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6.16.23. MO $ 44.025. Bought back MO 6.16.23 $46 calls for $0.01. Sold MO 7.21.23 (35 days) $45 strike covered calls for $0.36. RoR .81%. ARoR 8.41%. Dividend on $43.14 cumulative net debit 8.72%. Yield on current stock price 8.54%. If called, potential gain .83% or 8.3% annualized if same results were achieved by doing about the same kind of trade 10 times over the next 12 months. IV 17.7% vs 23.1% 21 days ago.

52 week low $40.35, high $51.57.

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6.15.23. Tomorrow my calls on CAG, CPB, DFS, DOW, KMB, KR, LNC, MO, PSX, SJM and XOM will expire worthless. They won't be called. I may buy back some for pennies and write June 30 or 7.21.23 expiration calls on them. DFS and LNC will be called and I'll Sell 7.21.23 puts on them. I'll sell calls on the rest of the expiring stocks early next week.

My puts on JEPI and NEM will expire worthless. They won't be assigned. I plan to sell puts on them next week

Today's 429 point gain on the DJIA emerged about mid day. The question is, how long will it last?

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For weeks, Wall Street's market strategists have been talking their books, predicting the Fed would pause. They wanted the pause because they thought it would strengthen the bear market rally.

When they got the pause, stock prices dropped. Why? Because the Fed said that later in the year there are likely to be two more rate hikes because there are signs that inflation is heating up again.

So talk that rate cuts would start next fall look to be very questionable. They're not likely to happen until next year, if then.

This round of inflation is looking more and more like the inflation we suffered in the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

So now, a yearend recession may be more likely.

And we have to figure out how we will trade another six or months of inflation and achieve our dividend and options premiums goals.

Under the three-day rule, I probably shouldn't do any trades for a few days, but a lot depends on what the markets do over the next couple of days.

Any ideas?

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I didn't close any of my options positions yesterday. I'm waiting for the Fed's announcement and press conference this afternoon.

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Several of my 6.16.23 covered calls options are trading under $0.05. So I am looking to close the positions and write new covered calls on them while stock prices are high even though premiums are unusually low. You have to take what the market offers with cautious trades. Better options premiums will show up down the road. The underlying stocks that are about to expire worthless include MO, CPB, CAG, DOW, PSX, XOM, SJM.

My 6.16.23 expiring puts that look like they'll expire worthless are NEM and JEPI.

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$ORCL came through with strong earnings, guidance and continuation of its rally. I'm waiting for profit taking to take a nibble by selling way out of the money (OTM) cash secured puts that expire in two to four weeks. I won't do that today.

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6.13.23. CPI 4%, down from 4.9% in April. Still high. core CPI 5.3%.

Weather, port work stoppages, oil politics, wars and commodity price fluctuations can send inflation soaring again in a day or two. It is way too early for the Fed to pause, but it apparently will for political reasons.

While tomorrow afternoon's Fed announcement and guidance look like no brainers, no one can predict interest rates or stock prices. All we can do is trade, or not. Not trading is a trading decision.

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