Looking good
Last week’s market action spoke for itself and confirmed what the weekly trend analysis has been saying for some time now – that the intermediate- and longer-term trends remain up.
While some stocks that have been performing well all along could be said to be getting rather extended here (for example, some of those in the Russell 2000), others – especially many big cap and NASDAQ stocks – are still trading below their long-term (10-year) linear regression trendlines, suggesting that there’s still potentially plenty of room on the upside.
New Positions
Ameren (AEE) – Early last week I sold some May 50-strike puts on AEE as it dipped back below the 50 level, which it’s been fluctuating around for the last couple of months.
The stock, along with other utilities, has been on my watchlist of “oversold” candidates for a while now and looks like it might have bottomed out here in the short or intermediate term. In any case, with its 5% dividend yield, I wouldn’t mind being put the stock.
Fresh Del Monte (FDP) – This stock has been on my “beaten down” watchlist for a while, and last week after it dropped further I finally sold some May 17-1/2-strike puts against it. Naturally the company then announced it was slashing its 4%+ dividend. 
While it’s probably not a bad technical and “value” play around these levels, if I end up being put the shares I won’t be slow to exit the position at any early opportunity.
Molson Coors (TAP) – TAP had been showing good strength recently (approaching the 75 level), so I opportunistically sold some May 70-strike puts against it after it sold off on disappointing earnings and a downgrade.
The U-turn sell-off all the way back down to the 67 level was a bit more than I was expecting, but I’m still comfortable with the idea of owning the stock around these levels if it’s put to me – as long as the dividend isn’t slashed! 
Unilever (UN) – UN is another stock that showed up recently on my “upside strength” scans. Late last week I sold some May 70-strike puts against it on a dip back to the 70 level after the company announced its (“on-track”) earnings.
I’ve sold puts before on UN and wouldn’t mind owning it if it’s put to me.
J.P. Morgan (JPM) – Also late last week I sold some June 45-strike covered calls against my long position in JPM as the stock moved above the 46 level.
I’m sure this is probably premature – JPM looks like it could easily reach 48-50 in the short term – but I wanted to get this position on before next week, when my account is automatically switched over to E*Trade from BrownCo (which E*Trade bought last year). I’m not sure what issues I might expect with E*Trade, and in fact may just switch my account to another broker altogether.
Watchlist
Not surprisingly, a lot of stocks showed up on this week’s “upside strength” scans; new ones of interest include Alcan (AL), Diebold (DBD), Goodrich (GR), Koninklijke Philips Electronics (PHG), and Universal Health Services (UHS).
New stocks of interest appearing on the “oversold” scans include Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP), SYSCO (SYY), and Westwood One (WON).
