http://optionmatters.ca Your best option Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:18:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The program for the Options Education Day to be held in Vancouver on April 10, 2010 is now available. For more information, click here.ShareThis http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/03/03/options-education-day-in-vancouver/ So you are interested in writing covered calls, which is a strategy where you hold the underlying stock and write call options against the shares. Having identified an attractive stock to buy, and having ascertained that the options are expensive relative to your view about the stock, the next step ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/02/28/which-option-to-write/ It almost seems counterintuitive. Could copper prices actually decline in the midst of a global economic recovery that seems to be gaining momentum? It may, if you accept some basic supply/demand metrics. No question that there is strong demand, especially from China. But despite that, supply continues to outstrip consumption. ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/02/21/copper-woes/ Now that we have seen a solid market consolidation it begs the question as to whether this is it for the selling? We have been targeting the downside support on the XIU in the $16.00-$16.25 area for months. The first test of the support line has been successful and we ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/02/16/is-the-market-correction-finished/ With the renewed strength of the US dollar arising from eurozone fiscal problems, gold has retreated from its highs above US$1,200 per ounce in late 2009, to US$1,090 on Friday, a decline of about 8%. This is instructive from a couple of perspectives. It tells us that despite serious problems ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/02/14/golden-comeback/ If investors believed the euro-mess were a threat to the global financial system, you’d expect the price of gold – the ultimate crisis hedge – to be probing new highs about now. Instead, the yellow metal is being sold off, and funds are flowing torrentially into US dollar Treasury assets, ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/02/06/commodity-corrections/ The MX Implied Volatility Index (symbol: MVX, Friday’s close 19.38) spiked last week in reaction to weakness in the global markets. And there may be more to come. A number of technical analysts have raised a red flag as the S&P 500 Composite Index broke support at 1085. It closed ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/01/31/bear-strategies/ A recent query (from M. Heng) about a recommendation I made on BNN on November 20th. I recommended buying CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar Trust (symbol FXC) as a play on the US dollar. FXC is effectively an exchange-traded fund that rises or falls in line with the performance of the Canadian ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/01/17/hedging-and-profiting-from-exchange-rate-shifts/ The program for the Options Education Day to be held in Toronto on March 13, 2010 is now available. For more information, click here.ShareThis http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/01/15/options-education-day-2/ In a word, consumer staples stocks are “h-o-t”. These are companies that make or sell food, beverages, and essential “staple” items that consumers must have regardless of the state of the economy. Since the end of October, the S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Staples Index has advanced 10%. And the fundamentals underpinning ... http://optionmatters.ca/blog/2010/01/09/stocking-up-on-consumer-staples/