Investors & Friends:

Here's a summary of our investment actions from the past week.

Option Strategies - Naked Puts

1) JP Morgan Chase and Co (NYSE: JPM) - We sold Jan '14 $23.00 puts.

2) Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) - We sold Jun '13 $13.00 puts.

Short Strategies

3) We sold short additional shares of the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (NYSE: UNG) on 12/24 @ $19.13.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending December 28, 2012.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Investors & Friends:

Here's a summary of our investment actions from the past week.

Option Strategies - Collars

1) Oracle Corp (Nasdaq: ORCL) - We received Oracle's accelerated dividends on 12/21. Click here for more information on Oracle's accelerated dividends.

Option Strategies - Naked Puts

2) General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) - We sold Jan '14 $18.00 puts.

3) Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK/B) - We sold Jan '14 $45.00 puts.

4) Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) - We sold Jan '14 $47.50 puts.

Short Strategies

5) We sold short shares of Herbalife Ltd (NYSE: HLF) on 12/20 @ $33.33.
Herbalife's multi-level-marketing (MLM) business model was accused of being a pyramid scheme. Click here for more information.

Long Stocks

6) We bought ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (NYSE: TBT) on 12/19 @ $63.80.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending December 21, 2012.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Investors & Friends:

There is no new investment activity to report since our last weekly update.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending December 14, 2012.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Investors & Friends:

There is no new investment activity to report since our last weekly update.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending December 7, 2012.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Investors & Friends:

Here's a summary of our investment actions from the past week.

Option Strategies - Naked Puts

1) Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) - We sold Jan '14 $35.00 puts.

2) Yum! Brands Inc (NYSE: YUM) - We sold Jan '14 $35.00 puts.

Option Strategies - Collars

3) Oracle Corp (Nasdaq: ORCL) - We bought Oracle shares and collared them with Jan '13 $32 calls (sold) and Jan '13 $31 puts (bought). Companies have been announcing special one-time dividends before year-end, ahead of potential tax rate increases on dividends (resulting from the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts). Oracle has not announced one, but the thesis is that an owner who holds a significant amount of company shares, like Larry Ellison, is more likely to announce a special dividend to save on taxes. For example, Las Vegas Sands' owner Sheldon Adelson and Wynn Resorts' owner Steve Wynn stand to save multi-millions of dollars via their special dividends if the tax increase materializes.

The VIX is low. It broke under 15 intra-day on Friday. Given the macroeconomic headwinds and fiscal cliff shenanigans, the low VIX level is puzzling. Volatility could be muted, because traders are reluctant to stake out significant positions while politicians continue negotiating, and investors are reluctant to sell, anticipating that there will be more dividend announcements.

If a special dividend doesn't happen, we don't mind adding Oracle to our portfolio, especially with cheap put protection attached to it, protecting against a fiscal cliff-induced selloff.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending November 30, 2012.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio