Publications

8/23/12 Trade Alert: Betting on a Dow-Stock Turnaround

1. Sell Put Credit Spread on Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) “Buy to Open” November $13 Put and “Sell to Open” November $18 Put Option Symbols: HPQ121117P13 and HPQ121117P18 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $1.00 or more ($100 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to slightly bullish Options for Income Portfolio: Conservative Income Margin […]… Read More

8/16/12 Trade Alert: Rolling a Conglomerate

Vertical Roll on Leucadia National (NYSE: LUK) to December     “Buy to Close” August $22.50 Put and     “Buy to Open” December $17.50 Put and     “Sell to Open” December $22.50 Put Option Symbols: LUK120818P22.5 and LUK121222P17.5 and LUK121222P22.5 Limit Order Price for Three-Legged Vertical Roll: Net credit of $1.10 per share or more ($110 […]… Read More

8/14/12 Trade Alert: Two Rolls

1. Vertical Roll on Waters (NYSE: WAT) to November “Buy to Close” August $85 Put and “Sell to Close” August $75 Put and “Buy to Open” November $70 Put and “Sell to Open” November $80 Put Option Symbols: WAT120818P85 and WAT120818P75 and WAT121117P70 and WAT121117P80 Limit Order Price: Net debit of $3.15 or less ($315 […]… Read More

8/13/12 Weekly Briefing: Iron Condors vs. Double Calendars

Time-value decay is the only certainty in option trading, and consquently one should focus on option strategies that benefit from this phenomenon.

… Read More

8/9/12 Trade Alert: The Return of the Hedges

1. Sell Put Credit Spread on SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) “Buy to Open” November $140 Put and “Sell to Open” November $150 Put Option Symbols: GLD121117P140 and GLD121117P150 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $2.00 or more ($200 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to slightly bullish Options for Income Portfolio: Downside […]… Read More

8/2/12 Trade Alert: Three’s Company Through Acquisition

1. Sell Put Credit Spread on Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP) “Buy to Open” November $85 Put and “Sell to Open” November $95 Put Option Symbols: ROP121117P85 and ROP121117P95 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $1.80 or more ($180 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to slightly bullish Options for Income Portfolio: Conservative Income […]… Read More

8/1/12 Trade Alert: Another Internet Gunslinger

Iron Condor on LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) “Buy to Open” August (1st week) $80 Put and “Sell to Open” August (1st week) $90 Put and “Buy to Open” August (1st week) $125 Call and “Sell to Open” August (1st week) $115 Call Option Symbols: LNKD120803P80 and LNKD120803P90 and LNKD120803C125 and LNKD120803C115 Limit Order Price for Four-Legged […]… Read More

7/27/12 Trade Alert: Closing Out the Short Call on Gunslinger

Buy to Close $235 Call on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) “Buy to Close” July (4th week) $235 Call Option Symbol: AMZN120727C235 Price: Market order at 3:59 Eastern time Trade Rationale: The $235 call is in the money, so we need to close it out prior to the market’s close. Otherwise, it will be assigned against us […]… Read More

7/26/12 Trade Alert: A Consumer Staple Three-peat

1. Sell Put Credit Spread on Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) “Buy to Open” October $55 Put and “Sell to Open” October $62.50 Put Option Symbols: PG121020P55 and PG121020P62.5 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $1.20 or more ($120 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to slightly bullish Options for Income Portfolio: Conservative […]… Read More

7/25/12 Weekly Briefing: Using Options to Predict Stock Moves During Earnings Season

Predicting future stock prices is tough, especially around earnings, but option prices are amazingly accurate predictors and can be used to place high-probability trades with substantial profit potential…. Read More