I've been tempted by the 1300/1305 call spread but SPX has retreated just a little bit off the high. Maybe we can get some additional buying going into the close and get up to 1275 or so and up to 1280 tomorrow followed by some back tracking after I put my position on .
Second guessed myself on AMGN even though I've been screaming biotech and pharmaceuticals for the past month. I got nervous about the ER and then told myself I would look for a pullback. As you can see there was no pullback, but if there is in the near future, I will be buying some SEP calls. Long calls is something that I normally don't do, but I'm willing to make an exception in this case for certain reasons.
Today's Action Cont. 2 STO 3 ATI AUG 65/70 c @ 1.20 Year to Date P/L Account Value: $14,755.50 YTD Gross P/L: 5,345.00 YTD Commiss: 589.50 YTD Net P/L: 4,755.50 YTD % P/L: 47.6% Late day trade, I like the setup on this one. I would've liked a bit more credit, but this will do. If it rallies a bit higher I might increase the position on this one.
BTW, I realize that I usually promote the idea that one should wait for a bit after the ER to put on any positions like this. I'm going against my own advice, so if this one (ATI bear call) goes wrong, feel free to reach through the screen and slap some sense into me.
The stochastics are oversold and we're bumping up a gainst the 45 day downtrend line at 1273. (third touch or "E" of what appears to be an a,b,c,d,e continuation wedge...down) I think now is a good time to jump in with a CTM call spread...just keep it light. I personally picked up some 1285/1290's for 1.8 today.... maybe a bit aggressive, but as Rally will confirm, you look at everytime the 5,5 stochastic becomes oversold placing a spread 10-20 pts OTM will get you a win 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time your trending...
Agreed. But, I'm afraid this market has one strong jump left in it. So I think that any CTM spreads are best if the plan is to exit as soon as you get a decent return. If you are the type that doesn't let the underlying breach the short without adjusting, I would definitely have an adjustment in mind. Personally I don't care if the short is breached. Doesn't really bother me, so CTM is my personal preference. Especially in choppy markets.
I used to be with the FOTM crowd all the way. But I am now using more of your approach where it's just a certain portion of my porfolio. I've been then using 30% of my port. for CTM and then letting them fly, even if the shorts are breached. Again the r/r calculus seems to be there, even if you lose 10-20% of the time. If the market extends once more I'll either double up on my exsisting spread for a larger cost average, or add another spread another 10-15 pt increment out of the money. Will see