Tuesday was a rough day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average took a nearly instantaneous 200-point hit at 3 pm yesterday amid news of uncertainty in Shanghai, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Audio Podcast:
An audio podcast of this article is available at: poweropt.com/podcasts/2007_02_28_Dow_Falls.mp3
The Nikkei tumbled nearly 700 points on Wednesday’s opening bell while Shanghai was licking its wounds from a loss of nearly 100 billion in market capitalization.
The DJIA was down nearly 550 points before recovering slightly on the biggest downturn since September 11th 2001. The loss was estimated at nearly $600 billion in market capitalization and has erased all of the 2007 gains.
Many are speculating a computer glitch in the computation of the Dow caused the precipitous drop. But, all analysts agreed the impetus for the drop began in the Far East, rolled through Europe, and then hit Wall Street — The trappings of the global marketplace. Another factor still playing on investors are Greenspan’s warnings of recession, which we reported on earlier this week in the article “Greenspan – Recession – Stock Option Investing”.
Treasury notes did well as investors clamored toward a safe harbor. The two-year notes experienced their largest gains since 2004. Consumers will also face the highest oil prices this year as crude reached its highest level since December.
Al Goldman, the chief financial strategist at AG Edwards opined with a little optimism, “The good news today is that this dramatic sell off of the market means that the correction is getting its dastardly deed done sooner rather than later.”
Trading Opportunities:
Some investment analysts feel the correction in the Chinese market could slow down growth in the US. Analysts speculate the impact will be felt most by companies who export heavily to China and the commodity markets since the Chinese are very heavily invested in commodities.
The PowerOptions weblog will take a look today at a mining company with a considerable Chinese presence selling its commodity. The company fitting the bill is Aluminum Corp of China (ACH) which lost over 14%.
Potential Trades:
The following option trade has 53 days until expiration. Aluminum Corp of China is currently trading at $22.60. This trade was discovered using the powerful suite of option search tools found at PowerOptions.
| Bear-Call Credit Spread — Aluminum Corp of China (ACH) $22.60 (53) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sell Opt |
Strike Info |
Bid Price |
Buy Option |
Strike Info |
Ask Price |
% Return |
Break Even |
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| ACHDX | 07 APR $22.5 | $1.65 | ACHDE | 07 APR $25.00 | $1.10 | 28.20% | $23.05 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Aluminum Corp of China bear-call credit spread is an in the money trade. This trade offers 28.2% potential profit if the stock lands below $22.50. If the stock increases above the break-even price of $23.05 ($0.45 or 2.0%), the investment begins to lose money. If the stock price goes above the higher strike price of $25.00 ($2.40 or 10.6%), the entire investment is lost. The max risk of this trade, per 100 options, is $195.00.
For more information about how to identify and research great option trades, visit the PowerOptions website. There you will find the data you need to make quick, clear, and informed decisions. You can trade knowing you have found the best investment. Also, PowerOptions will allow you, with a few quick clicks, to quickly and accurately compare trades. PowerOptions‘ premium customer support is second to none in the industry. They can be easily contacted when you need them at their toll-free number to answer customer questions. Call them now toll free at 877-992-7971.
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[tags] Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Shanghai, Iran, Afghanistan, Nikkei, DJIA, Europe, Greenspan, Al Goldman, AG Edwards, Chinese, ACH, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., covered call investment strategy, investment strategy, iron condor, poweroptions, stock option trading, stock options [/tags]