Continuing with a theme I discussed coming out of Labor Day Weekend, volatilities continue to remain low across major stock indices, within the majority of sectors, and by extension many key stocks. Until that changes, there’s no need to deviate from my current plan of keeping things simple. When bullish opportunities present themselves, it is pretty simple — I want to be long calls. There’s no need to overthink things here.

Not surprising, there is a stock on our radar that it is breaking out to all-time highs with options pricing in volatility near the lowest levels seen in the past year. A perfect candidate for straight naked calls. [Read more…]

From time to time, a slowly developing opportunity presents itself and in doing so gives you multiple ways to profit — while also incrementally reducing your risk as time goes along. This type of situation is presenting itself currently in Marathon Oil $MRO. [Read more…]

I love incorporating a mix of delta neutral income trades in my portfolio — especially after a nice run in the stock market that might be due for a pause soon.

50 days until expiration is the sweet spot for income trades, which is exactly where we find ourselves with October expiration. So for the second time this week, we’ll be choosing an ETF that has elevated premiums but is stuck in a 90 day range — the perfect type of candidate for a delta-neutral Iron Condor trade. [Read more…]