http://simplyputs.com How to generate income and reduce risk in any market environment by selling put and call options on quality stocks Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:21:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As the market continued to move higher this past week and as volatility - as measured by the VIX - approached 52-week lows, I bought back some more of my April-expiration naked put options that I'd originally sold last fall. They were now worth close to nothing and it made ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/options-trades-naked-puts-and-covered-calls-on-low-wag-rai-more/ This past week I initiated a new short options position by selling put options in a Canadian energy stock (see below). I also recently bought back a number of April- and May-expiration put options that I'd sold last fall whose premiums had since fallen to levels where they were ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/option-trades-cenovus-energy-ba-gpc-expd-more/ This was February options expiration and yet another "payday" of income generated from selling naked put options. As usual, I had a number of short put options expiring, all of which were comfortably out of the money going into expiration. Here are the results: Abbott Laboratories [[ABT]] - Some February ... http://simplyputs.com/expirations/february-options-expiration-short-put-options-on-so-abt-sfl-more/ I sold more put options this week as opportunities presented themselves as the market fell sharply and volatility expanded. The sell-off so far appears to be a well-deserved correction - one that's going about doing its job of scaring market participants quite effectively. Many individual stocks are at ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/options-trades-sold-puts-on-ctl-bsbr-kmr-more/ More market weakness this past week presented me with the opportunity to sell more put options on stocks I'd like to own at lower prices. As it turned out I ended up initiating only three new short put option positions (below), although many more of my limit orders to sell ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/options-trades-sold-puts-on-nsc-paa-ns/ This month's options expiration freed up significant additional cash in my accounts and as a result I've been looking for places to deploy some of it. But high prices and low volatility weren't making it easy to find good returns. That changed significantly this past week. Concerns over China and ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/new-options-trades-fcx-nyx-kft-jpm-ibm-more/ This turned out to be an eventful options expiration. Not only did I have a lot of short put and call options positions expiring - some dating back to the days of the market panic - but the day's sell-off also triggered a number of new short put positions. ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/january-option-trades-and-expiration-fcx-hog-cop-nyx-vz-wmt-more/ An article on Barron's this past week argues that selling puts is likely to emerge as a key options market theme this year. The article, Monetizing the Fear of Others, notes that - in addition to enabling investors to potentially buy stocks at below market prices - selling puts ... http://simplyputs.com/market/barrons-selling-put-options-will-be-key-theme-in-2010/ Some recent option trades include covered calls on a stock I've been long - and losing money - in since last April and a couple of new positions in some short cash secured puts. The covered call position is designed to take advantage of the market's extended run-up, while the ... http://simplyputs.com/analysis/latest-options-trades-bke-oln-pld/ This past Friday was December options expiration and I had two options positions expiring - one a short put position and the other a covered call: Anglo American plc [[AAUKY]] - The December 12.5-strike covered calls I sold against my long position in AAUKY on 7/10/09 as a way to exit ... http://simplyputs.com/expirations/december-options-expiration-aauky-and-bmo/