Whew! Options expiration in October turned out to have some fairly bullish consequences. Such is life on the cusp of Helicopter Ben's much-telegraphed QE2, when every actor anticipates every asset class to be bid up. My holdings of FXI and TDW went through their strike prices and were called away last Friday; today I bought them back as a wash sale.
I maintain long puts against LMT and IYR.
I wrote covered calls on GDX, FXI, and TDW.
I wrote cash-covered puts under GDX and TDW because I wouldn't mind adding more to my stake if forced. I did not do so with FXI because China's economy is getting pretty bubblicious. I can't call the top so I'll have to live with riding China down; I can wait a decade or two for it to recover. A billion consumers will eventually emerge from a cocoon there. Many of them will end up as warriors.
I briefly considered writing cash-covered puts under KEX, but I ultimately decided I'd rather wait to pick it up super-cheap when the rest of the U.S. market craters. See, I'm willing to ride TDW down because it's at a P/E of 9 right now, but KEX is about twice as pricey (and thus has farther to fall to find a really attractive entry point).
Alas, if only FLIR were cheaper! It seems to be headed there, compared to where it was months ago.
I'm continuing to do my homework on "pick and shovel" plays on commodities like pipeline companies and oil services. I'm not done yet. Watch this space.
I maintain long puts against LMT and IYR.
I wrote covered calls on GDX, FXI, and TDW.
I wrote cash-covered puts under GDX and TDW because I wouldn't mind adding more to my stake if forced. I did not do so with FXI because China's economy is getting pretty bubblicious. I can't call the top so I'll have to live with riding China down; I can wait a decade or two for it to recover. A billion consumers will eventually emerge from a cocoon there. Many of them will end up as warriors.
I briefly considered writing cash-covered puts under KEX, but I ultimately decided I'd rather wait to pick it up super-cheap when the rest of the U.S. market craters. See, I'm willing to ride TDW down because it's at a P/E of 9 right now, but KEX is about twice as pricey (and thus has farther to fall to find a really attractive entry point).
Alas, if only FLIR were cheaper! It seems to be headed there, compared to where it was months ago.
I'm continuing to do my homework on "pick and shovel" plays on commodities like pipeline companies and oil services. I'm not done yet. Watch this space.
