Fine. I get it. Businesses making political stances -- whether you agree with the stance or not -- rubs you the wrong way. And sure, aligning with a professional athlete at the center of a hot-button controversy only makes it more cringe-worthy for you. You're entitled to that opinion and I support your right to voice your displeasure. But for the love of all that is sacred in the world of trading, do.not.let.your.politics.or.emotions.get.in.the.way.of.making.profitable.economic.decisions.
From time to time, a slowly developing opportunity presents itself and in doing so gives you multiple ways to profit -- while also incrementally reducing your risk as time goes along. This type of situation is presenting itself currently in Marathon Oil $MRO.
Stocks are still near all-time highs, volatilities are once again compressed, earnings season is behind us, and some bullish runs in individual names are looking extended. Coming out of Labor Day Weekend, the game plan should be to keep it simple until things change.
I love incorporating a mix of delta neutral income trades in my portfolio -- especially after a nice run in the stock market that might be due for a pause soon.
50 days until expiration is the sweet spot for income trades, which is exactly where we find ourselves with October expiration. So for the second time this week, we'll be choosing an ETF that has elevated premiums but is stuck in a 90 day range -- the perfect type of candidate for a delta-neutral Iron Condor trade.
When a stock has the potential to double from here, you have to get aggressively long. This is especially the case when there is a clearly defined risk management level. This often happens when a stock has been beaten to a pulp to the lowest prices in years. Which brings us to today's poster child for disgruntled shareholders: General Electric.
Is there a more downtrodden stock out there right now than shares of General Electric $GE?
This is the monthly conference call for Members of All Star Options. In this call we will discuss the current market environment and focus on price and volatility behavior. Throughout the session, J.C. Parets will add commentary on the technical outlook moving forward, and Sean McLaughlin will discuss the options strategies available to profit from the market activity.
This month’s Conference Call will be held on Thursday August 30th at 7PM ET. Here are the details for the call:
It is that time in the options cycle where October options are in the sweet spot (between 45-55 day until expiration) to be looking for income trades wherever volatility pricing offers an edge.
And for our first choice for an October income trade, we're almost quite literally going back to the well, repeating an income trade that we put on in September to satisfactory effect.
I can't afford real estate in Palo Alto (yet), but I can comfortably afford to take a ride with Palo Alto's namesake security software firm Palo Alto Networks $PANW.
Today, $PANW stock popped its head above recent resistance and printed a new all-time high, flagging some bullish intentions ahead of their next earnings release in early September. And this aligns nicely with our bullish outlook in the name.
Recently, an All Star Options subscriber wrote to me asking about some hard "rules" that I follow in entering and managing trades. The assumption was that I have some rules that I absolutely stick to which apply to every trade. As a guy who loves following rules when it comes to certain types of trading, I'm sorry to report that options trading isn't so cut-and-dried. There is nuance to position selection and management. It's much more art than science.
So while there are no one-size fits all answers to any questions about strategy selection, strike selection, and position management -- I've developed a few guidelines for myself that I rely on regularly as I ply my craft in the options market.
Next up in the Bull Market Rotation Wheel of Fortune: Airlines.
The S&P 500 printed a new all-time high on Tuesday (Aug 21), so naturally we should expect a broadening spectrum of sectors and stocks participating to the upside. The airlines have been a bit of a laggard in the transportation sector, but appear as a whole to have put in an important base with many names starting to breakout to the upside.
We've got a play to take flight in one of the leaders.
Logistics and package delivery services provider $UPS got caught in the volatility-triggered downdraft of late January and early February of this year. It has spent the remaining part of the year forming a base and is now showing signs of filling the yawning earnings gap from February 1. We've got a play to take advantage of this gap fill and a likely return to new all-time highs.
