2009 July | Momentum Stock Options Trading Alerts and Option Picks Blog

Blogs Directory

EatonWeb Blog Directory

Finance Seek Directory

Busy Day At The Office

Monday, July 27th, 2009

10:45pm (EST)

What a busy day it was for option traders. I threw a ton of trades at you this morning plus the ones we have going on. It was good to see the bulls show up as all three indexes managed to end the session in the green after a lackluster day of trading.

The Dow closed higher by 15 points and settled at 9,108. The Nasdaq chipped in with a 2 point gain and closed at 1,967 while the S&P 500 added 3 to finish at 982.

As far as the trades here is the list of the ones we added today:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, $67.75, down $0.89)

August 80 calls (QGMHP, $1.60, down $0.20)

Entry Price: $1.40 (7/27/09)
Exit Price: $2.10+
Return: 14%
Stop: $0.70

Action: Shares of Green Mountain touched $70 then fell. It appears this will be the next level of resistance and time will tell if it is short or long-term resistance. The company reports earnings on Wednesday AFTER the bell so we have two full days to really see how this one plays out. If we get a run back to $70 the calls should hit $2.00-$2.10 which would be a great exit before earnings come out.

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD, $37.11, down $0.54)

August 40 calls (BQUHH, $1.25, down $0.25)

Entry Price: $1.10 (7/27/09)
Exit Price: $2.20
Return: 14%
Stop: $0.55

Action: As you can tell, I was “on the fence” with this one all day but pulled the trigger at $1.10. Buffalo rebounded a bit and beat Wall Street’s expectations after the bell. In after-hours the stock traded above $39, or nearly $2 higher, and finished at $38.20, up $1.09 by 7:59pm (EST). We will have to see if this holds up going into Tuesday’s open and if it does remember it is cool to SELL at the open. We are hoping traders jump in right off the bat so we can sell these calls at a high premium. There is serious resistance at $40 so watch this area. If the stock can get above $40 and hold then it could be setting up to make a run at it’s 52-week high of $45. If shares are rejected at $40 it’s telling us to take profits.

Cerner (CERN, $64.99, down $0.90)

August 70 calls (CQNHN, $1.35, down $0.25)

Entry Price: $1.30 (7/27/09)
Exit Price: $2.20
Return: 4%
Stop: $0.65

Action: Cerner has been getting an upgrade here and there over the past few weeks and had been setting new highs before today’s pullback. The White House has said it will promote greater use of electronic medical records and that market is estimated to be worth $8 billion. Cerner hopes to get the biggest piece of the pie as we make better use of the technology. This company also reports after the bell on Wednesday.

Microsoft (MSFT, $23.11, down $0.34)

August 23 calls (MSQHQ, $0.75, down $0.17)

Entry Price: $0.78 (7/27/09)
Exit Price: $1.60
Return: -4%
Stop: $0.30

Action: A rebound trade although it didn’t look like it today. Hopefully, we aren’t catching a falling knife which would be the case of Microsoft is headed back to $20. These calls options are technically “in-the-money” and we only need the stock to recover by 5% to make a decent return off of the trade. Remember, it is only a short-term trade and one I’d like to close by Friday.

Visa (V, $68.19, up $0.90)

August 70 calls (VEHHN, $1.80, up $0.45)

Entry Price: $1.60 (7/27/09)
Exit Price: $3.20
Return: 13%
Stop: $0.80

Action: We added this trade to the portfolio at 1:30pm (EST) after I sat around and watched the action for half of the day. Something about Visa had me wanting to recommend this trade and my hands finally spit it out when the call options were at $1.60. They opened at $1.35 so we missed a little bit if Visa is ready to lift-off. The company announces earnings on Wednesday as well.

The goal is to close some of the these trades in short order while closing out others. I normally don’t follow this many trades but this has been a great time to make take some action and added risk because of the bull run we have been on. Speaking of which, I also want to go over some of the current trades that we have already established positions in. Drumroll please…

DryShips (DRYS, $7.08, up $0.85)

August 7 calls (OOCHJ, $0.65, up $0.35)

Entry Price: $0.25 (7/21/09)
Exit Price: $0.65
Return: 160%
Stop: CLOSED

September 7.50 calls (OOCIU, $0.73, up $0.33)

Entry Price: $0.35 (7/21/09)
Exit Price: $0.70
Return: 110%
Stop: $0.40

Action: DryShips had a monster day, rising nearly 14%, after reports came out saying that the bulk shippers’ earnings should fall “in-line” with Wall Street’s expectations. Our goal was to be out before earnings and it was tough closing the August calls with such big gains. If you only closed half I would understand but this is why I “layered” the trade so that we can make it a “risk-free” trade going into earnings. So many times have I seen new option traders leave these gains on the table only to see them wiped out. Yes, sometimes, the type of trades go on to be grand-slams but you have to remember the price moves options can make. If DryShips continues higher we will still enjoy gains with the September calls.

Ford (F, $7.27, up $0.49)

December 6 calls (FLI, $1.70, up $0.27)

Entry Price: $1.25 (5/18/09)
Exit Price: $2.50
Return: 36%
Stop: $1.00

December 7 calls (FLJ, $1.07, up $0.19)

Entry Price: $1.00 (5/18/09)
Exit Price: $1.50-$2.00
Return: 7%
Stop: 50 cents

Action: These positions heated back today and I told you Sunday night they were solid. The December 6′s added nearly 20% and we are going to raise the stop from $1.00 to $1.25-$1.30. Ford got some juice as the “Cash for Clunkers” program had a positive effect on the stock today. I won’t go into the details but Ford went out on its high which is always a good sign.

As far as our other open positions, Bank of America (BAC, $13.09, up $0.58) added 5% while Cisco Systems (CSCO, $21.84, down $0.04) and IBM (IBM, $117.63, down $0.01) held their own.

I’ll be back in the morning before the bell with an outlook for Tuesday’s trading.

Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com

Tags: Buffalo Wild Wings, Cerner, DryShips, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, IBM, Microsoft, Visa
Posted in Earnings, Option Trades | No Comments »

NewsFlash: Add Visa

Monday, July 27th, 2009

1:25pm (EST)

I like Visa (V, $67.68, up $0.39) this week. The August 70 calls (VEHHN, $1.60, up $0.25) are up 17% today and will do well if Visa can break $70. I’ll be back tonight with a full update.

Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com

Posted in Financial Stocks, Option Trades | No Comments »

DryShips Options Hit Pay Dirt

Monday, July 27th, 2009

11:15am (EST)

DryShips (DRYS, $6.74, up $0.51) is having a huge day, rallying 7%, ahead of Friday’s earnings announcement. Here are the trades I profiled from last Tuesday:

August 7 calls (OOCHJ, $0.50, up $0.20)

Entry Price: $0.25 (7/21/09)
Exit Price: $0.50
Return: 100%
Stop: None

September 7.50 calls (OOCIU, $0.56, up $0.17)

Entry Price: $0.35 (7/21/09)
Exit Price: $0.70
Return: 50+%
Stop: $0.20

Action: The August call options have hit our target and have returned 100% from our entry price. It would be wise to close out the August call options now to lock in those gains. You should raise stops to 40 cents on the September calls to protect a small profit in case the stock retreats.

This will allow you to enjoy further gains if DryShips continues to run and the best part is you have already banked a double. I know it’s tough to close out a position that has returned 100% and looks ready to run further but that is why we “layered” the trade. Continue to watch both options but do not give back those profits by being greedy.

I also listed some trades from the Monday Morning Playbook and most of them have hit the limit prices.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, $67.53, down $0.11) started off on a good note but has slipped. This is why I tell you to wait 20 minutes after the open. The August 80 calls (QGMHP, $1.40, down $0.40) had a limit price of $1.60 and you could have lowered this as Green Mountain came off its highs. If you like the trade this looks like a good entry point.

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD, $37.05, down $0.60) has also slipped after a positive open. I was really hesitant on making this an official recommendation because of Friday’s huge run but I have mentioned it so I will include it in the track record. The August 40 calls (BQUHH, $1.10, up $0.40) are an all-or-nothing trade from here on out as the company reports earnings after the bell.

Cerner (CERN, $64.87, down $1.02) is taking a break from the assault on its 52-week high and the August 70 calls (CQNHN, $1.30, down $0.30) have come down a little from Friday’s closing price.

Microsoft (MSFT, $23.13, down $0.32) got some “short-term” buys from Wall Street analysts and the August 23 calls (MSQHQ, $0.78, down $0.14) look ripe for picking.

I’ll will try and give an afternnon update but I did this one early because I have a busy afternnon. If I don’t post by 1pm, I’ll be back tonight with a full update.

Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com

Tags: Buffalo Wild Wings, Cerner, DryShips, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Microsoft
Posted in Company Commentary, Earnings, Hot Stocks, Option Trades | No Comments »

Futures Pointing Towards Slightly Lower Open

Monday, July 27th, 2009

9:15am (EST)

The futures are pointing towards a slightly lower open as a number of companies reported earnings this morning. Futures were higher but they gave up those gains after Aetna (AET, $26.44) and Honeywell (HON, $33.99) posted lower earnings. Aetna is down $2.42 to $24 while Honeywell is down 90 cents in pre-market trading.

Verizon (VZ, $31.50) also reported earnings and said its quarterly profits fell 20% as cost-cutting in its wireline business failed to keep pace with falling revenues. However, its adjusted earnings still beat Wall Street expectations.

As you can see, we got a mixed bag of earnings to start the week; some good, some bad.

Dow futures are off by 7 after being up more than 50 earlier this morning. The S&P 500 futures have slipped 1 while the Nasdaq 100 futures are up a point.

Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com

Tags: Aetna, Honeywell, Verizon
Posted in Company Commentary, Earnings | No Comments »

Weekly Wrap for 7/26/09

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

1. Commentary
2. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Brewing Big Gains
3. Earnings
4. Current Trades & Closed Trades
5. Monday Morning Playbook
6. Closing Thoughts

**************************************************

1. Commentary

The market continued its upward momentum last week after a wave of better-than-expected earnings helped pushed the Dow over 9,000. Nearly half of the Dow’s components reported earnings and most of them easily topped Wall Street’s estimates. Caterpillar (CAT, $42.00, up $0.74) was one of the Dow’s stars as it had a huge week after making a run from $34 to $42.

The bears had an opportunity to take back some of that momentum on Friday after Microsoft (MSFT, $23.45, down $2.11) and Amazon.com (AMZN, $86.49, down $7.38) dropped the earnings ball. Microsoft missed Wall Street’s revenue number while Amazon missed on its operating margins. Both stocks folded like a cheap lawn chair but the Nasdaq ended the day only slightly lower (-7 points) and finished at 1,965. However, the bulls were able to take the Dow higher by 24 points as it finished at 9,093. The S&P added 3 to close at 979.

For the week all three indexes added 4.0%-4.2%.

It has been an amazing stretch of action for the bulls as they have taken control of the market and have forced short sellers to cover their positions. With the market pushing new highs and crossing over its 200-day moving averages we could start seeing some of that cash that has been on the sidelines come into play.

The one thing we were watching going into earnings season was the tight trading range we had been in for nearly a month and I kept saying that because of this we could get a huge breakout one way or the other. Intel (INTC, $19.36, down $0.12) was the key to jump on board.

In fact, in the 7/19 Weekly Wrap, I had this to say:

“With the Dow at 8,734 and the S&P 500 at 940, I’d say the bulls are going to do something special or we will fall back into a trading range once again? That wouldn’t be so bad but it would set-up a bigger stage for a more explosive move either up or down. However, given the momentum, it appears the bulls are in firm control and willing to push us to new highs. Dow 9,000? S&P 1000? Nasdaq 2,000? Those are the targets on the scope and we have enough meaningful earnings this week to make a run at those levels.” (END)

One out of three isn’t bad and the other two indexes could close in on those targets if the bulls keep running.

**************************************************

2. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Brewing Big Gains

On June 30th I did a review of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, $68.64, down $0.14) and talked about its recent stock split. At the time, the stock was at $58 and a month later it is at $68. Here were my thoughts at the time with quotes from that day as well:

“Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, $58.54, down $0.02) recently completed a 3-for-2 stock split. This is normally a bullish event and there are ways to play these types of news events but you have to be careful.

For example, in the “old” days, you could buy a call option on a stock that was splitting and the stock normally kept going up as did the option. Nowadays, it’s a little trickier.

Green Mountain split its stock on June 9th and the price was adjusted from $93 to $62 to reflect the 3-for-2 split. Up until the split, the stock ran from $75 to $95 in just a month’s time. This is known as the “pre-announcement stage”. That was big money if you had bought a call option.

What usually happens now after a split is what is known as an “announcement pullback”. On June 9th, the stock closed at $62.57. By June 23rd, the stock hit a low of $51.65. That was “big money” if you had bought a put option right after the announcement.

Now we are seeing what is known as the “post split” rally. Since making the low of $51 last week, the stock has challenged $60 over the past few sessions. The key number we are watching is the $62.57 number because that would mean the stock is trying to resume its uptrend. A break above $60 could lead to the test of its 52-week high. Remember, most financial sites will quote $94 as the 52-week high but they do not factor the 3-for-2 split.

So basically, if Green Mountain gets back above $62-$63 it is at new highs

I don’t like any trades for this week in Green Mountain because of the 3-day weekend coming up but let’s put the July 60 calls (QGMGL, $2.00, down $0.05) and the August 65 calls (QGMHM, $2.90, unchanged) on our Watch List. You may be able to “day trade” these for this week by buying 10 or 20 contracts and looking for a 50 cent bump which would get you $500-$1,000 but don’t hold anything overnight.” (END)

Well, that is exactly what we did as we rode the July call options for a quick 70% profit and closed out the August calls on July 1st at $3.55 for a 20% profit.

The July options have already expired and the August 65 calls (QGMHM, $7.80, up $0.14), as you can see, have doubled. In hindsight, we could have left the August 65’s open but it was a “paired” trade and we were only looking to keep these options opened for a short period of time. There was also a pullback to $53 by mid-July. However, when I said the key number we were watching was $62.57 that was the alert to go long again. The stock broke thru this level last Monday.

The point I want to make is that we still have it on our Watch List and I wanted to remind everybody of this “option trade” if you see something like this in the future. We did the right thing by taking quick profits but I did fail to remind you of this level. Although Green Mountain is listed in the Monday Morning Playbook section and will report earnings this week, the easy money has already been made.

Another point I want to make is that some financial sites have the 52-week high at $94.50 but this is not accurate. Green Mountain IS at new 52-week highs and we are looking to take advantage of this trend on Monday morning.

**************************************************

3. Earnings

Monday: ACE Limited (ACE, $48.40, up $1.34), Amgen (AMGN, $60.92, up $1.08), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD, $37.65, up $1.23), ChangeYou.com (CYOU, $41.65, up $0.45), Corning (GLW, $17.00, up $0.21), Honeywell (HON, $33.99, down $0.23), Olin (OLN, $14.03, up $0.29), Plum Creek Timber (PCL, $32.35, up $0.19), RadioShack (RSH, $16.06, up $1.49), Sohu.com (SOHU, $63.63, up $0.83) and Verizon (VZ, $31.50, up $0.23).

Tuesday: Black Box (BBOX, $29.83, up $0.41), Coach (COH, $29.31, up $0.08), Deutsche Bank (DB, $72.91, up $0.61), DreamWorks Animation (DWA, $28.26, down $0.12), Energizer (ENR, $59.34, up $0.66), Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP, $19.08, down $0.24), Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC, $42.28, up $0.27), Massey Energy (MEE, $23.74, up $0.65), McKesson (MCK, $46.71, up $0.43), Norfolk Southern (NSC, $44.84, down $0.52), Panera Bread (PNRA, $55.18, up $0.24), Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA, $50.35, up $0.16), Valero Energy (VLO, $18.31, down $0.01) and Western Digital (WDC, $30.40, up $0.22).

Wednesday: Akamai Technologies (AKAM, $21.13, down $0.12), American Tower (AMT, $33.48, down $0.29), Callaway Golf (ELY, $5.27, up $0.12), ConocoPhillips (COP, $44.95, up $0.96), Daimler (DAI, $44.85, up $0.77), Flowserve (FLS, $74.65, up $1.65), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, $68.64, down $0.14), Hartford Financial Services (HIG, $15.02, up $0.64), Hess (HES, $53.63, up $0.45), Honda Motor (HMC, $28.35, up $0.04), Moody’s (MCO, $25.93, up $0.41), NutriSystem (NTRI, $15.68, down $0.13), O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY, $41.07, down $0.03), Taser International (TASR, $5.54, up $0.12), Time Warner Cable (TWC, $33.42, up $0.15) and Visa (V, $67.29, up $0.10).

Thursday: Apache (APA, $79.75, up $0.48), AstraZeneca (AZN, $47.54, up $0.44), Barrick Gold (ABX, $35.35, up $0.26), Colgate-Palmolive (CL, $75.10, up $0.52), First Solar (FSLR, $169.43, up $11.65), Genworth Financial (GNW, $6.89, flat), Kellogg (K, $47.92, down $0.21), Las Vegas Sands (LVS, $10.88, up $0.73), MasterCard (MA, $185.47, down $0.40), McAfee (MFE, $44.22, up $0.07), MetLife (MET, $33.69, up $0.93), Regal Entertainment Group (RGC, $14.19, down $0.05), Rosetta Stone (RST, $26.91, up $0.02), Travelers (TRV, $43.22, up $0.61), Walt Disney (DIS, $26.58, down $0.22) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN, $47.29, up $2.62).

Friday: Allergan (AGN, $52.68, up $0.79), Calpine ($13.10, up $0.10), Constellation Energy Group (CEG, $29.50, up $0.49), Dominion Resources (D, $34.59, up $0.69), DryShips (DRYS, $6.23, up $0.05), Kaydon (KDN, $36.72, up $1.28), Snap-on (SNA, $33.32, up $0.62) and Washington Post (WPO, $407.88, up $5.30).

**************************************************

4. Current Trades & Closed Trades

Ford (F, $6.78, down $0.20)

December 6 calls (FLI, $1.43, down $0.09)

Entry Price: $1.25 (5/18/09)
Exit Price: $2.50
Return: 14%
Stop: 60 cents, raise to $1.00

December 7 calls (FLJ, $0.88, down $0.11)

Entry Price: $1.00 (5/18/09)
Exit Price: $1.50-$2.00
Return: -12%
Stop: 50 cents

Action: Ford announced earnings last Thursday and going into the report I was telling our subscribers that I still liked BOTH call options although they were slightly lower than our entry prices. Ford gave back 3% on Friday but longer-term these positions look solid.

Bank of America (BAC, $12.51, down $0.18)

November 15 calls (BYOKO, $0.75, down $0.03)

Entry Price: $1.50 (6/12/09)
Exit Price: $2.25
Return: -50%
Stop: If BAC falls below $11, close the position.

Action: The action in BofA has been weak since the company announced earnings and the call options are at a 50% loss. This is normally the cut-off on “trades gone wrong” but this position was back at even going into earnings.

These calls will be worth at least $3 if the stock can make it to $18 in 4 months which is when the November options expire. There are times when you will see an option loss 50%-75% of its value before turning around a posting a 100% return. This could be one of those situations so we shall see. For those of you looking for good entry prices, now may be the best time…if BofA can make it to just $16.50 by November these calls are worth at least $1.50 or a double.

Cisco Systems (CSCO, $21.88, down $0.02)

October 20 calls (CYQJD, $2.50, down $0.02)

Entry Price: $1.50 (6/2/09)
Exit Price: $3.00
Return: 67%
Stop: $2.00

Action: I still have a short-term target of $25 on Cisco and I’m hoping we get there within a couple of months, if not weeks. This position was DOWN 50% a few weeks ago and here is the point I was making with BofA. If you will notice, I used longer-term options because when these two positions were profiled when the market was in the process of establishing a trading range. I knew that going into the trade but I was still bullish on Cisco and that patience has paid off.

IBM (IBM, $117.64, up $0.58)

August 105 calls (IBMHA, $12.60, up $0.20)

Entry Price: $3.40 (7/14/09)
Exit Price: $10.00
Return: 215%
Stop: $10.00-$10.50, raise to $11

August 115 calls (IBMHC, $4.10, up $0.40)

Entry Price: $1.05 (7/16/09)
Exit Price: $2.00
Return: 171%
Stop: $2.00-$2.25

Action: I suggested closing some of these call options on both the August 105 and 115 call options on Friday to lock in gains of 250+%. Half of the 105’s could have been closed to lock in a 253% return on some of the position. You could have taken some off the table with the 115’s at $4.00 and locked in gains of 290%. This made it a RISK FREE trade from here on out with the added luxury of participating in any further gains.

USEC (USU, $6.03, up $0.03)

August 7.50 calls (USUHU, $0.26, flat)

Entry Price: $0.52 (7/16/09)
Exit Price: $1.00
Return: -50%
Stop: None

Action: We should get word in a few weeks on if the company is getting funding for a secured loan of $2 billion. USEC has a monopoly on the uranium market and about 30 plants waiting in the wings. Don’t start new positions here because of the nature of the trade.

Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS, $8.69, down $0.14)

August 10 calls (FCSHB, $0.10, down $0.05)

Entry Price: $0.17 (7/16/09)
Exit Price:$0.34
Return: -41%
Stop: $0.10

Action: This trade got stopped out on Friday at 10 cents but I have a strange feeling it could turn positive. These were such cheap out-of-the-money options that we probably could have left them open but the stop was triggered.

DryShips (DRYS, $6.23, up $0.05)

August 7 calls (OOCHJ, $0.30, up $0.05)

Entry Price: $0.25 (7/21/09)
Exit Price: $0.50
Return: 20%
Stop: None

September 7.50 calls (OOCIU, $0.40, up $0.07)

Entry Price: $0.35 (7/21/09)
Exit Price: $0.70
Return: 14%
Stop: $0.20

Action: DryShips is capable of explosive moves and all we need is a run to $7.25-$7.50. This is a high risk/ high reward play and is based on market momentum. The company reports earnings this Friday so we may close the position or at least half ahead of earnings if we can get 50% returns.

**************************************************

5. Monday Morning Playbook

We are in the process of closing out some trades as we have stops in place to protect our profits. The futures are lower as I go to press and anything can happen between now and the opening bell. If the bulls are going to show up, they will do so early.

If we get a lower open on Monday morning it may provide us a good opportunity to go long if the bulls are serious.

Here is what I’m watching and a list of trades that can be added as well. These trades are going to run around earnings so keep that in mind. Earnings bring extra volatility and price premiums on options so we will have to pick our entry points carefully.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, $68.64, down $0.14) reports earnings on Wednesday after the bell. We have three days to see if the August 80 calls (QGMHP, $1.80, up $0.05) can make a move. Set an entry price of $1.60 but if Green Mountain opens strong don’t pay over $2.00 for the calls. Also wait until 20-30 minutes after the market is open and use limit orders if this is the case.

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD, $37.65, up $1.23) reports after the bell on Monday and we may have missed this one. The company has opened 40 restaurants in 2009 while other chains have slowed growth. In fact, the company just opened its 600th store and is shooting for 1,000. Again, we may be late to the party. The August 40 calls (BQUHH, $1.50, up $0.50) surged 50% on Friday as traders positioned themselves ahead of the report. This has me hesitant on making it an “official” recommendation and I wouldn’t pay over $1.75 for them. Restaurant stocks have been heating up…

Cerner (CERN, $65.89, up $1.67) set a 52-week high on Friday and will report earnings on Wednesday. It’s a play on HealthCare and I like the August 70 calls (CQNHN, $1.60, up $0.55) up to $1.75.

Microsoft (MSFT, $23.45, down $2.11) got pounded after reporting a disappointing quarter and the August 23 calls (MSQHQ, $0.92, down $1.73) dropped a whopping 65%. I believe the sell-off was a bit much but was expected. The company said computer sales we down but some of that could be the fact that people are waiting for Windows 7. There may be a trade here up to $1.00 and Microsoft could rebound if the market continues higher. If we start lower, set limit prices at 85 cents.

All of these trades carry a high degree of risk because of the earnings and the fact that Microsoft could continue lower.

**************************************************

6. Closing Thoughts

Many of you that have followed me for a while know I can be both bullish and bearish. The bottom line is I love price movement and volatility. Last summer at this time I was preparing us for a steep market correction and we got it. There were a ton of good trades on the way down and that is another thing I want to mention this week. When the market drops, you can make just as much money by buying put options as you can by buying call options which is what we have been doing of late. The key is you have to train your brain not to freak-out when things take a turn for the worse.

However, until the bulls tell us different, we will continue to go long but remember that at times we can get caught by being too bullish. The odds are increasing that we could enter another phase of this bull market and as option traders that means buying more calls than put options. Also, we can’t forget the ferocity that the bears can have on any given day. As we have seen in the past, the market can reverse course quicker than Twitter gets tweeted but the bulls have the momentum.

Keep an eye on the other two levels I have mentioned – S&P 1000 and Nasdaq 2,000. The Dow made the 9,000 target and could make a run to 9,600 if the other two indexes keep moving higher. We have another round of heavy earnings and the China stocks could make some nice runs if earnings come in better-than-expected.

Economic news will also have an impact on things and Friday’s GDP (gross domestic product) and employment numbers will be watched closely.

See ya’ at the opening bell!

Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com

Tags: Amazon.com, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cisco Systems, DryShips, IBM, Microsoft, USEC
Posted in Company Commentary, Earnings, Market Analysis, Market Commentary, Option Trades, Sectors, Stock Earnings, Trading Tips, Watch Lists, Weekly Wrap | No Comments »

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »

Our updated 2012 Track Record is now at 85-18 for an 82% win rate. We have closed 24-straight winning option trades since late March!

Despite the recent volatility, we have given more "locks" to our subscribers than a Vegas bookie. If you started with a $10,000 trading account, our CLOSED option picks would have made you over 600% by now. In other words, YOUR $10,000 option trading account would be worth over $70,000 as we have become one of the most powerful option newsletters in the business. Our biggest trade of the year so far was hit in early May when shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) fell 50% after an earnings miss which made our subscribers 576% on the put options!

We DON"T count "half" closed trades twice, or "third" closed trades three times like other option newsletters do. Some option services will fluff their Track Records up by using these smoke-and-mirror tricks. They will also "average down" a losing trade in hopes of it coming back then will record the "average" price of the trade when it was really 2 bad trades. Most option websites DON'T have track records and say they give 300% winners. The devil is in the details.

We don't play these types of games which is why we have the most dedicated subscribers in the business because we have earned their trust. We have recommended 103 trades, 85 winners, 18 losers for 2012. Pretty simple and pretty powerful. We also have verified auto-trading partners who trade our recommendations for your account if you cannot watch the market. They will also tell you how good and how honest our service is.

Here are some of our other profitable triple-digit recommendations: Capital One (COF) call options +423% in 8 days, American Express (AXP) call options +310% in under 7 days, magicJack (CALL) call options +80% in 3 days, Microsoft (MSFT) call options +124%, STX call options +100% in 2 weeks, +114% and +131% on 2 MGM Resorts (MGM) call options trades in 3 weeks, +158% on Zynga (ZNGA) call options and +107% in Aflac (AFL) call options in 6 days. We also had a +200% winner with Scientific Games (SGMS). Some of our double-digit gains include +58% on WPRT calls, +80% on TSM and +38% on INT call options.

Our Weekly Wrap is 35-0 since the start of 2011 and is 17-0 for 2012. Some of our winners include +55% on Solazyme (SZYM), +27% on Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE), +38% on Vivus (VVUS), +17% on MGM, +18% on Dendreon (DNDN), and +20% on Darling (DAR). Despite what the suit-and-ties say, you can make incredible gains trading the RIGHT covered calls.

Over the past 5 years we are averaging a 75% winning percentage for all our trades despite volatile, flat and choppy markets. Come see why some of Wall Street's pros are following us instead of the Journal!

Here are some of our profitable 2011 recommendations: ORLY call options +191%, VMW call options +100%, JOYG call options +169%; GS put options +184%; FDX put options +164%; OXY put options +74%; +137% on RIMM put options, +1,167% on RMBS puts in 11 days, +296% on FCX calls; +157% on ZAGG calls; +110% on LNKD puts; +133% on RLD put options.

You can also request our Track Records to see all years by entering your email address which will allow you access to the portfolios.

If you are missing these juicy profits, come give us a try. Get your password to our Members Area instantly when you sign up TODAY! One profitable trade will easily pay for your membership. You can request our 2008-2011 Track Records by sending us an email or filling out the box below. 665 Total Trades; 459 WINNERS or 7-out-of-10.

REGINA L.
I just want you to know that I love the way you write and explain everything. I am new to this, and have lost 50% of my account until I met you guys. Iit is slowly coming back. I will be calling to set up a year
of membership rather than the one quarter. Thanks again, and LOVE YOU ALL.

STEVE T.
Rick, I appreciate the advice. I think I will just sit back and utilize your selections only for awhile. This will obviously save me a great deal of money in commissions. I have gone thru your entire site including the video on money management. This has brought me to the stark realization that I have been trading too much for too little. I definitely have not been "swinging for the fences", but I also think I have been getting impatient with trades and getting out too fast. This has no doubt caused me too trade too much. I like, and definitely agree on, the advice on money management. Thanks for the help.

SCOTT H.
Thank you!!! I held on to the NFLX position since Nov. 13 at a cost of $1.89. Sold ½ on April 14th for a 540% return and the other ½ upon earnings for 702% return. Total profit of $11,615 a 621% return. Keep the recommendations coming and thanks to you and your team for the service you provide.

PETER G.
Rick & Team, GREAT Call on NKE for my two trading accounts:
1) Entry at .65, out at 1.45, 1.55 Profit = $415
2) Entry at .60, out at 1.75, 1.50 Profit = $485

LAWRENCE O.
Hey Rick! Here is an update on what your picks have done in my accounts.

1) Great call on the JoyG March 55. I bought when you said, then bought again on one of the dips. Booked 80+% profit. Made enough to pay for your service for years to come.

2) Also booked profits on your Berk Feb 74 (80%) and threw a major chunk of change at the March 75’s (190+%). I would have never known that Buffet's stock had split if it weren’t for your service. Bought the shares also for the long haul. Won’t look at them for another 20 years. Great job on getting us in before the indexes did.

3) Took profit on your Imax March 12.5. 20 cent trailing stop at 1.90 yesterday. Not sure what the profit on that was, but profit is profit.

I see that you took a loss on some of these. It’s all good. I look to trade your “ideas” not your exact calls. I THANK YOU! For your ideas and commentary. Keep up the good work. And keep those ideas coming.

C.J.
Loving this subscription so far! I got into the BRK feb 76 calls the day you talked about right before the split...now up over 300% (0.70 to 2.475)! Keep the good picks coming and let's see some OSIS and EMC upside soon! Just wanted to share my positive enthusiasm on your newsletter...it gives us individual investors great ideas on not only the options market, but also the broader equity market! Case in point is BRK...I can't always read the breaking business news but its easy to read your twice daily updates on my smartphone...helped me get some BRK shares immediately after the split which I will hold for the long haul! Thanks again!

SHAUN
Aloha Rick - Thank you so much for the great CL pick. I am not sure if there was buy-out/merger news or what but at 3PM today Colgate-Palmolive absolutely EXPLODED to the upside, and my calls turned into green candy when they went from 1.40 to 3.8 in a matter of seconds! I even sold a few for over 4.0! Much thanks and keep the solid picks up my friend, honestly. Only a fool would scoff at 267% gains... Peace!

MICHAEL K.
I like the fact that you ask for comments from subscribers. Good customer service. By the way, am enjoying the service so far. Some good
profitable calls. Keep up the good work.

PARAG P.
Woo hoo! Out for 50% on WMT this am. Making up for my depression for getting out of pcln for a 30% gain monday :( you the man! any word on the manual? My friend Mike ( who I sent to your service) told me he emailed you about your integrity in reporting fills. I echo that sentiment big time.. keep it up! Cheers!

JAY P.
Hi Rick, as a new member all I can say is, 'show off' LOL, with PCLN.

MIKE
Rick, I am a new subscriber to your service, and I want to say I am impressed. I am impressed by your results, but more than that I am impressed by your reporting of your fills. You could have easily said you got that Wal-Mart call today for 80 cents, instead you reported 98 cents! Good job and keep it up, I watched the reporting of the fills first, and then I subscribed. Thank You.

TRISH D.
Hi, good morning. I jumped the gun a little on this one (PCLN). But still made $1,675.00 profit!! Very happy!! Keep up the good work!! Thanks.

MIN L.
Hi there, I have joined recently, and I am very happy to tell you that I am up over $10,000 on your picks in a month. I started on 10/7 with the Intel pick. I'll be your member for life. Please don't quit on us. Also, I am learning a lot about options. I didn’t get in your recent APOL and that gold trade and only had one loss on CHK. I appreciate all the DD you do. I enjoy your market commentaries. Best advice site period, and I have tried a few here and there. Again, you guys rock!

JOE G.
Thanks be to Momentum Options Trading for providing me with some fantastic wins. I just started with this service and am up nearly 50% in less than a month. There have been losses, but if I manage them properly, I will continue the best efforts given on the blog (in which there are no complaints). What a great cause for humanity. I feel more confident about my trades and continue to play the wins. Best of all, I am now keeping my regular paychecks in the bank! Thank you!

GREG F.
Rick - I wanted to say thanks for getting me started on the right foot with your service. I have made six trades since starting on October 22, 2009. Five are winners and One loser netting me $6,245. Thanks again and keep the trade recommendations coming.

NOEL
I got into the Nike 60 Call at 1.85, sold at 5.00, also bought a 55 put at 1.05, but got stopped out at .35. What a ride! $2830.00 in the black even with the put. It's right at 100% return. I hope earnings season coming up is going to look like this trade.

TODD F.
Nice call on Nike. I think I'll go buy a pair with my profits! : ) I did the straddle for safety but still made 62% on the trade. Not bad for less than 24 hours. If Goldman is right, then the Nov 70s or 75's could be a steal today.

PAUL H.
What a sweet way to get introduced to Momentum. My first trade based on your picks and it a 2X. Thank you!

NOEL
“Limit order was set at 1.60 on RIMM so it sold. I may have left some money on the table but you can't go broke making a profit. That was a fun trade. Thank you. Good call. I’ve been watching and trading Rick's advice since March. It’s usually a fun ride, but I give him heck when it's wrong to. :) ”

CHRISTIAN
“Your service rocks! I made bank on Dendreon last week! The other thing I have to say is that it took me quite a while to find a REAL options trading service like yours. Most of what’s out there is 99% scam and very sketchy. Momentum Options Trading is the first service I found that I can trust and seriously make money with.”

JOHN
“I made $420.00 on ANF in 2 days. Thanks for the trade and updates on getting out of the trade.”

CHARLES M.
“I did follow a lot of your trades with 1-2 contracts per trade and YTD I’m up 108%. I try not to follow blindly by not entering all of your trades and sometimes entering the ones you don’t. I entered AIG a few weeks ago against recommendation – that one hurt.”

BRYAN C.
“I have been following you for several months and am interested in the new service. I hate to see the free service go away but as they say, “all good things must come to an end”. My ability to join will be greatly influenced by the monthly fee so I’m very curious to see the new prices. Thanks for making April a great month for me and my family.”

JOHN H.
“I have really enjoyed the past month since finding your blog. You have made some great calls. I would appreciate info. on the new options mentoring program. Thanks.”

JEFFREY
“Hi Rick, I have been following your blog for several months now and I would like to be including on the list for your new service and to receive more information about it. And yes I was a Dendreon winner with your tips. Turned $280 into $7700, and literally saved my butt.”

ED
“I made over 6k on your Dendreon trade, and I’m very interested in learning how you pick and trade options. Sign me up.”

GREG
“Rick – Wow what a day! I got in at the Dendreon calls at $2.25. Thanks to for your advice. I appreciate that. This company has a lock on this type of therapy and no one else in the world is close. Kind of reminds me of the type of companies that Peter Lynch and Warren Buffet suggest that investments be made in. Companies that can build a moat around their business model, that allows them to charge a premium for their product or service. In other words - a monopoly.”

KEN
“Hi Rick, Thank you so much for the Dendreon trade, I made almost $10,000 with that trade with a little over $2,000 investment. You have shown me the power of options trading. Again, thank you so much for all your inputs.”

GARETT
“Hi Rick, thanks for the encouragement to play the dendreon calls! did freaking great! Got in the first lot at $1.44 on 3-24-09, sold at $2.45, 70% not bad. Bought it back at $2.30 on 4-7-09 closed out on 4-14-09 for 454% gain! Wow! I love it when that happens. So, thanks the encouragement to get back in when others were saying sell, sell, sell. Keep up the good work.”

TERENCE
“Rick – Thanks for Dendreon – it has made all the headlines today! I missed on RIMM earlier, but I’ve been holding onto DNDN calls since 3rd week March. Of course today it all paid off today, as DNDN rocketed up.”

Jan. 31 2012
Rick, new member...Studied all current trades, did some chart work,picked ZNGA, PEP, MGM...Sold on Feb. 2 for $3600.00 profit...Cost for 1-year membership to your newsletter was less than $1000.00..All I have to say..Thank you. John H –

3/18/11
Rick, I purchased 10 contracts of the Nike March 85 puts Thursday afternoon for $2.00. Thing is, I was upset because the puts went down to $1.60 or so before the market closed. Well, needless to say Nike didn’t impress Wall Street and when I turned on the computer this morning the puts were worth $7.10! Sold them for a $5,100 profit!. Thanks again, you are the MAN. Chuck J-

2/3/12
Hi Rick,

I will start off with a thank you for your time and dedication to all
the research you and your team commit yourself to. This is not me just being excited about the profits I have accumulated aka (bank) ! You have helped me get back to the passion I had of researching stocks/options. Keith N-

Hi Rick,

I want to share my great results on GMCR. Based on your comments on February 15th, I bought 20 options at $0.28. They closed today at $7.00, which is a 2,300% gain. My $560 dollars turned into $14,000 in less than a month. In decades of trading, this is my single best trade ever. Thank you! By the way, the Dow was down 228 points today and I could care less. What a great trade. It proves the amazing power of options. I am so grateful for your service, which calls it straight all the time, your options trading manual, and most of all, your amazing skill
at finding winning trades. I have attached a copy of the trade from
my brokerage screen.

Archive for July, 2009

Busy Day At The Office

NewsFlash: Add Visa

DryShips Options Hit Pay Dirt

Futures Pointing Towards Slightly Lower Open

Weekly Wrap for 7/26/09