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…
Author: Alex Fotopoulos
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 $82.00 this morning my limit order hit and I…
Current Stock and Option Holdings – 3/18/09
I haven’t traded much lately. I’m pissed at myself still since I missed the beginning of this rally. I planned to come in strong when I saw the chart say the time was right. I saw it happen and didn’t react and still haven’t. I just haven’t found the trade I want yet and have…
NASDAQ 100 Index Chart ($NDX) – March 13, 2009
The NASDAQ 100 Chart I drew below is showing signs of life. I charted $NDX, but will trade QQQQ options if I can get the premium I want. This $NDX chart highlights two important points to consider. The first point is the Williams %R indicator and the second point is the trend lines. I circled the…