Stock Option Trading News

RIG – Fish or Cut Bait

Fish or Cut Bait… A key to successful investing is knowing when to get out of a position. For example, the PowerOptionsApplied Titanium TradeFolio(tm) was invested in a covered calls position for Transocean Offshore (RIG). On April 20, 2010 RIG’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caught fire and subsequently sank leaving in its wake a huge and growing oil slick in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon was being operated by British Petroleum (BP).

Stock Option Advisory

Trade Iron Condor for $OEX Same as for $XEO?

At PowerOptions, we receive a lot of really good stock options related questions from our customers. A question we recently received related to our PowerOptionsApplied newsletter service was “can I trade your Iron Condors for $OEX just the same as for $XEO?”

Stock Option Investment Advice

Going Long on Gap Ups? Really?

On Friday, February 26, 2010 an article in the “Making Money – Investors Corner” section of Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) written by Paul Whitfield, caught my attention. The article was about breakaway gaps as a bullish form of action. Whitfield illustrated several examples where stocks with price surges of 10% in a day often had very nice price appreciation gains several months in the future. The concept used in this type of stock selection depends on the positive event having some lasting power and traction. It uses the concept of buying high on positive news and selling higher. Articles in IBD often advocate this technique. This is the opposite of the buy low / sell high approach so often talked about by swing traders and other technical analyst.

Stock Option Advisory

Double Diagonal Stock Options Strategy

Double Diagonal – Neutral Strategy The Double Diagonal is a neutral stock options strategy. The Double Diagonal strategy is similar to an Iron Condor and can be considered a combination of a Calendar Call spread and a Calendar Put spread. The Calendar Put spread portion of the Double Diagonal is entered by selling an out-of-the-money put option and purchasing a further out-of-the-money put option having an option expiration further out in time.

Stock Option Trading News

Lions, and tigers and no option symbols! Oh My!

Option symbols are going away… That’s right, stock options symbols as we’ve known them are going away. Beginning on February 12, 2010 the current option symbols will be replaced with new stock option symbols. The change is nothing to be scared about — not nearly as scary as Dorothy’s lions and tigers and bears.

Stock Option Investment Advice

Why is Simple Tech’s Stock Price so Complex?

Simple Tech’s stock price and its stock option volumes have been very erratic over the last several months. Simple Tech’s stock price took a significant hit in the middle of September and also around the first of November, but since the middle of December it’s stock price been on the upswing.

Stock Option Investment Advice

Individual Insurance or Group Insurance Better?

There’s been a lot of banter lately about health insurance and this article is NOT about health insurance, at least not the kind related to doctors, hospitals, Congress, etc. Individual or Group? We will examine whether it is better to insure stocks individually or as a group. In an article published several years ago, we explained how to insure a group stocks with index stock options: Portfolio Management: Stock Insurance.