Stock Option Investment Advice

Timing Investments when Stock Price Crosses a Moving Average

Timing your entry into a position using options is very important because time premium is continually eroding from the position.  Ideally we want to enter a bullish position just as the stock is about to move up.  It is not possible to know in advance when the move will occur, but we can get an early indicator once the move has started.  There are several tools available to help the investor pick the best time to enter a position.  One such tool, which has been recently added to the PowerOptions screener, is the crossing of a stock price above a moving average such as a 20 or 50 day moving average.  Another form of this tool is to use the crossing of the 20 day moving average over the 50 day moving average as a bullish trigger. Investors will scan charts looking for this type of crossing to trigger a…

Stock Option Investment Advice

Portfolio Tools offer Trade Management Ideas

Have you been using the PowerOptions Portfolio tools to help track and manage your options positions? If not, now is a great time to start! PowerOptions free trial users and subscribers can enter new positions into the Portfolio directly from the patented Search tools or manually with just a few clicks. Some basic features of the Portfolio tools to help you better track and manage your positions are: Profit and Loss Portfolio tool tracks your current positions as linked trades – meaning your covered call position will have the stock and call option linked together rather than separately. View Original Expected Gain vs. Liquidation Value vs. Future Expiration Value for the entire position, not just the individual leg.

Stock Option Trading News

Nuts and Bolts of Option Trading Tools

Option investing can often be like “finding a needle in a haystack” – an investor knows there are good option trades out there, but finding them amongst the gazillion other “not-so-hot” option trades can be very difficult.  That why over the last ten years or so PowerOptions has been developing tools to help option traders find “needles in the haystack” with less effort and with less time required. In addition to developing option trading technology, PowerOptions has also been actively patenting its option investment related technology.  PowerOptions’ latest issued patent may be viewed at this link. Sign up now for PowerOptions 14-day free trial

Stock Option Advisory

Investing “Back-to-the-Future”

Ever say to yourself, “I wonder how well my option strategy would work if it had been used over the last year, two years, etc.?”  Well, at PowerOptions, we asked the same question and then developed an option “back-testing” tools to answer the question – and we also got a patent for the technology.  The details of the patent can be viewed at this link. For example, suppose an investor wanted to know how well the Covered Call strategy would have performed over the last year using the constraints shown below: Sign up now for PowerOptions 14-day free trial

Stock Option Investment Advice

How to Succeed with PowerOptions

We all want to succeed by making money with our investments.  PowerOptions was designed to provide a set of tools to help and enhance the probability of success.  If used properly PowerOptions can help you make more money.  Follow these three steps on your road to improved performance:

Stock Option Trading News

Successful Bullish Investing – Even in Short-Term Bearish Markets

It’s easy to generate positive returns when investing in bullish markets, but quite difficult to generate positive returns when attempting bullish investing in short-term bearish markets. However, it is possible to generate positive returns when using bullish investments in short-term bearish markets. And, an actual profitable example will be given below explaining the concept. See what the stock option experts are doing Sign up now for PowerOptionsApplied 30-day risk free trial

Stock Option Trading News

Apple: Time to Do Away with Thermonuclear

Apple (AAPL) is currently at the center of a large number of mobile patent lawsuits. The company is not merely intent on licensing its technology as International Business Machines (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT) and others. No, Apple seeks to go “thermonuclear” as Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying with the hopes of fending off competitors in court rather in the market place. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” In light of Einstein’s quote, maybe Apple should reconsider its thermonuclear posture, especially, considering the company ranked 39th on the list of companies awarded patents in 2011. No surprise, on top of the patent pile for 2011 was once again IBM, followed by Samsung and Microsoft. Before a company goes thermonuclear, it should at least have the best quiver of…

Stock Option Investment Advice

A Little Less Bullishness For Google

In a couple of previous articles related to Internet search company Google (GOOG) posted on April 15, 2012 and May 25, 2012, bull-put credit spreads were considered for the company. A bull-put credit spread may be entered for a credit by selling one put option and purchasing a second put option further out-of-the-money with the goal of the options expiring worthless and retaining the initial credit as a profit. The first bull-put credit spread was successful and provided a return of 7% (70.5% annualized). The second bull-put credit spread considered consisted of a short 2012 Jun 540 put option and a long 2012 Jun 515 put option. The position was entered for a net credit of $1.77, which represented a potential return of 7.6% (126.4% annualized). A management point of $565 was set for the position, which has been breached (shown below), so consideration for an exit or a roll…

Stock Option Investment Advice

Netflix: Highest Return Protected Covered Call

A protected covered call or collar search performed using PowerOptions tools, seeking to find the highest returning position for companies with a maximum potential loss of 8% and a stock price in an uptrend, produced digital video content provider Netflix (NFLX) as shown below: Sign up now for PowerOptions 14-day free trial

Stock Option Trading News

Memorial Day and Remembering

It’s good to take time to remember those who were in the military and have performed the ultimate sacrifice. I was never in the military, and at my age the military wouldn’t even take me, but I really respect those who serve, have served and those who have sacrificed in the military. Sign up now for PowerOptions 14-day free trial Memorial Day is a reminder every year of how bad my memory is. Outside of car keys, wallet and cell phone, I can scarcely remember where anything else is. For example, I have no idea where my staple gun and funnels are located. When it comes to investing, my memory is just as bad as it is with my staple gun and funnels, can’t remember the trades I’ve made or the reason(s) for the trades, which is why I use PowerOptions tools to do my remembering for me.