Monday, November 23, 2009

Put option exercised against me

It had to happen at some stage. The put option I wrote last month against Hutchison Whampoa (13) was exercised against me when the market price dropped below the strike price. As a result I am now heavily invested in Hutchison Whampoa (I also hold some 2011 options).

Given that equity markets are volatile, it was inevitable that an option I wrote would be exercised and I would end up owning shares that were worth less than I paid for them (at least on a short term basis). It is for this reason that I have only been willing to write options against shares which I would be prepared to hold long term. In the case of Hutchison Whampoa, the company is a long established blue chip company with a sound balance sheet and a diversified portfolio of earnings, at least some of which are defensive in nature. The 3%+ dividend yield is also attractive.

1 comment:

Jim said...

I agree, nice company with solid balance sheet.