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Alternatives

go Long JEPI for alt Strat & monthly incomeThis is exactly the strategy to employ at market tops. You want broad market exposure along with some different alternative strategy funds in your portfolio to complement your trades. This ETF has a very interesting strategy and it has just launched. I would not worry about the track record for the construction is solid, low expense ratio 0.35%, a dividend yield of 8.34%. It's composed of a wide variety of high-quality, low volatility stocks while also selling calls. I took a look at the holdings and they include some NDX and some SPX names. It gives you a wide variety of exposure from Chubb and Deere to Elly Lilly and Google, and it appears currently they are selling calls against the SPX. So this, combined with the monthly payout of a dividend and the hedge it provides gives you income and stability. The dividends can either be reinvested, spent, or use for new opportunities.
AMEX:JEPILong
by EBITDAtiger
Concerning Vix Patterns and a way to profit it from itThere appears to be a pattern forming that cycles and could signal a pop or swell in the vix. With the way the geopolitical landscape has been, I would assume it would be a pop based on a certain piece of news or an event. A swell would be more worrisome for the overall market. There was a great post here and I can't remember who posted it, forgive me, but they had a great explanation of how a vix pop is a buying opportunity, while a vix swell is a warning sign. A cool way to play volatility is through investment vehicles such as VXX or UVXY. VXX is not levered while UVXY is levered to the vix by 1.5x. My preference is to play it with UVXY, but that's just me and my risk tolerance. I like to build up a position slowly as the chop continues all the while having a limit sell in for a reasonable level in order to catch gains on a red day if I'm not tuned in. The other cool part about using this as volatility dampener in your portfolio is that on those sh*t show days, you actually have some buying power to harvest with out locking in any unnecessary losses or having to harvest gains from one of your most beloved long-term holds or just a position that has not hit your price target yet.
TVC:VIXLong
by EBITDAtiger
4
S&P 500 could check back to 3,700 levelSPX could correct all the way to the 3,683 level, which is the 100-day moving average on the daily chart. 200-day MA would be the 3,466 level, but I don't think there's that much air in the market. The last 3/4 times the SPX has hit the 100-day MA on the daily chart it has bounced back. Seems the probability is higher than it falling below. P.S. you can protect the downside of the S&P by using SPXS, which is triple leveraged to the downside of the S&P. So if you see the SPX begin to freefall again on bad news or the 10-year treasury yield surging higher again, it might be worth a trade. This is not investment advice, always do your homework, and gauge your risk properly. Be careful out there traders, cheers! Here is a chart of SPXS compared to the SPX on a 15m chart.
TVC:SPXShort
by EBITDAtiger
use BTAL as a form of protection and stability.BTAL combines a strategy of going long on low-beta stocks and shorting high-beta stocks. It is a market-neutral strategy that helps to balance a portfolio. A 5% position of your overall holdings in a market-neutral is a good rule of thumb. It is a very simple and easy way to give your portfolio downside protection without having to worry about selling calls or buying puts. It is something that should always be a part of your portfolio, so don't shy away when you see red! Beef up the position or top it off when it's down. It will hit $27.85 again when the market has its next drop. It is actively managed and a 5 star Morningstar fund the last I checked. Basically, when the market goes down, this goes up. It acts as a buffer for your portfolio.
AMEX:BTALLong
by EBITDAtiger