With my continuing bearish attitude towards the overall markets I moved my attention to gold and more specifically the major gold ETF, GLD. I started with a limit order on a debit vertical call spread, but decided to switch it to a put spread for a credit. The risk was close to the same since I was…
What Now?
After April options expired this past weekend I’m left with little exposure in my account in either direction. I only have three positions where I have investments, two stocks and one ETF. That leaves me with a lot of cash ready to go to work. Here’s what I have in my account before the markets…
Russell 2000 ($RUT) Chart – April 17, 2009
I posted a Dow Jones chart last week and pointed out the line of demarcation looked like 8,150 to me. On Thursday and Friday the Dow was able to climb above that mark intraday, but on both days it failed to stay above it. The Dow finished its sixth straight week of gains and now…
April 2009 Options Expiration
I did well on some of my positions for April’s option expiration and others left a lot to be desired. Basically I lost on all of my long options (the ones I bought) and did well on most of short options (the ones I sold). I’ve sold one vertical put spread, sold one covered call and…
MON and JOYG Option Updates
I was on a good role with picking the direction of Monsanto (MON) for the past few months, but seem to have lost my touch lately a little. With that in mind I decided to end my long run with MON for now, take my loss on the stock and move to another position. While MON…
Rolled Naked Puts on NDAQ
The NASDAQ OMX Group (NDAQ) has been more than a little bit volatile over the past few months, but at the same time has become somewhat predictable (I hope). It’s been trading consistently in a trading channel for a while now and I expected it to get back above $20.00 again by now to move my…
When is it Smart to Refinance a Mortgage?
Ever since mortgage rates started falling I’ve been waiting for the best time to refinance our home mortgage. A few months ago I received a promotional letter from the same mortgage broker I’ve used for our past two mortgage loan closings – one mortgage refinance and one original mortgage loan. I’ve referred him to 8-10 friends and…
Bearish Apple (AAPL) Option Trade
After charting the DJIA this weekend and AAPL this morning I decided to make a bearish trade on AAPL. I won’t claim this is much more than a gamble since the April options expire in just five days which means I don’t have much time for AAPL to turn in my favor. I’m expecting the…
DJIA Chart – 6 Months Ending April 9, 2009
I charted daily prices for the Dow Jones ($DJI) for the past six months ending Thursday, April 9, 2009. Outside of any other technical indicator the big scary monkey on this market’s back is the horizontal line that comes across the entire past six months right near the highs of the past six trading sessions. A lot has hype…