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Archive for December, 2009

One More For The Road

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

3:00pm (EST)

The market is trending lower today as we head into the final hour of trading for 2009.  It has been an action packed day and we have been sending alerts out all morning.  One trade we recommended on Monday is up over 230% and we wanted to close half of the position before heading into the three-day weekend.  Yes, 230%, folks.

Things have settled down a bit and we wanted to do one final review of all of our  trades.  Current subscribers, please check the Members Area one last time for 2009…

As we head to press, the Dow is currently down 49 points to 10,499.  We will be back Sunday night with the Weekly Wrap.

Enjoy the New Year and be safe.

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It’s The Final Countdown

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

9:20am (EST)

Man, we love that song made popular by Europe back in the day…

It’s the last trading day of 2009 and we are going to give you some meat and potatoes this morning for breakfast.  Meaning…we are going to cover a lot of things as we are looking forward to 2010…big time.  Either the bulls or bears will be bringing out the heavy artillery when 4Q earnings roll in next month and we could be setting up for a classic battle.

The bulls are doing all they can do blow the roof off of this market and as we head into January it will be interesting to see how things play out.  The Dow managed a small gain yesterday of 3 points to finish at 10,548 while the S&P 500 added less than a point to close at 1,126.  The Nasdaq settled at 2,291, also up 3 points on Wednesday.

Since this is the last day of the trading year we wanted to take a look at our targets that we set for the market back in August.  Of course, no one knows what the market will do from day-to-day, let alone 4 months from now but we were seeing things in August that lead us to believe this current bull market rally had legs back then.

Our targets were 10,800 for the Dow; 1,175 for the S&P 500 and 2,275 for the Nasdaq.  As you can see, we came up a little short on the Dow and S&P 500 targets but we were right on with the Nasdaq. 

This leads us to believe the market still has room to run but January will be a pivotal month as earnings pour in.  We also have quite a few geopolitical events we need to monitor and pay attention to but overall the economy seems to be improving.

One stock that has been on fire this week…OSI Systems (OSIS, $27.46, up $2.40) as investors rushed into the stock starting on Monday.  The company makes these “body scanners” that could be used in airports that would allow tighter, faster security and the machines are selling for $150,000 a pop.  Needless to say, the market is enormous and some people think they should be in every airport in every city RIGHT NOW.

The shares have rallied following last weekend’s failed terrorism attack and last Thursday they closed at $22.  On Monday morning they opened at $23.04 and hit a high of $24.97.  Usually these types of trades fade but we under estimated this story and it cost us a sweet call option trade. 

Yesterday, the OSIS January 25 calls (UOJAE, $2.95) easily doubled and were under $1 on Monday.  OSIS and others have been put on our short-term Watch List. 

Of course, we have our own triple-digit winners in our current portfolio that have eased the pain of missing a monster trade.  We currently have 6 active trades showing in the Members Area and the returns are:  90%, +29%, -45%, +81%, +172 while one is even.  The 29% trade that we profiled two weeks ago was down 45% a week later and is now.  The point is, new subscribers who joined us last week are showing a 100% return as we updated our comments daily and reiterated our price target. 

Now, for things happening with us:

There are also big changes coming to the options market and the way they will look as far as symbols.  This has been the MAIN reason for the delay of our trading manual that was going to be released earlier this month.  We decided that it made no sense to print copies with the radical changes we are facing and we are reworking the material.

The change could come as early February and will affect all options across the board.  The event is called the Options Symbology Initiative and it really isn’t a big deal.  We explain this in the manual but all option tickers will become 21 characters long.

The Options Clearing Corporation is trying to make things simpler and the symbols will look more complex, but they’re really easy once you get the hang of reading them. 

The reason we are bringing this all up is because we don’t want to lose anyone of you as a subscriber.  We have told you that we will limit or subscription base to 1,000 memberships and we are halfway there in only four months, folks.  Once we are full…we are full.

We know we will have cancellations from time-to-time and that is when new subscribers will join us but please remember this.  If someone joined us in November and only had a one month membership then obviously they may have cancelled as we hit a mini losing streak.  This would be natural but we want all of you to see the big picture as we head into 2010.

We profiled 244 trades this year and we had 63 losers.  In November, we had 6 losing trades but 4 of them were stopped out on Black Friday when the Dubai news broke.  Folks, these events happen which is why we closed a half position on a trade that is up 172% YESTERDAY.  We did this because of the current geopolitical events and to lock in profits and make it a risk-free trade.

The key to option trading is to keep your trades around the same number of contracts and monitory sizes so that you don’t get too high or too low when trading.  You also have to realize that you will have winning and losing streaks and you will have to control your emotions.  Yeah its tough taking losses but remember what we have been telling you.

If you have 1 trade that returns you 300%, you can have 6 losing trades that average a 50% loss and still be even.  We don’t fault people who leave us but again, we want you to see the big picture as we head into 2010.

Also remember, a subscription to our Members Area is a tax write-off.  We would love to have everyone sign up for a year of course (hint, hint) and we aren’t saying this to up sell our services.

We have done little advertising folks and word is spreading about our success.  We believe in customer loyalty and we want everyone who signed up in 2009 to have the first opportunity to get the trading manual and to stay on our list.  The best way is to lock in longer memberships.

Hopefully we have covered everything this morning and we know we threw the kitchen sink at you.  However, we enjoy what we do and we look forward to providing you even more excellent opportunities as we more forward.

Also, we may or may not do a 1pm update today as the market is closing early.  We are working on a big article for the weekend Weekly Wrap and we want to enjoy New Year’s Day as we will be working all weekend to find some good trades. 

We will be updating the 2009 track record to show our final results this weekend so be sure to check back with us for this and the Weekly Wrap.

As we head to press, Dow futures are higher by 10 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are up 2.   

Current subscribers, check the Members Area for the trade updates. 

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More Geopolitical Events Could Weigh On Market

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

1:00pm (EST)

Folks, New York is on “High Alert” as breaking news has hit the market that the Nasdaq center is being cordoned off because of a suspicious van in the area.  The Dow was just trading in positive territory before the news and is back down 11 points to 10,553.  Hopefully, the van doesn’t contain any kind of bomb or explosives but with us getting so close to New Year’s we should have known some kind of news like this would hit us. 

The good news is that our option trades continue to outperform the market but we are going to lock in profits on some our current trades.  One of our trade recommendations is up 150% and we’d be foolish not to protect that heading into the close of 2009 and considering the shenanigans going up near Time Square.

This may turn out to be a non-event and right now it hasn’t had much of an impact on the market.  But we were in positive territory.  We would rather be safe than sorry…

Current subscribers, please check the Members Area for the important trade updates.

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The Boys Are back In Town

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

11:40am (EST)
  
Two more trading days…
 
Folks, that is all we have left as the market winds down to a close for 2009.  Actually, make that one more day or 8 more hours.  We have a little over fours hours in today’s session and the market will close early on Thursday for New Year’s.  We will be extra busy bringing you updates today and tomorrow as we have a number of positive trades that will either be closed to lock in profits or carried over into 2010 for tax purposes.
 
As far as the current market, the bulls are struggling to gain any momentum as the bears seem to be hanging around to ruin the party.  The Dow is down 9 points to 10,536 while the S&P 500 is off by 2 to 1,124.  The Nasdaq is lower by 6 to 2,282.
 
We had a chance to take a look at the Casino stocks this week up close and in person and they have been flat for a month.  For instance, Las Vegas Sands (LVS, $15.04, down $0.25) has traded between $15-$16 after making a high of $20 in September.  Yes, even a “mini-vacation” turns out to be work for us but it’s all good.  We love our job!
 
We talked to a number of people in the casinos and in the restaurants.  We talked to taxi cab drivers, boardwalk taxis (the ones on the bikes) and even the maids to see how business was doing.  Oh yeah, there will be a trade for us in 2010…trust us.
 
Elsewhere, we got to check out Avatar in a REAL Imax (IMAX, $13.33, up $0.36) movie house and we are speechless.  Maybe it is an omen…the stock is at another 52-week high today.  Of course, that has meant good news for our current subscribers and those of you who have joined us in over the past few weeks.
 
As far as the trade updates, we are working on those now.  We will be back shortly with another market update and a fresh outlook but we wanted to let you know we are back in town.  We got back to the office at exactly 9:30am this morning after all night of traveling which is why we didn’t post at our usual 9:00am update this morning.
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MomentumOptionsTrading.com Special Update for 12/29/09

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

11:30pm (EST)

Folks, we are traveling tonight and may miss the opening bell on Wednesday.  We will be back for the 1pm daily market wrap on Wednesday but we wanted to give an update on our current trades tonight. 

We are showing three TRIPLE-DIGIT winners and we wanted to update our targets for the trades.  Current subscribers, please check the Members Area for tonight’s Special Report. 

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Trader Comments:

    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.”