Nov 9 Dow Jones Covered Call Opportunities

 Hello 

Here are some of this week's Dow Jones components' covered call opportunities. 

Metrics

Company	Stock	1 Yr Weekly Avg Movement	Highest Range	Price As Of Writing	Call Options Outside of Weekly Average	Market Price of Options	Call Options Outside of Highest Range	Market Price of Options
Microsoft	MSFT	$11.50	$24.00	$218.40	230+	$0.27	242+	$0.02
JP Morgan	JPM	$7.62	$20.50	$117.00	124+	$0.30	138+	N/A
Intel	INTC	$4.08	$12.40	$45.60	51+	$0.03	56+	$0.01
Apple	AAPL	$6.38	$27.00	$116.00	123+	$0.30	140+	N/A
Walmart	WMT	$6.44	$26.00	$143.50	150+	$0.10	170+	N/A

Notes

- Last week, Microsoft, Apple, and Walmart went up over the weekly average.. 

- Microsoft set a new weekly high range. 

- JP Morgan likely will blow past it this week. 

- The N/A designation means there aren't options at that price level. 

 ** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a recommendation to act without doing your due diligence. We are on Facebook, Twitter, and email through keanevcc@gmail.com**

Nov 2 Dow Component Covered Call Opportunities

 Below are 5 Dow Jones components and call options available to sell. 

Company	Stock	1 Yr Weekly Avg Movement	Highest Range	Price As Of Writing	Call Options Outside of Weekly Average	Market Price of Options	Call Options Outside of Highest Range	Market Price of Options
Microsoft	MSFT	$11.09	$23.00	$202.40	214+	$0.73	225+	$0.15
JP Morgan	JPM	$7.53	$20.50	$98.04	106+	$0.23	118+	$0.01
Intel	INTC	$4.07	$12.40	$44.20	49+	$0.02	56+	$0.01
Apple	AAPL	$6.17	$27.00	$109.00	116+	$0.65	136+	$0.02
Walmart	WMT	$6.22	$26.00	$138.75	145+	$0.60	165+	$0.01

Anyone who sold last week's call options (link to post here) would have had a total profit without losing any shares. 

 ** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a recommendation to act without doing your due diligence. We are on Facebook, Twitter, and email through keanevcc@gmail.com**

Oct 26 Dow Jones Component Covered Call Data

Here are some of this week's (expiring this Friday) call option data for the below Dow Jones components. The formula is to sell call options on a regular basis to generate revenue. Doing this correctly on a regular basis builds wealth. We do not have any connection with any of these companies.  

Company	Stock	1 Yr Weekly Avg Movement	Highest Range	Price As Of Writing	Call Options Outside of Weekly Average	Market Price of Options	Call Options Outside of Highest Range	Market Price of Options
Microsoft	MSFT	$10.83	$23.00	$216.23	225+	$1.50	235+	$0.35
JP Morgan	JPM	$7.47	$20.50	$103.80	111+	$0.09	124+	$0.01
Intel	INTC	$4.02	$12.40	$48.20	52.50+	$0.04	61+	$0.01
Apple	AAPL	$6.08	$27.00	$115.00	121+	$1.30	142+	$0.02
Walmart	WMT	$6.16	$26.00	$143.86	150+	$0.05	170+	$0.01

** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence. As always, we are on Facebook, Twitter, and email through keanevcc@gmail.com**

Walmart's Rising Wages

This week, Walmart announced that it is raising the wages on about 500,000 of its employees. This action brings the fund closer to removing it from our do not invest list. Some thoughts on the move:

- By doing this, Walmart policy decision makers are improving (if only slightly) their image when it comes to wages.
- This should be just a start. $9.00 an hour is not sufficient in 2015 for a company that has averaged an annual net profit of $16,000,000,000 over the last 3 years. Adding $800,000,000 ($1.00 wage at 40 hours a week) to the wage structure would not scare off investors (regardless of what CNBC talking heads say). It would actually bring new investment into the company.
- How many people will now lessen their stance on shopping at Walmart because they are now paying higher wages? How many employees can now spend more for their families at Walmart because of this raise? The fund is thinking that the raise will actually help on the top line revenue wise.  
- The raise removes some employees from the welfare system. When making $16,000,000,000 a year, a company should not have the amount of employees that Walmart has receiving welfare benefits. This move helps reduce that number. The taxpayers of KDK Fund are thankful.

As much as the raise is not as much as the fund would like to see, it is a step in the right direction.  Once some time has passed and numbers can be crunched, the company should see that they made the right decision for their employees, customers, and investors.

KDK Fund does not have any relationship with Walmart.


 **All posts on this blog are information and opinions only. They are not to be considered recommendations to buy or sell any security. Please do your due diligence first before trading and investing. Please direct all questions and comments to the blog or to kdkfund@gmail.com or on twitter @kdkfund.

Why Wal-Mart Won't Be In KDK Fund (for now)

One of the reasons why KDK Fund is being created is that there are companies that the fund does not want its capital to go to., One of those companies is Wal-Mart. The main reason that KDK Fund will not be investing in Wal-Mart is due to the company's employee wage policy. Recently, Wal-Mart's wage policy weaknesses have started to show up and they are affecting earnings for investors in a negative way.

There is a Yahoo Finance story (link here) that shows some cracks in Wal-Mart's fiscal situation. In the story, analysts estimate that low income workers make up 20% of Wal-Mart's revenue. Because of this, the recent decrease in food stamp funding by the US Government has negatively affected Wal-Mart's earnings. That tells KDK that the government is subsidizing a percentage of Wal-Mart's earnings. It also means Wal-Mart is depending on other companies along with its own to keep wages at a level so that food stamps are continuously needed. Wal-Mart sees a lower minimum wage as beneficial because it then receives massive amounts of revenue from the US Government covering the costs of groceries that should otherwise be covered by higher wages. Knowing that, KDK feels that Wal-Mart's policy of both paying a lower wage to keep costs down and then pining for US food stamp revenue to boost its earnings is not something to support.

KDK feels that if a company is sufficiently profitable, employees should be at the least given wages that can sustain life without government assistance like food stamps. Wage policies like Wal-Mart's inhibit the value created otherwise for investors. If Wal-Mart and other companies in the same position would execute a better wage policy, it not only would help the workers, it would help lessen the burden put on the US Government and taxpayers. When a company has both employees that are deca-millionaires and employees that require food stamps, KDK Fund knows to stay away.

If Wal-Mart were able to show that all of their employees are given a living wage, the positive effects would far outweigh the minimal loss in dividends or stock appreciation shown to investors. It would now give people that boycott the store to now shop there. Other models within Wal-Mart are genius and do great things for the company.  Fix this and investors like KDK Fund will reassess whether or not Wal-Mart will receive some of its capital. Don't fix it and possibly continue the downtrend.

What would happen if large money sources like pension funds decided to do the same thing and remove their capital from reaching Wal-Mart's balance sheet? Would Wal-Mart change? If you are under a pension fund system, give your rep a call and find out where your retirement funds are going.

Thanksgiving Gives A Peek Into Corporate Ethos (Walmart, Costco)

There are some stores that are now opening during Thanksgiving. Wal-mart is one of these stores. Costco, one of the KDK Fund's planned purchases for 2014, is not. The focus of this article is going to be on why these actions are happening including revenue generation needs by the companies, wage needs by the employees, and profit needs by investors. It is also important to note that in reality, finding a deal and shopping is far more appealing that spending time with family and friends for a large segment of the American population.

The need for more revenue in this economic environment is taking on a new paranoia for some companies. Wal-mart is one of these companies. The recent quarter showed a slowing of growth and the guidance was not good. Needing to be open on Thanksgiving is essential for the company to increase revenue. In comparison, Costco's revenues have been steady. Even as they know they might be missing out on some sales revenue, it won't affect their guidance for the quarter. This level of leadership shown is important in running the company. Employees, customers, and investors know that they are getting a satisfactory level of performance without having to open on Thanksgiving.

Employee wage needs are high in places like Wal-mart. Because the average associate wage is low, working on Thanksgiving affords the employee to pick up some extra hours and some extra wages. With the holiday season upon them, the employees of Wal-mart know all to well the stress of needing to get extra hours to pay for extras like gifts. This need for more wages is something that Wal-mart is banking on when staffing  stores open on Thanksgiving. Most employees literally cannot say no to working on Thanksgiving. Conversely, because Costco's associate wage level is higher, the need for stores to be open so employees can make more money is lessened. This way, Costco can continue to execute their business plan as well as take time off during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Investors (you and I) are hungry for more profits. Because of this demand that we put on businesses, some have decided to be open on Thanksgiving. Wal-mart's decision to be open on Thanksgiving has been given an endorsement by investors as there has been no negative reaction within the markets. Staying open on Thanksgiving will help meet investor demands for meeting profit expectations. There are pension funds, 401K funds, other retirement funds, and other investment capital that are depending on Wal-mart to be open on Thanksgiving in order to make profit numbers. On the flip side, because Costco's business plan is clear as to profit expectations, investors are regularly satisfied with the numbers both on the revenue side and profit side. It is interesting to see how the same stakeholders do not demand the same action from Costco as they do from Wal-mart.

When Thanksgiving comes, understand that stores that are open and stores that are not open are simply projecting their business ethos. It is a peek into what drives the decision making process at these particular companies. The combination of need for more revenue, wages, and profits drives companies like Walmart to be open on Thanksgiving. It is their business model and ethos and can be considered accepted and approved by all the stakeholders (management, employees, and investors) in the company. For now, Costco's business model and ethos allows it to stay closed on Thanksgiving. The company should still make their numbers, the employees still get the day off with enough wage earnings to enjoy the day, and investors can still feel confident that profits will be solid. That ability to execute on all three levels is admirable. Managers, employees, and investors who value the meaning behind Thanksgiving should be thankful for companies like Costco and question exactly what is going on at companies like Walmart that being open on Thanksgiving is more of a necessity for management, employees, and investors than anything else.

** KDK Fund does not have any current relationship with any of the companies mentioned in this article. It does plan to purchase shares of Costco in 2014. **