September, traditionally the weakest month for the stock market. Balderdash! Not on the Trump Train! Speaking of the Trump Train, is this market moving so well because the fundamentals are so much better than last year and The Donald’s choo-choo is fictitious, or are we on a legit freight train powered by Trump optimism?
Unemployment is low (except for this week’s report), interest rates are low, inflation is low, corporate earnings are up and a tax plan is in the works, to mention a few good stories. Are the big wigs and fund managers that are hiding behind the left curtain, in reality optimistic about Trump? Are we in for a big drop coming into the best months, historically, for the market?
I don’t know! But I will be watching some stocks coming into earnings for a possible shift in strategy. You know I love Naked Calls but haven’t been doing many lately because of the market movement. I may slowly start getting back to my main strategy. I’ll watch and see.
I received an email from my broker stating that I’m up 58% in the last 3 months. That’s crazy! It’s great when the market moves in the direction conducive to your position’s profitability. Because of this success my broker is trying to get me to deposit more funds into my account in exchange for a number of commission free trades. I’m not sure what I’m going to do but I’m going to try to be more cautious in the coming weeks to try not to give back my profits.
Having said that, I just had the biggest week of the year. My total weekly gain was $10,830. This is what happens when the market moves in your direction. I have a lot of trades to report so some of my explanations will be truncated.
Micron
Below you will see I bought Micron at $32.85 and sold a long term option expiring in January. The stock took off and was up to my Strike Price. Since I had a big profit in the stock and I was able to buy my way out of the option obligation with not much loss, I closed the position. I made $7150 on the stock and I lost $2000 on the “Buy to Close” of the option for a total profit of $5150.
Closing out a Covered Call at a profit
9/11/17 – Buy 1000 MU @ $32.85
10/2/17 – Sell 1000 MU @ $40.00
Profit +$7150
9/18/17 – Sell to Open 10 MU 1/19/18 $40.00 C @ $1.70 (+$1700)
10/2/17 – Buy to Close 10 MU 1/19/18 $40.00 C @ $3.70 (-$3700)
Loss -$2000
Total Covered Call Profit +$5150
RH
With RH I did the same thing as Micron above. I closed out a position to lock in stock profit.
Closing out a Covered Call at a profit
9/22/17 – Buy 1000 Shares RH @ $72.50
10/4/17 – Sell 1000 Shares RH @ $76.85
Profit +$4350
10/2/17 – Sell to Open 10 RH 10/6/17 $73.50 C @ $1.00 (+$1000)
10/4/17 – Buy to Close 10 RH 10/6/17 $73.50 C @ $3.00 (-$3000)
Loss -$2000
Total Covered Call Profit +$2350
RH
This was another RH Covered Call I held to expiration.
9/20/17 – Buy 1000 Shares RH @ $72.67
10/6/17 – Assigned 1000 Shares RH @ $73.50
Profit +$830
10/2/17 – Sell to Open 10 RH 10/6/17 $73.50 C @ $1.00 (+$1000)
10/6/17 – Expired 10 RH 10/6/17 $73.50 C
Profit +$1000
RH
When I got out of the Covered Call above with the $2350 profit, I freed up some margin and I did another Covered Call a day before expiration. I ended up making $100 on the stock assignment and made a $1000 premium.
10/5/17 – Buy 1000 Shares RH @ $75.90
10/6/17 – Assigned 1000 Shares RH @ $76.00
Profit +$100
10/5/17 – Sell to Open 10 RH 10/6/17 $76.00 C @ $1.00 (+$1000)
10/6/17 – Expired 10 RH 10/6/17 $76.00 C
Profit +$1000
SNAP
Last week I did an At-the-Money Buy-Write with Snap. I didn’t make anything on the stock assignment because it was a true At-the-Monet Call, but I was in this deal for the premium only. It was a 2.7% return for a 1 week trade.
9/29/17 – Buy 1000 Shares SNAP @ $14.50
10/6/17 – Assigned 1000 Shares SNAP @ $14.50
Profit $0
9/29/17 – Sell to Open 10 SNAP 10/6/17 $14.50 C @ 40¢ ($400)
10/6/17 – Expired 10 SNAP 10/6/17 $14.50 C
Profit +$400
If you have any questions on any trade please email me.
Total Weekly Gain +$10,830
Steve
The Options Coach