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Tuesday’s Tidbits – Cisco Systems & More….

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

9:00am (EST)

Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria…Sir John Templeton.

The bulls and bears traded blows for much of Monday’s session as both sides left the ring with mixed results. The bears were able to take two out of three but neither victory was impressive. The Dow dropped a baker’s dozen, or 13 points, to finish at 10,552 while the S&P 500 slipped less than a point and closed at 1,139.

The bulls, however, managed to drive Tech higher (more on that in a minute) by a six-pack as the Nasdaq finished at 2,332. At one point, the Nasdaq traded 2,335 and finished at fresh highs for 2010 and an 18-month high overall.

We have been mentioning the strength in the Tech sector and the bulls can thank Cisco Systems (CSCO, $26.13, up $0.92) for keeping them above water yesterday. The stock rallied nearly 4%, ahead of a MAJOR announcement set for this morning. The company said the news will “forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, business and governments.”

Cisco Systems

Wow. That is a pretty powerful statement and we can’t wait to see what’s up Cisco’s sleeve. Wall Street expects the company to debut toys that will enable its network service providers to build their own high-speed networks. Shares closed at a 52-week high on Monday and the news will hit the Street at 11am (EST).

Despite the forthcoming news, the futures are pricing in a slightly lower open this morning. Dow futures are down by 27 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are off by about 4 points apiece.

Tags: Cisco Systems announcement, CSCO, option picks, option signals, options alerts, stock options trading
Posted in Company Commentary, Hot Stocks, Market Analysis, Market Commentary | Comments Off

Market Mixed On HealthCare Concerns

Monday, March 8th, 2010

12:50pm (EST)

The bulls are taking a breather as they prepare to take the market higher over the next few weeks. Of course, the bears are still playing and they are getting a little action today but we think the trend is still up.

The Dow is currently down 20 points to 10,545 while the S&P has slipped 2 points and is at 1,137. The Nasdaq, however, is also showing a slight gain and is higher by 4 points to 2,330.

We got some more rhetoric from the President concerning HealthCare which could be weighing on the market. He also took another shot at Goldman Sachs (GS, $169.57, up $2.39) but the stock has been rallying lately off the $165 level.

gs030810

Imax (IMAX, $14.92, up $1.20) is at fresh 52-week highs after taking in record sales for the opening of Alice in Wonderland. The movie was shown in 188 domestic Imax theaters which contributing $12 million of the film’s overall opening gross of $116 million.

imax030810

These numbers represent over 10% of the overall domestic box revenues but the kicker is that Imax was only on 3% of the total screens. The company’s average screening was a whopping per $64,362 joint. Overseas, they made another $3 million on 53 screens. Wow.

Imax is a story we have been covering for 3 years and some of our subscribers have been loading up on this stock when it was under $4. We don’t buy stock but we have profiled several call options trades over the past few years that have done well.

The company announces earnings this Thursday.

We have a lot to cover in the Members Area so we want to get our subscribers inside. We also have NEW TRADE we cover in today’s update.

Tags: Goldman Sachs, GS, Imax, option picks, option signals, options alerts, stock options trading
Posted in Company Commentary, Hot Stocks, Market Analysis, Market Commentary, Option Trades | Comments Off

Upgrades Could Keep Momentum Going

Monday, March 8th, 2010

9:00am (EST)

Futures are trading in a narrow range this morning as we get ready for the upcoming week. There is little economic data due out during the first half of this week and earnings are coming to a crawl so Wall Street will be looking for other cues to give the market direction.

Asian markets surged last night in their first trading session following the upbeat U.S. jobs report but the European markets fell slightly.

The good news, if you are bullish, is that there are a lot of upgrades on stocks this morning that could get the bulls in a buying mood.

Research In Motion (RIMM, $69.50, down $0.48), Yahoo (YHOO, $16.06, up $0.25) and U.S Steel (X, $58.90, up $2.26) all got upgrades and are showing higher bids in pre-market trading.

yhoo030810

x030810

M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity continues to pick up… American International Group (AIG, $28.08, up $1.37) is selling one of its major foreign subsidiaries (Alico) to MetLife (MET, $38.92, up $0.81) for $15.5 billion. It is the second major sale for AIG this month as the company tries to get leaner and meaner.

aig030810

The Entertainment stocks could get a pop after seeing “Alice in Wonderland ” bring in a whopping $116 million in its opening weekend – a record for a 3-D film. We knew Alice would be a hit and the total easily surpassed all other films in release and gave Walt Disney (DIS, $33.22, up $0.65) an even bigger opening than “Avatar.” Imax (IMAX, $13.72, up $0.40) also benefitted as their theaters were packed all weekend long.

Earnings:

Monday: Casey’s General Stores (CASY, $31.86, up $0.21), Kronos Worldwide (KRO, $15.69, down $0.27), ResCare (RSCR, $9.53, up $0.34), TiVo (TIVO, $17.50, up $0.97) and Value Line (VALU, $25.42, up $0.45).

Tuesday: Boston Beer Company (SAM, $50.54, up $0.74), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS, $25.19, up $0.83), J. Crew Group (JCG, $45.61, up $1.55), Kroger (KR, $22.74, up $0.05), Overstock.com (OSTK, $13.43, up $0.35) and Tootsie Roll (TR, $28.17, up $0.87).

Wednesday: American Eagle Outfitters (AEO, $16.74, up $0.01), Bon-Ton Stores (BONT, $11.78, up $0.68), Elbit Systems (ESLT, $60.58, up $0.09), Gymboree (GYMB, $45.15, up $0.40), Hot Topic (HOTT, $6.71, up $0.08), Men’s Wearhouse (MW, $25.17, up $0.74) and Vail Resorts VPFG, $15.48, up $0.18).

Thursday: Aeropostale (ARO, $25.56, up $0.56), Goldcorp (GG, $40.37, up $0.80), National Semiconductor (NSM, $14.67, up $0.04), Pall Corp (PLL, $41.32, up $0.68), Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY, $26.74, up $0.35) and Smithfield Foods (SFD, $19.09, down $0.36),

Friday: AnnTaylor Stores (ANN, $18.50, up $0.53), Citi Trends (CTRN, $29.50, up $0.13) and Kirkland’s (KIRK, $18.81, up $0.81),

As we head to press, Dow futures are up 7 points, S&P 500 futures are up a point while the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 2. Current subscribers, check the Members Area for the updates.

Tags: AIG, DIS, met, option picks, option signals, options alerts, RIMM, stock options trading, x, YHOO
Posted in Company Commentary, Earnings, Market Analysis, Market Commentary | Comments Off

MomentumOptionsTrading.com Weekly Wrap for 3/7/10

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

7:00pm (EST)

“Baby, we were born to run…”

The bulls had a theme song last week and were singing all day long Friday as the market surged following the unemployment report. The Labor Department said employers cut 36,000 jobs last month, better than the 50,000 cuts and 9.8% forecast by Wall Street’s wizards.

The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7% and is seen as the most important measure of the economy’s health. The U.S. unemployment hit 10.1% in October but is slowly recovering as employers gain confidence in the economic recovery.

Another good tidbit of news…the Federal Reserve reported Friday that consumer borrowing rose by nearly $5 billion in January, surprising the pencil pushers who were looking for borrowing to decline by $4.5 billion. The helps lift the market to new highs in the final hour of trading as it was the first gain after a record 11 straight declines. It was also the largest increase since July 2008.

As a result, the market climbed more than 1% as all three indexes continue to push towards their January highs. It was also the bulls’ best week since early October 2009.

The Dow rose 122 points, or 1.2%, to finish the week at 10,566. The index toppled the 10,500 level for the first time since mid-January and showed a weekly gain of 2.3%, or 241 points. The Dow’s high for 2010 is 10,767.

The S&P 500 jumped 16 points, or 1.4%, to close at 1,138. For the week, the index advanced 3.1%, or 34 points, and is within shouting distance of the January 1,050 high.

Finally, the Nasdaq surged 35 points, or 1.5%, to settle at 2,326. Tech added an impressive 3.9% for the week, or 88 points, which is the EXACT high that was set in January.

We kind of expected the “Christmas rally” to stall in January as the targets we had set back in August were nearly hit. In last Sunday’s Weekly Wrap we mentioned the targets of 1,175 for the S&P 500; 2,275 for the Nasdaq; and 10,800 for the Dow. We said there was a good chance for a rally and a “retest of the January highs over the next few weeks could come into play.

Well, here we are. Given the current sentiment, there could be a “rush” by some investors to get back into the market and this is what we have been planning for. We said on Friday in our Members Area that we think Monday will be a HUGE day for the market. A tide to lift all boats so to speak…

The weekend futures were showing strength on Saturday but are pretty much flat as we go to press. The Dow futures were showing a 114 point pop but have slipped and are currently unchanged; S&P 500 futures are showing a half point gain after being up 14; the Nasdaq futures are up 2 points.

If we do get another week-long rally, then our NEW short-term targets would be Dow 11,000; S&P 500 1,200; Nasdaq 2,400.

This week, several retailers will post earnings as the sector appears to be recovering from a year-long slump. We have one trade we are eyeballing and will probably be recommending put or call options on a few more.

As far as economic news, there will be plenty to digest. The monthly trade deficit will come out Thursday but little change is expected for January from the month before. On Friday, we get February retail sales and January business inventories, while the Reuters/University of Michigan issues its preliminary reading for the March consumer sentiment index.

We would love to see the market continue its winning ways and maybe Saturday’s futures were giving us clues on where we could be headed. We still believe we can at least test the 2010 highs this week and possibly higher but nothing is a given in the stock market. We could test and fall right back into the trading range. We mentioned earlier that the Dow hit a high of 10,767 which we reached in mid-January. Two weeks later, the index was struggling to hold 10,000.

There are still plenty of headwinds the market faces and any hint of an economic recovery could lead to higher interest rates. We don’t think this is necessarily bad news but small businesses and start-ups are still getting shunned for loans so the the Fed will be walking a tight rope. This is where the jobs are created and we are still seeing many big firms cut back.

We will be back Monday morning with the earnings preview and we will have a complete update for all of our open trades as well as several new trades in the offering or waiting in the wings. See you at 9am, folks!

Tags: option picks, option signals, options alerts, Stock Market Weekly Wrap, stock options trading
Posted in Market Analysis, Market Commentary, Weekly Wrap | Comments Off

Market Looks Strong

Friday, March 5th, 2010

1:00pm (EST)

The bulls are putting an explanation point on this week’s rally as the market continues to move higher. We got all the news we needed this morning when the U.S. jobs declined less than expected. The report is still subject to debate and there are probably a few skeletons in the closet but the “here and now” is that the market is rocking.

The Dow is currently up 83 points to 10,527 while the S&P 500 is higher by 11 points to 1,135. The Nasdaq continues to shine and is showing a pop of 27 points as it stands at 2,319.

We said in our Weekly Wrap that the market could continue to climb a “wall of worry” and this seems to be the case. We have covered a bunch of stocks this week and we have closed several nice trades in our Members Area. Our subscribers closed a F5 Networks (FFIV, $61.13, up $0.43) trade on Wednesday for a 150% gain and a Cree (CREE, $69.13, up $0.06) call option trade for nearly 30% gains.

ffiv_030510

There were two stocks we followed outside the Members Area this week that are also on a roll.

Walt Disney (DIS, $33.00, up $0.43) got an upgrade a day after these quotes from us on Wednesday:

“Walt Disney led the Dow higher and looks like it wants to challenge its 52-week high of $32.75. We have followed Disney for years and we usually have pretty good success playing call options on the stock. In September 2009, we grabbed our subscribers 72% on a call option trade and we recently closed out another trade for a small 12% win. In other words, there could be a trade here if Disney continues higher.” (END)

dis030510

We wanted to add some call options on Disney to our portfolio but we held off when the stock popped yesterday.

The other company we want to talk about is TiVo (TIVO, $17.38, up $0.85). We did a big write-up yesterday because there has been a story developing at TiVo since June 2009 that we have been covering like grass on dirt. We profiled 3 options yesterday in our 1pm update that could have easily paid the bills this month:

The March 10 calls (TUK100320C00010000, $7.40, up $0.80) were at $5.70 in our 1pm update yesterday and you could close them now for a 30% gain. Remember, these options opened at $1.05 on Thursday. The total gain from yesterday’s open would be a staggering 600%.

The March 11 calls (TUK100320C00011000, $6.60, up $2.00) were at $4.50 and are up another 48% today.

tivo030510b

For our Kenny Rogers fans, the “Gambler” trade we profiled, the March 17.50 calls (TUK100320C00017500, $0.75, up $0.20), are up nearly 40%. Over 53,000 contracts traded hands on Thursday. Wow.

We mention this because these types of trades are what makes option trading so lucrative and why we spend so much time on research. We also wanted to PROVE to people that YOU can make this much money on a single option trade.

We often hear people laugh when we tell them they can make this much money when using options in the stock market because they don’t believe us. People think we are full of sheet. The talking heads say the same thing but we keep it real and here is the devil in the details on where they are wrong.

In 2009, our subscribers made 550% on a Google (GOOG, $563.41, up $8.82) call option trade and a 1,150% on a Research In Motion (RIMM, $68.89, down $0.09) call play.

The point is, we want you in on the action and we want you to trade with us for the long-term. Often times we have subscribers sign up and then cancel after a month because we may have profiled a losing trade. Folks, we are going to have them but we have a track record for a reason. We try to teach patience and when the market is in a rhythm the profits can be super great. The losers suck but the winners make up for that.

We see more juicy trades on the horizon weather the market continues higher or has a sudden reversal. However, we think next week could be another bull run. We will be back Sunday night with the Weekly Wrap with some fresh ideas and a look at next week’s action. We will also be updating all of the CLOSED trades for our 2010 Portfolio so that you can view our results. Current subscribers, check the Members Area for the HOT updates.

Tags: option picks, option signals, options alerts, stock options trading, TiVo call options, Walt Disney option trade
Posted in Hot Stocks, Market Analysis, Market Commentary, Option Trades, Trading Psychology, Trading Tips | Comments Off

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No fancy spreads. No iron condors. No need to watch the markets all day long.

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
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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.”

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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.”

Archive for the ‘Market Analysis’ Category

Tuesday’s Tidbits – Cisco Systems & More….

Market Mixed On HealthCare Concerns

Upgrades Could Keep Momentum Going

MomentumOptionsTrading.com Weekly Wrap for 3/7/10

Market Looks Strong