The Dow Jones Industrial Average (aka DJIA or $DJI) finally found resistance on its chart this week. As luck would have it (that’s sarcasm), it just happened to top out around the 8,000 range that was support in October 2008, briefly in November 2008, January 2009 and briefly in February 2009. The observation that it’s a nice round “triple…
Sold JOYG Covered Calls
I’ve been sitting on my 300 shares of Joy Global (JOYG) for a while without the heart to sell covered calls for a low premium while it looked too “cheap” to get out of. After charting it earlier this morning I saw the trading channel it was trading in and decided I might have found…
Took a Credit on PCU Vertical Put Spread
In 2007, I sold options on Southern Copper (PCU) a few times. I think I ended up taking a little loss on the series of trades (which is moot now) and then moved on to FCX. FCX ended up taking a harder fall in the recent downturn than PCU so I came back to it for my trade…
Sold NDAQ Naked Puts
Last month I eased into a hedged NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (NDAQ) position with a vertical spread (22.50/20 puts) for a credit of $0.80, not counting commissions. I took the option assignment at $22.50 and sold the shares yesterday for $23.40. This morning while NDAQ was down more than a dollar from its Monday close and…
Sold All NDAQ Shares
This morning I put a limit order in to sell all 500 of my newly acquired NDAQ shares. I thought I was pricing my order high enough to let it run up for a few days. Instead, by 3:50 NDAQ was up nearly 12% for the day and I sold my entire NDAQ position at…
Bought an Insurance Put Option on MON
I’m not typically big into buying put options, but saw a potential good opportunity with Monsanto (MON) this morning. MON has had a really good run from its lows not so long ago and could keep running, but the last time it came up around the $85 range it lost steam and faltered. I’m still long…
Closed SSO Put Spread & Other Options Expiration Updates
As of the close of yesterday I thought I had my SSO put spread for a full profit, but that changed quickly this morning. Instead the S&P fell and I lost. I watched SSO most of the day, along with my other positions. With 10 minutes to go in the trading day I closed my…
Closed MON Covered Call, Again, Again
I closed my MON call this morning earlier than I should have. I’ve been expecting it to break down some, but over thought it and made a mistake. The upcoming days will tell me how much of a mistake it is. While MON was trading around $82.00 this morning my limit order hit and I…
Current Stock and Option Holdings – 3/18/09
I haven’t traded much lately. I’m pissed at myself still since I missed the beginning of this rally. I planned to come in strong when I saw the chart say the time was right. I saw it happen and didn’t react and still haven’t. I just haven’t found the trade I want yet and have…