The Summer Breeze Continues

August 13, 2021

The summer slow down in the markets continues. 

The S&P 500 continues to take the escalator higher and hit new all-time highs. 

As I mentioned last week, during slow markets like this, it’s best to follow the crowd and not force trades. 

Last week we saw a big sell-off in gold and silver that continued into Sunday night. But those metals did snap back this week - retracing 50% of that selloff. 

Now, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), aka the “fear” index, is at 16.15 above our key 15 level.

This is a two point drop from last week and that divergence in volatility has come in. 

So the bias is higher for now. 

Now let’s talk shop.

Portfolio Update

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

On Monday:

Buy-to-open the HAIN September 17, 2021, $40/$44 call spread

On Tuesday:

No action.

On Wednesday:

Buy-to-open the YELL October 15, 2021, $7.50/$10 call spread

On Thursday:

No action

On Friday:

No action

Right now, we’re holding:

  • EDU Aug, 2021, $10/$12.50 call spread
  • FCX September 17, 2021, $38/$41 call spread
  • SNAP September 17, 2021, $80/$90 call spread
  • YELL October 15, 2021, $7.50/$10 call spread
  • HAIN September 17, 2021, $40/$44 call spread

Now it’s time to get my 7 mile run in before I head to the pool with a fresh jalapeno margarita - TGIF! 

I'll have a new trade on Monday.

To your wealth, freedom, and options!

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%