Here are the last few positions to review and manage before we head into the weekend.

TRADE UPDATE

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV):  153.00

ABBV goes ex-dividend next week. We will let our 8 Jul 155 call expire worthless today and sell a new call closer to the ex-dividend date.

ACTION:  No Action. Allow 8 Jul 155 call to expire worthless

TRADE ROLL

CF Industries (CF):  85.00

Fertilizer stock prices are still down at this time. Let’s roll our 8 Jul 95 put out 2 weeks for a modest premium and to give more time for the stock price to recover.

ACTION:  Roll the CF 8 Jul 95 put to the 22 Jul 95 put for a net credit of around 0.45 to 0.50.

Buy to close CF 8 Jul 95 put

Sell to open CF 22 Jul 95 put

TRADE UPDATE

Philip Morris (PM):  94.35

Tobacco related stocks have been in a selling mode for the last 3 weeks. Altria (MO) has been hit the hardest while Philip Morris has continued to trade a little lower each day. Several times we were tempted this week to sell a cover call but the stock kept sliding down and away. Let’s see how the market opens on Monday and we can look at selling a call then.

ACTION:  No Action. Allow our 8 Jul 104 call expire worthless.

TRADE ROLL

Southern Co. (SO):  71.07

Southern Co. stock price has rebounded and seems to be holding in this 70 – 72 range. Let’s roll our covered call out 2 weeks. We will take a little less premium at this time but, if possible, we will manage this trade early if the stock price takes off again.

ACTION:  Roll the SO 8 Jul 73 call to the 22 Jul 73 call for a net credit of around 0.40 to 0.45.

Buy to close SO 8 Jul 73 call

Sell to open SO 22 Jul 73 call

It was a short week and it looks like the S&P is going to end the week down after 4 straight days of solid gains. Larger premiums have been hard to come by lately as we manage our positions, but that should change soon.

Earnings season starts next week and a number of our companies are due to report over the coming month. Volatility usually increases around earnings report days which should result in richer premiums for us to collect selling calls and puts. Look for more trade management action next week.

Have a good weekend.