.

Sell XLU Sep 40 puts .39 @42.5. New long position in the Utility etf, with three hard down days and decent chart support.

Tue Sell IWM Aug 108 puts @119.6. Later in the trading day, I sell some IWM Jul 114 puts @120.4. As the Russell 2000 continues to rally, I keep tap dancing, selling more and more layers of puts, rebalancing my net short position. A close above 120.6 and I cry uncle on the July 120 calls.

Elsewhere, I hold my nose and buy. I open August positions in Anadarko Petroleum APC, Berkshire Hathaway BRKB, Disney DIS, and United Healthcare UNH:
Sell BRKB Aug 120 puts @127.0.
Sell APC Aug 92.5 puts @109.0.
Sell DIS Aug 77.5 puts @86.6
Sell UNH Aug 75 puts @82.1

Mon Sell IWM Jul 112 puts @118.7. I rebalance my position in the Russell 2000 etf. I am still net short, but a bit less so. Nearest short calls are the June 120 calls. If IWM makes a new high on the close (120.6 or so), I will cover these short calls. I have multiple layers of short puts.

Position summary:
long AMGN APC ASH EPI EWG HON JWN
long MON MSFT SLB UNH VRX WAG XLU
net neutral DAL DIS GLD SPY
net short IWM