Weekly: return of the Zombie Bull

The Zombie Bull market continues to lurch forward. I am still paying for selling calls short about a month ago. This week is particularly frustrating because AMGN and ASH pull back from their highs after I bought shares to cover short calls. GLD bounces a bit. 

Some side notes are that the AAII sentiment (link) is near nose bleed levels. This week it is 58% bulls, 23% neutral, 19% bears, a danger sign for bulls, though they have been right for a while. The local CANSLIM meetup is disbanding because the most dedicated leader is moving on. Stock market meetups closing down, tend not to be the kind of thing that happens during bubble bull markets.

Fri I open December long positions in Nordstroms and Nike.

Sell JWN Dec 67.5 puts @75.1

Sell NKE Dec 87.5 puts @95.5

I cover a couple of options for a buck or two to free up that margin.

Cover short YHOO Nov 39 puts @51.2

Cover short NKE Nov 82.5 puts @95.1

Wed Cover short SPY Nov 204 calls @204.1. Another day, another short call covered for a huge percentage loss about 600% basis the premium collected. Phooey.

I open December long positions in Union Pacific railroad and Amgen

Sell UNP Dec 110 puts @120.2 .51

Sell AMGN Dec 145 puts @162.3 .45

Mon Buy ASH shares to hedge the short Nov 110 calls @110.77. Another busted short strangle, another scramble for damage control.

Cover FDX Nove 145 puts @171. I free up some buying power by covering these way out of the money puts. They are almost sure to expire worthless, but I am near the yellow line on buying power. I don't want to red line and face an unexpected and unwelcome margin call, especially with my current schedule with limited computer access.

Position Summary

long HON ILMN NKE UNH UNP WHR YHOO

net long AMGN APC ASH JWN

net short DIS FDX VRX

net neutral BRKB GLD IWM SPY TLT