No prospective trades are on my desk this morning. Of course, everything could change with the Federal Open Market Committee interest rates announcement at 2 p.m. New York time. But until then, I plan to enter no new positions.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 14, 2016
It’s as though the markets are frozen waiting for Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee statement on interest rates. The conventional wisdom is that they’ll raise the federal funds rate to a level fluctuating between 0.5% to 0.75%.
Meanwhile, no earnings announcements are on my list for Wednesday, and also no high implied volatility trades. I’ll check again after the announcement, scheduled for 2 p.m. New York time.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 13, 2016
I neither entered nor exited positions today.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 13, 2016
I’m passing on my one prospect of the day, a volatility play on UNG. With a price of below $9 per share and a dollar between strike prices, UNG’s option’s grid lacks sufficient granularity to construct a trade that meets my guidelines.
As part of my December learning project, I’ll be keeping an eye on trades placed on Dough and shall shadow those that catch my interest.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 13, 2016
I have one volatility prospect, UNG, and no earnings prospects from the Monday, Dec. 12 trading session.
I shall make a final trading decision on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 12, 2016
VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY)
Update 1/10/2017: PAY rose beyond the boundary of the profit zone into loss territory after earnings were published, and remained there until the exit.
Shares rose by 13.5% over 29 days, or a +178% annual rate. The optoins positions produced a 28.3% loss on debit, for a -356% annual rate.
PAY publishes earnings on Monday after the closing bell.
I shall do a full analysis of PAY as a potential earnings play. I am passing without analysis on GDXJ; the implied volatility is too low for my taste.
I shall be keeping an eye on Dough posts with the goal of shadowing those I find interesting. It is part of my December learnings project.
The Federal Open Market Committee meets this week, the first such gathering since the election, to announce its decision on interest rates: Raise them, or let them stand?
I’ll be considering two prospects on Monday: An earnings play on PAY and a volatility play on GDXJ.
Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 10, 2016
Tim Bovee, Private Trader 
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