Speaking of doing nothing AND taking things off the table, the Money Talk Portfolio is back to 140% after being down to 120% on the 25th.  Of course we're unable to make adjustment between shows but I'm on tomorrow so let's make this our first portfolio review of the week:

• BYD – Pretty new and well on track.  Our premise on this one (sports betting) was solid and seems to be playing out and we're at $17,275 out of a potential $40,000 so we still have $22,725 (131%) left to gain.  Certainly no reason to get out of that!  Good for a new trade, in fact…

• GOLD –   We rolled our longs lower in September and now we are reaping the rewards.  Net $9,287 out of a potential $30,000 leaves us with $20,713 (223%) upside potential and it's a great inflation hedge (and Gold is having a great day today).  

• HPQ – Already in the money at net $9,210 out of a possible $20,000 so $10,790 (117%) left to gain if we hold $35.  The puts are way out of the money, so no worries there and the spread is tight ($5), so we're not likely to take a big hit in a downturn and we'd be very happy to roll our long 2023 $30s ($8.25) to the 2024 $25s ($13) if HPQ goes lower so no reason not to ride this one out.

• IBM – We were very conservative with this spread so already in the money at net $12,675 out of a potential $30,000 if IBM can hold $115.  So we fully expect to make $17,325 (136%) more and, if not, happy to re-invest.  

• INTC – Sold off a bit and we're back to where we started at net $200 and that's no surprise with the chip shortage, etc.  It's a $20,000 spread so $19,800 (9,900%) of upside potential and I love this trade!  

• MO – Just had nice earnings and legalization of marijuana in the US could be huge for them.  It's a $15,000 spread at net $7,549 so $7,451 (98.7%) left to gain is nothing to throw away.

• SPWR – Finally, something we can adjust!  SPWR is selling their commercial division to TTE for $310M and SPWR's total income for 2022 was projected to be $35M so another $310M will certainly help!  Their market cap at $16 is $2.7Bn.  TTE is the majority owner of SPWR as well (50.83%).  The cash improves SPWR financially and allows them to finance their transition to Consumer, which we already expected.  It's a long-term play and we need to be patient but that doesn't mean we can't make adjustments:  The 25 short 2024 $35 calls are down 81.5% to $1.41 ($3,513) so of course we want to lock it in and buy those back as well as the 15 short Jan $25 calls at $1.68 ($2,513).  Our 35 long 2024 $25 calls at $3.23 can be rolled down to the 2024 $15 calls at $6 for net $2.77 ($9,695) and we know, if we'd like, we can sell 35 of the $25s for $3.23 to someone else and get $11,305 back but, for now, we're spending net $15,721 to get more aggressive without the cover.  Should SPWR get back to $25 now, this would be a $35,000 spread but we're not going to project any gains until we see this thing find a bottom.

• VIAC – These guys finally found a bottom and we're fine with the $40 target, which seems pretty easy to get to.  It's currently net $23,875 on the $60,000 spread so we have $36,125 (151%) of upside potential here – well worth keeping! 

• WBA – We waited a long time for them to wake up and we hit our goal but now backtracking a bit.  Still, $52.50 seems very reasonable and currently net $5,974 on the $18,750 spread so $12,776 (213%) of upside potential is another solid position.  

Damn, these positions are too good to cash in.  Although they currently net $80,423 as a group, we have $147,705 (183% of cash in play) of upside potential over the next two years – plus whatever we make on SPWR.  We don't really need new positions with this kind of firepower but we do feel they are rock-solid (they have to be as we only touch them quarterly on the show) so we may as well put some of our sideline money to work but we also want to stay cashy and cautious until the market does stabilize.  

We have 3 Techs, so no more tech and that's counting SPWR as Energy and not Tech.  BYD is Entertainment, I guess and so is VIAC then.  MO and WBA are Consumer Sales and HPQ is Tech but Consumer Tech.  So definitely no more Tech!  

C is interesting.  

T we are only avoiding because the stock split will be messy but what a shame.

Someone asked recently where our watch list was.  It's here:  Fabulous Thursday – Ending the Year on Top

• Medtronic (MDT) is another old favorite and $104 is 23% off the high and a $140Bn market cap for a company that makes about $4Bn/year and is growing nicely.  As with ALK, I'd be happy to promise to buy them if they get cheaper. 

• Generac (GNRC) is a generator company we always like when they are down and $347 is 33% off the highs at $22Bn and these guys made $351M in 2020 and are making $604M this year and project $756M for 2022.  Every time there's a natural disaster – their phones ring and, the way this World is warming – business will be booming for years to come.

But MDT reminds me we like LABU, and I think they've suffered enough at $18.50 and they have such exciting upside potential.  So, we're going to do a mixed trade by selling MDT puts to pay for a LABU bull spread:

• Sell 5 MDT 2024 $90 puts for $9 ($4,500)
• Buy 20 LABU 2023 $15 calls for $8 ($16,000) 
• Sell 20 LABU 2023 $30 calls for $4 ($8,000) 

That's net $3,500 on the $22,500 spread so we have $19,000 (542%) upside potential and plenty of room to  adjust along the way.