recent wins...

I've been doing quite well lately, but yet so has the market. At last glance I was down big, but have clawed my way back to....down a little. My scottrade account is definitely in bad shape, but my usaa account is not near as bad.

Recently, I have taken losses on some puts i purchased, jpm, cof and amzn...all three were losses. I don't like puts very much, i get too antsy and sell them before t hey have gained value. My calls on the other hand have been doing quite well. I like to buy calls otm that are about 4-7 months from expiry. this way if i buy them before earnings they still have another earnings release before the option expires. some momentum stocks i have bought way otm and just wait for a swing to lock in a 20-30% gain.

I have realized gains from options for the following stocks... BSC, DIS, FWLT, MON GLW and SGP. My only recent loss was on S.

As my USAA account nears even, I will again be taking a huge hit this week as a long option CATBO expires worthless, which i payed 8.00 for the contract. Again I will be looking out of a hole.

Currently I'm working YHOO, MSFT and MO options. I'm working to create a bull call spread on all three. For MO, they are spinning off their international business. They are doing this on March 28, so I figure people will want to get in before this time in order to get these shares, driving mo's share price up. I'm buying 75's and selling 80's.

For MSFT and YHOO, I believe a deal will get done. MSFT options are July 35's, and this will protect me if MSFT walks away because their share price should shoot up. YHOO calls are the MAR 30's as I ultimately feel MSFT will raise their bid. Regardless, I should be protected either way, and I'm selling two sets of calls above these to create a spread.

One new stock I'm looking to buy options on is BA. I had heard and have yet to confirm that their dreamliner is on schedule, and I think BA is cheap in the 80's. I'm looking to buy options in the 4-7 month time frame on any pull back...I'm also looking at TSL options. When I find their report date, I'm considering buying a call and a put at the same strike price (straddle). I'll make money as long as the stock moves further than the sum of the two.

That's all for now...let's keep the ball rolling.

sell sgp, pick up some mister softee

Today I dropped SGP calls, ticker SGPCX in an effort to get liquidity for monday. I then proceeded to buy MSFT JUL 35 calls. I believe MSFT's bid for Yahoo! is a goodie, and MSFT has solid growth and will be able to take on the debt quite nicely. A quick look at the balance sheet offers 21 B in cash / investments with currently no debt. I plan on initiating a spread with the JUL 37.5 calls as MSFT moves up.

I also had MON and CRDN calls in my sell block as they hit they neared their sell points. With little economic data out monday and a slew of earnings I felt keeping these positions throughout the weekend wouldn't hurt.

I'm not sure which calls/puts to pursue as I head into next week. This weekend I will need to research earnings in an effort to gauge new investments. Sectors that I see are good for next week are ag and infastructure, retail and banks. I see commodities and oil decreasing a bit as big money switches sectors. I really like FWLT but my order yesterday did not fill.