no more AAPL for awhile

Hi all. I've been pretty busy but with the holidays coming fast I am certainly slowing down. I have given up on trying to make APPLE go up. As you traders know one day up 10 then down 20 etc etc. I have closed all the AAPL options from 4 different acc'ts. Of course that means it will go through the roof. I have opened new positions in the following stocks and some of you might like to take a look for possible trades. A stock I really like is Phillips PSX Everything about it is good except that it only has monthly options at this time. But still you can get around 17% per month so worth a look. Another stock I am using is CAT, to buy the Jan 2014 87.5 and sell the 90's this week for 4.5% Also one I have started using again is GS buying the Jan 2014 115 and selling the current week 120. A negative is that there is no 122.5 strike. So if it gets moving you have to go out and up to stay ahead of it. Weekly for this week is 7% so some god money there. Another one I’m using is MCD pretty dependable. Buying the Jan 2014 87.5 selling this weeks 90 for around 3% My only other stock I’m using is VZ. I’m buying the Jan 2014 42 strike and selling this weeks 45 for 3%. VZ has lots of strikes to pick from which is nice So for anyone looking for ideas take a look at these. Good luck Jerry

Hi all, I can see I either have to do options full time or other business interest full time. I have broken many of my own rules while trying to ‘out-guess’ the market. I have gone to a lot of cash until I can see if this market is actually ready to go north. I have opened and closed so many positions lately my account looks more like a refrigerator door. At this time I still have some AAPL spreads. I have the Jan 2014 550 and selling weekly’s against them. This gives around 14 months for AAPL to stay the same and give a good weekly ROI or move up as many seem to think will happen. It is hard to believe that AAPL has dropped around 150 points in a matter of weeks. Hopefully the new products will produce some good news. Now that earnings season is pretty much over for a while, I am tiptoeing back in but I am very cautious. The coming confrontation between the House and the President regarding the fiscal cliff is spooky. So do be careful and leave lots of cushion in your positions.

Hi all, I’ve been off line for a nice trip and some off time. Well I opened the GOOG trade and got spanked with lousy earnings. I should pay more attention to my own rules…lol. The drop in AAPL also wasn’t all that great.. I have closed all previous AAPL and GOOG positions and opened new ones with Jan, 2013 /600 and selling weekly’s against them. Friday I sold the AAPL 620’s for 4+ and back to making money instead of donating to the option gods. At this time AAPL is the only positions that I have open. The drop in AAPL seems to be a great entry point. Time will tell. Now to the blog to catch up on some of the post.

Hi all, it is 9:45 on the west coast and I just opened a trade that might interest some of you. This is a vertical call spread using GOOG I bought the Nov 745 and sold the Oct 20 750. This was a debit of 8.7 The plan is for Goog to stay over 750 by the Nov expiration. If so here are the approx. results. I will make the diff in the spread ---5 I will sell calls weekly for 4 weeks and make approximately 3.5 each week =4 x 3.5 =14 (could be lots more) So a gain of 19 but it cost 8.7 to open this position so a net gain of 10.3 for each option. I did quite a few of these so the results could be very nice. It is earnings week for GOOG so some risk there but as the Oct 750 has over 17 in time val. for 3 days it seems pretty good to me. This isn’t for all but I’m doing them. Good luck

Ways to trade

Hi all, Lots of talk regarding instructional ideas. Wow you guys have more time than I do. I have mixed emotions regarding all the info available on the web and in seminars etc. I am glad that so many find the information helpful as nothing beats knowledge and experience. For those of you that find it confusing, the relationship of the IV compared to a rising delta and a dropping stock price and all the other variables that affect the premiums, I’m with you. I have been doing this nearly everyday for fifteen years. I’ve made lots of money and sorry to say lost my fair share. But I have never found any of the tons of info that is available to be of much help. It certainly will spell out a lot of what if’s, but it all changes immediately with the stock price change. You can spend hours researching all the variables but eventually you have to pull the trigger based on plain old common sense. The correct gamma and delta and IV and all the other info won’t help a bit if you don’t pick your stock or index based on common sense. For those of you that don’t have the time to watch all the videos and web cast, just follow some simple rules. Pick a darn good stock Pick one with a decent PE Use options that have a decent premium and plenty of O-I Avoid stocks with coming news i.e; earnings etc. Optionsense; I think you mentioned that you are finding a longer time period safer as you have more time to be correct.. Hmm don’t you also have more time to be wrong? To me time is the biggest enemy of all. I don’t want to be holding a position a month from now when Israel attacks Iran or vise-versa. I want a position that is only a few days long unless I’m doing a bullish call spread such as I have with AAPL. For short term spreads, call or puts, I want my money at risk for just a few days. An example of positions that I will open probably Tuesday assuming all is right with the world.. AAPL trading around 700 Iron Condor (IC) this weeks 630/625 put for a nickel =1% On the call side 750/755 for another nickel=1% for around 2% a week with these two. GOOG trading around 734 put side 680/670 for a nickel and 765/770 on the call side = .05 for another 2%. I have absolutely no idea what the various greeks or other indicators would say about these trades but they are common sense. A long ways from the stock price and 1-2% in a week. Someone show me a mutual fund that makes 100% a year, and they get to use computers as big as your house… For you traders that love ‘more’ information good luck as there are a ton of people selling ideas of how you can make money. To me I fall back on my natural skeptical side and think if it works that good, why don’t they use it and give the information away as they obviously can make all the money they want. I make quite a lot of money from trading and the last thing I want is some of your hard earned money just so you can have me tell you the end all way of trading. For the traders that are just getting started, take it easy. Use common sense. Don’t try to learn too much or you might get paralysis by analysis. There can be too much info out there for some of us. Gbarbs, you mentioned rolling down the sold side of a call spread. Don’t forget when you do that, it takes profit off of total profit at maturity. I also do it at times but generally it is costly if you assume that the stock will come back by expiration of the long side. If you believe the stock will come back, usually you are better off to not roll down. Good luck all and I do enjoy sharing ideas Jerry

Hi all, a lot of questions on the blog regarding which brokerage is best, cheapest, fastest etc. I have been with Schwab, Fidelity, Ameritrade etc. At this time I trade with two brokerages. Most of my trades are with TradeKing because of the rates. I do manage two accounts that are with Ameritrade and I like their platform. I also seem? to have faster trade executions with them. Maybe I put in a more reasonable attempt? But 75% of my trades are with TradeKing. I get no kick back for recommending them..lol (wish I did). But the rates are 4.95 and .65 per option. I look around every now and then and have not found anyone to beat them. They have next day fund transfers of money. Decent online help when needed. They seem to have a fair amount of tools for you traders that look at that stuff. I trade most days quite few options and never use any of the tools. Most of you that have known me for a year or two know that I don’t use vix, (I have no idea how to use Gamma, Theta, Alpha etc. I never look at the Delta or the Implied Vol. For those that do use all of the Greeks etc. TK seems to offer it? The opening and closing and rolling out is very simple and intuitive. They make a four legged trade very simple. So if you are looking around you might check them out. For those that have been trading AAPLE, it sure has been an upward road. The premiums are good and the upside is still to come. The new phone and other products will just keep producing money. I do think that a pullback could happen as it has gone up a hundred points in the last month or so. But for every seller there is a buyer waiting to jump in on any correction. I appreciate you traders that always jump in to help new traders or anyone with a question. It is a pleasure to exchange ideas with you.

Hi all, Well I have lately been called Johnny Apple seed, do to my liking AAPL and using it nearly exclusively. For me it is a stock that comes along only once every 10 years or so. The premiums are great, the upside with new products is fantastic and the management is forward thinking and innovative. They lead in market share and customer loyalty. So I am breaking the rules of diversification. At this time I only have AAPL options. That said there are other great stocks that offer great option situations. I like GOOG, which continues to innovate and if they cannot beat you they buy you. GOOG hires the best and brightest from other companies and will for years be a force to consider. At this time Priceline (PCLN) is the leader in their field and has some great options. But lookout PCLN as GOOG is thinking of getting into the booking of hotels etc. If so with name recognition and their marketing, they usually eat the completion. I get questions regarding longer term options. As most of you know that follow my thoughts, to me, time is the biggest enemy. Too much can happen. i.e. war in Iran, election coming, some goof ball doing something stupid, major earthquake, Europe meltdown.. Pick your disaster, it can happen. I have many Jan options that were opened at the buy side of a longer term play. But I am uncomfortable with them. Not because of the stock but strictly the TIME factor. So for those of you that look at selling puts into Oct etc. be very careful and leave lots of cushion. There is so much money to be made with careful choices there is no reason to go out to far. We (I) talk of 1+% a week. We forget that, that is considered outrageous to sophisticated money managers. There isn’t a mutual fund that makes that kind of money. Do weeklies and just make deposits. No reason to guess on the potential of a stock that maybe has reached bottom or the next GOOG etc. Pick winners, leave cushion, avoid earnings. With those three sure ways to making money there is no reason to guess. Good luck all Jerry

Hi all; Just a reminder to check what AAPL has done in the last 5 days. 31 points and still heading towards Oct release of the new I-Phone. Quality will come to the surface. For those that are looking for a naked put trade check out aapl for Aug 18 at the 550 strike. With 57 points of cushion you get +1% for two weeks. Pretty safe and a good ROI. I sould like a cheerleader for AAPL but with a lot of options in several accounts i love the stock and its future. I like GOOG also but worry for AMZN with its high PE. Plenty of positions with good ROI out there. Use caution and play safe. Don't fall for market HYPE ala FB. Go with proven fundementals and you will be safe.

An easy 80% in 6 months

Hi all, I had a friend that is interested in options but doesn’t have the time necessary at this point to do full time trading. He asked me if there was a simple trade that should make good profit. I looked around and decided to show him a trade that I now have and that will work for full time traders or new traders that want a profit yet not trade every week. This is simple and only requires one thing to happen. By January 2013 AAPL needs to be over 600 and over 630 for full profit. I see no problem with that part as AAPL might be over 630 this month. So the trade is to -- B2O (buy to open) a Jan 2013 AAPL call at the strike of 565. This will cost you today 80.90 S2O a Jan 2013 AAPL call at the 630 strike. You will receive 45.60. You now have a net debit of 35.3 If AAPL is over 630 at expiration date you close both side right before expiration and the result is a profit of 65 difference between strikes minus 35.3 = net gain of 29.7. As the set up cost you 35.3, it is 29.7 / 35.3 = 84% ROI in 6 months. This is about the easiest way to make over 80% in 6 months that I know of. Your break-even point is if AAPL is over 600 at closing time.

Hi all, I have been pretty busy with several projects so not enough time to post or keep up with all the comments and finally did today. Regarding this AAPL run, wow it sure makes it hard to continue on the path I was hoping for. First, Artelly; please write again. Don’t know how I missed your request. Now on to the ITM spreads. Well as probably most of you know even though you started with a ITM spread you now probably have a Deep In The Money spread. One day away from the ability to trade and now today I found myself way behind the curve. Here is what I did. I had several different long sides but most were 565 Jan 2013 and this July 20 575. Yikes already 35 points behind the stock. First there are two main ways to make money with this method and of course you can mix and match when that is appropriate. At the end of this I will tell you of what I have done today. One goal is to make weekly money by selling the strike that keeps you around 10 points below the current stock price. If the stock moves then you sell the next higher strike. If it moves even more you might have to roll out to the next month and pick up some credit as well as a strike or two. The other way to win is to get a bigger and bigger spread between the long side and the short side. This has the down side of not really building the account while doing it, but the profits are deferred until closing. EX; you have the aapl 550 and you keep rolling out to the next month and getting 10 points more. You might have to do this without taking in $$ when doing this roll. So you opened this on June 1 and had the Jan 550 and had sold the June 565 and each month you had to roll out to the next month and made no money while rolling, but you did pick up 10 points or more each month. So by Jan you had rolled up 10 points per month for a total of 70 more points. So now you could have the Jan 635 sold and the Jan 550 bought and it all expires. You now get the full distance between the two strikes for a total of 85 points so now if you 10 of them it would be worth 85,000. During some of those months the stock probably didn’t go up and you caught up some and just rolled out to the same strike for a decent credit. That of course would be mixing the two objectives. So you can make profits rolling to the next month or just taking a credit weekly / monthly. Now what I did was a little different. Today I rolled all of my current shorts July 575’s) into the Jan 630. I picked up for an 8.50 in credit and I also picked up 65 points of spread between my 565’s and the 630’s. What I accomplished was two-fold. I now have a big spread between the two strikes and I used the new credit to open some more spreads and this time I went to the 600 Jan 2014 and sold the July 6 – 615’s. (when I did this AAPL was trading at 614..) with these I have around 76 weeks to either roll up or up and out. I will sit on the old ones that have the two Jan expirations and just collect the difference at closing time. If AAPL should fall back on bad earns etc. I might close the short Jan 630’s and open a lower strike and collect the lost TV of the old 630.. But that is just a thought hanging out these if AAPL drops. I hope all are adjusting to the different plays with AAPL as it is sure moving towards earnings. Moving this fast has certainly makes one do some deep thinking and scrambling.

Home again

Hey, I'm home and had a good time and ready to get back into trading. Ihaveo's, your post of 6/21 @ 1:12 was correct. There is no 'sure' way to trade options. But turning the odds in your favor is the best way to make money that I have found. Regarding some confusion of DITM options. (deep in the money options) The plan is to buy a low strike far enough out and sell a near term option a little below the current stock price. As you roll up, if the stock goes up, you create a difference between the bought and the sold option. In two of the acc’t I manage, the bought is now the Jan 2013, 535 strike. So assuming AAPL continues upward somewhat towards earnings I will be rolling up 5-10 points a week or even having to jump into the next month. I will continue to roll up and out and get a bigger and bigger spread between the two strikes. Come Jan I want to close all and if the stock is at 700? I can sell the 535 for 165 points. Let’s assume that I have only been able to roll into the 650 strike for the sold one. I will have to buy it back for 50 points. That means that at that time I will receive 115 points of credit. That does not take into account each credit I received when rolling. If AAPL only goes to 620 by Jan then I will get 85 points of credit and also have the credit of the roll ups. As Ihaveo’s mentioned AAPL (or any stock) does not always go up. So if one set of these expire without rolling then you get to keep the credits and start over. I see I missed an interesting week FOMC, Greek and Egypt elections. So let’s get back into trading and see where we go from here. Some great post and questions. I hope all are learning and enjoying as much as I am. I thank all that try to help other others and either explain or de-mystify options. Jerry

HI all. It is Saturday evening and one last post and answer part. --LOV; I use long and the longer the better. You are saying shorter term than I like. City; You are correct, the real value comes when you are able to let all expire. Of the accounts i trade, many look somewhat natural until finally they expire and bingo big money. ihaveo's; there are different situations but when the TV gets to 1.5 or 2 i start thinking of rolling. If the option is out of the money I will let it run, if in the money i start thinking of rolling. There is probably questions I have not answered but other have or tried to help. But to sum it up i want to have a call option that is ITM and around 10 pts ITM (in the money) Keep doing that until the stock takes a breather and all expire worthless and you finally collect the money. Tomorrow I will be off the grid and catching nice rainbows with my flyrod. You guys are in charge and keep the market under control. It will be a week before i even see the Greek results.

A different idea on trading

Hi all, here is an idea for a slightly different way to trade on a vertical spread. I am using AAPL as it has seemed to have bottomed out and it also has great premiums. This is on the same idea of trading in the money covered calls. With AAPL trading around 581, I am looking at buying Jan 2014 570 strike for $111, and selling the June 16th 570, for 14.25 This is of course 3.25 of time value. The idea is if AAPL keeps going up I will continue to sell the 570 for the next two weeks and with two weeks left in the July cycle I will roll up 5 points and go out to the July 21 and take another credit. If aapl has not gone up much I might continue to sell the 570 strike for the next week without going out to the next two weeks. So the idea is to stick with the strike you have even if the stock is going up some and when you reach the point where there is two weeks left in the next period, jump to that option and roll up 5 points. By using Jan of 2014 you have approximately 77 weeks of taking in 2 or 3 points of credit when rolling. In a perfect world AAPL will be around 700 in a year and a half. If so your 2014- 570 would be worth 130 for a net gain of 19. And if you were lucky enough to make 2.5 points a week for 77 weeks it would be a gain of 192 points of pure profit on the calls sold. You would also make around 33 points of profit on the original bought call of the 570. This would be a net gain of 192+33 = 225. This could mean a ROI over 200% in a year and a half. A lot of if’s but something to consider. I am going to do it with maybe 20 positions. I will keep you posted on the ROI.

Well this was the week from hell for the market. My trades went fine as I look for little profit and lots of cushion. I hope all of you have had the same good luck. The difference between us (cushion addicts) and the rest of investors, especially option investors is that we go for consistent lower returns. We expose ourselves to little time and we leave lots of cushion. It is that easy to make 1-2% a week. After 5 months the DOW is about even and the S&P also. Friends, it is that easy to beat the market. But it takes discipline and a plan. Step by step and profit by small profit you can beat the market. I enjoy all the contributions by you guys. It is fun for me to see new ways to trade these options. There are so many ways but most successful ways limit time and add cushion. Good luck all Jerry

Hi all, Well this May is some proof that the old saying in the stock market that says ‘Go away in May,’ sure provided some insight. With world events and even those closer to home in a confused stage, I advise anyone that is trading to be very careful and avoid holding positions over weekend (especially long weekends like this memorial weekend.) There are just too many things going on. Will Greece pull out of the euro? Will Iran get the bomb. Will U.S. bonds get downgraded again etc etc. There are plenty of positions that will open on Tuesday or Wednesday that offer cushion and little time left in their life. An example is the SPX (sometimes with different brokerages called $SPX.X) It is trading around 1317 and you can buy the 1225 and sell the 1230 put for around 1% in a 4 day trade. You can also add to the same trade and turn it into a condor by selling the 1365 and buying 1370 call. This also makes around .05 so it now is a 2% trade. The put side has 87 points of cushion and the call side has around 50 points of cushion. There are other examples using a stock like CMG with the 330/335 put. I certainly would not use a stock that doesn’t offer weekly options. I would not be holding a position over several weeks as there are just too many factors pulling the market in different directions. You want to expose yourself to little time and keep lots of cushion. There is no reason to open dangerous positions just because you ‘think’ the stock has fallen as far as it can, etc. The point is to not get close to any current stock price. The market is just too volatile. I want to emphasize that you need to be very careful in this market. There is plenty of money to be made using common sense and careful positions. Cushion and Caution…

Hi Guys & dolls, I have been busy with a lot of projects. Nothing exciting just routine. M&M I might look at OXY I used them a year or so ago. I like the stats you sent showing low volatility. What’s with GOOG today? I haven't looked into the whys yet... AAPL held its ground sort of today. It was up around 12 at one time. I worry about Nicky. Hope it wasn't too bad. Options have such leverage both up and down. Care must be taken and caution used in a time when Europe is in such flux and unrest. (go away in May if you want to trade another day) For newer traders, I must again say caution and cushion. Don't start using a stock and think it is the only one out there. evaluate each trade for the what if.. type move. My advice for bullet proof trades, open on a Wednesday and look at weekly’s with lots of cushion. If plain old naked puts are you style, pick up crumbs, don't reach for the whole loaf of bread. If spreads are you way then pick stocks to use on Wednesday and still lots of cushion. Look at Iron condors as they are just a spread on each side of the current stock price. Good luck Jerry

HI all, amrit... You are correct we all get tunnel vision regarding the stocks we get to know on a very personal level. But if we go overboard at times forgive us. We do like and look forward to everyone’s comments. I had an Iron condor that just expired with aapl. I see that there are several other stocks and index that offer the same cushion and will be 1 to 1.5% weekly. I received a lowly 350 and used 19000 in maint but that is 1.8% ROI.. Jeeze and nearly worry proof. Maybe I’m doing it the hard way with the long calls and weekly sold calls? We have all evolved and learned from each other. Keep up the good work. I am also posting this as a new post as the thread is getting long. Jerry

Hi all, With AAPL hitting bottom and finally moving up those of us using them will finally breath a little easier. Also GOOG took a leap forward today. Still in/on my mind is the old saying of ‘Go away in May’. Meaning that the market is usually not bullish and hard to make money. I have many of the aapl Jan calls and I am letting them lose some value but selling calls weekly and putting cash in the bank while waiting. A decent play might be the SPX. It is trading around 1370 and some great puts or spreads even Iron condors available with lots of cushion on the weeklys. If you still like aapl trading at 570, as I do, you can do spreads with 40 points of cushion or even naked puts and make 1% a week or better. Folks this is free money as good as gold. Also Goog, trading around 610. The Iron condor using the 565/570 puts and the 645/650 call will make 2% pretty safe. There is lots of money out there so pick your spot and cash in. Cushion – cushion.. the answer to good sleep and good profits

Great APPLE earnings

Well AAPL reported blow-out numbers (again) My free advice, don’t bet against this company. A lot of sellers in the last two weeks sold as they either expected a negative surprise or believed the story of slowing sales etc. Another good performer is GOOG. I am using both right now and only those two. Not always a smart decision to limit an account to only two stocks but they provide consistent rewards for those that use them. I am doing mainly Vertical (or calendar) spreads. I am buying the Jan 570 and some 580’s and selling the 610 for this week for both stocks. If the stock gets past my sold strike more than a few dollars I will close or roll out to next week for a credit and a higher strike. The idea, which is hard to stick with in times like last week, is to sell calls each week 15-20 points over the existing stock price. Try to not get distracted by the normal up and downs. Just make a deposit each week and ride the apple train to great rewards. Lots of ways to play this market now that earnings for AAPL is past. You can make a pretty easy 1% a week selling spreads both put or call. If you combine them you have an IRON CONDOR. The beauty of those is only maintenance is charged on one side. So you get a free play at the other end. You open these on a Wednesday and can stay around 30 points away from the stock price and still make 1% on one side and with an Iron Condor you get another 1%. 2% a week is darn good ROI. But these need a little more watching than a Diagonal spread. But plenty of money out there for traders that pick their spots with care..

Wow, take a few days off and I lose control of the market

Hi all, This morning I got back on line after being away for a few days and all heck breaks out. On Thursday I could see that apple was not going well. I closed my position as I knew I would be away. So I saved some with a small loss but was surprised to see the big drop yesterday. Today I re-opened some new positions.
I now have an Iron Condor with aapl for this week
550/555 puts
640/645 calls I received .21 for a 3 days 4%
I also reopened a Diagonal spread with AAPL for the Jan 570 and sold the 620 for this week.
I hope all fared ok and didn’t panic with the AAPL mess. If you look at these as a long term play all should be just fine. Using the Jan as a bought position, AAPL can go up or down but you keep making a weekly profit. Even though the stock itself moves around, try to be patient and take the weekly sold profits.
Now I have to go back and check all the posting.

Apple rules again.

Where can it end? Today AAPL received analyst upgrades to between 900 and 1,000 within a year. As Kramer says, ‘that price is not unreasonable, as divided by ten it would be 62 and is it possible it can get to 100, Yes..’ I am a believer and as many of you have also done, I am riding the AAPL train into some great returns. I see some of the regulars on the blog are doing different stocks and they seem to be working also. For a while I am sticking with AAPL and playing the Bullish spread.
I have bought the Jan 2013 580 strike and selling this weeks 625 strike. Today AAPL jumped up around 11 points to 629. So tomorrow as the Time Value leaks out some I will either close or wait until Thursday and roll the 625's into next week’s new strike. The one I choose will be determined by the current stock price when and if I roll.
Glad so see some new faces (names) on the posting. All are welcome and don't be bashful if you have an idea or question. We are always learning and willing to share the little knowledge we have.

possible new trades

Hi all, I have been on vacation for a few days. Just golfing and away from wifi. I started the week with the AAPL 550/615 call spread. When AAPL was dropping some I rolled down to the 610's. as Thursday arrived and AAPL was still a little lower I rolled down to the 605 and let them expire. Monday I will see if AAPL is still dropping some. If so I will sell a call 10-15 points over the current stock price. If rising at the opening I will wait to sell the call until I can see what is happening. Ideally I like to sell the call about 15 points over the stock price. For awhile I have been doing just AAPL but I am now looking at GOOG to see if maybe I will split my plays between GOOG and AAPL.

Some good trades out there but keep up with the world

Hi traders, I'm down in Palm Springs on a golfing trip. I will be just on lap-top trading for the next three weeks. It is sure different when I am not looking the mkt all day. I and all of the acc'ts I trade are in AAPL and that is all. This is risky but with the price target of over 700 by many brokerages, I feel pretty good. The ROI has been outrageous. I am long the 500 for Jan 2013 and short the 560's for this week. Very few times in my trading has there been a stock like this. A good PE and a projected 100+ run. I rode Dell, Msft etc in the bubble but what most traders should realize is AAPL isn't a bubble it is pure earnings. There will be a few up and down days but getting over 5% roi per week is hard to turn away from.
My goodness reading the previous postings on the blog some of you traders have a lot on your plate to check and keep up with. It sure seems like a lot of work. Pick a few (or one in my case) and make money. I have found for me that I don't have the time to guess which stock might go up and the possible percentile on possible down days, and the possible rebound and all the other 'possible'. More power to you researcher but for the new or long time traders that don't get all that tech talk, I advise just a few things..
Pick a really good stock, or several, that is/are fairly priced.
Make sure it has decent premiums.
Be cautious or at least aware that hi profits are a canary in the mine.
Make some money..
It is really that easy. Don't be turned off thinking all of the tech talked is overwhelming and you can't get it. Make it easy but not sloppy. Also don't try to project which stock has hit bottom and don't use a stock that YOU like but the mkt doesn't.
Be aware that this mid-east looming news will probably happen one day with out warnings and it will effect the mkt. In a few days the mkt will rebound but lingering oil problems will be hanging over the mkt. Good luck.

Henngiss & Taxman; Tax you took the words right out of my mouth. What to heck does all that mean? An interesting thing is to look at the same info a week from now and then decide if it told you anything of value. Monday if aapl moves 7 points, none of it is correct, if the move is up or down. Those Greeks and delta's only relate to what has happened. Oh-Oh Greece, just defaulted on it debt.. what now? Absolutely none of that helped and possibly misled you. (just an example) Many traders love to use them and I might be missing a boat?
But like you Tax. I trade three of four times at least every day for 15 years and not once has it helped or was correct. This stuff is a bidding auction. Greeks-theta, beta, Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck. etc --is it a good stock? If so it will go up and the option will make money. If junk and bad news it will go down. For me I always think of large mutual funds and the like. If it helped them a bit they would make money all the time> It is mumbo Jumbo that looks backwards..
But Dave i do like the 575's for aapl next week.
Nicky, you are a thrill seeker...lol good luck

Technical's and my plays

Hi all, been busy but catching up on the blog. Wow, many of you seem interested in the technical side and reading buy/sell signals. That certainly is what the bigger boys do so there must be something to it. For me I still don’t get it. Any knowledge gives an edge but years ago when I also tried to learn them and use them I was constantly confused with receiving opposite signals. Good luck and keep sharing the ideas.
Regarding my recent plays. I must confess that I, for the time being have ignored diversification as I am riding the AAPL coattails. I am long the Jan 490’s and some 495’s and selling the weeklies usually around 20 points over the stock price when I open the position. Right now I am doing the 520’s.
AAPL has been cooperating just fine as it has so much going for it, new I-Pad coming, new I-Phone etc. This now diversity is not for all but in this particular place in time I like it. It is returning around 5% a week. There are some great spread positions in plain vertical or Iron condors with aapl which of course gives a floor to your possible losses.
Regarding the general market I do want to caution all regarding the possible Israel attacking Iran. If that happens and I am pretty sure it will, who knows what will be next. Iran will try to shut down the straights and oil will go to super hi? So do be aware of these world events as the market will dive as soon as the word is out. Will we get into it also? I see no way that we can avoid it? But who knows.

AAPL on fire.

Hi all, I hope some money is being made this week. What a run by AAPL. I did pretty well with a wide calendar [vertical] spread. I had bought the Jan 2013 450’s and sold this weeks 485’s/ The goal is to have each week expire and then move out 25 points from the stock and sell the next weeks. Well AAPL ran right on past my 485’s but I made good $ anyway. I closed the spread as I want to open another tomorrow and it will be the Jan 2013-485 and sell the next week 510. If AAPL continues up I will do this weekly. For me it has seemed to be the least stress and most profit for the time being. The goal next week is for AAPL to run to 505 etc and expire and I make not only the premium that I sold the previous week but the bought one for Jan ’13 goes up a bunch also.
One negative is you need an account over about 5800 per option The downside is AAPL might pull back some but if you take the long term approach and just keep selling calls around 25 pts above the stock you should be fine. AAPL could drop down to 460 and you sell the next weeks 485 and you are still making money. It is somewhat like the traders that sell puts and figure if the stock gets assigned, they will sell covered calls until the stock come back.
This wide spread has been good to me with AAPL and GOOG also.
Keep all the great suggestions you traders have been bringing forward. We all learn and develop new ideas and ways to trade.
Thanks for sharing.
Jerry

A little different trade

Hi all, I am home and looking forward to more posting and getting back into trading. It was difficult while in places that had just so-so wi-fi.
Here is a trade many of you might be interested in. It is a calendar or vertical call spread. Using CMG but I have them in AAPL also.
CMG is trading around 365. Earnings are this week so ?? But I have bought the Jan 365 for around 48.25
I have sold this weeks 390 for around 2.20 This is a debit of approx. 46. Obviously you need at least 4600 per option of free cash to make the trade.
Here is the idea. If CMG makes a big move with earns, for example they go to 390 (up 25pts in a week) you can close the 390 for approx. $1. But your bought calls for the 365’s will go up approximately 10. So you would make the opening 2.2 and maybe 9 more for 11. If CMG makes a move but not as big then the 390 expire and you again sell calls next week. I am now staying at least 20 or 25 pt’s ahead of the current stock price. Next week without earnings coming the prem will be lower and I will fall back to just over 20 pts from the current stock price. This is a +4% a month trade this week and as CMG has good prem’s I should be able to get a decent ROI each week. I closed other spreads I have, as the recent run-up in stock price kept going past my sold call. This resulted in constantly having to roll-up and out at a loss and hoping the stock continued upward.(Read MSFT) It works unless the stock corrects and then the roll-up was for no reason. I also have some with AAPL and looking at others. ISRG’s is interesting but little volume. Also GOOG and PCLN probably SPX also.
As many of you commented on it is TAX season. It is a days job sorting it all out, but when done it is over for the year. Hope all have been making money as the earnings are settling down and trading might be easier.
Just another way to use options.
Jerry

Now on Bonaire

Hi all, I am now on Bonaire. Looking forward to some diving soon.
Had lousy wifi for the last week. sometimes ok and then in the middle of writing.. zip..
So now that Friday has come and gone and money made and loss, here is my take on the market and different strategies.
These dang calendar spreads have made some good money but have put me behind the curve with MSFT. I had 250 of them at one time and i see Nicky roller those. I closed the last of mine yesterday. Just got tired of trying to squeak out a few pennies. One problem with rolling them out and up is that when you bite the bullet with the loss thinking you will/can make it on the new amount with the in-the-money long ones..the stock after a while drops back and all the rolling was for naught/. Sometimes it works and some not..
Geo, I have no special connection or association with this broker but I use them and am pretty happy. Especially with the commission rates. I use TradeKing. I am not sure if they are the fastest as I seem to fill faster with some other accounts at Ameritrade but they beat the pants off of Ameritrade with commissions. The ameritrade accounts I trade are for other people that I trade for. If they are happy I have no worry? I have traded with TK for over a year now and have no complaints.

Still earning season so use caution and leave extra cushion.

Some thoughts from Aruba

Hi all. Like many of you i also have a ton of the msft's. The good side is that my leap side has closer to even. There is a full year for them to continue to climb if msft goes up. But of course the stock can drop back to 25 or so in the last few days and all that growth will evaporate. The decision.. I can continue to sell weeklies for only pennies or go out a month and get a little more. With the stock around 28 i am 2 behind the curve with the 26's. msft has a history of dropping back towards the 25's but history doesn't help if it continues upward..lol. Looking over the history of my position i am going to evaluate if it might be better to close and break about even or continue with the spread.

Today (Sunday) i am leaning towards closing and moving into different positions that pay as well or probably better without as much stress. Often, even with over 15 years of trading daily options I still find it hard to give up on positions. Many times the answer is obvious but not always.

Seeing some of the post above from SKA and others reminds me of a question i am always asked. 'If this works so well why doesn't everybody do it'. Options are just not for all traders! Nothing wrong with that or with trying it and then finding out it isn't for you. A bad position now and then is to be expected and absorbed into the business. As Hannah and others know, i stress cushion and more cushion. Cutting losses and trying to recognize bad positions before they turn terrible. Just guessing from scanning over my positions from last year I made around 40% for last year. Many losses were included. Losses are part of the deal, they just can't be avoided it you trade much. I have been though melt up's, melt down's, bubble burst and flash crashes. But I have not found a better way to make money. I want to repeat to all of you traders that this is earnings season. Care in stock selection and fund allocation is very important.

As this list is getting long I will post this as a new post also.

ps; the weather has been great and the diving also. I have seen where the east coast of the U.S.has been quite warm? Weird to have the market open at 10:30 am instead of 6:30..