Today is Saturday, January 21st, 2017. Donald Trump’s second day (1st full day) as president of the United States. I did not believe in, or agree with 90% of President Obama’s policies. I do believe in most of now President Trump’s police’s and agenda. However, I was never a fan of candidate Trump’s personality or his rhetoric. I am a right conservative who leans a little toward the middle; I am not on the far right! Please don’t consider me a “fence sitter.” I am far enough from the middle and I believe in conservative principles. Part of being conservative is believing in “old school” values. I hope and pray that President Trump can shake the rude, disrespectful rhetoric that candidate Trump and President-elect Trump was unable to. I have tolerance when he speaks to, or about the press because I feel they have crossed the line when reporting news in all aspects of our lives. Not only do they report but they also create. But the way he speaks to, or about other government workers, women, certain nationalities, etc, he needs to understand he is not doing a real estate deal, he’s the president of the United States of America and the leader of the free world. He needs to learn to apply some filters and articulate clearly in a respectful manner to bring this country together from it’s division, which I feel he is largely responsible for. I completely understand President Obama started this division but the new president needs not add fuel to a fire that is getting out of control. Just this morning my wife went to Washington, D.C. to march for women’s rights and to send President Trump a message that they do not approve of he’s language or possible policies involving women. Millions of women are marching in most cities across America and many around the world. I am proud of her for sticking up for what she believes in. Mr. Trump was very impressed with the amount of people he was drawing to his rallies. Let’s hope when he sees the massive amount of people (women) marching today that he can realize he must find a better way to communicate to the American people, and the world while he is stern with his policies for the people who voted him in.
This week I only had 1 trade but it was a nice one. It was a shortened week because of MLK Day. Sometimes when it’s a 4 day week I cannot find the premiums I like because with only 4 days to expiration, there’s not much Time Value. I’m still holding 10,000 shares of U.S. Steel and 3000 shares of Micron. I sold a nice option on U.S. Steel but couldn’t get a decent premium for Micron. On Tuesday U.S. Steel was down but Wednesday the 18th, on a bounce I sold 100 contracts of the 1/20/17 $35.50 Calls for a premium of 25¢. On the 100 contracts (10,000 shares) the total was $2500. On Friday, ExpirationDay the stock was not at my Strike Price so my Call expired without assignment; I keep the $2500! Here’s the order form for the option.
Sell to Open 100 X 1/20/17 $35.50 C @ 25¢ (+$2500)
1/20/17 – Expired 100 X 1/20/17 $35.50 C
Profit +$2500
New readers, make sure you understand the Option Order Form.
I know I’ve been writing about my “2017 Challenge.” Before I write explaining it I would like to get out of half of my 10,000 shares of U.S. Steel. The stock has been very volatile and I’ve been doing great bringing in premiums, however, I want to reduce that position before I commit to my 2017 strategy. If U.S. Steel takes a large dip it can put me in a bad situation for a while. If I only own 5000 shares it will free up my margin to pursue the deals that fit into my strategy.
I will tell you this, I reduced the amount of my account to start the year. I opened the year with $110,000 in my account to do my year long strategy. I opened the year with 10,000 shares of U.S. Steel on margin and when the stock went up a little I bought 3000 shares of Micron on January 4th. I’ve been bringing in nice premiums and my account is going up. Being in the uncomfortable position of 10,000 shares of U.S. Steel is preventing me from committing and writing about my “2017 Challenge.” With Trump sworn in, and his talk about a $1 trillion infrastructure investment, I feel good about U.S. Steel this week. This week I’m gonna try to sell (2) 50 contract Calls with different Strike Prices and I hope to get assigned on one of them. As soon as that happens I’ll be writing about my “2017 Challenge.”
Total Weekly Gain +$2500
I don’t give stock pick advice but other stocks I like and will be watching because of Trump’s infrastructure plans are:
Aecom (ACM) – Aecom is a leader in engineering, providing technology designs, planning, consulting and construction.
Caterpillar Tractor (CAT) – Earth movers on every construction site.
Vulcan (VMC) – Every road contains Vulcan products. They are a huge supplier of road materials with over 340 facilities in 20 states.
Steve
The Options Coach