The Tides have Turned

2018 continues to be a relatively inactive year for my option contracts. I still need to update/start my 2018 spreadsheet, sorry!

I only have 1 contract pending for October, looks like it will probably expire and not be assigned to me, so I get to keep the $120 premium. The year is running out so I am selling the other 100 shares I have been holding on to so I can churn it back into the ESPP. I am doing that because the holding period is 3 months and I want to make another purchase in December before the year runs out. It is a first priority to max out the ESPP, then benefit from options if the tide is right. The tide hasn’t been right recently because the stock went down without having an open contract to hedge, so money goes out the window as a loss and wipes out my 10% discount. That’s life, whatever. I still love the game. It isn’t even a “live and learn” situation because I get in at 10% discount, the stock goes down 10% and I’m sitting at 0%; no gain, no loss. I might as well have held cash, but I’m glad I wasn’t for the past 2 years – I would have missed out on a lot of gains over that time. With a small recent uptick in the stock price, I’m sitting at ~5% gain so I signed a contract to get about a 2% premium and committed to sell at ~8% gain. I can’t argue with those numbers and the benefits. That should be a wonderful gain if only once per year, but we are getting that multiple times per year.

Keep working at it, trust the disciplined non-emotional process of investing.

Thanks for reading!

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–KEN

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