What a first quarter!
When we last reviewed, back on Jan 22nd, the S&P closed at 2,271 and we were generally playing for a flat market and worried that we might be a bit too bearish but, now that the S&P is at 2,362 (up 4%), we're a lot more comfortable with a more bearish stance - albeit after adding a few bullish positions along the way.
Before we get into a review I want to make a very important point. Our Options Opportunity Portfolio (OOP) was last reviewed on March 15th, and it's a self-contained portfolio, with the hedges right alongside the long-term positions. As I've noted on many occasions, when you have a well-balanced portfolio and you are practicing our system of BEING THE HOUSE - Not the Gambler, you shouldn't have to do much from month to month (see last year's Forbes interview for a good explanation).
We did add 4 bullish trades in the last two weeks (ATI, CDE, CHK & NLY) and, on the 15th, we called for 2 of our positions to be adjusted and one was closed (SONC) - that's it. On March 15th our OOP was at $270,475 and, as of Friday's close, we're at $278,177 - up $7,702, which is 7.7% of our original $100,000 start (8/8/15) and that's just fine for two week's "work", isn't it?
Investing doesn't have to be stressful - certainly not if you are on the house side of the table. Mostly it's a matter of keeping ourselves well-balanced and letting the premiums we sold run down over time - that's what casinos do and they seem to do very well for themselves!
You just need to accept the fact that betting on the markets is no better than betting on casino games - you may win or you may lose but, over time, the odds are rigged against you - especially with options so, logically, if we SELL options to suckers who think they can beat the house - we'll do very well!
