Olin Corporation (OLN)
Many times, there are companies that I don’t immediately recognize. Olin is one of those. However, after seeing a price alert in my email feed, I went back to look at the reason I set up the alert in the first place. Read on if you want to learn more about OLN or about my price alert strategy.
What Differentiates OLN?
Olin Corporation manufactures and distributes chemical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls; Epoxy; and Winchester. Winchester caught my eye. “The Winchester segment offers sporting ammunition products, including shotshells, small caliber centerfire, and rimfire ammunition products for hunters and recreational shooters, and law enforcement agencies; small caliber military ammunition products for use in infantry and mounted weapons; and industrial products comprising gauge loads and powder-actuated tool loads for maintenance applications in power and concrete industries, and powder-actuated tools in construction industry.” This isn’t a division I was expecting to see in a commodity chemicals company.
What I Did When I Saw the Alert
Because I trade covered call options, one of the things I did was to check to see if OLN could be traded using covered calls. I also wanted to know if the options could be traded weekly, or if the only choice was a monthly option. It trades weekly, so this is a plus for my options trading strategy. Furthermore, the earnings and dividends picture are to my liking. I won’t buy just any company for any reason. Be aware, however, that my shares might be called away if the options contract price is reached. At that point I can rebuy the shares and repeat the process if it still looks like OLN is in an upwards trajectory.
Company Profile
Olin Corporation manufactures and distributes chemical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls; Epoxy; and Winchester. The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment offers chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomers, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products, potassium hydroxide, chlorinated organics intermediates and solvents, and sodium hypochlorite. The Epoxy segment provides epoxy materials and precursors, including aromatics, such as acetone, bisphenol, cumene, and phenol, as well as allyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, and glycerin used for the manufacturers of polymers, resins and other plastic materials, water purification, and pesticides; liquid and solid epoxy resins that are used in adhesives, paints and coatings, composites, and flooring; and converted epoxy resins and additives for use in electrical laminates, paints and coatings, wind blades, electronics, and construction. The Winchester segment offers sporting ammunition products, including shotshells, small caliber centerfire, and rimfire ammunition products for hunters and recreational shooters, and law enforcement agencies; small caliber military ammunition products for use in infantry and mounted weapons; and industrial products comprising gauge loads and powder-actuated tool loads for maintenance applications in power and concrete industries, and powder-actuated tools in construction industry. The company markets its products through its sales force, as well as directly to various industrial customers, mass merchants, retailers, wholesalers, other distributors, and the U.S. Government and its prime contractors. Olin Corporation was founded in 1892 and is based in Clayton, Missouri.
Setting Price or Percentage Change Alerts
I used to set price alerts on Fidelity’s web site. The problem with these is that I didn’t really see the type of movement I wanted to see. Therefore, I went from setting the alerts based on a dollar amount to setting them based on a percentage move up or down. Most of my alerts now tell me if the stock or ETF moves 2-3% up or down any given day. The nice thing about these is that they are easy to reset on the Fidelity web page.
Full Disclosure
I own 400 shares of OLN as a potential long-term investment. However, I will be trading covered calls on my shares, so they might be called away.
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