Bye Bye Buy List!
by Phil - March 18th, 2010 6:15 pm
Oh, I have tried!
I have tried to be bullish, I have tried to get enthusiastic about this rally but I have been reviewing these picks for a few days and looking at the market, the charts, the sentiment, reading the news and studying the fundamentals and I’m OUT! Oh, I’ll be back, we’ll set up a new, aggressive $100K Portfolio next week for some fun shorter-terrm plays (still keeping the conservative one for the full year) to take full advantage of this insanity but it’s going to be mainly cash through the end of the month as I do not trust this rally one bit and it will be so nice to head into the easter holiday with lots of cash on the sidelines.
We hit a perfect entry on Feb 8th, in our last round, and the market is up almost 9% since that day and I’m not expecting another 9% in the next 6 weeks so it’s a very good time to take a break. We were able to roll and enjoy these trades since Christmas and we will be revisiting some, maybe even keeping a few but, on the whole, I want to do what I often counsel members to do, which is follow our simple two-step process to maximizing your profits in a market rally:
- Step 1) Take Money
- Step 2) Run
There - isn’t that simple? Keep in mind that we LOVE all of these stocks so we’ll be back in them if they go on sale and, perhaps, even if they don’t and the market looks stronger through April earnings. Meanwhile, keep in mind that these are 6-week profits so 20% is A LOT for generally conservative plays. Not much else to talk about - let’s just see how many of these suckers are worth keeping (noted in green):
AET (12/21 - $34.04, 1/9 - $32.70, 1/31 - $29.97, 3/18 - $33.24) They could not have done better for us, staying right in range and giving us 4 excellent sales but health care is passing this weekend and that’s too wild for us to stick with. Our last batch is right on target:
- Apr $33 calls sold for $2.40, now .40 - up 83%
- Apr $30 puts sold for $1.50, now .02 - up 99%
- 2012 $25/35 bull call spread at $5, now $5.40 - Keeper if we sell July $34 calls to cover at $2.35
- 2011 $22.50s at $9.10 - now $11.60 - up 27%
- Apr $27 puts sold for $1.75, now .01 - up…
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Investor Removes Comcast Strangle to Bank Profits
by Andrew Wilkinson - February 19th, 2010 4:33 pm
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, which mirrors the price of gold…
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Options Trader Plants Bearish Augury on Oracle
by Andrew Wilkinson - February 3rd, 2010 4:20 pm
Today’s tickers: ORCL, SKX, EEM, TM, ZION, DHI, BBBY, RL, MCD & MYGN
ORCL – Oracle Corp. – A massive bearish transaction on software manufacturer, Oracle Corp., paints a gloomy picture for Oracle investors through expiration in June. Shares are trading 0.15% lower on the day to $23.73 with just under two hours remaining in the trading session. The pessimistic portent is a bearish risk reversal transacted in the June contract on the stock. The trader responsible for the reversal sold 34,700 calls at the June $24 strike for an average premium of $1.37 each in order to offset the cost of purchasing 34,700 put options at the lower June $23 strike for $1.24 premium apiece. A net credit of $0.13 per contract pads the investor’s wallet as long as the June $24 strike call options remain out-of-the-money through expiration day. Additional profits, or downside protection on a long stock position, kick in if shares of the underlying trade under $23.00 ahead of June expiration.
SKX – Sketchers USA, Inc. – Street and fashion footwear design firm, Sketchers USA, received a vote of confidence by a bullish options player today despite the 4.25% decline in shares of the underlying stock to $28.54. The investor etched optimism into the July contract on Sketchers by utilizing the ratio call spread strategy. The trader purchased 1,500 calls at the July $30 strike for a premium of $3.00 apiece, spread against the sale of 3,000 calls at the higher July $40 strike for an average premium of $0.60 each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to $1.80 per contract. In the next six months to expiration, SKX-shares must rally 11.40% from their current value in order for the investor to breakeven at a share price of $31.80. Maximum potential profits of $8.20 per contract accumulate should shares explode 40% higher to $40.00 ahead of expiration in July.
EEM – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF – An enormous bullish bet on the EEM today implies one investor is positioning for a 5%-11.25% rebound in global markets by March expiration. Shares of the emerging markets exchange-traded fund, which was developed by MSCI as an equity benchmark for international stock performance, dipped slightly lower by 0.20% during the current session to $39.55. Optimism on the fund came in the form of a large-volume call spread in the March contract. The trader responsible for the transaction purchased 60,000 calls at the March…
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Thank GDP it’s Friday!
by Phil - January 29th, 2010 8:30 am
![[AOT]](http://sg.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-BB087_AOT_NS_20100128184816.gif)
At 12:52 yesterday I officially went long on the markets.
This could be a big mistake (in fact, that’s what I said to Members at the time) but the logic was Bernanke would be confirmed (he was) and that we’d have a big GDP number today. Now the reason we’re going to have a big GDP number is because we will have a big build in inventories (we discussed this effect on Jan 14th) as manufacturers got all excited and produced goods that nobody bought and, because it is assumed that goods are only produced in accurate anticipation of demand - this kind of nonsense comes in a positive to our GDP.
Production collapsed during the recession as companies sold from their existing inventories but didn’t order new goods, because of uncertainty about future customer demand. These inventory declines dragged on GDP for six consecutive quarters, the longest streak on record since 1948. The turnaround in inventoris could give us a Q4 GDP in the 5% range. Rational economists prefer to look at final sales to domestic purchasers, a subset of GDP that doesn’t include inventories and trade, to better gauge U.S. economic activity. That category is likely to grow at only a 2% pace, similar to the third quarter but shhhhhhh! - we don’t want to wake the rational economist - who has clearly been asleep since the the mid 90s…
So we went bullish (speculatively), not because we are going to be excited by a 5% GDP number that makes us look like some overheating Third World economy even as another 2M people lost their jobs in Q4. No, we’re bullish because we cynically believe that the sheeple are clueless and will stampede into this number as if the US is recovering and nobody told them until this morning.
Meanwhile, I have a message for the sheeple: Please keep selling us your Google stock. I think this chart of the day is self-explanatory but you never know. This is a chart of the amount of money Google makes per employee, per quarter. Currently they are generating $1.34 MILLION dollars for each person they hire (and they’ve been hiring). For a comparison, Yahoo generates $500,000 per employee yet GOOG currently has a p/e ratio that is 1/2 of Yahoo’s.
Microsoft’s 98,000 employees generate $623,000 each, ORCL’s 86,000 employees pull in just $267,000 each. It’s not a definitve indicator but consider how well they have managed that number through the recession, which…
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Savient-Bull Buys Ratio Call Spread
by Andrew Wilkinson - December 18th, 2009 4:13 pm
Today’s tickers: SVNT, JBLU, ROST, RVSN, MRVL, RYL, ARIA, WLP, S, BCR & ORCL
SVNT - Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – A ratio call spread implemented on biopharmaceutical company, Savient Pharmaceuticals, this afternoon indicates shares may shift higher by expiration in January 2010. SVNT’s shares increased 1% during the session to stand at $12.80. The spread involved the purchase of 2,400 calls at the in-the-money January 12.5 strike for an average premium of 1.34 apiece, marked against the sale of 4,800 calls at the higher January 14 strike for 62 pennies each. The net cost of the trade amounts to just 10 cents per contract. The investor responsible for the bullish play stands ready to accrue maximum potential profits of 1.40 per contract if the stock jumps to $14.00 by expiration. The increase in demand for option contracts on the stock boosted Savient’s option implied volatility reading 15% during the trading day from an opening reading of 75.22% to an intraday high of 86.56%.
JBLU - JetBlue Airways Corp. – Investors initiated bullish stances on JetBlue this afternoon despite the 2% decline in value of the underlying shares during the trading session to $5.48. Fresh call positions were taken in the March and June contracts by traders preparing for a JBLU-rally. A chunk of 5,000 calls were purchased at the March 6.0 strike for a premium of 40 cents per contract. The investor responsible for the transaction breaks even if shares of the airline increase 17% over the current price to $6.40 by March’s expiration. Option traders purchased at least 1,700 calls at the June 6.0 strike for 65 cents premium apiece. Profits accumulate if and when JBLU’s shares rise 21.5% to surpass the breakeven point at $6.65. The increase in investor demand for option contracts on the stock lifted option implied volatility 13.57% to an intraday high of 55.55%.
ROST - Ross Stores, Inc. – The second-largest off-price retailer of brand-name apparel and home accessories in the U.S. appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner in late-afternoon trading. One investor established a ratio put spread on the stock in the February 2010 contract. Shares are down 1% to $43.88 with approximately one hour remaining in the trading session. The option trader purchased 2,000 puts at the in-the-money February 45 strike for 2.60 apiece, and sold 4,000 puts at the lower February 42.5 strike for 1.40 each. The investor receives a net credit of 20…
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TiVo Implied Volatility Jumps With Share Price Gains
by Andrew Wilkinson - October 23rd, 2009 4:27 pm
Today’s tickers: TIVO, ORCL, MSFT, VLO, BRCM, XLP, AMZN, MSFT & ELN
TIVO - TiVo, Inc. – Shares of the provider of technology and services for digital video recorders are soaring 8.5% higher to stand at the current price of $12.44. Investors expecting continued bullish movement in the price of the underlying purchased call options across multiple contracts. Near-term optimists picked up 6,500 calls at the November 12.5 strike for 86 cents each. Meanwhile, the higher November 15 strike had 1,600 calls coveted for about 25 cents apiece. Other traders looked to the December 12.5 strike where it seems some 5,000 calls were purchased for approximately 95 cents each. Finally, call spreads were transacted in the February 2010 contract. Investors purchased 3,000 calls at the February 12.5 strike for an average premium of 1.41 each, and sold 3,000 calls at the higher February 15 strike for about a dollar apiece. Option implied volatility on TIVO jumped 18% from an opening reading of 62% to an intraday high of 73%.
ORCL - Oracle Corp. – The software company is trading just 65 cents off the 52-week high of $22.90 today with shares up 0.25% to $22.25. Volume of 19,811 calls at the out-of-the-money November 23 strike exceeds existing open interest at that strike of 16,224 lots. The call activity appears to be the work of bullish investors buying approximately 14,500 calls for an average premium of 31 cents apiece. The December contract has also attracted the attention of option bulls. It looks like 9,000 calls were scooped up at the December 24 strike for about 40 cents each. Investors holding these contracts will profit by expiration if shares of ORCL surge 9.5% from the current price to $24.40.
MSFT - Microsoft Corp. – Investors are piling into call options on the world’s largest software maker following first-quarter earnings. The firm exceeded average analyst expectations of 32 per share by posting profits of 40 cents per share for the quarter. Shares of MSFT surged to a new 52-week of $29.20 – a 9.8% increase over the stock’s closing price – at the start of the trading day. Currently shares are slightly lower, though still up 7% to $28.44. Call options are the clear favorite with approximately 45,000 calls purchased at the November 30 strike for an average premium of 35 cents per contract. Approximately 84,400 call options traded hands at that strike on paltry existing open interest of…
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Railroad Bulls Expect CSX Recovery on Track
by Andrew Wilkinson - October 5th, 2009 4:11 pm
Today’s tickers: CSX, VALE, ERTS, JNPR, BRCD & ORCL
CSX - The supplier of rail-based transportation services attracted option optimists to the November contract today amid a 2.5% rally in shares to $42.68. Bullishness was expressed through put selling as investors appear to expect CSX to continue to thrive through expiration in November. Approximately 7,300 puts were sold short at the November 40 strike for an average premium of 2.03 apiece. Traders selling these contracts retain the full credit as long as shares of CSX remain higher than $40.00 through expiration next month. Investors shorting the puts pocket the 2.03 credit in exchange for bearing the risk that shares decline beneath $40.00. If the puts land in-the-money by expiration, traders short the puts will have shares of the underlying stock put to them at price of $40.00 apiece. Therefore, losses begin to accumulate if shares fall 11% from the current price and breach the breakeven point to the downside at $37.97. – CSX Corp. –
VALE - Investors in the Brazilian metals and mining company enjoyed a more than 3% rally in shares to $23.63. The current share price represents a new 52-week high for the stock, which is one nickel greater than the previous 52-week high of $23.58, attained back on September 23, 2009. We observed bullish sentiment in the November contract where one investor established a risk reversal by shorting puts to finance the purchase of calls. The optimistic play involved the sale of 8,000 puts at the November 21 strike for a premium of 60 cents apiece, spread against the purchase of 8,000 calls at the higher November 25 strike for an average premium of 71 cents per contract. The net cost of assuming a long call position amounts to 11 pennies apiece. Shares of Vale must rise another 6% by expiration for the investor to begin to accumulate profits above the breakeven point at $25.11. – Vale SA –
ERTS - Shares at the game-maker are higher by 3% at $18.89 today making the options action a little curious. An investor appears to be writing nearby in-the-money puts in exchange for buying those at out-of-the-money strikes at later expiries. An investor sold 13,700 November puts at the 19 strike for a 1.50 premium, meaning he’d have shares put to him if they remain below the strike in seven weeks time. In the meantime he insures worried ERTS traders and takes in…
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Wrong Way Weekly Wrap-Up
by Phil - September 19th, 2009 8:28 am
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 $2.40 (down 14%). No change.
- CEPH 2011 $50/$60 bull call spread at net $5.50,…
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Volatility Bursts After Take-Two Reports Smaller Loss and Phil Davis Picks Them
by Andrew Wilkinson - September 2nd, 2009 5:56 pm
Today’s tickers: TTWO, ORCL, URBN & GG
TTWO - The maker of the “Grand Theft Auto” series of video games surged more than 5.5% during the session to arrive at the current price of $10.75. The software developer reported a loss of 66 cents per share for the third-quarter, which was narrower than the 68 cent loss expected by some analysts. Options action in the December contract appears to be the work of an investor selling volatility by enacting a short straddle. It seems the trader put on the trade by shedding 5,000 calls at the December 10 strike price for a premium of 1.60, and then simultaneously selling 5,000 puts at the same strike, receiving a premium of 1.10 per contract. The gross premium enjoyed on the transaction amounts to 2.70. The trader will retain the full 2.70 premium if shares settle at $10.00 by expiration in December. Because the trader now holds short positions in both calls and puts, he is vulnerable to losses if shares surpass the upper breakeven point at $12.70 by expiration, or if shares slip beneath the lower breakeven price of $7.30. Option implied volatility plummeted from yesterday’s reading of 83% to the current value of 57% following third-quarter earnings for TTWO. – Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. –
ORCL - Investor demand for December contract put options caught our eye this morning amid a 1% decrease in shares of the software company to the current price of $21.79. Perhaps some traders have decided to take cautiously bearish stances on the stock after news reports revealed that the completion of Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) could be delayed by the European Commission (EC). The commission’s deadline to rule on the deal is this Thursday. However, the EC could launch an investigation that may take as many as four months, according to some reports. Plain-vanilla put buying was employed at the December 21 strike price where about 5,000 lots were picked up for an average premium of 1.30 apiece. Volume at the lower December 20 strike surpassed 19,000 contracts as traders appeared to have purchased 15,000 married put options for an average premium of 95 cents each. The purchase of shares of the underlying stock in conjunction with protective put options suggests that some investors expect the stock to appreciate by expiration in December. The puts provide downside protection on the long position in case shares decline 12.5% and…
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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
(