bought 10 IBM Feb 90 calls at $2.60 for ($2,615), and 10 DNA Feb. 90 calls at $2.90 for ($2,915). IBM looks good and DNA also looks good. Good stocks go up.
Ben74 you are not a newbie. You are a loose canon. Good luck. You remind me of myself. You will make a good profit and then I hope not "BOOOM". I really wish it won't happen to you. Just keep trading but don't get cocky.
I'm buying options in front of earnings in hopes to make a big return. As for money management, I'm trying to stay under 10% for each trade, although I'm more accustomed to 10 calls or puts and sometime put up too much money for certain trades like the DNA and IBM trade above. I also bought 10 JPM Jan. 26 puts yesterday at $1.51. I was mad at myself because I could have bought them for $1.00. Oh well, JPM is down today and those puts are finally making money. I believe JPM is suppose to talk about earnings tomorrow, at least that's what I heard from cnbc.
lol, loose canon. There's no getting cocky here, I took a nice loss and took some time off late last year before starting again in December. Right now, I'm just thankful my trades have been good like the APOL calls when the market is still doing pretty bad out there.
Sold those JPM puts this morning at $1.44 for a loss of ($100). Well, I liked my loss as I thought it was down the drain and it was at the open this morning. I might have actually made a profit if I had waited just another 2 minutes from the time I sold. Guess that was a loose canon trade. Still, the lost only put me back a little.
Ben, buying options in front of earnings is risky and expensive. Just my 2 cents. You say you are a newbie, so let me tell you just one of many similar earnings stories: 8/11: FLR, after having dropped from 101 in early summer to 76 the day before earnings, reports triple play earnings - beats EPS, beats revenues, and offers upside guidance. It rises to 83 in pre-market and you, the holder of calls you purchased when it was in the high 70's the day before, are excitedly awaiting your profits. Well, it opens at 80 and before you can sneeze drops non-stop finally reaching 67 that day, never to see your call price again. Once earnings are reported the value drops right away, so even if the stock had stayed in the high 70's that day, chances are your position would've lost value anyway.
Not to mention the huge premiums you end up paying. I'm not trying to knock you Ben, but I've blown up many accounts trading they way you are. Get a couple of McMillan's books. They are well worth the money.
Amazing, those JPM puts traded as high as $4.80, I missed a big winner by 1 day. Interesting. Well, I'm still holding IBM and DNA calls.