The Worst-Case Scenario: Getting Real With Global GDP!
by Phil - June 6th, 2010 8:27 am
$10,500.
That is the per capita average GDP for the 6Bn ape-like creatures on this planet who have pockets and purses. Of the still hairy and pocketless apes, there are only about 1M left and they are mainly prisoners so we won’t be worrying about them but it would be nice to consider the plight of our ancestors once in a while… Anyway, so 6Bn of us fill in those last 3 images in the planetary labor pool with the vast majority of us STILL FARMING and, of course, a select group of us are still hunting and gathering and contributing very little to the GDP.
None of our problems are new – as noted in this 2005 cartoon:
The United States of America with it’s highly evolved population of shopoholics has a per capita GDP of $46,381 – VERY IMPRESSIVE but we rank 6th! Brunei does a little better than we do and Singapore is up at $50,523 (so let’s hear it for corporal punishment) and Norway (one of my top choices of countries to flee to when it all hits the fan) is at $52,561 but Luxembourgh ($78,395 – banking) and Qatar ($83,841 – oil) simply trounce us in earnings power per person. For those of you who like to think Capitalism is all about keeping score – they must be better than you because they make more money, right?
Below the US, per capita GDP drops off fairly quickly. Rounding out the top 10 are Switzerland ($43,007 – watches and more bankers), Hong Kong ($42,748 – don’t tell China!), Netherlands ($39,938 – legal drugs!), Ireland ($39,468 – free beer when on wellfare!) and Australia ($38,911 – beer comes in oil cans plus gigantic bouncing rats). 20th on the list is Germany at $34,212, Greece is 25th at $29,882 (but not for long), 30th is South Korea at $27,978, 40th is Slovakia at $21,245. Lithuania comes in at 50 with $16,542 (1 ahead of Russia) and it steadies out there with emerging market star Brazil in 75th place with $10,514 and, keep in mind – that is where you FINALLY get to the average leverl of economic activity for the world.
Another BRIC in the global wall is mighty China, with a per capita GDP of $6,567 for each of their 1.2Bn persons and India’s Billion people average out at less than half of that, at $2,941, ranking 128th and still ahead of 53…
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DiggSmart Virtual Portfolio Management III – The $1,000,000 Virtual Portfolio (Members Only)
by Phil - May 15th, 2010 6:35 am
You can’t lose what you don’t have.
The reverse is true for people with Millions in a stock virtual portfolio. Phil points out that the reson you don’t run a large hedge fund trying to make 100% gains is that the people who invest in those funds are more interested in what we call "preservation of capital" rather than generating wealth. Generally, the people who have $1M of investable cash to play the markets have already achieved a great deal of success, often by taking their own risks along the way. For most of us, $1M is hard to come by and, while we want to put that money to work – we certainly don’t want it wondering off and joining the circus.
As a high net-worth investor, you need to decide how to diversify your assets to suit your long-term goals. We’re not going to get into that here – let’s just say that if you want to gamble and go for some of our "more exciting" plays, perhaps allocate a portion of the virtual portfolio to those. Whether that’s 5% or 10% or 30% is up to you but it is good to fence off your risk to a sensible, manageable amount that you really can afford to lose while keeping the bulk of your market allocation well diversified and well-hedged.
I have my own 5% Rule. Phil’s famous 5% Rule deals with the predictable movement of stocks in their trading ranges but my 5% Rule, which Phil also agrees with is simply "Do not put more than 5% of your virtual portfolio in the stock of any one company!” This is so much easier said than done for many reasons!!
[1] Transition to Large Numbers
Moving from a 5 or 6 figure account to a 7 figure account has a profound impact on many traders. In fact, our friend Dr. Brett refers to the effect “performance anxiety” can have on a virtual portfolio and notes that one of the causes is the responsibility felt by traders as larger dollar amounts are traded. Phil advocates a system of "purging" Short-Term Virtual Portfolio gains when they gets too large and shifting money into safer investments in a Long-Term Virtual Portfolio – it is good to have a strategy for balancing out your holdings, not just target goals.
While it might be acceptable to put 15% of your $10,000 virtual portfolio on that long call you just KNOW will…
Oracle Bulls Envision 10% Rally in Shares by June Expiration
by Option Review - March 23rd, 2010 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: ORCL, KFT, CLF, JPM, JCP, MCD, ROK, HK, TIE & LXK
ORCL – Oracle Corp. – Options players are initiating bullish stances on software development firm, Oracle Corp., today ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings report scheduled for Thursday after the closing bell. Oracle’s shares rallied 0.95% during the current session to trade at a new 52-week high of $25.80. Medium-term optimists scooped up 10,600 call options at the June $28 strike for an average premium of $0.37 per contract. Perhaps plain-vanilla call buyers foresee continued bullish movement in the price of Oracle’s shares through expiration in June. Investors long the calls accrue profits if shares of the underlying stock surge 10% from the current price to breach the breakeven point at $28.37 by expiration day.
KFT – Kraft Foods, Inc. – Voracious investor appetite for call options on Kraft Foods this afternoon pushed the KFT ticker symbol onto our ‘most active by options volume market scanner’ as shares of the U.S. food maker jumped 2.25% to a new 52-week high of $30.40. It looks like one particularly bullish individual satisfied his hunger for Kraft-calls by purchasing a large chunk of 16,000 contracts at the September $32 strike for a premium of $0.69 apiece. The investor holding the call options is prepared to reel in profits on the position if Kraft’s shares rally another 7.50% from the current value to surpass the breakeven price of $32.69 by expiration day in September.
CLF – Cliffs Natural Resources, Inc. – Shares of iron ore pellet producer, Cliffs Natural Resources, jumped more than 6.00% during the trading day to arrive at a fresh 52-week high of $69.34. Investors celebrated Cliffs’ new high by enacting a plethora of bullish options strategies on the stock. One such individual established a ratio risk reversal in order to cover the cost of taking a long position in Cliffs-calls. The optimistic trader sold 1,500 deep in-the-money put options at the July $75 strike for a premium of $11.50 per contract, and purchased 3,000 calls at the same strike for an average premium of $4.51 each. The reversal player pockets a net credit of $2.48 per contract on the transaction, which he keeps if shares of the underlying stock rally up to or above $75.00 by expiration. Additional profits also accumulate for the trader should shares breach the effective breakeven price of $75.00. Other bullish investors initiated…
Love Letters (Weekend Reading on Valentine’s Day)
by Phil - February 14th, 2010 8:25 am
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Last Valentine’s Day was as Saturday, following a frightening Friday the 13th, where we had fallen through the 8,000 line on the Dow. I wrote a very interesting post that morning discussing how I came about my political views, which is good for new Members to check out. We also flipped short that day on SKF, too early at $130 but that ended well as we kept after them and it was our biggest bet by March 6th, which eventually returned over 1,000%. We also stopped shorting GOOG at $350 (it did keep going to $300 but the upside was nice too). I closed the morning post with:
For us, it’s all about the levels as we try to remain unbiased as investors, no matter how voraciously we defend our political views. Dow 7,800, S&P 820, Nas 1,460, NYSE 5,100, Russell 437 and SOX 203 all better continue to hold today but, even if they do, we’re nowhere near where we want to be and we’re going to take some bearish covers into the weekend – just in case. So whether you are a witch celebrating the horrors of the 13th or waiting for a rose from your true love the next day, remember to be careful out there – we are certainly still deep, deep in the woods!
That Tuesday (Monday was President’s day) we fell 300 points and another 300 points by the end of the week! That was a fitting way to mark the 80th anniversary of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre when Al Capone’s "South Side" gang, dressed as cops, rousted a garage run by Bugs Moran’s "North Side" gang and had them stand against the wall and then executed all 7 men. They shot them 70 times with machine guns and made their escape by using the Capone men dressed as cops to "arrest" the other Capone men and drive them away from the scene in broad daylight. Now that’s what I call a good plan!
Here’s a great chart that summarizes our year to date. Someone else found this, I wish I knew how to use StockCharts this well, they have tons of good things in there:
It’s a bit worrying that XLU is doing so poorly – so much for diversification keeping you safe… It’s going to be worth rummaging through the utility companies looking for good dividend payers who are on sale. SO…
PetroBras Bear Braces for Aftershock – Buys Ratio Put Spread
by Option Review - February 10th, 2010 5:01 pm
Today’s tickers: PBR, HOG, BMY, FXE, KFT, YHOO, MOS, NTGR, BIDU & DIS
PBR – Petroleo Brasileiro SA ADR – Shares of Brazil’s state-owned oil and natural gas company rose 1.20% to $40.02 this afternoon, adding to the nearly 8% recovery in shares since Friday February 5, 2010, up to an intraday high of $40.25. But, painfully recent memories of the nearly 30% decline in the price per PBR-share from $52.88 on December 1, 2009, to a six-month low of $37.31 on February 8, 2010, have one investor casting doubts that this week’s rebound in shares will last. The investor initiated a ratio put spread to hedge against further share price erosion through February expiration. The trader bought 10,000 puts at the February $39 strike for a premium of $0.50 apiece, and sold 20,000 puts at the lower February $36 strike for a premium of $0.10 each. The net cost of the pessimistic play amounts to $0.30 per contract. Thus, the investor is positioned to amass profits should PBR’s shares slip beneath the breakeven price of $38.70 by expiration day. Maximum potential profits of $2.70 per contract are available to the trader if PetroBras’ share price falls 10% from the current price of $40.02 to reach $36.00 by expiration next Friday.
HOG – Harley-Davidson, Inc. – The motorcycle manufacturer’s shares declined 0.25% to $22.67 today prompting pessimistic options trades in the March contract. Investors purchased put spreads to position for potential share price erosion through expiration next month. Approximately 12,500 puts were picked up at the March $22 strike for an average premium of $1.08 apiece, spread against the sale of 12,500 puts at the lower March $19 strike for a premium of $0.25 each. The debit put spreads cost traders a net $0.83 per contract. Maximum potential profits of $2.17 per contract accumulate for put-spreaders if HOG’s share price plummets more than 16% from the current value of the stock to reach $19.00 by expiration.
BMY – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. – Pharmaceutical company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, attracted bullish options traders today despite the 1.25% decline in the price of its shares to $23.94. One investor is optimistic that BMY’s shares will rally approximately 9% in the next five months to June expiration. The trader purchased a debit call spread to position for potential bullish movement in the price of the underlying stock. It appears the investor purchased 5,900 calls at…
Bank of America Bears Buy Puts
by Option Review - February 8th, 2010 4:14 pm
Today’s tickers: BAC, PBR, F, FXI, NXY, KFT, DELL & HPQ
BAC – Bank of America Corp. – Bearish option traders purchased put options on Bank of America today with shares of the firm trading 3% lower to $14.52. The number of put options purchased at the March $14 strike price surpassed existing open interest at that strike, suggesting many investors are bracing for continued near-term share price erosion. Approximately 33,000 puts were purchased for an average premium of $0.59 apiece at the March $14 strike. Investors picking up the put options perhaps anticipate B of A’s share price could slip beneath the effective breakeven point on the trade at $13.41 ahead of March expiration. The 12% increase in the reading of options implied volatility on Bank of America to 43.74% today points to increased fluctuation in the price of the underlying shares going forward.
PBR – Petroleo Brasileiro SA ADR – The Brazilian oil company’s shares recovered slightly today, rising 0.65% to $39.03, amid higher commodity prices and a rebound in the price of crude oil. Option traders are still initiating bearish trades on the stock though, which suggests today’s modest rebound could be short-lived. One investor purchased a put spread in the January 2011 contract, establishing long-term downside protection. It appears the trader bought 5,000 in-the-money puts at the January 2011 $40 strike for a premium of $6.50 each, marked against the sale of 5,000 puts at the lower January 2011 $30 strike for an average premium of $2.13 apiece. The net cost of the transaction amounts to $4.37 per contract. The parameters of the trade indicate an effective breakeven share price of $35.63, which marks the price at which shares must trade at (or below) before downside protection kicks in for the put-spreader.
F – Ford Motor Co. – Shares of the American automaker, whose sales increased 24% year-over-year in the month of January, rallied 3.40% to $11.28 today. Notable options activity on the stock involved long-dated put options in the January 2012 contract. It looks like at least one investor purchased 20,000 puts at the January 2012 $5.0 strike for a premium of $0.58 per contract in combination with the purchase of an equivalent number of shares of the underlying stock. The ‘married-puts’ picked up by options players provide long-term downside protection should Ford’s shares collapse in the next two years. But, the trader(s) are most…
Goldman-Bulls Foresee Greener Pastures by July
by Option Review - January 26th, 2010 5:59 pm
Today’s tickers: GS, AMLN, LYV, KFT, PM, IYR, MAS, VMW, BKS & CAL
GS – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. – Option traders assumed medium- and long-term bullish stances on the global investment banking and management firm today to position for a rebound in shares in the next six to twelve months. Shares edged 1.65% lower during the session to stand at $152.43 as of 2:45 pm (EDT). One optimistic individual sold 2,500 put options for a premium of $8.90 apiece at the July $140 strike in order to finance the purchase of 2,500 calls at the higher July $175 strike for about $6.10 each. The trader receives a net credit of $2.80 per contract on the risk reversal play, and keeps the full amount as long as Goldman’s shares trade above $140.00 through expiration in July. Additional profits amass if the stock price jumps 15% over the current price to surpass the $175.00-level by expiration. Longer-term optimism appeared in the January 2011 contract where another Goldman-bull purchased a call spread. The investor bought approximately 2,300 call options at the January 2011 $160 strike for an average premium of $17.38 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher January 2011 $195 strike for about $6.50 each. The net cost of the spread amounts to $10.88 per contract. Maximum potential profits of $24.12 per contract accumulate if Goldman’s shares surge 28% from the current price to $195.00 by expiration next January.
AMLN – Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Shares of biopharmaceutical company, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, are up more than 11% to a new 52-week high of $19.39 in afternoon trading. The stock opened the session even higher at $19.97 on “optimism that the company’s new version of diabetes treatment Byetta will be approved following U.S. regulators’ clearance of a similar drug”, according to an earlier report by Elizabth Lopatto at Bloomberg. Option traders initiated bullish plays on the stock to position for upward movement in AMLN shares, which is likely to occur if the Food & Drug Administration approves the once-weekly version of Byetta, known as Byetta LAR. One investor established a bullish risk reversal by selling 10,000 puts at the February $17.5 strike for a premium of $0.50 each, spread against the purchase of 10,000 calls at the higher February $20 strike for $0.80 apiece. The net cost of the reversal amounts to $0.30 per contract and positions the trader…
Goldman Sachs Bulls and Bears Collide
by Phil - January 21st, 2010 5:13 pm
Today’s tickers: GS, WFT, FITB, NITE, USU, KFT, UNP, EBAY, SBUX & HOTT
GS – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. – Near-term bears and bulls crossed paths in the February contract on global investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs Group, today. The past 48 hours have stirred up a plethora of concerning news for investors, most recently, President Obama’s call to limit the size and trading activity of large financial institutions, which pummeled the financial sector like a ton of bricks, dragging equities down across the board. Additionally, markets are still smarting from China’s reining in of monetary policy, which sent the US dollar up over the past couple of days. The VIX jumped yesterday and continues higher during the current session. The fear-gauge increased 19.67% today to an intraday high of 21.90 countering the declines in the S&P 500. Investors watched Goldman’s shares fall 4% to $161.07 this afternoon even though the firm earned $8.20 per share in the fourth-quarter, which blew right past average estimates of $5.19 a share. Frenzied options trading exploded on the financial institution with roughly 358,000 contracts exchanged on the stock by 2:50 pm (EDT). Bearish bets were plentiful, although there is also evidence of contrarian bullish plays, as well. Put options were purchased as low as the February $145 strike where 3,500 contracts were purchased for an average premium of $1.46 per contract. Shares are still 12.20% greater at the current level than the breakeven price on the puts at $143.54. The heaviest put trading occurred at the nearest to-the-money February $160 strike where more than 23,000 contracts changed hands. At least 8,100 of the contracts were purchased for $4.12 per contract. Contrarian players sold 2,300 puts at the February $135 strike to pocket an average premium of $0.93 each. Put sellers retain the full premium as long as Goldman’s shares trade above $135.00 through expiration next month. Some investors are looking right through the negative news and buying call options. Most notable is the 7,200 calls purchased at the February $165 strike for an average premium of $4.52 each. The stock must rebound back to $169.52 in order for call buyers to breakeven on their purchases. Other traders threw in the towel at the higher February $170 strike by selling at least 8,900 calls to receive an average premium of $3.02 per contract. Two-way trading traffic in GS options and investor uncertainty has lifted…
Testy Tuesday Morning
by Phil - January 5th, 2010 8:27 am
Wow – what a lot of work to get back to last Tuesday’s high!
As usual, the vast majority of gains came in pre-market trading and the rest came in light-volume, early morning trading while the rest of the day was dominated by every buyer finding a willing seller for 75% of the day’s volume. We saw what happened on Thursday when someone big wants to sell and there are no buyers so we’ll see how long the bull’s luck (manufactured or otherwise) will hold out as we begin to get economic data along with some early earnings reports.
The Ag sector popped 2% yesterday ahead of tonight’s earings from MOS with MON checking in tomorrow morning so we’ll see how wise those last-minute bets were in short order. SONC also has earnings tonight and we like those guys long-term. SONC makes a decent buy/write candidate as you can buy the stock for $10.29 and sell June $10 puts and calls for $2.25 for a net entry of $8.04 with a very nice 24% profit if called away at $10 and an average entry of $9.02 (a 12% discount) if more stock is put to you below $10 in June.
FDO and WOR also report tomorrow morning. FDO will be interesting but a weak dollar probably hurt them last quarter. Tomorrow night we hear from BBBY, BLUD, OHB and Sonic competitor RT, who seem a bit pricey at $7.50. Thursday we get our first real builder, LEN along with STZ and TXI. After the bell on Thursday we hear from APOL, CRI and SCHN with GBX and PSMT on Friday. AA officially kicks of earnings season next Monday with GAP, INFY, KBH, BGG, SCHW, SHFL, INTC and JPM highlighting the reporters.
We have plenty of data this week including Factory Orders and Pending Home Sales at 10 am along with December Auto Sales throughout the day (did you get a new car for Christmas?). Tomorrow is jobs day, with the ADP Report and Challenger Job Cuts ahead of the bell followed by ISM Services (yesterday’s ISM was a nice beat) and, of course, Crude Inventories at 10:30 which are unlikely to sustain $82 oil (USO Jan $40 puts for .80 are a good way to play this). We talked about the other stuff yesterday so I won’t repeat it – suffice to say we have plenty of data this week to see if we justify these lofty levels.
Everyone is talking…
Bullish Bedlam on UnitedHealth in Late-Day Trading
by Option Review - December 16th, 2009 4:04 pm
Today’s tickers: UNH, F, EZCH, FBP, XOP, F, BMY, KFT, UNT, TIVO, ADBE & AMED
UNH – UnitedHealth Group, Inc. – Bullish investors stampeded the health and well-being company in late afternoon trading with shares up 3% to a new 52-week high of $32.25. Frenzied call activity on the stock drove option implied volatility up sharply by 19.5% to 45.17% from an intraday low of 37.37%. One investor was ready for the rally today, and banked profits on a previously established call position. The trader likely purchased about 20,000 calls at the now deep in-the-money December 23 strike price for a maximum premium of 3.00 per contract back on October 8, 2009, when UNH shares were at $24.13. Today the trader sold the calls for an average premium of 8.95 each. It looks like the investor took in net profits on the sale of at least 5.95 per contract for a total of $11.9 million. Next, it appears the trader extended bullish sentiment on the stock by establishing a larger call position. A big chunk of 30,000 calls were picked up at the now in-the-money January 31 strike for an average premium of 2.20 each. Thus, the trader breaks even on the new position if shares surpass $33.20 by expiration next month. Other bullish traders initiated call spreads on the stock. One UNH-bull bought 5,000 calls at the in-the-money January 31 strike for about 2.12 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher January 34 strike for 70 cents premium each. The net cost of the spread amounts to 1.42 per contract and yields maximum potential profits of 1.58 apiece if shares rally up to $34.00 by January’s expiration day.
F – Ford Motor Co. – A late afternoon, large-volume put spread on the U.S. automaker is likely the work of an investor locking in gains enjoyed during Ford’s recent share price rally. Shares reached a new 52-week high of $9.64 during the trading session. The option trader looked to the March 2010 contract to purchase 18,000 puts at the March 9.0 strike for 62 cents apiece, spread against the sale of the same number of puts at the lower March 7.0 strike for 16 cents premium each. The net cost of the protective play amounts to 46 cents per contract. If the investor is indeed holding a long position in the underlying, the value of that…
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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...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
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