IRAs are attractive to investors because they enable taxes on dividends and profits to be deferred (traditional IRA) or avoided (Roth). To a large degree, you can do the same trades in an IRA that you can do in your regular accounts. However there are significant differences, and the differences change over time as brokers adjust their policies and their software. I’ve tried …
DIA goes ex-dividend next Friday the 17th. The dividend history on this ETF (see below) suggests that the dividend will be around $0.30 per share. I put a dividend capture position in place buying DIA at 128.68 and selling-to-open the 18-Feb S127 calls for 2.09 for a net debit of 126.59. The calls only provide a 1.5% downside cushion on the position, so …
If you can remember market action for more than two months, you’re probably not wondering: “Is Market Volatility Gone for Good?” However you probably are wondering when this sustained upswing will be over. I’m keeping a close eye on things because I’ve had a run-up in my VelocityShares XIV holdings that I’d rather not lose to a correction. The last few months have felt like …
There are over 2800 ETFs right now, with more in registration. This explosion of alternatives is great for driving down fees and giving investors choices. However once we figure out what we want to buy, we often discover the fund we chose is lightly traded—perhaps only hundreds of shares are traded on any given day. With a lightly traded fund, the bid/ask spread is usually …
Covered calls are an example of positions that are short volatility. I hadn’t thought of it that way until Sheldon Natenburg, the author of Option Volatility & Pricing pointed that out in a fascinating interview in Expiring Monthly. A covered call position is profitable if the underlying equity stays the same or goes up, but in a big market downswing, when volatility spikes up, the modest …
