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Filling the Gap with a Long Call Spread
October 09, 2020
Bullish Outlook

Filling the Gap with a Long Call Spread

Patrick Ceresna

During the COVID crisis the stock market declined, but energy stocks were particularly hard hit as the price of oil plunged to levels never before seen.  During the panic selling, one of Canada’s largest energy companies, Suncor Energy (ticker SU) left a gap from $33.52 to $30.19. (A down gap is where the price opens on the...

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2 months ago
Cash-Secured Put Writing on the iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy ETF
October 05, 2020
Bullish Outlook

Cash-Secured Put Writing on the iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy ETF

Patrick Ceresna

Although the broad Canadian stock market index has almost recovered to its pre-COVID crisis high, there is one sector that has lagged badly.  The energy sector has not recovered to anywhere near the levels seen in early 2020. Chart 1: iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy ETF (symbol XEG) 2019-2020 Source: Bloomberg For those who...

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2 months ago
Writing covered call options to generate more income
September 23, 2020
Concepts

Writing covered call options to generate more income

Martin Noël

With interest rates currently at all-time lows, finding ways to generate income in our security portfolios is a challenge. However, the strategy of writing covered call options (WCCO), whether applied systematically or on an ad hoc basis, allows us to generate additional income through the premiums received. This is the third...

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2 months ago
Catching up on what you missed during our Virtual Options Education Day event
September 22, 2020
Other

Catching up on what you missed during our Virtual Options Education Day event

Richard Ho

The Canadian options market is vibrant and offers options on over 300 of TSX’s most active and liquid stocks and ETFs. Retail investors who understand how to combine stocks and options strategies have a powerful skill at their disposal. This can diversify their trading strategies to more than just going long or short....

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2 months ago
Long Straddle with Cineplex
September 11, 2020
Trading Idea

Long Straddle with Cineplex

Patrick Ceresna

Before the corona crisis hit, Cineplex was scheduled to be taken over by UK-based Cineworld Group in a $1.65 billion transaction. Cineworld was going to pay $34 per Cineplex share. However, the closing of the Canadian economy due to the coronavirus crisis led Cineworld to claim that there had been a material adverse change...

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3 months ago
Bear Call Spread in the XIU Market
September 09, 2020
Bearish Outlook

Bear Call Spread in the XIU Market

Patrick Ceresna

The stock market has rallied a long way from the March lows. The iShares S&P/TSX Equity 60 ETF (symbol XIU) is up almost $8 from that scary day on March 23, 2020 when the market reached bottom. The rally has been steady, with few pullbacks. However, it is completely natural to expect that, eventually, there will be a...

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3 months ago
What the Options Market Thinks About Earnings
September 09, 2020
Technical analysis

What the Options Market Thinks About Earnings

Steve Sosnick

Use Your Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation to See What the Options Market Thinks About Earnings Expectations During earnings season, investors become justifiably concerned with analysts’ expectations for a company’s earnings and revenues. While analysts’ estimates provide an important framework for decision-making...

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3 months ago
Selling your securities by writing covered call options
August 24, 2020
Concepts

Selling your securities by writing covered call options

Martin Noël

Let us say you are willing to sell some securities in your portfolio, or you are considering it. Adopting the covered call writing strategy is like getting paid for making a commitment to sell the securities. This is the second in a series of four articles on covered call writing. It discusses how to use this strategy as an...

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3 months ago


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