Maybe it wasn’t rocket science but I called the market downturn in comments right before they caved, I just didn’t like the action at the time.
I really don’t like what I see now: The Dow couldn’t hold 11,200, the Nasdaq couldn’t hold 2,350, the S&P can’t hold 1,300… Very bad signals!
Of course I did say this morning that you shouldn’t get all sucked in by the markets today and this is why – no real reason, just a weird drop!
Something very strange is going on in gold, it closed at $592 but the stocks turned down to the point where NEM actually closed negative! I used my itchy trigger finger to get out of that one too (again see comments) and I am really glad I escaped there with my profits intact!
Oil, on the other hand would have been perfect if I hadn’t already taken that Friday position. As it was I got a great entry on my 3rd round of 25% buy-ins and was rewarded for my patience with a huge Valero led drop in the afternoon.
The Valero rule helped us execute a very nice trade on XOM $60 puts at 1pm. We picked them up for just .30 and they closed at .50! We just have to hope it sticks…
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=1d&s=VLO&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=xom
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DWA was a heck of a call on a lousy day. It opened flat and shot straight up (I think I’m not the only one who thought Ice Age was by them) and the Sept $30s finished the day at $1.30 (up 20%) so that’s a nice start on a long call…
I should have stuck to my guns and just shorted GM at the open! We picked up the $17.50 puts intraday for .30 but they didn’t move yet.
BVN held up better than the other golds so I stayed in and the Jun $30s ended at .70 (up 15%).
Wow, when I said SCI would be a great long-term play I didn’t mean 5 whole minutes! The stock rocketed up at the open to finish at $8.50 (up 9%).
PD banged right into the 5% rule today and pulled all the way back to a 4% gain. Why do gold stocks not do this? I smell shenanigans!!!
N was a clever way to play as no one pays attention to nickel but somewhere in the back of your mind you know copper and nickel go together don’t you? While I wish I had thought of this one on Friday, the stock jumped another 2% to finish at $50.79. The ridiculous priced $50 calls finished at $2.25 (up 27%).
GPS was a disaster, the stock opened very high and then died all day! The $20 calls finished at .15 (down 40%). Although I think it got dragged down by poor retail numbers I’m just going to be happy to get my money back on this one (if I am so lucky).
PLAY held up despite Apple turning negative in the afternoon. The May $25s look good at $1.25 (up 30%).
IMCL had a rough day but we got all our Aug $35s for $3.30.
I had to get out of MOT mid-day as I didn’t want to give up my gains but the May $22.50s finished at $1.50 (up 20%) so nothing to cry over – yet!
There was a big sentiment shift on GOOG that caused me to dump my Apr puts today. On the spread, the May $450s went up .50 to $5.10 while the $340 puts dropped a full dollar to $5.90. This on a day Google was down .30 (call it flat). As a Google pessimist, I see this as an opportunity to add 10% to the short side while it’s on sale (and, of course, I still have my Apr longs).
Unless the markets kick ass tomorrow I’m going to take a shot and short NVDA into the split. I figure anyone who wants a cheap card company already bought ATYT at $17, which has a much lower p/e anyway. I like the May $55 puts for 1.65 as you will get 2 $22.50 puts for .85 next week with the stock at perhaps $24.
MSM dropped another 5% today! I wish it were optionable as we would have made a bundle!
I had to take the SUN $75 puts off the table for $1.55 (up 120%) as they paid for 3 other puts I’m still in – seemed silly not to convert most of my oil to a free ride.
AH took a huge run in the morning but then pulled back 1/2. The $60s finished at $1.30 (up 30%).
GLW took another bounce off $28 so now it just looks like it won’t run above until option expiration. I’m switching to the May $25s if I can get them for under $3 and if TXN remains over $32.
