My 2011 stock picks were pretty vanilla and the results were too, except for EET which sunk me the most. (See the results of our 2011 Stock Picking Competition at the bottom of this post.) My 2012 ETF and stock picks mix in some spice with a dash of vanilla left in there too. Of…
Author: Alex Fotopoulos
Options Expiration – December 30, 2011
I only had one option expire today (DIA, December 30, $121 strike) and it expired out of the money, worthless. Just as I expected, DIA rose some, but not enough that I should’ve bought the shares instead of selling the naked put. I made the trade at the beginning December when DIA was trading at $120.94….
Dow Jones Chart – December 23, 2011
I charted the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU, $DJI, DJIA), after the markets closed on Friday, December 23, 2011, after the Dow closed for the week at 12,294.00. The Dow lurched higher during the few days leading up to the Christmas holiday only to reach the area of previous resistance by the time the closing…
Sold UWM Covered Call for April
I expected to come in with at least a few trades to kick the week off on Monday and Tuesday, but stayed patient in this account and watched the fluctuations. The two first trades I thought I was going to make were on TBT and DSX, but neither of the naked puts ended up being…
S&P 500 Chart – Mixed Technical Indicators
This S&P 500 ($SPX) chart shows the past twelve months of weekly prices after the index finished the week at 1,219.66 on Friday, December 16, 2011. The technical indicators aren’t all in agreement this week which makes traders more skittish going into the lower volume last two weeks of the year. When the picture isn’t as clear…
Options Expiration – December 2011
Every single one of my options closed with a profit this month. I’ve been overdue for a month like this, but it’s not a perfect ending since two of them finish a penny or two in the money and I didn’t buy them back. Also, a couple were covered calls I was ready to see…
Sold New TBT January Naked Puts
When I saw bonds spiking yesterday I knew I was about to get another opportunity to work a trade on TBT again. I didn’t trade this yesterday because I thought I’d get an even better chance today. Instead bonds cooled off some, TBT rose and I was faced with a lower premium to work with….
Sold CSX and JPM Covered Calls
Both of these trades would’ve been better a few days ago when I first started planning them, but hopefully it’s better late than never. I started with CSX this morning. I have 100 shares long and one covered call expiring on Friday at the $22.50 strike which I didn’t bother buying back because I don’t…
Dow Jones Chart – December 9, 2011
I charted the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU, $DJI, DJIA), after the markets closed on Friday, December 12, 2011, after the Dow closed for the week at 12,184.26. After the Willliams %R indicator fell off the bottom of the Dow chart for the first time I can remember ever the index came shooting back like there…