Phil's Stock World, Stock Options Trading & Information

Daily Stock and Options Tips & Updates; Get Our Daily Newsletter Here

Phil, I don't know if I told you lately but you da man! I'm doing so much better following your guidelines. It's like you actually know what you are talking about. 8-) I've tried a lot of services and none of them are as comprehensive or honest AND successful. I appreciate all youz other guys/gals input as well…learning tons as a relative newbie to this game.

- Aclend

Thanks Phil, I have adjusted my position by getting rid of the IYF puts, and selling the FAZ puts. You have so many of these awesome little tricks in your playbook that it really amazes me. I toally love your analogy by the way: Do you want insurance that you have to pay for, or do you want insurance that pays you?

- Craigzooka

Don't expect to get rich quick here, but you can get easy 30 - 50 % per year, just by buying good stocks at discount (as we often discuss), selling monthly premiums of calls and puts.

- Tchayipov

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! How will I ever do anything else in my life that will compare to the wild ride you get trading an ultra etf in the most volatile sector in the stock market the day before option expiration?

- Matt1966

Brilliant covering of the arcane, the profane , but never the mundane! Easy to understand the reason for your huge following, Phil, and why you have become a must read on my daily agenda. Please accept my complete appreciation.

- Seeking Truth

I discovered PSW while reading up on the US economy and how it applies to all the poor folk of the world and to myself as a humble UK desk slave. This year I put time into learning options trading. I upgraded (with great administrative difficulty!) my stock dealing account to deal options. Now I am an avid reader of PSW and subscribed for voyeur membership. Initially feeling out of my depth struggling to keep up with the peculiar language of options traders, I unsubscribed feeling a little under confident and uncertain if the small stake I have to invest in options could generate enough to justify my PSW subscription. Nevertheless, I've benefited considerably from the member's material. From a small number of initial trades, I've exceeded profit targets enough to consider re-subscribing in some capacity. Thanks for the knowledge and more than anything I appreciate the human angle, the humour and the ecologically sympathetic approach rarely seen in other financial media. Best wishes all - Jon

- Jon

Dear Phil, I have followed along with your commentary and alerts and have been flabbergasted at your quick analytical skills and your journalistic skills to explain it clearly. In a little over three weeks I have cleared almost 1000.00 dollars and got an intensive education at the same time. I would like to immediately upgrade my membership. It is hard for me to follow all evening as I am in Tokyo but I can join you at the beginning of the market and read the next day.

- Tokyolife

Thanks to PSW I simply LOVE this market. I want it to go up. Then I want it to go down. I want it to do BOTH, day after day. And I don't care which stocks go up, nor do I care which stocks go down. I just want to FIND those that are going up today, down tomorrow, up the next, and so on, so that I can PLAY them like a fiddle thanks to what I've learned here!

- lflantheman

Phil - I know I am small change compared to most others members, but I just wanted to let you know that during the last two weeks with the shorts you and others suggested I have 6 winners and 5 losers. My losers were small because I tried to follow your guidelines as best I could. On the other hand my winners on average were around 50%. Consequently, I am up $2000 in 14 days. Thank you for your patience and help. I think I am making progress getting rid of some of my poor trading habits of the past!

- DCalrk41

TBT - Many thanks, Phil. I join you in your opinion favoring the Jan expirations. That's a great play. I can never thank you enough for what I have gained educationally as well as monitarily. Here it is late Sunday evening and I am able to get world class advice, just by asking for it. I feel like I am staying in a 5 star hotel, and room service is just a telephone call away!

- Gel1

I have followed along with your commentary and alerts and have been flabbergasted at your quick analytical skills and your journalistic skills to explain it clearly. In a little over three weeks I have cleared almost 1000.00 dollars and got an intensive education at the same time. I would like to immediately upgrade my membership.

- TokyoLife

Phil - Your logic not only makes sense, but it made a lot of premium profit for me over the past 12 months. I have recovered much of the massive equity losses of last year. My Monday play is the sale of long term puts on FXI. Love the premium!

- Gel1

Oxen (directly) and Wilkinson (indirectly) are making me a great day trader! Props to Andrew for another little nugget last night: HIG. $20 Dec calls paid 6% quickly this morning. And helloooo STJ - a few days, but nice pick nonetheless - esp with early cover premium.

- Dstillwe

Great calls this week!

- SNS1

Phil – Not that you dont usually, but you have DEFINITELY earned your money this week. THe recommendations have been PERFECT. Selling into the initial excitement (MULTIPLE TIMES), hedges, everything. Im reading this when I get home from work and want to cry b/c I cant trade at work! I might have to start getting up at 3 AM though to catch those trades bc youre killing it then too! May you and yours have a blessed weekend!

- Jromeha

WOW, glad I went bearish… Phil, thanks for the help on the QID calls yesterday, I turned it into a partial cover rolling down to the Feb 52s selling the 55s 1/2 covered. Sold 1/2 and now lowered my cost basis to $4.38 on the $52s (fully covered).

- Texasmotion

Maya, After years of being pretty good at picking stocks I still managed to lose almost as much as I made.All the reading Phil asked us to do as a new member (And everything else I can get my hands on lately) has revealed my Achilles Heal.Good stock picks do not necessarily make money. My problem was swinging for the fences. Since becoming a member Jan 1 this year and getting into to scaling into small trades I am amazed at the steady profit growth I have experienced already while not worrying about getting killed. And having fun doing it.. Phil, Thanks for the education, the help you give and the chance to learn more and get better. Also thanks to all the members who have answered the few questions I had when your not around.

- Ricpar

I am a Registered Nurse, so is my wife. We work hard to take care of seven kids that are the joy of our lives. The cost for a basic membership is ALOT from our our monthly budget of spending and saving…but well worth it! Phil has allowed me to really ramp up the savings we put away for our children's college funds and our retirement.

- David

Phil/Everyone here/Thank you - What everyone here with their insightful comments (including yourself) has helped me with is that I'm greatly increasing my ability to trade more psychologically neutral, although I've got a ways to go. Two years ago I'd wake up early and my heart would race if futures weren't pointing exactly how I wanted… I've noticed an exponential leap in my discipline skills especially over this past two weeks. The old me would have ran with that trade for profits without even asking. Now I know that there are ALWAYS more trades and that I have PLENTY of options to turn a bad trade even. Also, it's more logical and less emotionally draining which lets me focus my faculties on my wife, college, my job, and studying for the ol' Series 7. Would it be safe to say that one of the most important skills to develop is the ability to adjust? I'd love to get to the point where I can look at a bracket and know, for example, what I need to sell for cover in what month in order to get my desired results. Both COF and my past DMM venture have been excellent learning experiences. Thanks, everyone. I look forward to further lessons.

- Skasiah

Phil: UNH, hedged stock position, doing great, up over 50 %,

- RMM

Phil, 26% on the week for the 20% I day-trade, and since drinking the kool-aid last fall, the whole portfolio has doubled. Have a great weekend !!

- JRW III

Oil – thanks Phil, got in late at 0.53 on the 38p today, set a sell for 0.75 and took the dog for a walk – 70% gain and more than enough $$ to buy dog food. TZA Aug 35/40 BCS – closed out for a 100% gain in under a month – thanks again for introducing me to these trades.

- CanuckBob

Phil - I LOVE these futures trades at random hours! I wasnt able to get in on the 612 part but if I had it wouldve been 130$ (2.6%) on a 5k contract in less than 30 minutes. I know you have to sleep, spend time with fam, ect but Im just letting you know that your posts after hours/late at night has made people who followed them a decent chunk of change. Thank you, we appreciate it!

- Jromeha

Phil: well, often you say, just for FUN, great comment, TXS, closed 2 SKF positions, one with 10 % , the other with 6 % gain,

- RMM

Thanks, Phil. I really appreciate your sentiment and commitment! Just want to thank you for what you do for all of us.

- JBaker

BTW Phil, I wanted to relate a conversation I had with my business partner yesterday. I told him that I have been much more relaxed about my investments ever since I joined your site. It's funny how a 15-20% cushion does to your nerves. My returns have increased dramatically and my risk diminished. Many thanks for the guidance and patience. Good thing I am doing better financially as you might have increased my life expectancy as well!

- StJeanluc

Phil — gotta thank you for your advice this week, and especially today. I took many aspects of your advice this morning, with all of my shorts -- being prepared on the short side, selling into intial excitement, taking the money and running, not being greedy. I also made money on the your /QM and /YM calls. It used to be I would be terrified of weeks like this one. Now, it feels somewhat comfortable, for want of a better word.

- Escohen5

Fed days are fun! Just for grins I decided to see how much money I could make in two clicks. I bought DIA calls right when the surge started and then sold them the minute they hit my account. Net gain of 20% in 20 seconds. Can't do that very often…

- MrMocha

Personally I admire and respect you disciplined approach to investing. My style is at the extreme side of aggressive and I have to learn how to be less that way. If I yell " Let it Ride" at my house, no one says a word so I can't use that to temper my behavior. Phil has done a pretty good job of knocking some of my potential moves and as a result, I have increased my portfolio value by almost 25% since late July.

- DoubleD

Sold out my AAPL mar95 calls. Up over 100% today on them!

- Singapore Steve

Posts Tagged ‘FMCN’

Full Throttle Friday – Dollar Dive Does Bears In

by Phil - December 2nd, 2011 8:28 am

Oh what fun this is!

Now the ECB is lending the IMF about $200Bn, which the IMF can lever up to lend Eurozone countries another $500Bn and that’s before the Fed and the BOJ and all the other partners in World Crime get together and pump even more money in. Nothing gives the old Futures a shot in the arm like MORE FREE MONEY and, interestingly enough, the ECB handing out cash Boosts the Euro, now over the $1.35 line.

This is, of course, FANTASTIC for our Monday trade ideas, which were:

FAS Dec $48/55 bull call spread at $3, selling the $40 puts for $2.40 for net .60 on the $7 spread. 5 in the WCP on that one. (Now net $4.95 – up 725%)

FXE Dec $132/135 bull call spread at $1.20, selling the $129 puts for $1.10 for net .10 on the $3 spread. (Now $1.45, up net 1,350%)

JPM Jan $25 puts can be sold for $1.20 (Now .65 – up 45%)

AA 2013 $7.50 puts can be sold for $1.28 (Now $1.05 – up 18%)

VLO June $17 puts can be sold for $2.05 (Now $1.40, up 32%)

Gasoline (/RB) futures at $2.55 (Now $2.62 – up $2,940 per contract)

Now I know that these are the kind of results you get every week so, whatever you do – don’t subscribe to our Newsletter! Why would you want these ideas EMailed to you every morning before the market opens? If they make you money, then you have to pay taxes and paying taxes is evil, right? Premium Membership is sold out but you wouldn’t want to get trade ideas live during market hours anyway. Less than $2 per day, however, gets you our Annual PSW Report Membership and you are able to read our full posts every morning, as soon as they are published.

Speaking of Premium Memberships, congrats to all who followed us last week as it was a doozy! You can tell from our titles (and our Stock World Weekly Newsletter does a great recap of the action each week and is included with that Report Membership) how we turned bullish over the week:

Keep in mind, these are titles that go out in the "In Progress" posts that…

Tags: AA, CHK, DIA, DIS, FAS, FMCN, FXE, JPM, QQQ, RIG, TLT, TM, TNA, USO, VLO, WFR, XLF

Posted in Immediately available to public | Join Member's Chat - 263 Comments Here »

Virgin Media bulls bank profits and build new positions

www.interactivebrokers.com

by Option Review - November 23rd, 2009 4:38 pm

Today’s tickers: VMED, EWZ, HAL, FMCN, VIX, SEED, GLD, CMCSA, SEED, LDK & USG

VMED – Virgin Media, Inc. – Virgin-bulls banked profits and established new positions on the telecommunications company this afternoon amid a 1% increase in shares to $16.54. One investor initiated the closing purchase of 10,000 put options that were originally sold short for an average premium of 68 cents apiece back on October 16, 2009. Today the trader closed out the position by buying the puts for just 15 cents each. Net profits on the trade amount to 53 cents per contract for a total of $530,000. The same investor is likely responsible for putting on a similar bullish strategy in the March 2010 contract. The March 15 strike had 10,000 puts sold short for one dollar per contract. The sale of the put options implies the trader expects shares of VMED to remain above $15.00 through expiration in March. Finally, optimism spread to the March 17.5 strike where 2,685 calls were purchased for an average premium of 1.45 apiece. Call-buyers amass profits if shares of VMED rally another 15% over the current price to breach the breakeven point at $18.95 by expiration day in March. Option implied volatility is currently 8.5% lower to 42.40%.

EWZ – iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF – A bullish risk reversal on the EWZ in the January 2010 contract indicates investors are positioning for a rally in shares over the next couple of months. Shares of the fund are trading 1.5% higher to $76.28 this afternoon. Traders sold 5,500 puts at the January 77 strike for an average premium of 4.90 apiece in order to finance the purchase of 5,500 calls at the same strike for 3.35 each. The bullish reversal yields a net credit of 1.55 per contract. Investors retain the full 1.55 credit if shares of the Brazil Index ETF trade above $77.00 by expiration in January. Additional profits accumulate to the upside above the $77.00 breakeven price. The 1.55 credit also acts as a buffer against losses to investors in case shares fail to rise up to the strike price described. Investors short the put options stand ready to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $75.45 each if the put options land in-the-money by expiration.

HAL – Halliburton Co. – Near-term bearish option plays on the oil and gas…

Tags: CMCSA, EWZ, FMCN, GLD, HAL, LDK, SEED, USG, VIX, VMED

1 Comment »

Volatility Up at Dow Chemical as Investors Feast on Options

www.interactivebrokers.com

by Option Review - September 14th, 2009 5:51 pm

Today’s tickers: DOW, XLF, FMCN, MAR, CAT, S & MOT

DOW - The manufacturer of chemicals, plastic materials, and other specialized products jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon amid a more than 7% rally in shares to $25.30. Option traders displayed bullish tendencies as investors exchanged nearly two call options to each put traded on the stock. The near-term September contract had traders buying up both calls and puts. Bullish call buying occurred at the now in-the-money September 25 strike where more than 6,100 calls were picked up for an average premium of 33 cents each. More optimistic individuals purchased some 1,100 calls at the higher September 26 strike for 27 cents premium. Investors also locked in gains by buying 4,300 puts at the September 24 strike for 25 cents each. An additional chunk of 5,600 puts were scooped up at the higher September 25 strike for 56 cents apiece. Investors purchasing the puts probably hold long positions in the underlying stock. Finally, the October 26 strike was also targeted by bullish traders who bought about 2,000 calls for 85 cents per contract. The intraday shift in option implied volatility on DOW suggests investors are anticipating greater fluctuation in the price of the underlying shares. Volatility increased 12% during the session, rising up to a high of 51.5% from an intraday low of 46%. – The Dow Chemical Co. –

XLF - A large-volume bearish reversal caught our eye on the financials exchange-traded fund as shares of the underlying spent the better part of the trading session in the red. However, the XLF has recovered this afternoon to stand more than 0.5% higher at $14.63. The massive options reversal enacted in the October contract suggests at least one trader does not expect to see the fund climb much higher over the next five weeks. The transaction involved the sale of 35,000 calls at the October 15 strike for 39 cents apiece spread against the purchase of 35,000 puts at the lower October 14 strike for 49 cents per contract. The net cost of getting long the puts amounts to just 10 pennies each. It is likely the investor responsible for the spread holds a long position in the underlying stock. If this is indeed the case, he has established downside protection that would kick in if shares of the XLF fell beneath the breakeven point…

Tags: CAT, DOW, FMCN, MAR, MOT, S, XLF

No Comments »

Market Montage

Whitney Houston Dead at 48

February 11th, 2012 8:20 pm

Submitted by Mark Hanna

Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.

Damn. Two (MJ and Whitney) of the big 4 of the 80s gone – Madonna and Prince remain. Probably the most well known Star Spangled Banner ever…

Disclosure Notice

Any securities mentioned on this page are not held by the author in his personal portfolio. Securities mentioned may or may not be held by the author in the mutual fund he manages, the Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX). For a list of the aforementioned fund's holdings at the end of the prior quarter, visit the Paladin Funds website at http://www.paladinfunds.com/holdings/blog

...

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Zero Hedge

Europe: "The Flaw"

February 11th, 2012 8:05 pm

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Submitted by Tyler Durden.

We have posted various extracts from this piece from Credit Suisse previously. We will post from it again, because, to loosely paraphrase Lewis Black, it bears reposting... especially in the context of the latest and greatest Greek "bailout" (of Europe's bankers), which incidentally, will achieve nothing and merely bring the country one step closer to a military coup and/or civil war.

The flaw

The market is essentially proceeding on the assumption, as we see it, that banks’ capital requirements can be met organically, through earnings and deleveraging. We ...

Phil's Favorites

It's Well Past Time for Plan Z

February 11th, 2012 6:46 pm

It's Well Past Time for Plan Z

Courtesy of The Automatic Earth

Mario Draghi captured the utter ineptitude of him and every other Eurocrat out there when he said the following at today’s press conference in response to a question about a Greek exit: “To have a Plan B means defeat already. I am confident that all the pieces of this will fall in the proper places.”

Most 5-year old children in pre-school have already been told not to believe that they can always win and that “winning isn’t everything”, but Draghi & Co. still refuse to consider the possibility of failure even as it is staring them in the face. What’s really disturbing is that the stakes here are obviously much, much higher than they are o...

Chart School

The Student Loan Debt Bomb

February 11th, 2012 5:35 pm

Courtesy of Doug Short.

Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.

It's interesting to watch some of the terms bandied about in headline news. For example, the LA Times headline reads S&P says student loan debt could be next financial bubble.

Next? Could Be?

What with the word "next"? Also what's with the words "could be"? Without a doubt student loans are in a bubble and have been for many years. The source of the problem, as it always is with financial bubbles, is cheap money, loans to nearly anyone, and in the case of student loans, no way to discharge the debt, even in bankruptcy.

From the article:

"Student-loan debt has ballooned and m...

Sabrient

Sabrient Risers - 2/11/2012

February 11th, 2012 12:00 am

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

February 10th, 2012 6:20 pm

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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ETF Selector

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

February 10th, 2012 4:11 pm

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:...

All About Trends

Mid-Day Update

February 10th, 2012 1:40 pm

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

February 10th, 2012 1:22 pm

Today’s tickers: TRLG, KR & IGT

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OpTrader

Swing trading portfolio - week of February 6th, 2012

February 6th, 2012 9:02 am

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

February 5th, 2012 5:19 am

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

January 30th, 2012 7:22 am

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

January 18th, 2012 1:09 am

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...

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 >>