From Barron's' "Dow Slips, Bitcoin Surges" posted early Monday:
The stock market was slipping Monday as poor economic data out of China underscored many of the macro challenges facing markets. Inflation fears remained on the radar as Bitcoin and oil prices surged higher.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were indicating an open 120 points lower, after the index rose 382 points Friday to close at 35,294. Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indicated a similar start.
Investor concerns remain focused on familiar themes such as inflation, supply-chain disruptions, and central bank stimulus. In the spotlight Monday were poor economic data out of China showing the macro impact of some of these forces.
Chinese gross domestic product expanded by 4.9% year-over-year in the third quarter, while industrial production for September rose 3.1%. Both measures fell short of expectations.
A slowdown in economic growth “was mainly because of policy challenges from deleveraging the real estate sector, increasing compliance on the tech sector, and the clampdown on tuition centers and the entertainment sectors,” said Iris Pang, the chief economist for Greater China at ING bank. The economist cited the looming failure of indebted developer China Evergrande as the cause of pressure on the property sector.
“Manufacturing was hit hard by supply-chain disruptions due to Covid as some port operations were hit in 3Q21, and chip shortages continued in the quarter,” Pang added on the industrial numbers.
My take: Friday's strong close would have been difficult to maintain. Yahoo!Finance has detected a bullish short-term KST pattern while max pain fell over the weekend to $141.
Algos binariness creates opportunities.
I had planned to sell this Week’s Calls, but the price I wanted wasn’t there.
Never give an active mind nothing to do. Without the price I wanted I looked around and saw that OCT 29 Calls we’re selling for almost a dollar more than this weeks Calls.
Selling next week’s Calls, at a higher Strike, will average me >2X what I made last week. What a deal. I’m now watching AAPL for its intraday high to place an order.
Should AAPL Close higher than $150 on OCT 29 my NOV 19 $140 Calls will be called away (I’ll make about $480 per contract). If not I keep the $116 premium on the OCT 29 $150 Calls I sold and continue to hold my NOV 19 $140 Calls.
Poke me in the eye with a sharp stick.
And don’t try to sell me on options; we’re too old and too financially precarious for that kind of gambling. Heck, from my POV, it’s options that are creating these problems for us….
Well, THAT was a mistake! And here’s hoping that the shorts got it in theirs (shorts, that is)….