Position Updates

Closed out CSTR calls at 11.20 for almost a 200% gain.  Holding onto the stock.
Closed out PWER puts for 0.40 for a 50% loss.
Holding onto the PWER calls.  They are trading at 1.35 at present, since stock has given up a dollar since open.  Plan to hold those since I liked the earnings and the growth news.  Let's see where we go after the morning frenzy is over.  The external news to watch out for would be if the Republicans take back the house in the elections, what happens to the Solar stocks?

Update:  Looks like the right play was to sell the PWER calls at the open and hold onto the puts.  Stock has now given up all its gains.  If you sold your calls at the open, congrats.

After Hour update

MicroSoft blew out earnings and stock was up strong after hours.  That may translate into a strong opening tomorrow, especially for tech stocks.

CoinStar blew out earnings and stock was up almost 15% after hours to 53 and change on huge volume.

PWER blew out earnings and stock was up almost 14% after hours to 13 and change.


Two home runs for the home team.  Happy Trading.

CoinStar

CSTR is one of those stocks that I like.  Management seems to know what they are doing and they have some high profit businesses (coinstar machines and RedBox dvd rentals).  Earnings are coming out after close today.  Options are pretty expensive - so I decided to play the long side only (risky) - Dec 46 calls for about 3.80 each. and opened a long position in stock at 46.22

New Strangle Play - PWER

Solar stocks have a bright horizon if the US continues to invest in alternate technology.  One of the stocks reporting earnings today after close is Power-One (PWER).  A strangle play on it is Dec 12 calls (trading around 1.00 on the ask) and Dec 10 puts (Trading for around 0.85).  I already own FSLR but sold covered calls on it earlier, so my potential gains on that stock are limited.  I am opening new strangle positions in PWER.

FORM Option Update

The call options for April 10 at currently bid at 0.95 and ask at 1.15.  So there is already a gain of 50% or better.  However, I think I am going to hold on for a while.  I have a lot of time (6 months) on this.  So I'll see how my will power holds out.  There is a shot that the stock may reach 15 by then.

New position Update - CAT, OVTI, NTGR

You know me.  I tell you to stay focused and careful, and then sell a lot of my holdings, but yet, I can not seem to stay out of the market.  When 90%+ of your trades are profitable, you must continue to trade and take advantage.

So I thought I'd take a long flier on Caterpillar.  The chart looks good.  CAT doesn't report earnings until Jan, but its sitting at the cusp of breakout from a long cup and handle formation.  My main concern here is the large amount of calls sharing the position with me at the Nov 80 point which will act as overhead resistance, but can also serve as the catalyst to propel higher if the stock successfully moves beyond the 80 mark.  But if the stock hits 80, I may cash in and take whatever gains I have by then (which needs to be soon).  The calls were trading around 1.26 at time of purchase (CAT is down now so they should be cheaper).

The second position I entered today is a long call position in OVTI - OmniVision Technologies.  The stock is trading in the neighborhood of 26 dollars and I bought the Dec 26 calls for 2.35.  OVTI reported good earnings and the stock busted out a base (cup and handle) on strong volume.  Let's see how this plays out.

Update 10:30 AM

NTGR (NetGear) broke out of a base and looks like might have a shot at hitting 35 soon.  Opened a call position in Nov 32 calls for about 0.85 each.

BID - Update - New Position - FORM

I closed out 1/2 of my position in BID Dec calls for 5.30.  The calls had a cost of 2.15 - so a 100% profit.  I will continue to monitor the stock today and decide whether to take the profits on the rest of the position or see if I can make it to the target of $50 per share at which point the calls will be worth $10.   The other option would be to close out the current $40 calls and buy the $45 calls for around 2.20 or so.

FORM is a stock that is getting hammered today. But the weekly indicators are not showing that the selling can continue for long.  So I am going to take a chance.  Buying April '11 - $10 calls for 0.60 (Bid is 0.55 and ask is 0.70 but my bid at 0.60 executed almost instantly).  I know, this is kind of long term for me - I usually can't hold onto any position for 6 months - but this is one of my long shot gambles.  Lets see how it plays out.