Friday, January 17, 2014

IWM puts

Bought Jan 2016 $95 puts on IWM (Russell 2000 index).  IWM is currently trading at $116.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Bought EXETF

Bought 1/3 of a targeted 6% position in EXETF.  I'm still cautious about the market as a whole, but EXETF is selling below enterprise value, and has a 7% dividend, and has a spin-off in the works...  I think it's worth a 2% risk.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

ZOMG sell everything!

I haven't been updating this blog, but I've still been making changes to my investments.  I just made a major change in risk exposure, which prompted me to make this post.

On Friday, June 5th, an indicator I follow ticked over from "stay invested in the equity market" to "remove exposure to the equity markets."

Accordingly, I sold most of my stock market holdings.  I still have PHYS and PSLV (physical bullion) and SCPZF (natural resources, including natural gas, oil, cattle, and farms).  I still have AAPL calls at various expiration dates, much of which are out of the money (sigh).  I still own JGBD (3x inverse ETN on Japanese Government Bonds) and have 2015 puts on FXY (Japanese Yen).

I also have both 2013 and 2014 puts on IWM (Russell 2000).  This hedge is left over from when I had more equity exposure and I may close it now that I'm hedged with cash.

I also have outstanding owed puts (I sold my promise to buy to someone else) on NES (which was HEK) which expire this month, so I may or may not be put the shares.

Discussion of the indicator from 2009:  http://boards.fool.com/sell-in-june-and-go-away-27760614.aspx

Current discussion:  http://boards.fool.com/sell-in-june-signal-30721820.aspx

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Bought CRM puts

Bought Mar 16 2013 $150 strike puts on CRM for $2.00.

Bought Sept 21 2013 $5 strike calls on HNR for $1.40.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Sold HEK puts

Sold HEK puts.  These puts have a strike price of $4/share and an expiration of June 2013.  The premium paid was $0.60.  I already own HEK stock, but would like to own more.  If these puts are exercised by the buyer, I will be put HEK stock to fill my target allocation.

The total premium is 15% of the strike price; since I use only secured puts, that means I'm earning 15% on the money I've set aside for this position.  The option duration is 4.1 months, so I'm earning 3.66% per month.  I wouldn't make this trade if I didn't want to own the stock.

Sold IRE

Sold IRE for $8.57.

Bought ROIC

Bought ROIC for $12.88/share.