. . Osborne, our benighted Chancellor of the Exchequer. In his Autumn Statement last Wednesday (4th. December) he gamely tried to convince us the "the economy" (whatever that means) was coming out of recession, with growth forecasts ever rising. A glance at the FTSE 100 shares Index suggests the wheels of industry and commerce don't believe him, because the Index is 200 points off its recent highs of only a month ago. The reasons . . they know that recent growth is largely down to increased consumer spending (i.e. borrowing on the plastic) as the insane Christmas season cranks up again. FTSE bosses are not investing in plant and staff, the real engines of growth. But enough of this. What do I know? I'm just a humble option trader.
This week I redeemed my 4 short Puts in Morrisons Supermarkets, December expiry, Puts struck at 280, Morrisons shares languishing below 260p. So, to avoid having to buy 4000 shares on a Put assignment, I bought back the contracts and sold 4 Puts at 280 (again) for the June expiry, pocketing £424 in the process, an amount that surprised me. These new contracts expire on 20th.June 2014. Little chance that anyone will assign such long contracts at the moment.
