What's All the Optimism About? BAC 1 Million Ask

I may be the only one, but I'm praying for no deal so we can all buy at lower prices...

Could this BAC 1 million ask block be a clue from our beloved FWFOCH?

Let Me Teach You Some Chinese: Kick The Can Down The Road...

踢
瓶
下
路

Short PQ Jan 19 '13 $4 Put @ $0.05...

Dying to buy, so hoping someone assigns me...

This would get me in at $3.95 per share...

Got Filled: Sold NMR Jan 19 '13 $7.50 Call @ $0.05...

Covered call...


P.S. for circa 40% of shares...

Summary of Recent Trading...

I was so psyched to discover the beauty of short puts - totally thought they were the best thing since 9FM.  I started the month by anticipating four figure gains if all the put options I shorted were to expire.  I now have Level III trading capabilities on my Roth IRA and Level II on my regular brokerage account.  

I was able to close out two short put positions on substantial gains before expiry:

JRCC @ $0.30 gain on $2.50 put = +12% gross
TC @ $0.90 on $4 put = +22.5% gross


Only one position expired with gains:

ALXA @ $0.50 gain on $4 put = +12.5% gross


Two positions with early assignments were closed out @ market with losses more or less equal to commissions plus a few cents per share here or there:

ZQK 
GGS


Two assignments on expiry, unfortunately leading to substantial unrealised losses in my portfolio, which I'll attempt to fix with covered calls:

FOLD @ unrealised -43%
DRYS @ unrealised -9%



Stock Trades:

Long BAC (closed out partial position @ +$1.1233 per share or +11.86% gross)
Long AMD @ unrealised +15% gain
Long PES (closed out two positions @ aggregate per share gain of $0.8086)
Long PKD @ unrealised -2%
Long CENX from way back in 2011 @ unrealised -26%
Long HWD from way back  in 2011 @ unrealised -9%
Long MFG ditto @ unrealised -9%
Long NMR ditto @ unrealised -8%


In the process, my cash balances grew and my portfolio value became respectable, especially my Roth IRA.  

October to December 2012 growth @ +18.7% on Roth IRA - partially due to an up-trending market and partially due to my own efforts...

I'm excited about trading again, but I'm also worried about how I'll grow my portfolio next year.  

If Santa is hearing this, I'm wishing for sustainable market strategies that will allow me to make more money on less risk and even if I get stuck in a losing position, I'll trade myself out with financial dignity...

Merry Christmas, Professors of Finance - especially the Masters of the Universe ones with dark-framed glasses...

Ooops I Did It Again: Selling DRYS Jan 19 '13 $2 Call @ $0.03...

No typo... I did it again...

Turns out the first time was the right time...

Uh Oh... Made Another Dumb Mistake... Closed Out DRYS Jan 19 '13 $2 Call @ $0.04...

Thank God I realised in time...

Short DRYS Jan 19 '13 $2 Call @ $0.03...

Effective gross selling price of $2.03 to offset my assignment price of $1.8277 if I get called...

Assignments: FOLD'ed & DRYS...

Not too happy about that, but will attempt to sell calls on these two until I can get out with some semblance of financial dignity...

FOLD Options Chains Shows No Put Open Interest...

... but I haven't been 'assigned' yet.  Is it only a matter of time before the guillotine hits?

Out of GGS @ Market = $3.9915...

Assigned On GGS @ Effective Share Price of $4.0576...

FOLD Fiasco Update: Not Assigned Yet, Cancelled 'Buy Close'...

There's no way my 'buy close' @ $0.35 will be executed as it's now trading at $1.65...  I definitely won't be going out via the options route.

Luckily, I haven't been assigned yet and the underlying security price is at around $3.14, down about -45.58%.  In options terms, the loss is far greater at over -420%...

I'm waiting to get assigned and will plot my exit when the time comes.

FOLD Extended Hours Trading: ForexDiva Got Run Over By A Reindeer?

No?  -50.43% in Extended Hours Trading??

Straight from Dow Jones: "Amicus Therapeutics shares fell after the company said a late-stage study of its lead drug candidate, migalastat HCI, intended to treat the rare disease Fabry, didn't meet its primary goal, dashing hopes for a near-term approval by U.S. regulators. The stock was down 52% to $2.76 in after-hours trading."

Placed a 'buy close' order @ $0.35, but don't know if I'll get executed tomorrow.

Short FOLD Dec 22 '12 $5 Put @ $0.30...

Hoping it will expire worthless... 

Current market price circa $5.70...

If I get assigned, my purchase price would be $4.70.

If options expire, premium collection would be 6% ROI on locked up capital.


P.S. Ascending triangle formation on 5-day chart...

Out of Some BAC @ Market = $10.59...

Took profit on most recent lot purchase, netting a little more than a $1 per share...

P.S. Don't know what happened to this post, but it was stuck in my drafts folder.  I took profit a few days ago @ $10.59 (unfortunately!)...

Short GGS Dec 22 '12 $5 Put @ $1.00...

P/S well below 1 on a relatively profitable oil & gas services company...

If I get assigned, I'm buying in at an effective share price of $4...

Dear Santa: Closed Out TC Put @ $0.15...

Net profit of $0.90...

Again, would have made more money with a long stock position, but the beauty of options is you get the money upfront.

In a margin account, this would increase your buying power, but I'm not buying on margin, so it doesn't affect me.

Bernanke: Fed may buy more bonds if no cliff deal

Missed Out on HERO Runup, So Into PKD @ $4.45...

PKD has more revenues than HERO and is losing less money.

P/S and P/B both below 1...

News announcement today that it just began drilling in the Arctic with first of two arctic Alaska drilling units, which indicates sales growth potential...

OMG, Bernanke: 0% Interest Rates Until 6.5% Unemployment Rate Or 2.5% Inflation...

Fed sets jobless, inflation targets...

Monthly NFPs have averaged 170,000 over the past twelve months and we saw about a 1% dip in unemployment during this time, which means we need to create another 2.04 million jobs to reach the Fed's 6.5% unemployment rate target.  

With GDP growth expected to dip to 1.9%, could we see another 12 months of 0% interest rates - or will this story extend into 2014 and beyond?

Full FOMC Statement...

Short ALXA Dec 22 '12 $4 Put @ $0.50...

That Was No Bearish Divergence, Market Buddies!

ZQK ended the day +4.74% and about $0.14 above my exit.  In hindsight, I could have converted my open position in ZQK to a covered call.

If I get assigned again, I'm most likely going to implement a covered call as my exit strategy.

Out of ZQK @ $4.0615...

MACD bearish divergence on the 1-minute and 15-minute charts...

My First Assignment: ZQK @ Effective Price $4.1076...

That was 'Quick'...

Earnings announcement is 13 December 2012 rather than 10 December 2012...

Short ZQK Dec 22 '12 $5 Put @ $0.95...

Earnings announcement on 10 December 2012... started at neutral by GS...

P/S well below 1 + high beta...

BAC, Still Waiting For Your Magic Touch... Lobbying For Some Special Dividends!

And I'm probably not the only one...

President Barack O'Blame-A: Thumbs Up, Rick Santelli!!