Don’t stare at your money, don’t feel like you have to do something with it to make it grow; the opposite will happen. write down your plan in your investment journal/notepad. A good place to write a note to your future self is in the position notes – something like this is available to me through my broker’s website. Sometimes I write my plan there, and sometimes I write my calculated cost basis – this may not be my actual cost basis because in some cases I take into account my option premium income. Make sure you don’t count your option profits twice! I have fallen into that trap before. On one hand, I subtracted it from my cost basis, then I still had it accounted for in my profits, pick one – depending on your investment strategy – how you would like to think about this income.
At this time, I have the ability to write 2 contracts on my ESPP shares, but I am not satisfied with the stock price relative to where it has been, so I am waiting for it to go up a little. Just as it went down to the level it is at now, it will probably go back to where it was. It’s hard to look back at the history of such a lumbering giant and not think that it will repeat the ebbs and flows of the past. Just sit tight, and wait. I could sign a $250 contract, but my profits are a little under my 10% starting point. I am thinking through the process as I type this.
Another consideration; the year is halfway over and I am about halfway through maxing out the ESPP, so I do need to plan on when and how I sell stock to recycle it through the system.
Thanks for reading. Comment, Question, and Contact.
–Ken
The Option to Sell 