I’m taking some serious losses on paper this week. When this happens I go back and review what I have and where it is in a profit/loss view. Do I have room to handle the roller coaster or not? In this case I found I do. This is a very crude look at what I…
Perspective: Spilled Milk
This morning, like every morning, I ate breakfast with my 3 1/2 year old son. He’s at the stage where he has to win at everything, including the first to finish breakfast. Of course, being 33 years older I eat faster, but I’ve learned to let him win to avoid a fit. I give him his…
VIX Hits Highest Level Since Q1 2003
This market can be more than a little disheartening for those who are somewhat new to options side of investing and aren’t used to this recent volatility in the markets. I took a look at the VIX chart on Yahoo! Finance and saw we are at the highest point since late in the first quarter of 2003. I knew it…
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG): Naked Puts
Almost two weeks ago I wrote about Chipotle (CMG) and put an order in for when/if it pulled back. This is one where I am very happy to have been patient. CMG is down over $9.00 from its high and dropped over $4.75 before noon today and on its way down, when at 98.75, my limit for one…
Amdocs Ltd (DOX): Sold Naked Puts
I read a bullish article about Amdocs (DOX) a few weeks ago in Barron’s and decided to wait for the chart to point to a better entry point than when the article came out. DOX fell more than $5.00 from its highs last month. I put a limit order in yesterday for three September 35 puts…
Hain: Sold Covered Calls
Hain Celestial Group, Inc (HAIN) bounced strongly off its recent lows. I’ve sold calls on it in the past and have reduced my cost considerably. In the middle of this most recent surge I bought back my calls sold at a 25 expiry and now that I see HAIN slowing down with a somewhat limited upside…
FWLT Naked Puts – Closed Out Position
I wrote about Foster Wheeler (FWLT) a couple of times last week and searched for my correct exit point as I took big percentage losses on it. Then FWLT stopped falling as most of the markets continued to fall so I changed my limit order to buy my put back. I moved to a near…
Charting the Dow ($INDU) 8-10-07
Before I get to this week’s edition of my analysis of the chart of the Dow Jones Industrial average ($INDU) I need to point out what I feel many might not realize, the Dow finished up for the week ending 8/10/07. That may come as a surprise for those who only remember the pain of Thursday. Even on…
Bought Back ATI Naked Puts
I took a $188.51 profit on my August 105 ATI naked put yesterday. I’ve been up and down on it for a while and decided to get out while it was still trading to my side. It only has six trading days left before it expires, but with the movement of yesterday ATI could move either direction…