Inflation Topped for Now, Put on Your Rally Cap

July 15, 2022

Today is July options expiration and we do have two trades that expire today.

Even after a tough start to the week, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) clawed it way out of the 1% hole to eke out a small loss.

In the short-term, we're starting to see that sellers aren't able to push prices lower, which is a relief.

Inflation coming in at 9.1% was the headline this week.

The real unadjusted number is 16%, but we continue to see the interest rates back off their highs hit in June.

As we saw, this was a sell the rumor, buy the news.

With interest rates dropping, we're setting up for a massive bear market rally the next several weeks.

Also, earnings season kicks off next week which the market will look for any reason to rally.

That means we going to be a little aggressive with our bullish trades, but we still need to be nimble and quick.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) which closed at 24.

That’s unchanged from last week, but indicates we will continue to see 100 point swings in S&P 500.

Now let’s talk shop.

Portfolio Update

Today, these positions will expire.

  • MRO July 15, 2022, $33/$37 call spread
  • SLB July 15, 2022, $50/55 call spread

Unfortunately, we don’t have more time for them to play out.

There’s nothing that you need to do, and they will be removed from your account over the weekend.

Taking losses isn’t fun, but without the bitter, the sweet isn’t as sweet.

Here’s a recap of what we did this week.

Monday:

  • Sell-to-close META July 22, 2022, $185/$205 call spread

Tuesday:

  • Buy-to-open GPS Aug 26, 2022, $9 call

Right now, we’re holding:

  • Buy-to-open GPS Aug 26, 2022, $9 call

Have a great weekend and enjoy a fresh spicy margarita - TGIF! 

Joshua M. Belanger

Joshua M. Belanger
Joshua Belanger is founder of CounterVest and the editor of Hot Money Trader. He has been providing ordinary investors blockbuster returns since 2008. In 2018, the average return of Hot Money Trader beat the markets by over 15%