re: There are some major issues lurking in the US financial markets

LINK

Here is a link to ATT's debt. Most of the coupon rates appear to be in the 4 to 5 percent range. The highest I see is 8 percent (there are some floating rates in here as well).

I’ve read before they have more debt than all but 20ish countries lol I didn’t know about the 2095 notes that’s hilarious

They are supposed to retire 20b in debt this year

Make your own decision

Direct tv now is streaming cable television channels, Warner media is original content with HBO etc.

They have to separate it the same way hbo is separated right now from your normal cable package.

People want cheap tv and then they will pick their streaming service for original shows as extra, or at least as a stand alone subscription.

ATT is going to expand the Time Warner/HBO movie/tv universe to take on Disney/Hulu/Amazon/Netflix. That is a separate initiative beyond getting cord cutters to go with their normal tv streaming services.

Hmmm.... I'm not too heavy in them. F it, let's ride!

5% of my risk purchasing volatility at that level. Put on 10% more volatility yesterday.

VIX level of 18 I will have 40% of my risk (will add 25% more)

No problem. For the record though their tv streaming options are about to be confusing and T destroyed shareholder value with the direct tv acquisition, at this point.

agreed, I suppose my opinion on the matter was confusing my own understanding of their "grand plan"

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but I'm starting to wonder if the markets might be trickling up in a manner that is starting to have these market bounces already baked in the cake

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I'm starting to think it is. I don't think the market is going to be very sensitive to the outcome of the government shutdown, and according to a WSJ article last night ( LINK), it appears as though these U.S.-China trade negotiations are going to drag on for several more weeks without any spectacular breakthrough press announcements.

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For now, Vice Premier Liu He is planning to meet with his U.S. counterparts including U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for negotiations on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, according to people briefed on the matter. These people caution that the plan could be delayed by the partial U.S. government shutdown.

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So I went ahead and started tip-toeing back into short positions this afternoon, going for SPX put options this time rather than using the SPXU inverse ETF.

I got K = 2350, T = 6/18/2020 for $128.00 while the S&P 500 was at 2591.81 and the VIX was at 18.55. We'll see where it goes from here.

If the U.S.-China thing goes through the roof, then maybe I'll pull out quickly, but I think this is a good short position that could potentially hold for the duration over the next 17 months.