Blog Archives
Protected Index Program® Education
March 8, 2010
A funny thing happened on the way to the office this weekend, as I intended to write up a nice long post. I had car trouble that detained me. No lie. Anyway, let me take this opportunity to inform you about the terrific Protected Index Program® (PIP) educational events we have coming up.
Striking a Balance
October 5, 2009
Good morning. Last week the market had its second down week in a row, with the SPY down 1.96 to close at 102.49. That represents a decline of 1.9%, and is 5.2% off the high of 108.06 reached of 9/17. Is it a healthy pause or is the rally over? To be determined, but clearly the “buy every dip” mentality evident in the long run-up has cooled some. Economic numbers in the last couple of weeks have shown uneven progress in the recovery, and those most recent actually seem to indicate that the recovery is stalling in the face of huge governmental stimulus.
Social and Economic Health
August 31, 2009
Good morning. Sort of an inside week for the market last week, what we in the business would call a premium sellers dream. The SPY was up a whole .41 on the week, moving from 102.97 to 103.38 (.4%). The VIX was down a little, from 25.01 to 24.76, not much of a drop considering how little movement there was. For those looking to buy long term put protection, as we do in the PIP Program, the cost for at the money put protection for December of 2011 is in the 15.5-17% of the underlying range for 28 months.
A Fiasco Here, A Fiasco There
August 3, 2009
Good morning. Another positive week for the market last week, but the rate of advance slowed markedly. The SPY was up from 98.06 to 98.81, or .8% on the week. This increase was a little unusual given that the VIX was actually up significantly on the week, from 23.09 to 25.92. This morning, early, the S&P Futures are up another 10 points after the good car sale numbers following the “Cash for Clunkers” week. We also had a slew of Economists come out over he weekend, most notably Alan Greenspan, saying the recession is over and growth will be better than expected. It is almost frenzied, if you are a prognosticator, to get on board with how good things are going to get very rapidly.
Entrepreneurial Impossibilities
July 6, 2009
Good morning. Down week for the market as Friday’s poor unemployment numbers spooked what had been a very flat week. The SPY finished at 89.81, down from 91.84 or 2.3% on the week. Friday’s move was actually down 2.7%, as we had been up slightly.