I just returned from a trip to Seattle/Everett, Washington to visit family and a few friends. Even though I was out of town per se, I was able to piece together a few trades, which have proven profitable.
I picked up 100 shares of QID at $16.57 and 1 POT Sep 2010 $110.00 call for $4.20. Right now, I'm still very heavily weighted against the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P 500.
On a side note, it was great to see my two nieces and a cousin that I have not seen for many years. My brothers is getting into the hat designing realm and is an awesome artist. I'm going to be his first customer, so I will have to post some pictures when I give him my theme and get the hat.
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Showing posts with label nasdaq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nasdaq. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Election Day Coffee
Today looks like a big open on the three majors Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P, however I am staying put with my shorting of the S&P 500. Good luck to all today....and don't forget to vote. Then go to Starbucks and get your free cup of coffee.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Weakness in NASDAQ
I sold my Jun 53 put contract in the qqqq's on Friday. I actually picked up this contract back in mid-Jan and set a limit order for $10.00 and it actually got filled at $10.08. The qqqq's are actually trading sub-$43.00 in after hours. I still feel there is going to be continued weakness and could very well trade sub-$40.00's. I will still be on the lookout to buy additional puts on the qqqq's with some deep in the money puts.
Monday, November 12, 2007
My First Options Trade
Well today I was full of apprehension because over this last weekend after the market took a drubbing, I decided to make my first options trade ever! I have been doing research and read a great book "Understanding Options" by Michael Sincere. It takes a very common sense approach to beginning options and is extremely user friendly. Anyway back to our regular programming. I have been following Vasco Data Security International INC (VDSI) for awhile and have even previously blogged about it being on my watch list.
On 25 October 2007, after doing my due diligence I finally picked up some shares on a pure momentum play and based on earnings at $30.02. The analysts were a bit disappointed with VASCO's earnings and valuations at the time, so the stock took an immediate tumble the very next day. Of course this sucked quite a bit and I was initially put off, but the more research I did the more I realized how this company has true worldwide exposure and are a true leader in their respective marketplace. I decided to hold on for the ride and watched it tumble down to the low 20's. On 8 November, I picked up more shares at $20.05 to shrink my cost basis realizing this was a great buying opportunity and that VASCO was being punished based on the overall marketplace not on the value of the company.
Now to the main point of my post. Today I took my first giant step into the options market by placing a covered call sale via my brokerage at Scottrade.
At first, I was a bit nervous thinking I was going to mess up my first options trade and end up costing myself a ton of cash. My main decision was what was my time frame and strike price for the covered call. I decided that since this was my first trade I did not want to space this trade out for many months, so I needed a strike price that if exercised would still allow me to earn a little profit. Based on my previous price points (mentioned earlier) I entered a sale for the December calls with a 25 strike price. My order was filled and I received a premium of $1.20. As you can see, I could have probably got a higher premium, but the NASDAQ started dropping this afternoon and I did not want to lose out on a trade just over a few bucks.
Lessons Learned: Don't get nervous it's just another trade, so it's not like I'm selling naked puts or calls where the risk is extremely great. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with the trade and hope that the option does not get exercised because I still believe that VASCO will go higher just not sure if it will accomplish this in this volatile market by December. I guess I will have to wait and see.
On a more important note: A happy Veteran's Day from one veteran to the hundreds of thousands out there worldwide.
On 25 October 2007, after doing my due diligence I finally picked up some shares on a pure momentum play and based on earnings at $30.02. The analysts were a bit disappointed with VASCO's earnings and valuations at the time, so the stock took an immediate tumble the very next day. Of course this sucked quite a bit and I was initially put off, but the more research I did the more I realized how this company has true worldwide exposure and are a true leader in their respective marketplace. I decided to hold on for the ride and watched it tumble down to the low 20's. On 8 November, I picked up more shares at $20.05 to shrink my cost basis realizing this was a great buying opportunity and that VASCO was being punished based on the overall marketplace not on the value of the company.
Now to the main point of my post. Today I took my first giant step into the options market by placing a covered call sale via my brokerage at Scottrade.
At first, I was a bit nervous thinking I was going to mess up my first options trade and end up costing myself a ton of cash. My main decision was what was my time frame and strike price for the covered call. I decided that since this was my first trade I did not want to space this trade out for many months, so I needed a strike price that if exercised would still allow me to earn a little profit. Based on my previous price points (mentioned earlier) I entered a sale for the December calls with a 25 strike price. My order was filled and I received a premium of $1.20. As you can see, I could have probably got a higher premium, but the NASDAQ started dropping this afternoon and I did not want to lose out on a trade just over a few bucks.
Lessons Learned: Don't get nervous it's just another trade, so it's not like I'm selling naked puts or calls where the risk is extremely great. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with the trade and hope that the option does not get exercised because I still believe that VASCO will go higher just not sure if it will accomplish this in this volatile market by December. I guess I will have to wait and see.
On a more important note: A happy Veteran's Day from one veteran to the hundreds of thousands out there worldwide.
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