Options update for 3 Sep...vacation over; once more into the breach.
Well, I came back from holidays Sunday to discover my roof-top deck had somehow sprung a leak which flooded my bedroom ceiling causing a 4x6 section to collapse; my bedroom floor was soaked, which leaked through and ruined the ceiling in the living room below. What a mess. Let's see how good my insurance agent is.
Many thanks for all the kind words from those of you who commented on my (re)-election to the TFE Board. When I was away I thought long and hard about the wisdom of taking up the challenge of fighting the Exchange to do the right thing, and I decided it wasn't worth it, but then I got word that I had indeed been elected, so I promised myself that I would do all I can. Sadly, I don't think that will be very much. We had the first meeting last night of the combined TFE Board/DIEC committee, and while I cannot ethically relay specifics as to what was said, I think it would be safe to say that exchange management remains myopically blinkered...seeing full, total automation as the only path. There is a fatal flaw in having anything designed by pure theorists with *no* practical experience, which unfortunately is exactly what we have. This boat won't float.
Management keeps harping on installing 'sound business practises'; now, I have nothing against 'business', but bear in mind that 'sound business practises' include polluting, bribery, discrimination, etc. What seems to be totally lacking is a moral compass, a concern about what is right and fair and equitable rather than what is expedient, 'cost-effective', or easiest. It is here that they are most vulnerable and here that I will hold their feet to the fire.
Sorry. Enough preaching.
The Dow dropped about 600 points when I was away. The bummer is I was so busy on Friday Aug 8 that I completely forgot about buying those 100 out-of-the-money OEX puts I promised myself. Would have been a nice score. As my late partner (and mentor) always drilled into me, loss of opportunity is preferable to loss of capital, though.
BCE volatility has swelled to 27,25 while Inco is unchanged at 27.5,26.5, which is surprising considering its big drop. ABX virtually unch at 32.5,33.
Dan, to answer your question, option specialists price their series off the best bid/ask in any market, but as a practical matter, that invariably means the market that does the most volume--in BCH, that would be the ME, and if they use an 'auto-pilot' (as the vast majority of us in Toronto do), it would be set to the ME quote. Don't know why Canadian Press uses the TSE stock quote, other than it's easier to just use one file.
Well, enough for now.
Happy trading.
Porter |
