Guest View
User: Pass: | become a member
Posts Tagged ‘CAL’

Wrong Way Weekly Wrap-Up

I am trying to get bullish, really I am.

As I said to Members on Thursday morning in chat, like Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction: "I’m trying hard to be the (bullish) shepherd" but the data makes it hard – so very hard!  Anyway, I’m not here to complain about the market forces moving against us but to review the carnage of our picks going all the way back to Sept 10th, when we decided the prior day’s beige book was not going to be enough to break out over 9,600 on the Dow.  Now, with the Dow at 9,820 after testing 9,900 it’s a good idea to look back and see what we missed in this last 2.5% leg up

On Thursday the 10th, we talked about patterns.  One pattern I recommended following right in the morning post was the famous "stick save" investment.  Simply buying high-delta DIA calls at about 2:30 each afternoon and selling into the pumped-up close.  That was a winning play on the 10th, 11th (Fri), 14th and 16th but not the last two days, when we turned a lot more bearish – but we’ll get to that further down this review. 4 out of 5 days is pretty good for a patten and seeing it broken 3 of the past 5 days is also significant.  I did promise that Thursday that we will look for more bullish opportunities once we have a clear break over our last two levels (NYSE 6,959 and S&P 1,056) and we did make those this week.  If we hold it through Tuesday, it will be time and we’re going to line up some trades this weekend.  True to my word on that Thursday, we chose a variety of bullish and bearish plays in Member Chat.  I’m posting the plays along with suggested adjustments if needed as it’s a nice way to review our various strategies in progress – especially under "adverse" conditions.

Trade ideas of the day for Members were:

  • DIA $95 puts that ended up being rolled and doubled down for a net 20% gain (too much bother to detail).
  • SUN at $23.36, now $28.45 (up $5.09), short Oct $25 calls at $2.20, now 3.70 (down $1.50) and short the Jan $22.50 puts at $1.15, now .70 (up .45).
    • Another buy/write at net $23.01/22.76, already up 17.5% so can be closed early here. 
  • FDO short Apr $25 puts at $2.10, now


continue reading


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



NRG Takeover Spills Into Curious Option Combo

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: EXC, NRG, PALM, ANF, CAL, AMTD & PAYX

EXC – The company has been increasingly less successful in trying to persuade shareholders at NRG – NRG Energy– to tender their shares to the company in what has become an ugly battle. Shares in both companies are on the rise today at $51.08 (Exelon) and $23.70 (NRG). Two sizeable footprints were left for analysts to explore in options trading. Here’s what we think is happening. Perhaps the easier half of the trade is a nearby July 22.50/17.50 put spread on shares of NRG. An investor bought 50,000 higher strike puts at 72 cents and sold 25,000 puts at the 17.50 for a nickel per contract. The investor likely expects that management at NRG will be successful in convincing its investors that the Exelon deal isn’t a good fit. The CEO mailed his thoughts urging investors to remain loyal to his leadership. In the event that the takeover fades, as appears the case, this investor might benefit from some of the hot money hopping out of the stock. Exelon options were a little more convoluted. An investor appears to have bought 50,000 July calls at the 55 strike at 39 cents and taking a sizeable credit on the sale of the same amount of calls expiring in August at the 50 strike. He’s possibly thinking that the near-term prospects for the company in the event of a botched deal would buoy the shares. Thereafter some of the optimism might fade. – Exelon Corp.

PALM – Shares of the Pre-maker, which launched earlier in June, are stable at $13.96 ahead of earnings data after the closing bell on Thursday. The fact that sales of the Pre won’t materially impact the bottom-line earnings numbers means we may have to wait longer for further developments from the company. However, investors have been in a buying tizzy for stock in the company all year and have driven shares from $1.14 to $15.25 recently. The options market, however, has been forced to maintain a careful eye on developments given the depths to which the shares plummeted earlier this year and still attributes a relatively high reading of implied volatility of 90% on options on the stock. That makes hedging a little more expensive that it ought and heading into earnings today, one investor appears to have tried to do so by implementing a put
continue reading


Tags: , , , , , ,



Continental Butterflies

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: CAL, POT, EEM, RMBS, NVDA & FXI

CAL – Shares of the U.S. air carrier are lower by approximately 1% today to $9.19 amid total declines of 12% on the stock since the opening bell on Monday morning. One option trader was observed make a bullish play on CAL, hoping to see clearer skies in the airline’s future. The investor established a long butterfly spread in the September contract by selling 10,000 calls at the September 12.5 strike price [body] for a premium of 65 cents. The body of the spread was combined with the purchase of 5,000 calls at the September 10 strike for 1.40 apiece [wing 1] as well as the purchase of 5,000 calls at the September 14 strike price for 37 cents per contract [wing 2]. The transaction cost the trader a net 47 cents (1*1.40 [wing 1] + 1*0.37 [wing 2] – 2*0.65 [body] = 0.47). Maximum potential profits of 2.03 will be realized by this individual if shares of CAL can rally 36% to $12.50 by expiration. A long butterfly spread was an excellent choice by the bullish investor responsible for the trade. The application of the spread effectively lowered the breakeven point to $10.47 instead of the breakeven point of $13.15 which would have resulted from pure bullish call buying at the central 12.5 strike price. – Continental Airlines, Inc.

POT – The feed products company has experienced a share price decline of 2.5% to $114.90. Taking advantage of the price erosion was one investor who sold a chunk of put options in the July contract. This individual was observed selling approximately 15,000 puts at the July 80 strike price for an average premium of 65 cents apiece. The aggregate premium enjoyed on the trade amounts to $975,000. He will retain the full premium assuming the price of POT remains higher than $80.00 by expiration next month. Inherent in the short sale is the obligation of the writer to have shares put to him at expiration if indeed shares plummet more than $34.00 or 30% in the next month. – Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc.

EEM– It appears that an option investor was drawn into looking for downside protection in emerging markets today judging by the sizeable September expiration strategy seen in this morning’s trade. Shares are currently trading at $33.71 for a 1.5% loss today. Meanwhile this
continue reading


Tags: , , , , ,



Put sellers back General Electric

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: GE, TGT, XLI, CBST, HAL, DELL, XRT, CAL & JAVA

GE General Electric – Shares have enjoyed a 2% rally to $10.98. GE jumped to the top of our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor took a bullish stance on the stock. The trader sold 82,800 puts at the April 10 strike price for a premium of 33 cents per contract. This implies that he does not think that shares are going to fall beneath $10.00 by expiration in a few weeks. He pockets 33 cents in exchange for bearing the risk that shares fall beneath the strike price, which would see him breakeven by $9.67 at which point his premium will have fully eroded. Should the 10 strike land in-the-money by expiration, this investor could have 8,280,000 shares of the underlying stock put to him at $10.00. Established open interest at the 10 strike is 77,000 lots and so this would appear to be the work of fresh interest in the contract today.

TGT Target Corp. – The retailer has had a slight share price rally of less than 0.5% to $36.18. Despite the modest rise today, a couple of investors were observed looking for a significant jump in shares heading into January of 2010. The first of two bullish trades was a sold straddle at the January 45 strike price. The sale of 2,600 puts for a hefty premium of 12.48 coupled with the sale of 2,600 calls for 3.08 yields the investor a gross premium of 15.56. He will retain the full 15.56 if shares can rally by 24% and settle at $45.00 by expiration. The second of the two trades was even more bullish. This investor established a bull call spread by purchasing 7,500 calls at the January 45 strike price for 3.10 each and by selling 7,500 calls at the January 55 strike for a premium of 1.02 apiece. The net cost to get bullish in the January contract amounts to 2.08 and yields a maximum potential profit of 7.92 if shares can rise to $55.00 by expiration. Shares would need to rally by 30% to the breakeven point at $47.08 in order for this investor to begin to garner profits.

XLI Industrial Select Sector SPDR – Shares of the industrials ETF have risen just under 0.5% to $19.93. The XLI ticker jumped onto our ‘most active by options…
continue reading


Tags: , , , , , , , ,



 

Phil's Favorites

OCCUPY YOUR RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: BILL MOYERS INTERVIEWS TOM MORELLO

Courtesy of Dangerous Mind's Richard Metzger

Bill Moyers continues to make astonishing television with his truly great new PBS series, Moyers and Company. It’s unmissable, the most intelligent hour of programming on American TV today, bar none.

In the latest episode, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello—a man I have a lot of admiration for—joined Bill Moyers for a particularly moving and inspiring conversation. From the show’s website

Songs of social protest—music and the quest for justice—have long been intertwined, and the troubadours of troubling times—Guthrie, Seeger, Baez, Dylan, and Springsteen among them—have become famous for their dedication to both. Now we can add a name to the ranks of those who l...



more from Ilene
 
 

Zero Hedge

May Hedge Funds Performance Update: Red Is Bad

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Submitted by Tyler Durden.

And it was shaping up to be such a good year. According to the latest just released HSBC hedge fund performance update, increasingly more funds are starting to lose it, certainly for the month, but increasingly more for the year. How many LPs will be eager to keep on paying 2% management fees (forget performance) to funds who at best are long AAPL (at least 226 of them), and at worst have underperformed the S&P, for the second year in a row, by anywhere from 5 to 15%?

Select HF performance:

...



more from Tyler

Option Review

Traders Take To Tiffany & Co. Options After Earnings, Guidance Disappoint

 

Today’s tickers: TIF, P & NYT

TIF - Tiffany & Co., Inc. – A surprise earnings miss and a reduced full-year profit and sales forecast from luxury jewelry retailer, Tiffany & Co., took some of the luster out of its shares today, with the stock trading down 8.5% at $56.55 as of 11:50 a.m. in New York. Options activity on Tiffany this morning suggests mixed sentiment on the st...



more from Caitlin

Insider Scoop

RealNetworks Reaches Agreement with Washington State Attorney General

Courtesy of Benzinga.

RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Washington State Attorney General over discontinued e-commerce practices. In accordance with the settlement agreement, RealNetworks has committed to:

Discontinuing the use of pre-checked boxes for purchases of RealNetworks subscription products; Spelling out more clearly the material terms of RealNetworks product offerings; Offering online cancellation of subscription offerings; Enhancing RealNetworks customer support guidelines regarding cancellation. Statement from Thomas Nielsen, President & CEO of RealNetworks:

"About two years ago, the Washington State Attorney General's Office contacted us regarding concerns they had with some of our e-commerce practices.

"While we disagree wit...



http://www.insidercow.com/ more from Insider

Chart School

Will the U.S. Dollar break this 10-year old falling resistance line?

Courtesy of Chris Kimble.

CLICK ON CHART TO ENLARGE

U.S. Dollar is now facing a falling 10-year resistance line and Dollar bullish sentiment is almost reaching 80%. 

 Despite these high bullish readings, if the Dollar succeeds in a breakout, odds move up considerably that "Deflation/Falling prices" picks up speed.

...

more from Chart School

All About Trends

Mid-Day Update

Reminder: David is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

Click here for the full report.




To learn more, sign up for David's free newsletter and receive the free report from All About Trends - "How To Outperform 90% Of Wall Street With Just $500 A Week." Tell David PSW sent you. - Ilene...

more from David

Market Montage

Chinese, European Data Continues to Weaken as Market Potentially Forming New Bear Flag

Submitted by Mark Hanna

Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.

First we'll go to the technicals.  Back in mid April I had opined a 'bear flag' formation was being created. [Apr 17, 2012: Potential Bear Flag Forming]  But the market being the difficult beast it is, head faked everyone and rather than a break down from said flag it first went UP and nearly touched yearly highs.  This caused everyone to think the bear flag had failed…. only to lead to a horrid May in the market.  Generally a bear flag will resolve relatively quickly but the longer...



more from Mark
 
 

Sabrient

Sector Detector: New “Grecian Formula” is making us all gray

Courtesy of Scott Martindale, Sabrient Systems and Gradient Analytics

Despite the fact that U.S. equities are well-positioned and well-supported to go up, once again it is the headlines out of Europe—especially Greece—that are scaring off investors. Some are saying that it is now likely (and even desirable) that Greece will default on all its sovereign debt, withdraw from the euro, and severely devalue its domestic currency (Drachma?). This will allow them to operate a balanced budget while pumping cash into growth initiatives, rather than suffer the ravages of Germany-mandated austerity.

Some say, so what? Greece makes up only about 2% of the Eurozone’s overall economy. Nevertheless, you might say that this new “Grecian Formula” is creating the opposite effect to the men’s hair product, i.e.., rather than losing the gray we are al...



more from Sabrient

ETF Selector

Markets Die Then Flatten…Again (SPY, DIA, QQQ, IWM, FB)

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Markets died and then rallied to flat again as European leaders “prepared contingencies” for a possible Grexit

Markets died hard and fast earlier today as major indexes registered as much as 1.5% of losses after news that Euro zone officials were unofficially “preparing contingencies” for a Greek exit from the Euro.  Unofficial statements were not enough to keep markets down however, as major indexes rallied back to flat levels by the end of the day.

So the world continues to wait on Europe, as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEACA:SPY) gained .05%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEARCA:...



more from John

OpTrader

Swing trading portfolio - week of May 21st, 2012

Reminder: OpTrader is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

This post is for all our live virtual trade ideas and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current  trades are listed in the spreadsheet below, with entry price (1/2 in and All in), and exit prices (1/3 out, 2/3 out, and All out).

We also indicate our stop, which is most of the time the "5 day moving average". All trades, unless indicated, are front-month ATM options. 

Please feel free to participate in the discussion and ask any questions you might have about this virtual portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.

To learn more about the swing trading virtual portfolio (strategy, performance, FAQ, etc.), please click here

Optrader 

...

more from OpTrader

Stock World Weekly

Stock World Weekly: Test Issue

NEW: Ilene is available to chat with Members regarding topics presented in SWW, comments are found below each post.

Here is this week's test version of the latest newsletter. We apologize for some formatting issues that need to be worked out. Please tell us what you think. 

Click on Stock World Weekly here, and sign in/sign up.

...

more from SWW

Pharmboy

Big Pharma - Where Are We Now?

Reminder: Pharmboy is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

In this article, please revisit an article written two years ago titled, "The Calm Before the Storm."  This article focused on the patent cliff that was looming in the pharmaceutical industry, that was later picked up by the New York Times and several other bloggers!  Subsequent articles were written about big pharma company's revenue streams, and the pros and cons of of their later stage pipelines.  Other articles have also attempted to identify smaller biotechs with the potential to reap big reward...



more from Pharmboy

IRA Strategy/Income Trader

Weekend Virtual Portfolio Update 2/26/2012

My last weekend update is dated from January 30 so after a long hiatus, here is an update of our virtual portfolio. Since the last update, we have closed the AA Money portfolio due to a lack of enthusiasm (and activity) and I have stopped tracking the FAS strangle as the low VIX makes it hard to get rewarded for the risk! But we have added a small $5KP virtual portfolio which does not use any margin. FAS Money We have had to recover from a big move up by FAS and a low VIX which keeps option prices low. But the portfolio has gaine about 10% since the last update. Last update P&L - $5499.00 IWM Money Not a lot of activity in this portfolio where the main focus is on the large IWM BCS. But the portfolio has grown over 20% since the last update. Last update P&L - $1998.00 $5KP Portfolio This is the virtual portfolio that replaced the AA Money portfolio. It does not use margin and we will keep holdings under $5K. AAPL $50K P...

more from Strategies
 
 



FeedTheBull - Top Stock market and Finance Sites




As Seen On:




About Phil:

Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...

Learn more About Phil >>

About Ilene:

Ilene is editor and affiliate program coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site (blogroll, archives, more). Contact Ilene to learn about our affiliate and content sharing programs.

Favorites Site >>