No. of Recommendations: 3
Back to OXY, do you guys buy the warrant or the stock?
I buy the stock (usually via selling put options repeatedly until they get exercised and assigned to me).
The warrant is cheap, without 0 premium and providing leverage (though losing the dividend).
It's "cheap" for 2 reasons:
1. The leverage can also work against you. Sometimes dramatically - for example, what if between now and August 2027 oil crashed to $25/bbl? And OXY drops to 20? Then the warrant is worthless, and all your capital invested goes to zero. Even if OXY drops to 30, it'll only be worth about $8, or a 75% loss of capital.
2. As you mentioned, no dividend.
If you want optionality, there are plenty of Jan '27 options (and option combinations) available right now to play with.
if I exercise the warrant, will tax will be due immediately or will I be able to keep rolling forward the potential long term capital gain?
I normally would assume that it would be treated like an option exercise. After you trade the warrant for the stock shares, your basis would be adjusted similarly (warrant price plus strike price).If you buy the warrant at $32 now, and exercise it in Aug '27 for $22, then your basis would be adjusted to $54. But with a quick google search, that assumption appears to be wrong. Apparently, you are taxed like a NQSO instead, so the "bargain element" becomes taxable immediately. So if you buy the warrant now at $32, and exercise it in Aug '27 for $22, and the stock is $70, then you have an immediate capital gain of $70 - $22 - $32, or $16, and then your new basis is $70. That may be logical because the company issues new shares in exchange for the warrant.
