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Posts Tagged ‘ERTS’

Options Combo-Play Sees Multi-Year Highs Ahead For Electronic Arts

www.interactivebrokers.com

      Today’s tickers: ERTS, SNE, EAT & ETR

ERTS - Electronic Arts, Inc. – Shares in the video game developer may rally to their highest in more than two years by January 2013 expiration according to three-legged bullish plays initiated in Electronic Arts options this morning. Earlier this week the company announced an agreement to acquire PopCap Games, which makes games for mobile phones, tablets, PCs and social networking sites, in a cash and stock deal valued at up to $1.3 billion. Shares in Electronic Arts are currently up 0.50% to arrive at $23.63 as of 11:30 am ET. Long-term bullish investors eyeing fresh multi-year highs by Jan. 2013 expiration appear to have sold put options on the stock in order to partially offset the cost of debit call spreads. Traders sold around 5,000 puts at the Jan. 2013 $17.5 strike at an average premium of $1.42 each, purchased around the same number of calls up at the Jan. 2013 $25 strike for an average premium of $3.67 per contract, and sold some 5,000 calls at the Jan. 2013 $30 strike at an average premium of $1.97 a-pop. Average net premium paid to initiate the three-way trade amounts to just $0.28 per contract. Investors employing the strategy profit if shares in Electronic Arts rally 7.0% to exceed the average breakeven price of $25.28 by expiration day in more than one year. Maximum potential profits of $4.72 per contract are available on the spread in the event that shares in the interactive entertainment provider jump 27.0% to trade above $30.00 at expiration in January 2013. The company’s first-quarter earnings report is expected to hit the stands after the final bell on August 2.

SNE - Sony Corp. – Call activity on the designer and manufacturer of electronic equipment and devices suggests some strategists are positioning for shares in the Tokyo, Japan-based company to rally substantially by October expiration. Sony’s shares suffered following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in its home country. A number of…
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Bearish Player Initiates Ratio Put Spread at Staples

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: SPLS, XCO, THC, FTO, YHOO, ERTS, LNC & GE

SPLS - Staples, Inc. – The supplier of office products popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner late in the trading session after one investor initiated a bearish spread in the December contract. Staples’ shares are currently down 0.80% at $20.64 as of 3:15 p.m. in New York. The pessimistic player established a ratio put spread, buying 2,500 in-the-money puts at the December $21 strike for an average premium of $1.185 each, and selling 5,000 puts at the lower December $19 strike at an average premium of $0.39 apiece. The average net cost of the transaction amounts to $0.405 per contract. Thus, the investor is prepared to make money if the price of the underlying stock slips beneath the effective breakeven point on the spread at $20.595 by expiration day in December. Maximum potential profits of $1.595 per contract are available to the ratio-spreader if the office products company’s shares fall 7.945% from the current price of $20.64 to settle at $19.00 at expiration. The investor is vulnerable to losses in the event that Staples’ shares plummet far lower than he expects they will in the next several months. Losses start to accumulate for the trader if shares drop 15.7% lower and trade below the lower breakeven point at $17.405 by expiration day. Staples, Inc. is slated to report third-quarter earnings ahead of the opening bell on November 18, 2010.

XCO - EXCO Resources, Inc. – The oil and natural gas company was visited by one long-term bullish options investor in the second half of the trading session. It looks like the trader is expecting EXCO’s shares to rally significantly by expiration day in March of 2011. Shares of the Dallas, TX-based firm are up 2.05% at…
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Apollo Calls Remain Active on Mixed Views

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: APOL, ERTS, MMR, BAC & RIG

APOL – Apollo Group – A second day of gains for the online education company has shares touching $50 this morning. The start of July saw the company reach its 52-week low at $42.41. Option trading has centered on call options at the August $50 and $55 strikes but the picture is mixed. At the higher of the two strikes where only about 1,000 open positions exist, a chunk of 5,700 call options traded to the bid of 55 cents leading us to believe that this investor is raising his hand over the likelihood of exponential gains for the stock. This investor has either recently bought the stock in which case is writing a covered call, or is simply skeptical of a further 10% gain in Apollo’s share price from here. Buyers also showed up at the $50 strike expiring next month where buying rights to buy shares jumped from 13 cents to 56 cents. Call volume at the strike of almost 2,000 lots easily tops the prevailing open interest of 1,400 contracts.

ERTS – Electronic Arts – Despite a reduction in one the earnings projection from on analyst today, shares in the video gamer are higher at $14.91 possibly on account a groundswell of bullish call option activity. Investors awaiting an August 4 earnings report have spent premiums of around 40 cents to lock into bullish expectations in the event the company pulls off a decent report or perhaps a new title release in a dull climate for consumer demand. Option traders flocked to the August $16 strike, which currently shows odds of successfully landing in-the-money by expiration of one-in-three. Shares opened lower before today’s rally as call activity hit the screens. Options implied volatility has been on the rise of late and is again higher today by around 10% at 47%. That would indicate rising uncertainty surrounding prospects for the share price and is typical ahead of earnings.

MMR – McMoRan Exploration Co. – Investors didn’t stick around to ask many questions following the seventh consecutive quarterly loss at this oil and gas explorer. McMoRan specializes in ultra-deepwater exploration in search of oil and gas, which of course is not the most popular of investments targets following the Gulf of Mexico spill in April. McMoRan emphasized that it doesn’t operate in this segment but does operate in a high-risk operation…
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Trading in Electronic Arts’ Calls Accelerates Ahead of Earnings

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: ERTS, USO, ARMH, BK, JPM, GG, XRT, DF, CAH & PCLN

ERTS – Electronic Arts, Inc. – Call activity on the video game publisher is booming in late afternoon trading ahead of Electronic Arts’ fourth-quarter earnings announcement. Shares of the underlying stock are up 3.3% at $18.85 with 40 minutes remaining in the session. Analysts, on average, anticipate earnings of $0.05 per share on revenue of $835.4 million. Bullish options investors are scrambling to position for Electronic Arts’ share price to rally sharply should the firm’s earnings report beat average expectations. The majority of the call activity on the stock today is centered in the June contract where trading patterns look to be mimicking the parameters of a plain-vanilla debit call spread strategy. Approximately 15,000 calls were likely purchased for an average premium of $0.94 apiece at the June $20 strike. Meanwhile, traders sold about 15,000 calls at the higher June $22 strike for an average premium of $0.36 each. Investors employing this strategy reduce the net cost of buying the closer-to-the-money call options at the June $20 strike price to an average of $0.58 per contract. Maximum potential profits available to pseudo-call spreading traders amounts to $1.42 per contract should shares of the underlying stock surge 16.7% to surpass the $22.00-level by June expiration. Options implied volatility is up 6.9% to 57.12% ahead of the earnings announcement.

USO – United States Oil Fund LP – Shares of the U.S. Oil Fund are currently trading 1.25% lower on the day at $36.77. The USO’s share price of $36.77 is 12.2% below the May high of $41.90 attained back on May 3, 2010. One options investor is positioning for continued bearish movement in the price of the underlying fund through June expiration. The trader purchased a debit put spread, buying 3,000 lots at the June $36 strike for an average premium of $1.27 each, and selling the same number of contracts at the lower June $33 strike for $0.47 apiece. Net premium paid for the pessimistic play amounts to $0.80 per contract. The trader starts to make money if USO shares slip beneath the effective breakeven price of $35.20 by expiration day. Maximum potential profits of $2.20 per contract accumulate for the put-spreader if shares slump 10.25% beneath the current value to breach the $33.00-level by June expiration.

ARMH – ARM Holdings PLC – Optimistic options players initiated debit…
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Citi-Bull Sheds Just Under a Quarter Million Put Options

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: C, ERTS, ATVI, DNDN, HIG, DD, RCL, SFD & AMR

C – Citigroup, Inc. – One investor established a mammoth bullish stance on Citigroup in the first 20 minutes of the current trading session. Citigroup’s shares at the time of the transaction were trading at approximately $4.05, but have since slipped lower and are down 0.50% to $4.03 as of 2:45 pm (ET). It looks like the Citi-bull sold 240,000 put options outright at the April $4.0 strike to take in a premium of $0.16 per contract. Premium received on the sale, which represents maximum potential profits, amounts to $3.840 million to the investor if Citigroup’s shares trade above $4.00 through expiration day. The short stance in put options implies the investor is willing to have 24 million shares of the underlying stock put to him at an effective price of $3.84 each should the puts land in-the-money at expiration.

ERTS – Electronic Arts, Inc. – An enormous bullish debit call spread purchased on video game software publishing company, Electronic Arts, Inc., indicates one big options investor is expecting shares of the underlying stock to rally sharply ahead of expiration in January 2011. Electronic Arts’ shares are up 2.40% this afternoon to $18.57. The options player purchased approximately 61,000 call options at the January 2011 $25 strike for an average premium of $0.60 apiece, and sold roughly the same number of contracts at the higher January 2011 $30 strike for $0.14 each. The net cost of the spread amounts to $0.46 per contract, thus yielding maximum potential profits of $4.54 apiece if shares surge through $30.00 by expiration day next year. ERTS shares must increase at least 37% from the current price in order for the investor to break even on the trade at $25.46. Maximum profit acquisition of $4.54 per contract, or total gains of $27.694 million, requires a 61.55% rally in shares to $30.00 by January expiration. The 122,000 call options utilized in the transaction represent a staggering 44.58% of total existing open interest on the stock of 273,639 contracts.

ATVI – Activision Blizzard, Inc. – The producer of online, console and hand-held games received a vote of confidence by one large options player anticipating bullish movement in the price of its shares through expiration in January 2011. Activision’s shares rallied 2.12% to $12.05 in the first half of the trading session. The optimistic investor established…
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Investor Removes Comcast Strangle to Bank Profits

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: CMCSA, HSY, GLD, ORCL, XRT, ERTS, FXI, PFE, SII & JCP

CMCSA – Comcast Corp. – A large-volume short strangle established at the beginning of the month on the entertainment and communications services firm was unraveled today, yielding one investor a nice chunk of change heading into the weekend. Comcast’s shares are up 1% to $15.89 in afternoon trading. It appears the trader originally sold roughly 35,000 calls at the July $17 strike for a volume-weighted average premium of $0.74 apiece in combination with the sale of 35,000 puts at the July $14 strike for a premium of $0.74 each. The original transaction likely occurred on February 4, 2010, and yielded a gross premium of $1.48 per contract to the trader. Today the investor purchased-to-close the short strangle, buying back the calls at a reduced premium of $0.60 each, and buying the put options for $0.56 apiece. The trader paid a gross premium of $1.16 to close out the short stance. Therefore, the investor walks away with net profits of $0.32 per contract for a grand total of $1.120 million. It is important to note, however, that the trader left a great deal of money sitting on the table. Comcast’s shares are still trading within the boundaries of the $14/$17 strike prices required for maximum profit potential. The investor would have accumulated profits of $1.48 per contract – a total of $5.180 million – if CMCSA shares remained range-bound and if the trader held the position through expiration. Perhaps this individual unraveled the strangle in anticipation of greater volatility in the price of the underlying stock going forward.

HSY – The Hershey Company – Bullish investors satisfied sugar cravings this afternoon by devouring Hershey call options. Shares of the chocolatier rallied 2.70% to $39.88 today. Option traders picked up 1,600 calls at the March $41 strike for a premium of $0.47 apiece. The higher March $42.5 strike attracted greater volume with more than 5,300 calls purchased for a premium of $0.23 per contract. Higher-strike call buyers are positioned to accumulate profits if Hershey’s share price exceeds its current 52-week high of $42.25, attained back on July 23, 2009, by expiration next month. These optimistic individuals profit if shares increase 7.15% from the current price to surpass the effective breakeven point on the calls at $42.73.

GLD – SPDR Gold Trust ETF – Shares of the gold exchange-traded fund,…
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Wild Weekly Wrap Up – Only Halfway Through January!

Wheee, what a ride!

The week can be neatly summed up by my 1:35 comment to Members in yesterday’s chat, summed the week up quite nicely as I said: "So funny, a whole week of gains I thought were ridiculous wiped out in 4 hours."  Of course it’s easy to laugh when you play the market correctly – as I had said in the morning post, we had cashed out into Thursday’s run up and planned on going bearish through the weekend but it turned out we got our sell-off early, jumping the $100K Virtual Portfolio, for example, up 12% in one day – enough to send us back to cash rather than risk a weekend reversal

We laid the groundwork for this little sell-off in last weekend’s posts as we put up an aggressive Buy List for Members but in my regular weekend post we emphasized the need to cover our buys with "Disaster Hedges" as we were heading to the tops I had predicted when I published the "Last Charts of the Decade," where I set resistance target of Dow 10,457, S&P 1,135, Nasdaq 2,314, NYSE 7,389 and Russell 638.  As you can see, I pretty much hit them on the head, other than the Dow but that’s because our year-old 5% rule calculations did not account for the change in the Dow that replaced C and GM with TRV and CVX, who added about 100 Dow points since their inclusion so we started using 10,549 this month and we’ll make it 10,557 for today’s chart, which makes perfect sense looking at this group (I added the Transports as they are fell right off our 2,000 target, giving us the early warning that things were not right):

As you can see, the 5% Rule rules!  I will apologize for being such a grump this week but the rally was really starting to annoy me as it was so blatantly forced up through our levels without a proper test that is was really getting me down about the markets.  I don’t mind that the markets are manipulated, that’s been going on since markets were invented – it’s stupid and destructive manipulation that bothers me, the kind that, long term, destroys more investor confidence than it builds and squanders capital resources on the "wrong" companies (and now, ETFs!). 

In this case, very precious investor capital is being steered into commodities, which is
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IYR-Investor Constructs Three-Legged Bullish Combination Play Despite Declining Market

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: IYR, PFE, FXI, WFT, UUP, JPM, GLD, ERTS, STJ & PVH

IYR – iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index ETF – Bullish options activity on the IYR flies in the face of bearish momentum across equities in the broader market today. The investor responsible for the optimistic positioning in the February contract appears little concerned with the current 2% decline in the value per IYR share today to $45.31. It looks like the trader sold a put credit spread in order to offset the cost of buying out-of-the-money call options. The three-legged combination involved the sale of 10,000 puts at the February $45 strike for a premium of $1.56 each, spread against the purchase of 10,000 puts at the lower February $42 strike for $0.65 apiece. The net credit of $0.91 per contract received on the credit spread is more than enough to cover the cost of the 10,000 calls purchased at the February $48 strike for $0.55 each. After establishing all three legs of the spread, the trader pockets $0.36 per contract. The investor keeps the full $0.36 only if IYR’s shares trade above $45.00 through expiration next month. Additional profits amass only if shares of the fund rally 6% from the current price to surpass $48.00. We note that the investor responsible for the trade may suffer maximum potential losses of $2.64 per contract if the price of the underlying slips to $42.00 by expiration day.

PFE – Pfizer, Inc. – A bullish risk reversal on the global pharmaceutical company today suggests shares may rally to $20.00 by expiration in June. Pfizer’s shares withstood downward market pressure for the majority of the trading session, and even climbed slightly higher in earlier trading, but edged 0.75% lower to $18.70 by 2:15 pm (EDT). The reversal play involved the sale of 10,000 in-the-money put options at the June $20 strike for a premium of $2.07 apiece, spread against the purchase of 10,000 out-of-the-money call options at the same strike for $0.70 in premium. The investor receives a net credit of $1.37 per contract, which he keeps if PFE’s shares rally up to $20.00 by expiration. The short sale of put options implies the trader is willing to have shares put to him at an effective price of $18.63 each. However, the investor would optimally like to see shares rally at least 7% over the current price to…
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Zero Hedge

The Cost Of The Combined Greek Bailout Just Rose To €320 Billion In Secured Debt, Or 136% Of Greek GDP

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Submitted by Tyler Durden.

Some of our German readers may be laboring under the impression that following the €110 billion first Greek bailout agreed upon and executed in May 2010, the second Greek bailout would cost a "mere" €130 billion. Alas we have new for you - as of this morning, the formal cost of rescuing Greece for the adjusted adjusted adjusted second time has just risen to €145 billion, €175 billion, a whopping €210 billion, bringing the total explicit cost of all Greek bailout funds to date (and many more in sto...



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Chart School

Best Stock Market Indicator Ever: Weekend Update

Courtesy of Doug Short.

The $OEXA200R (the percentage of S&P 100 stocks above their 200 DMA) is a technical indicator available on StockCharts.com that can be used to forecast conservative entry and exit points for the stock market.

The OEXA is used to find the "sweet spot" time period in the market when you have the best chance of making money. See Is This the Best Stock Market Indicator Ever? for a discussion of this technical tool.

The chart below is current through the February 3rd close.


After a major S&P correction, the conditions for safe re-entry into the market are when:

   a) $OEXA200R rises above 65%. And two of the following three...

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Phil's Favorites

Violent Protests in Greece; 6 Cabinet Members Resign

Violent Protests in Greece; 6 Cabinet Members Resign; LAOS leader "I Would Rather Starve Than be Under German Jackboot"; Controversy Over Missing Paragraphs

Courtesy of Mish

Imagine you are asked to sign a document but three pages were missing. Further imagine the documents you were asked to sign were written in English but you only speak Greek. Would you sign?

That is exactly the predicament Greek officials were placed in by the Troika. Here is the story sent to me by Demetri Kofinas at Capital Account.

Hello Mish

George Karatzaferis leader of LOAS political party gave a speech today addressing why he refused to sign this latest agreement. In his speech, he said that he a...

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Sabrient

Sabrient Risers - 2/11/2012

Top 5 RisersStockRatingAnalysisICABUYThe projected value for Empresas ICA is still rising quickly even though past earnings have already improved significantly.XBUYThe projected value for US Steel is still rising quickly even though past earnings have already improved significantly.FEICBUYProjected value continues to rise for FEI while long term increases in earnings growth are also becoming more widely expected.ASBCBUYMany analysts are expecting higher than previously expected long term growth from Associated Bancorp, and its near-term earnings outlook is also improving....

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Insider Scoop

Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Friday February 10, 2012

Courtesy of Benzinga.

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday February 10, 2012:

Actuant Acquires Jeyco Pty

The Deal:
Actuant (NYSE: ATU) announced Friday that it has acquired Jeyco Pty Ltd (“Jeyco”). Headquartered near Perth, Australia, Jeyco designs and provides specialized mooring, rigging and towing systems and services to the offshore oil & gas industry in Australia and other international markets. Additionally, its highly engineered products are used in a variety of applications for other markets including cyclone mooring and marine, defense and mining tow systems. Jeyco generates annual revenues of approximately $20 million.

Actuant shares closed at $27.33 Friday, a loss of 0.18% on average volume.

...

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Market Montage

And Still Not a Single 1% Down Day in 2012

Submitted by Mark Hanna

Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.

A little flurry of buying in the closing 5 minutes tacked on 2 S&P points and took the major indexes off the lows.  Only the Russell 2000 finished with a greater than 1% loss (1.4%) as it has been relatively weak versus the senior indexes for the past few sessions.   While today was the "worst day of the year" – it was quite a low bar as the previous biggest loss on the S&P 500 was -0.57%.

The S&P 500 held well above the 10 day moving average (didn't even really touch it) and did not even attempt to fill the gap from last Friday's employment report.  The teflon market rolls on for now.  Specul...



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ETF Selector

ETFs Skid On Greece (VGK, EWG, FXE, DIA, SPY)

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Greece was “saved” for less than 24 hours but now major ETFs around the world skid into the weekend on Greek fears

After wangling for a week or more, Greek took their new deal to the European Ministers meeting, only to have it promptly rejected and so as we go into the weekend, major global markets and ETFs have again hit the skids on Greece.

After two years of wangling, the European zone is demanding yet more and deeper cuts for Greece to qualify for the next round of bailout loans that will keep the country from going bankrupt on March 20th.

Major European and United States ETF responded negatively to the new developments:

SPDR Dow Jones Industrial ETF (NYSEARCA:...



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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...

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Option Review

True Religion Falls Apart At The Seams After Earnings

 

Today’s tickers: TRLG, KR & IGT

...



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OpTrader

Swing trading portfolio - week of February 6th, 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 

...

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Stock World Weekly

Stock World Weekly: The Relentless Pursuit of Meaningless Metrics

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

Here's the latest Stock World Weekly, called "The Relentless Pursuit of Meaningless Metrics."  

...

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IRA Strategy/Income Trader

Weekend Virtual Portfolio Update 1/30/2012

Here is a quick update of past trades and our current position. AA Money No trade this week as we wait for AA to settle. Phil remarked last week that AA seemed overvalued. In the meantime, it looks like we might have to roll our Feb 9 calls. Good thing we sold only 5 of them against our position. Last week P&L - 310.00 We lost ground last week, but we still have 11 months to sell premium! FAS Money Very good week for FAS Money as we benefited from the large amount of premium sold the previous week. We covered most of the shorts in advance of the Fed speech, but sold another set of options on Wednesday after the speech - 2 FAS calls that expired worthless on Friday, 2 FAS put that we are still holding and 2 FAZ put that we bought back for a profit on Friday. A late stick comparable to last week's almost gave us problems at the end of the day though! Last week P&L - $4277.00 IWM Money A decent week in this virtual portfo...

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Pharmboy

Biotech Investing for 2012

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

Finding new and exciting Biotech companies that target novel mechanisms is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.  Sure there are many companies working on cutting edge science, but investing in those companies to reap the rewards of their work is a very dangerous game.  More often than not, companies fail because the mechanism does not pan out, the compound(s) do not have pharmacokinetics (get into the body or last very long in the body), or an adverse event happens that knocks years off a development timeline.  In addition, the stock can be manipulated by market makers so investors don't know which way is up.  I approach investing in biotechs as a long term prospect.  I continue to like our current portfolio of biotech companies (join in chat for many of those plays), and we continually add/subtract shares and sell/buy options on ...



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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...

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