A report by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) organization entitled, “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, 2007”, recently observed Americans in 31 states continue to exhibit higher rates of obesity as reported from the previous year. Mississippi clocked in with the highest obesity rate for the third year in a row at 30.6%. Statistically about every third Mississipian you see will be obese. Another way to look at it is if a person is in Mississippi and they look to the person on the left and they look to the person on the right and don’t see an obese person, then the person doing all the head turning is probably the person eating too many hamburgers and french-fries.
The rate of American’s becoming obese is accelerating as the most recent TFAH reported the rate of obesity exceeded 25% in 19 states and as recently as 1991 no state exhibited an obesity rate higher than 20%. Jeff Levi, the Executive Director of TFAH, stated, “poor nutrition and physical inactivity are robbing America of our health and productivity.”
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According to Mr. Levi, Americans are not only eating improperly, they are also not exercising properly. So instead of exercising, Americans are doing something else while they’re porking out on all those potato chips. Consumers have more choices than ever for personal entertainment. Consumers now have many more channels and a larger variety of programs to choose from on cable and satellite television programming, like sports and reality programs for example. In addition to the old standby of television, consumers can now indulge in activities on the Internet, like surfing for news, playing games, watching video, social networking, chatting with others, etc. Additionally, there are video games to engage someone for hours on end avoiding the dreaded activity called physical exercise. Instead of playing football in the street, it can be played right in the living room even if it’s snowing and -40 degrees below zero outside.
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While the obesity trend doesn’t look very attractive for American’s in general, the opportunities for investors to potentially be rewarded for the obese environment may be available with some judicious investment choices. Some obvious industries benefiting from obesity are: fast food, Internet, video gaming and health care.
Using PowerOptions‘ tremendous covered call options search capability, the following positions were found for companies potentially benefiting from inactive overeaters.
| PowerOptions Covered Call Search | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock Sym |
Stock Price &Chg |
Option Sym |
Expire/Strike | Opt Bid |
%Dnsd Prot |
%If Unch. |
%If Asgnd. |
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| JSDA | 11.07 (+0.35) | QJDJV | 07 OCT 12.5 (54) | 0.4 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 17.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MCD | 49.48 (-0.64) | MCDJJ | 07 OCT 50.0 (54) | 1.45 | 2.9 | 3 | 4.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WEN | 32.20 (-0.64) | WENJG | 07 OCT 35.0 (54) | 0.9 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 11.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JBX | 65.96 (+0.17) | JBXJN | 07 OCT 70.0 (54) | 1.8 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 9.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BKC | 23.44 (-0.62) | BKCJE | 07 OCT 25.0 (54) | 0.55 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 9.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HANS | 45.05 (+0.83) | QHOJJ | 07 OCT 50.0 (54) | 1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 13.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USNA | 39.48 (+0.08) | UNXIH | 07 SEP 40.0 (26) | 2.4 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 7.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MR | 34.59 (+0.56) | MRIG | 07 SEP 35.0 (26) | 1.2 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMLN | 49.62 (+0.02) | AQMIJ | 07 SEP 50.0 (26) | 1.7 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WCG | 98.18 (-2.19) | WCGIT | 07 SEP 100.0 (26) | 3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 5.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMAG | 53.99 (unch.) | AVMIK | 07 SEP 55.0 (26) | 1.5 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 4.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OSIP | 34.57 (-0.80) | GHUIG | 07 SEP 35.0 (26) | 0.95 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 4.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CI | 49.85 (-0.81) | CIIJ | 07 SEP 50.0 (26) | 1.35 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BYI | 33.62 (+0.08) | BYIJG | 07 OCT 35.0 (54) | 1.35 | 4 | 4.2 | 8.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MGAM | 9.51 (-0.27) | QMGJB | 07 OCT 10.0 (54) | 0.35 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 9.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ERTS | 52.71 (+0.16) | EZQJK | 07 OCT 55.0 (54) | 1.6 | 3 | 3.1 | 7.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GOOG | 515.93 (+0.93) | GOPJV | 07 OCT 520.0 (54) | 19.9 | 3.9 | 4 | 4.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EBAY | 33.59 (-0.49) | XBAJG | 07 OCT 35.0 (54) | 1.2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 8.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YHOO | 23.08 (-0.51) | YHQJE | 07 OCT 25.0 (54) | 0.65 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 11.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The covered call options positions listed above are all out-of-the-money and have potential returns ranging from 3.1% to 17.2%. To realize the maximum potential returns for each position requires the price of the stock to appreciate equal to or greater than the strike price of the short call option strike price.
The covered call options positions exhibit downside protections ranging from 2.2% to 6.1%. As long as the stock price of the position does not drop more than its respective downside protection, the position will experience a profit.
Even if the prices of the stocks haven’t changed at options expiration, the covered call options positions still have potential returns ranging from 2.3% to 6.5%.
Competitors:
Competitors for JSDA include: Cadbury Schweppes plc (CSG), Coca-Cola Co. (KO), and Hansen Natural Corp. (HANS).
Competitors for MCD include: Burger King Corporation (BKC), Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM), Doctor’s Associates Inc. (private), CEC Entertainment Inc. (CEC), CKE Restaurants Inc. (CKR), Jack in the Box Inc. (JBX), Sonic Corp. (SONC), Tim Hortons Inc. (THI), and Wendys Intl. Inc. (WEN).
Competitors for WEN include: Burger King Corporation (BKC), McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM), and CKE Restaurants Inc. (CKR).
Competitors for JBX include: Burger King Corporation (BKC), McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), and Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM).
Competitors for BKC include: McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), Wendy’s International Inc. (WEN), Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM), CKE Restaurants Inc. (CKR), Jack in the Box Inc. (JBX), and Sonic Corp. (SONC).
Competitors for HANS include: Jones Soda Co. (JSDA), Pepsico, Inc. (PEP), and Red Bull GmbH (private).
Competitors for USNA include: Avon Products Inc. (AVP), Amway Corporation (private), and Shaklee Corporation (private).
Competitors for MR include: Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Bayer HealthCare AG (private), and GE Healthcare (private).
Competitors for AMLN include: Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY).
Competitors for WCG include: AMERIGROUP Corp. (AGP), Centene Corp. (CNC), and Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH).
Competitors for AMAG include: Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI), and GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences (private).
Competitors for OSIP include: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY), Genentech Inc. (DNA), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), ArQule Inc. (ARQL), ImClone Systems Inc (IMCL), and Onyx Pharma. (ONXX).
Competitors for CI include: Aetna Inc. (AET), Unitedhealth Group, Inc. (UNH), WellPoint Inc. (WLP), Assurant Inc. (AIZ), and Humana Inc. (HUM).
Competitors for BYI include: International Game Technology (IGT), WMS Industries Inc. (WMS), and Aristocrat Leisure Limited (private).
Competitors for MGAM include: GameTech International Inc. (GMTC), and International Game Technology (IGT).
Competitors for ERTS include: Activision Inc. (ATVI), Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO), Vivendi Games (private), Midway Games Inc (MWY), Shanda Interactive Ent. Ltd. (SNDA), and THQ Inc. (THQI).
Competitors for GOOG include: Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), IAC Search & Media, Inc. (private), MSN (private), Authorize.net Holdings Inc. (ANET), Copernic Inc. (CNIC), Convera Corp. (CNVR), DivX Inc. (DIVX), eBay Inc. (EBAY), Infospace Inc. (INSP), Marchex Inc. (MCHX), MIVA Inc. (MIVA), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and Travelzoo Inc. (TZOO).
Competitors for EBAY include: Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Google Inc. (GOOG), Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), and Acorn Intl. Inc. (ATV).
Competitors for YHOO include: Google Inc. (GOOG), AOL LLC (private), MSN (private), Copernic Inc. (CNIC), eBay Inc. (EBAY), Gmarket Inc. (GMKT), Healtheon/WebMD Corp. (HLTH), Infospace Inc. (INSP), SourceForge Inc. (LNUX), Marchex Inc. (MCHX), Napster Inc. (NAPS), Rediff.com India Ltd. (REDF), Sina Corp. (SINA), and Travelzoo Inc. (TZOO).
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PowerOptions provides Internet based tools for analyzing stock options with specific search criteria and for finding potentially lucrative option income. For those seeking to execute a covered calls stock options investment strategy for their personal portfolios, PowerOptions provides an Internet based search engine for finding potentially lucrative income producing stock options positions.
PowerOptions‘ sister company PowerOptionsApplied provides expert stock option trading recommendations. PowerOptionsApplied specializes in covered calls, selling naked puts and iron condor stock options strategy recommendations. PowerOptionsApplied provides a 30-day risk free trial of its service.
[tags] Mississippi, Doctor’s Associates Inc., Red Bull GmbH, Amway Corporation, Shaklee Corporation, Bayer HealthCare AG, GE Healthcare, GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences, Aristocrat Leisure Limited, Vivendi Games, IAC Search & Media, Inc., MSN, AOL LLC, ABT, Abbott Labs, AET, Aetna Inc., AGP, Amerigroup Corp., AIZ, Assurant Inc., AMZN, Amazon.com Inc., ANET, Authorize.net Holdings Inc., ARQL, ArQule Inc., ATV, Acorn Intl. Inc., ATVI, Activision Inc., AVP, Avon Products Inc., BKC, Burger King Holdings Inc., BMY, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., CEC, CEC Entertainment Inc., CKR, CKE Restaurants Inc., CNC, Centene Corp., CNIC, Copernic Inc., CNVR, Convera Corp., CVH, Coventry Health Care Inc., DIVX, DivX Inc., DNA, Genenntech Inc., EBAY, eBay Inc., GMKT, Gmarket Inc., GOOG, Google Inc., HANS, Hansen Natural Corp., HLTH, Healtheon/WebMD Corp., HUM, Humana Inc., IGT, Intl. Game Tech. Inc., IMCL, ImClone Systems Inc, INSP, Infospace Inc., JBX, Jack in the Box Inc., JSDA, Jones Soda Co., KO, Coca-Cola Co., LLY, Lilly (Eli) and Co., LNUX, SourceForge Inc., MCD, McDonalds Corp., MCHX, Marchex Inc., MIVA, MIVA Inc., MSFT, Microsoft Corp., MWY, Midway Games Inc, NAPS, Napster Inc., ONXX, Onyx Pharma., PEP, PepsiCo Inc., REDF, Rediff.com India Ltd., SINA, Sina Corp., SNDA, Shanda Interactive Ent. Ltd., SNY, Sanofi-Synthelabo, SONC, Sonic Corp., THI, Tim Hortons Inc., THQI, THQ Inc., TTWO, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., TZOO, Travelzoo Inc., UNH, UnitedHealth Group Inc., WEN, Wendys Intl. Inc., WLP, Wellpoint Health Networks Inc., WMS, WMS Industries Inc., WPI, Watson Pharma. Inc., YHOO, Yahoo Inc., YUM, Yum Brands Inc., covered call options, investment strategy, iron condor, option income, poweroptions, selling naked puts, stock option trading, stock options [/tags]