Monday, July 21, 2014

Alpha-D Portfolio Update for 07/21/14

Okay, it's just after an options expiration weekend and that means I had to reexamine my portfolio choices once again.  All of my covered options from last month expired unexercised.  I renewed my covered calls on GDX and FXF.  I sold a very small cash-covered put position under GDX, because i wouldn't mind picking up some at such a low valuation.

I am still long FXA and FXC, but I simply could not write any options around them this month.  The option chains for those ETFs just aren't very lucrative right now.  Only the stability of FXF, thanks to Swiss monetary policy, makes writing call options attractive.

I still own my long put position against FXE.  I continue to marvel at how the ECB and IMF keep the jerry-rigged euro together.  Spain isn't looking very healthy these days and Greece is still in debt up to its eyeballs.

My longtime readers know that I own these ETFs on gold miners and select foreign currencies as hedges against a potential hyperinflation in the US.  My basic thesis has not changed in a long time.  I believe positions in Swiss, Canadian, and Australian currencies will hedge my portfolio against the potential devaluation of the US dollar.  Owning a gold mining ETF like GDX is one more hard asset hedge among many possibilities.  I await the opportunity to own long positions in a timber REIT, public storage REIT, and other securities that will strengthen my portfolio against hyperinflation.