Since early in 2009, I’ve held 100 shares of Philip Morris Int’l (PM). Early in 2010, I decided to start playing with options to supplement the dividend income that PM was generating. This post details these moves.

I’ve decided to build a Google spreadsheet with my current portfolio:

Stock prices reflect prices at the close of trading on June 7th, 2010.
A few notes about my allocation:

As you can see I have a significant portion of my portfolio (over 50%) in gold/silver related positions and cash
Approximately 18-19% of my portfolio is in other long positions (long term plays and high yield dividend stocks).  The dividend stocks have been paying me nice cash flow while the long term plays are just small positions that I don’t expect to pay out …

The Euro has been crushed over recent weeks, and some are anticipating the move to continue, perhaps even toward parity with the US dollar.  Multi-national stocks that derive a great portion of their revenues from the Euro zone have likely seen their stocks take a hit along with the Euro.  Some of my long term stocks fall into this category: McDonalds Corporation (MCD) and Philip Morris Int’l (PM).
McDonald’s Update
The fast food chain recently announced continued growth with regards to their May sales numbers.  This coincides with my theory that McDonald’s …

As volatility continues especially with the 376 point drop in the Dow yesterday, I wanted to provide a quick update to the article yesterday about selling puts versus putting in low limit orders on your favorite stocks.
In my example, I discussed selling the Sept puts on Philip Morris Int’l for a $.66 premium.  Well, due to the drop yesterday, you can now do the same for a $.93 premium.  This means you’d sell a contract which obligates you to buy 100 shares if the strike price hits (in this case …

The stock market was slammed today after S&P downgraded the sovereign debt of Greece and Portugal.  For those of us waiting for a correction for some time now, this is an interesting day.  Now the question becomes whether this is the start of a larger correction or just a speed bump.  For months now, these types of days have been nothing more than speed bumps.
A Few Stocks I’m Watching
Philip Morris Int’l (PM)
Since being forced to sell my shares at $50/share due to my covered calls play earlier this year, I’m …

We have been moving up and down recently between the 11,000 mark and the 12,000 mark. The fall in commodities, namely energy, has really fueled the recent rally. But the last two days have been ugly for the market with much of the rally fizzling. Where is this going? When will we enter a new bull market?

Well, the stock market continues to move up and down in the low to mid 11,000 range (DOW). Economic conditions still remain weak, however, the decline in oil and other commodities has definitely helped boost stocks in recent days. I’m still fairly pessimistic regarding stocks and the economy. Time will tell if I’m right.

Back in May, I wrote an article about why I was reducing my positions. It turns out, it was the right move based on the sharp downturn in stocks over the last month. The question is, what should we do now? Stocks are in bear market territory, over 20% off its highs. Is now the time to buy or what?