By Don Fanstone, Member, Kitchener/Waterloo User Group
Jan 27, 2015
Enbridge (ENB). I sold the 10 July 52 Call Options on Monday Jan. 26, at $11.00, originally purchased on Dec. 23/14 at $7.80. These were sold due to holding a 41% gain. I well remember Kevin Crowe, a member of the VectorVest team at the Options course advising to take option profits when they are in hand. In the past I have been dismayed when holding options that were showing a good profit; only to see a significant portion of that profit disappear for reasons more associated with the market than the stock itself. The current market is showing a Confirmed Up today, but with disappointing earnings results south of the border, oil prices indeterminate, and Enbridge having moved up rather sharply, I am happy with the decision to take the profit. I will purchase Call Options again at an attractive entry point.
CNR. CN will report after the market close today. CN has been strong in it’s own right, following on CP’s strong earnings report. They’re increasing their buyback of shares in 2015, and likely to increase the dividend this year. While CN’s report will likely be healthy, much depends on the market. I would be a seller on any sharp rise in the price of the stock.
Inter Pipeline: (IPL). This is a company that I have owned shares for a number of years, and recently purchased 10 July 27 Call Options on Dec. 24 at $5.00. I am of the opinion that all of the pipelines will return to their previous highs.
CGI Group (GIB.A). CGI will report earnings on Wednesday January 28. Earnings are expected to be good. I would be a seller on any sharp rise in the price of the stock.
Insurance Companies: SLF, GWO, ITC. These companies need higher interest rates to realize income on their investment portfolios. Alternately, they have sold off somewhat and may be a candidate for purchase in an unsettled market.
DISCLAIMER: Options trading involves risk and is not suitable for everyone. The information contained in this Blog is for education and information purposes only. Example trades should not be considered as recommendations. Options training is strongly recommended before placing any trades. VectorVest offers a basic options course online and occasional intermediate options workshops in Canada each year.
Thank you for your educational pieces on options. I haven’t taken the VV options course, so I am wondering how you know the IV and HV for options in the VV system. As you say, this can have as much effect on option pricing as the underlying stock.
Dorothy
Thanks very much
Dorothy:
I am not entirely sure what you mean by the short form IV and HV for options. Please expand your question and I will endeavour to answer. Don
Hi Don:
I was concerned about volatility which can have as much effect on the movement of an option price as the movement of the underlying stock. I always check the Historical volatility (HV) and the expected Implied volatility (IV). I learned about this on Option Monster and you can graph these on their site. It is said that when the HV > IV the option price is cheap, and when the IV > HV then the option is expensive. I’ve been wondering how to make this determination in the VV system.
Again, thanks so much for your insights.
Best Regards
Dorothy
Dorothy:
For Canadian option prices and volatility, I refer to the m-x.ca site. Essentially, if the volatility is high, that’s a good time to sell covered calls. Best to buy Call options when the volatility is low. In my trading, I look for an option premium, when added to the strike price, is within $1.00 to $1.50 of the actual price. Buying Call options with too great a spread over the actual price puts one into a loss position that takes too much time to cover and possibly create too large of a potential loss.
Don
Thank you Don…I went to the site you suggested and it has a lot of really good information.
Best Regards
Dorothy
Hi Don — Thanks for your insight and guidance on your Option Trades- It seems to me that you take an (1) equity position (2) let the stock price appreciate (3) then look at your equity positions to see if there is an opportunity to Sell Covered Calls ?– If that is your strategy – I agree with you, I try to do the same
However I also like Weeklies — buy the stock and immediately sell ATM calls Recently the TMX offered a small group of CDN stocks that are now weeklies – regardless if it is a long date or a short date (i.e. Weekly’s)
I always consider closing out the trade once it has reached 80% of the original premium amount
your thoughts Please
Hello Bob:
Buying shares, letting them rise in price is not my trading procedure, but it is another manner in which to follow the market. I buy Call Options with a view to profiting from the rise in the option price. My desire is for capital gains in lieu of collecting dividends.
I am not familiar with the weeklies and will do some homework to better understand them.
Thanks for your interest in the blog.
Don
Hi Don
Thanks for the up-date on your trading strategy — Years ago when I was first interested in Options I started with “Buying Calls” but failed to pay close attention to Market direction – the result was I got caught far too often and it cost !!– Since then I work at Selling Covered Calls and on occasion I sell Naked Put’s
( always on stocks that I would be happy to own “if” I had the stock put to me )
The Weeklies in Canada is very small group – However if you look at the CBOE web site you will be able to find the weeklies for the USA market – it is Large and provides many opportunities – I put them into a “watch list” and then use the Options Rate of Return tool help find Stocks with Juicey Premiums
The Best
Bob