Publications

9/12/11 Weekly Briefing: How to Repair a Stock Position that’s Down

Europe remains a thorn in the side of the US, but slow growth without a US recession remains the likeliest scenario and stocks are cheap regardless. Learn three ways to use options to speed up the recoupment of trade losses and read the answers to a few excellent subscriber questions in this week’s Q&A.
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9/8/11 Trade Alert: The Backbone of American Power Generation–UPDATE

(updated with trade rationale) Sell Put Credit Spread on Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE) “Buy to Open” December $18 Put and “Sell to Open” December $25 Put Option Symbols: SE111217P18 and SE111217P25 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $1.15 or more ($115 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to slightly bullish Options for Income […]… Read More

9/6/11 Weekly Briefing: Calculating Stock Price Probabilities at Options Expiration

Problems at European banks continue to rattle the US stock market, but they’re probably not enough to derail the US economic recovery. Plus, learn how to use the OFI Options Toolbox to predict where individual stock prices may be heading at various points of time in the future…. Read More

9/1/11 Trade Alert: Taking a Flyer on Two Momentum Stocks–UPDATE

(updated with trade rationale) Trade Recommendation No. 1:   “Sell to Open” November $350 Put on Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Option Symbol: AAPL111119P350 Limit Order Price: $11.00 or more ($1,100 per contract) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to Bullish Options for Income Portfolio: Conservative Income Approximate margin requirement per contract: $5,400 (depends on your broker) […]… Read More

8/30/11 Weekly Briefing: OFI Stocks are on the Rebound

The stock market received several pieces of good news last week and many OFI Portfolio holdings rebounded strongly. The surest road to profits is to hold on to strong companies and not get shaken out by temporary price swings.

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8/25/11 Trade Alert: Calling All Traders–UPDATE

(updated with trade rationale) Sell Put Credit Spread on CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) “Buy to Open” October $28 Put and “Sell to Open” October $34 Put Option Symbols: CTL111022P28 and CTL111022P34 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $1.05 or more ($105 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to slightly bullish Options for Income Portfolio: […]… Read More

8/22/11 Weekly Briefing: Is Economic Perception Influencing Reality?

When the emotional and vague concept of “consumer confidence” is at issue, it becomes extremely difficult to forecast the economy. Consequently, the best advice for option traders is to stay well-diversified. In addition, some great OFI member questions are answered.

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8/18/11 Trade Alert: Rolling Casey’s After All

Sell Horizontal Spread on Casey’s General Stores (Nasdaq: CASY) “Buy to Close” August $40 Put and “Sell to Open” September $40 Put Option Symbols: CASY110820P40 and CASY110917P40 Limit Order Price: Net credit of $1.10 or more ($110 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Neutral to Bullish Options for Income Portfolio: Conservative Income Approximate margin […]… Read More

8/18/11 Trade Alert: Oil Covered in Latin Flair–UPDATE

(updated with trade rationale) Buy Diagonal Call Debit Spread on Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) “Buy to Open” January 2013 $25 Call and “Sell to Open” October $31 Call Option ticker symbols: PBR130119C25 and PBR111022C31 Limit Order Price: Net debit of $5.50 or less ($550 per spread) Directional View for Underlying Stock: Bullish Options for Income Portfolio: […]… Read More

8/16/11 Trade Alert: August Rolls Continue

(Rationale for these trades was discussed in this week’s briefing) 1. Diagonal Roll on Danaher (NYSE: DHR) “Buy to Close” August $52.50 Put and “Sell to Close” September $47 Put and “Sell to Open” January 2012 $52.50 Put and “Buy to Open” January 2012 $42.50 Put Option Symbols: DHR110820P52.5 and DHR110820P47 and DHR120121P52.5 and DHR120121P42.5 […]… Read More