MilionCapital Research

AAPL - Lot Closed Out

2012-02-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

AAPL held up pretty well, for market tankola on Greece News again and with the S&P downgrading 34 Italian Banks out of 37. Monday should a good time to reload before the Feb 23, 2012 "shareholder meeting".

Friday 4:03 PM According to AppleInsider, Apple's (AAPL) next-gen MacBook Pros will look much like the MacBook Air - a unibody frame, no optical drives, and the use of flash memory for storage instead of hard drives.

4:00 PM At the close: Dow -0.62% to 12811. S&P -0.69% to 1343. Nasdaq -0.80% to 2904.
Treasurys: 30-year +0.75%. 10-yr +0.37%. 5-yr +0.15%.
Commodities: Crude -0.87% to $98.97. Gold -1.03% to $1723.35.
Currencies: Euro -0.86% vs. dollar. Yen -0.04%. Pound +0.51%.

AAPL - New Product Release Run

2012-02-09T14:33:00.001-08:00

1:44 PM AAPL by the numbers: In another tip of the hat to the world's largest company by market cap, The NY Times's David Leonhardt crunches the numbers to find that Apple's (AAPL) total market value is now higher than that of Google, Goldman Sachs, GM, Ford, Starbucks and Boeing combined.

11:19 AM There's Apple (AAPL), and there's everything else. In a slightly red S&P 500, Apple's stock stands out (nearly) alone as a big gainer, +3.5%.

9:30 AM Apple's (AAPL) price target is upped to $665 at Cannacord, which cites monthly channel checks indicating "very strong sales trends" for the iPhone 4S at all three U.S. carriers and overall strong iPhone sales in international markets. The firm increases its March quarter iPhone estimates to 32.6M units from 30.1M.

9:21 AM Apple (AAPL) plans to announce the launch of the iPad 3 in the first week of March, according to All Things Digital. Sources say the much-discussed next-generation iPad will feature a faster chip, improved graphics, and a retina display - falling in line with previous reports on the new device. Shares of AAPL +0.9% premarket.

8:18 AM Samsung (SSNLF.PK) notches up another victory in its world patent war with Apple (AAPL), as a German court backs a preliminary assessment that the Korean company's reworked Galaxy 10.1 isn't a copycat iPad. Samsung altered the design of the device to bypass a sales ban imposed in September.

AAPL - MAR

2012-02-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

AAPL

2012-02-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

5:39 PM Adam Lashinsky, whose recent book on Apple (AAPL) made plenty of waves (I, II), thinks the world's most valuable company may soon finally pay a dividend. Lashinsky notes a UBS report claiming management "has been soliciting the opinions of large shareholders" on the matter, as well as Tim Cook's FQ1 earnings call remarks about Apple "actively discussing uses" for its $97B+ in cash and investments.

5:25 PM Motorola Mobility (MMI) reportedly has asked Apple (AAPL) to pay a 2.25% royalty on sales of some iPhones last year, representing potentially billions of dollars in licensing fees. An MMI letter from Oct. 2011 gives a glimpse into how much may be at stake in the ongoing patent struggles between mobile device makers.

EcoNews - Feb 6 - Feb 10, 2012

2012-02-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

Green is for Chairman Ben Bernanke.

AAPL - History In The Making

2012-02-05T05:13:00.000-08:00

The purple line represent the AAPL MAR 460 Call and the AAPL MAR 455 Put. The History is in the 460 area of the stock, they have the cash and power, there hasn't been a stock split in awhile, so this is the time.

WYNN - Rebounce - Swing MAR Options

2012-02-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

Friday 10:51 AM "We give credit to appropriate parties in appropriate amounts," says Steve Wynn on WYNN's earnings conference call, dismissing concerns a rise in receivables (18% Q/Q) has anything to do with deteriorating customer credit quality. "Credit and marketing are 2 separate subjects ... the alternative to that strategy is very disastrous."

Thursday 4:31 PM More on Wynn Resorts (WYNN): Q4 beats on a per share basis but comes up just shy on revenue. Profit increased 8.6% Y/Y driven by a 9.1% increase in revenues from its Macau Operations and a 7.2% increase from Las Vegas. The company also declared a $0.50 dividend payable on March 1.

Thursday 4:10 PM Wynn Resorts (WYNN): Q4 EPS of $1.55 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $1.34B (+9% Y/Y) misses by $19M.

Tuesday 4:40 PM Wynn Resorts (WYNN) may trail peers in its growth prospects since it’s being less aggressive in Cotai, the new Macau gambling hotspot, but it throws off lots of cash and offers a healthy dividend, CLSA writes. With Wynn’s “somewhat recurrent special dividend," its recent yield has been 5%-6%, more than enough for dividend-hungry investors.

STX - Strangle

2012-02-02T15:21:00.001-08:00

Updated Chart for this company, markets ripped and than OptionEx took over.

Wednesday 9:58 AM Seagate (STX +15.8%) soars to levels not seen since 2007 after beating FQ2 estimates and guiding for strong 2012 growth. Helping matters is an upgrade to Buy from Stifel, which asserts Seagate is benefiting from "positive structural changes" in the hard drive industry, such as consolidation and slowing density growth, rather than just its relative immunity to Thailand's floods. WDC +5.1% in sympathy.

Tuesday 5:27 PM Seagate (STX) guides on its FQ2 earnings call (webcast) for FQ3 revenue to exceed $4.3B (consensus is for $4.34B). The company also expect FQ4 revenue to exceed $5B, and calendar 2012 sales to be
roughly $20B.

Tuesday 4:17 PM Seagate Technology (STX): FQ2 EPS of $1.32 beats by $0.24. Revenue of $3.2B (+17.5% Y/Y) beats by $60M.

CVX - Added To Long 1/29/2012 & Closed 1/31/2012

2012-01-30T15:15:00.001-08:00

This swing trade is closed as of today, we where given a second chance.

Add to the Feb options, as the market dropped over +100 point, and put in a rebound to take CVX down and up with it. Averaged this trade.

MON - UPDATED

2012-01-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 12, 9:57 AM Agriculture stocks open lower following the USDA's supply/demand report, which is slightly negative for grain prices due to an expected increase in global wheat and corn inventory levels. Fertilizer stocks: POT -4%, CF -3.9%, MOS -3.7%, IPI -3%, AGU -1.7%, RNF -1.2%. Seed names: MON -0.3%, SYT +0.3%. Farm equipment:AGCO -3.2%, TITN -1.7%, DE -1.5%, CNH -1.3%.

Thursday, January 5, 8:07 AM Monsanto (MON): FQ1 EPS of $0.23 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.44B (+33% Y/Y) beats by $400M. Sees FY'12 EPS at higher end of $3.39-3.44. Shares +1.1% premarket.

Thursday, January 5, 5:37 AM A shortage of corn seed, production of which may have fallen 25%-50%, could hamper the 2012 planting season and bring a second year of volatility to corn prices. However, Monsanto (MON), Pioneer Hi-Bred (DD) and other large seed companies remain sanguine about supplies.

EcoNews for Jan 30 - Feb 3, 2012

2012-01-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

CSTR - New 7 Day High

2012-01-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

NFLX released earnings and we had a pullback into this news, but recovered nicely.

CVX - Long Swing Play

2012-01-27T20:21:00.003-08:00

8:51 AM More on Chevron's (CVX) Q4: U.S. upstream earnings up 72% Y/Y to $1.61B. Downstream operations in U.S. lost $204M vs. $475 profit a year ago. Average selling price of crude oil and natural gas liquids 28% higher Y/Y to $101. Shares -1.4% premarket.

8:32 AM Chevron (CVX): Q4 EPS of $2.58 misses by $0.36. Revenue of $58.03B (+11.5% Y/Y) misses by $12.9B. Shares -1.1% premarket.

Thursday 6:40 PM More problems for Chevron (CVX) in South America, as a Brazilian prosecutor says he plans to file criminal charges against the oil giant and some of its local managers within weeks, adding the threat of prison sentences to an $11B civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill. CVX also is contesting an $18B judgment in Ecuador.

Thursday 11:44 AM A federal appeals court throws out an injunction that blocks the enforcement of an $18B judgement made against Chevron (CVX) in Ecuador for the spilling of chemicals into the Amazon basin. Attorneys say they will try to collect the money from Chevron in countries around the world.

CSTR - Update

2012-01-24T17:36:00.001-08:00

APA - Two (2) Update

2012-01-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

APA - 5 Day Pattern

2012-01-23T19:07:00.001-08:00

Description

Apache Corporation (Apache) is an independent energy company, which explores for, develops and produces natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids. As of December 31, 2010, it had exploration and production interests in seven countries: the United States, Canada, Egypt, Australia, offshore the United Kingdom in the North Sea, Argentina, and Chile.

Monday, January 23, 5:15 PM Apache's (APA +1.6%) $2.85B deal for Cordillera should boost Forest Oil's (FST +8.7%) valuation, R.W. Baird says, contending that based on what APA is paying for Cordillera's daily output in Texas' Granite Wash play, FST's enterprise value should rise to $3.7B from $3B. "One could argue Forest's non-Panhandle assets are effectively free at current market valuations," Baird adds.
Monday, January 23, 2:45 AM Apache (APA) buys privately-held oil and gas company Cordillera Energy Partners III in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2.85B. Apache says the deal will more than double its acreage in the energy-rich Anadarko Basin.

EcoNews for Jan 23 - Jan 27

2012-01-21T08:58:00.001-08:00

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) - Mr. Saturday

2012-01-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

Great Article, Mr. Saturday,

http://www.sanglucci.com/mr-saturday-sopa-all-magic-needs-a-diversion/

The issue slices across political persuasions - at its core support hinges on whether a company benefits from a "free" internet with loose online piracy rules. Critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) claim the bill would "effectively promote censorship" and expose law-abiding Internet companies to new liabilities. To fit the ‘digital piracy’ classification, the domain needed to offer or point to one or more of the brands used in the digital content portion of the study for free. According to a report (PDF) released yesterday by MarkMonitor, a company that protects online brands for its corporate customers. There report states that The top-three websites classified as ‘digital piracy’—rapidshare.com, megavideo.com, and megaupload.com—collectively generate more than 21 billion visits per year.

Industry wide: Traffic to sites suspected of offering pirated content was over 146 million visits per day. Selling counterfeit goods, i.e. Drugs, Fashion, etc.

Friday, January 20, 12:10 PM Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid indefinitely postpones a vote in his chamber on the PIPA online anti-piracy bill pitting Hollywood against Silicon Valley. Lamar Smith, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, follows suit, saying his panel would delay action on similar SOPA
Thursday, January 19, 2:54 PM The AP reports that one of the world's largest file-sharing sites - Megaupload.com - was shut down by Federal authorities and company workers were indicted over charges of online piracy. In a twist of irony (or not?), the firm's CEO has been extremely active in the anti-SOPA

Winner and Losers:

Big Media:

"These golden geese are in danger of being strangled to death by video streaming," so anti-piracy talk really comes in second to stunting the growth of even legitimate online distribution. Its much to do with protecting the pipe as it does protecting the content itself.

Former Sen. Christopher Dodd takes up the case for SOPA (video) on behalf of the motion picture industry, claiming the online piracy bill will not be the "end of the Internet." He says the bill doesn't impinge on freedom of speech rights, but merely aims to end rampant online crime by foreign entities.

Corporate Companies:

Internet names are up in arms over a new piracy bill would grant law enforcement officials broad powers to shut down sites deemed by media companies to be enabling the flow of pirated content.

Public uproar:

In the face of a public uproar and acts of protest from leading Internet properties, as well as growing White House concerns, the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) now appear to be dead in the water, at least in their current forms. Already, two of SOPA's co-sponsors are pulling their support for the legislation. Blogger "We will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet,"

Related Companies:

Tech giants like Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Yahoo (YHOO) and eBay (EBAY). Facebook, and domain hosting firms or loses out from reproduced content along the likes of Disney (DIS), Sony (SNE), and Time Warner (TWX).

Gaming firms are caught in a quandary over their initial support over the online piracy bill Though industry players such as Nintendo (NTDOY.PK), Sony (SNE), Electronic Arts (EA), and Entertainment America are publicly siding with the "free Internet" crowd to avoid a customer backlash, privately the firms support the bill through lobbying groups aiming at preventing rogue firms from stealing IP and customers away.

Conclusion:

There's been talk of a "nuclear option" where firms including would simultaneously go dark to protest the legislation. Well, easier said than done. “Corporate Bottom Line's.” vs “Public Interest.” And yes the word placement is corporation first.

CSTR - Long Swing

2012-01-20T15:55:00.001-08:00

Company

Coinstar, Inc. (CSTR) is a provider of automated retail solutions. Coinstar’s core offerings in automated retail include its digital video disk (DVD) business, where consumers can rent or purchase movies from self-service kiosks (DVD Services segment), and its Coin business, where consumers can convert their coin to cash or stored value products at coin-counting self-service kiosks (Coin Services segment). This company currently has a market cap of $1.47B

Coinstar, Inc. to Report 2011 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results on February 6, 2012.

Company related News:

Thursday, January 19, 12:23 PM Contributing to Coinstar (CSTR) rally may be an NPD report claiming the share of the disc rental market rose 1200 bps in 2011, to 37%. “We believe the DVD kiosk rental opportunity will be saturated by late 2012... 68% of households are already within five-minute drive-time of a Redbox(CSTR) kiosk."

Friday, January 6, 9:48 AM Coinstar (CSTR) slides after Morgan Keegan cuts its rating to Market Perform and its price target to $42 from $60, noting uncertainty in the DVD industry after Time Warner has strong-armed doubling their wait time period for offering new DVD releases via their rental services to 56 days, in exchange for maintaining the right to purchase DVDs from Time Warner at wholesale prices, in which it will bar Redbox (CSTR), Netflix (NFLX), and Blockbuster (DISH) from renting new releases. Shares will "remain pressured until the company provides further evidence of a life beyond DVD."

Outside related News:

IMAX (IMAX) The growth potential of the 3D films business remains considerable: IHS estimates global 3D box-office revenue grew 144% Y/Y in 2010 to $6.1B, but still only accounted for for 19.3% of ticket receipts.
Hoping to keep the cost of date night in check - or maybe to get more control over an entertainment industry starting to resemble the West too much - China is considering capping the prices of movie tickets. The move could threaten the booming industry, where box office revenue rose 18% in 2011.
The company blames the shortfalls on weak film performance and a high investment level. IMAX expects adjusted earnings to decline in 2011, and revenues to be "consistent with last year." Due to The beat goes on for the seemingly unstoppable shift of TV programming from traditional media firms to online upstarts and large tech concerns (I, II). The latest: Tom Hanks in a cartoon series for Yahoo (YHOO), Kevin Spacey on Netflix (NFLX), and $100M of original programming set to be launched from YouTube (GOOG). Will the household satellite dishes of DirecTV (DTV) and Dish Network (DISH) become a relic of the past?

Related Companies

Netflix, Inc. (Netflix) is an Internet subscription service streaming television shows and movies. The Company’s subscribers can watch unlimited television shows and movies streamed over the Internet to their televisions, computers and mobile devices and in the United States, subscribers can also receive digital versatile discs (DVDs) delivered to their homes. This company currently has a market cap of $5.26B.

Reports 4^th Quarter Ending December 2011 on 1/25/2012 at 4:05PM ET, followed by a Conference Call 6:00PM ET' After The Close. Consensus Estimate” $0.55; Earnings Whisper $0.59.

Friday, January 20, 1:38 PM Netflix's (NFLX) streaming service offers just 5 of the top 100 2011 movies compared to 10 one year ago and in the 40s for Amazon (AMZN), iTunes (AAPL), and Vudu (WMT). The data make even clearer Netflix's move away from offering popular movies on a subscription basis and towards more of a TV-network type model, writes Tristan Louis. and remains concerned about the potential for higher licensing payments to EPIX.

Thursday, January 19, 12:35 PM Why does Big Media favor SOPA legislation that's so punitive toward web companies like Google? Edward Jay Epstein surmises it has as much to do with protecting the pipe as it does protecting the content itself. "These golden geese are in danger of being strangled to death by video streaming," so anti-piracy talk really comes in second to stunting the growth of even legitimate online distribution.
Monday, January 16, 4:27 AM Hulu (co-owned by DIS, CMCSA, NWS) is pushing into original programming, hoping to steal more customers from Netflix (NFLX) with the debut of its first scripted show on Feb. 14.
Friday, January 13, 3:58 PM Netflix (NFLX) enjoys a boost after B. Riley reiterates its Buy rating, saying investors should hold on to their shares until after the company's Q4 conference call on Jan. 25.

EA - It's In The Game

2012-01-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

$EA 17.50 Jan $PUT in .38 out .27 loss

9:49 AM Electronic Arts (EA -2.5%) trades lower after Brean Murray lowers its PT to $22 from $28, albeit while reiterating a Buy. The firm says weaker-than-expected initial subscriber growth for Star Wars: The Old Republic, an ambitious online title released last month, leads it to be concerned about EA's FY13 (ends March '13) EPS. On Dec. 26, EA claimed it had racked up over 1M users for Star Wars.

FSLR - Water Fall

2012-01-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

All out $FSLR 41 JAN P 1.08 in... Out at 1.69. Very fast lotto ticket.

Updated - TSLA Up +4% After Water Fall

2012-01-18T13:54:00.001-08:00

The big picture was that Goldman Sachs (GS) was a lead underwriter on this one, even if they had 2 Senior Executive leave, one being the Chief Engineer. Goldman need and did come in to support it.

Update - WLT Swing Play

2012-01-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Walter Energy Inc - WLT update, this swing play is completed. This company hit $62.00; and has pulled back to $61.73. Seeing some resistance on the Daily - 3 month chart.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT – PSYCHOLOGY AND MONEY MANAGEMENT

2012-01-16T11:22:00.001-08:00

Quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” There are many characteristics and skills required by traders in order for them to be successful in the markets. There are many rules (1 to 10 and/or 1 to 100); but two (2) are paramount. The market is not place to find yourself. All the great traders attest to the impact of psychology and money management has on trading.

PSYCHOLOGY

*Deepak Chorpa says that “all relationship is a reflection of your relationship with yourself.” Psychology has a powerful impact on trading results. It is impossible to separate your psychological makeup from your results. Being aware of the way your mind works is the first step. You must know your own strengths and weakness before your can hope to grow stronger and to overcome the obstacles.

The currently recognized version of the sins are usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

Remember, the first time you placed a trade and because your best research led you to believe that the stock was going up or down. What happens if the stock moves in the opposite direction instead? The obvious comment here is you were wrong, plain and simple. But, Your mind goes into hyperactive mode. Chasing the trade (In and Out) Over-trading, Holding Overnight. As the Green and Red flashes on the screen goes by, you experience the panic and stress of losing over 40 percent of your account in three minutes. If you really want to get your blood boiling all you need to do is watch your profit erode tick by tick by tick as you place an order an on your computer only to find out that there servers are busy and your order status reads “Pending” for the next ten minutes. Successful traders have to find ways to reduce the stress of commonly associated with trading. Don't fall into the trap of feeling that you can't get this business. To create your own plan, examine the following three-point outline.

MANAGE YOUR LOSSES TO PROFIT CONSISTENTLY

This dynamic environment borders on schizophrenia, where the bulls and bears do battle trying to out guess each other. Each price move (tick) rearranges everyone's assumptions about what the market is about to do. One of the greatest attributes in any industry is the ability to change direction when a roadblock is reached. Traders must also exhibit this flexibility if they are to survive in the marketplace.

Your trading goals should be as realistic as possible. This is no secret. Unfortunately, that old maxim “cut your losses and let your profits run” is easier said than done. If you are losing money, sell before you lose any more of it. Or the strategy you have adopted is the “Hope Strategy”. Decide how much you can afford to lose and put a limit on your losses. Your profits should more than compensate for your losses. Keep in mind; the stock price will fluctuate throughout the day. You don't want to owe the market for your time an effort.

MAINTAIN A BUSINESS DISCIPLINE

This is your business. Apply self discipline to your business. Show up, be prepared, be productive, and be professional. The difference in a “Job” and “Trader” is the fact a job is passive income and the other is active. Meaning a “Job” you show up and they pay, whatever they feel your time is worth. No matter how long the hours are. As a “Trader” your income is active this meaning that unless you report to your trading desk, you will not make a dime from trading. You have to make a trade you herbs.

MAKE A COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF

This specialization allows the trader to develop strategies that consistently work in certain recognizable market conditions. Continue to broaden your market knowledge and experiment and refine the strategies that work for you. Competition brings emotion into an already emotional atmosphere. Know the style of trading that fits your personality and lifestyle, and compete with yourself to become a better trader.

CONCLUSION

Psychological make up of the market is made up of people, and people are creature of habit. The markets will always change. Noting is permanent. Remember, patience and persistence will help you to succeed. Just as success is an attitude, trading is a discipline.

TSLA - All Eggs In One Basket - Water Fall

2012-01-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

Friday 4:49 PM Tesla Motors (TSLA -19.3%) rises 6.6% AH, rebounding a bit from the bloodletting it saw after it was reported its chief engineer and vehicle/chassis engineering chief are leaving. Given that Tesla lacks the scale of larger automakers, the quality of its engineering (responsible for the exceptional range of its electric cars) is crucial to its ability to carve out a niche.

Friday 3:29 PM Tesla Motors (TSLA -10.2%) plummets after 2 executives leave ahead of the mid-year debut of the company's latest car. Blue Phoenix's John Licata says one of the departing execs is the firm's chief engineer.

EcoNews for Jan 16 - Jan 20

2012-01-14T10:11:00.001-08:00

WLT - Swing Trade

2012-01-14T10:05:00.001-08:00

Walter Energy, Inc. (WLT $58.75 -$3.19 (-5.15%) is a producer and exporter of metallurgical coal for the global steel industry and also produces steam coal, coal bed methane gas (natural gas), metallurgical coke and other related products. The Company operates in three business segments: Underground Mining, Surface Mining and Walter Coke. They currently have a Market Cap of 3.67B

Company related News:

Thursday, December 15, 8:38 AM Walter Energy (WLT) +3.5% pre-market following a Daily Mail story that the coal producer could be a takeover target by Rio Tinto (RIO) or BHP Billiton (BHP). Global miners are scrambling for coal assets, and analysts speculate Walter's takeout price could double its current ~$60/share.

** BHP Billiton Limited (BHP is a diversified natural resources company. The Company operates nine customer sector groups (CSGs): petroleum, aluminum, base metals (including uranium), diamonds and specialty products, stainless steel materials, iron ore, manganese, metallurgical coal and energy coal. They have a Market Cap of 199.46B

** Rio Tinto plc (Rio Tinto) is engaged in minerals exploration, development, production and processing. The Company’s product groups include aluminum, copper, diamonds and minerals, energy, and iron ore. Its major products are aluminum, copper, diamonds, coal, iron ore, uranium, molybdenum, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt and talc. They have a Market Cap of 28.28B

Wednesday, November 2, 6:06 PM Walter Industries (WLT): Q3 EPS of $1.21 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $690M (+49% Y/Y) misses by $32M. After posting Q3 revenues that fell less than expected. Profit still managed to dip 44% Y/Y, as production problems due to heavy rains significantly weakened output, but were mitigated somewhat by higher coal prices. Operating margin also imploded, down to 21.5% from 44.8%, as overall costs more than doubled.

Outside related News:

Friday 9:06 AM Patriot Coal (PCX) -6.6% pre-market after saying it will cut production of metallurgical coal used to make steel due to weakening demand. PCX will idle some mines at its southern West Virginia operations, but did not say if it would lay off any workers. More details will be provided when it releases Q4 results on Jan. 31.

Friday 10:13 AM Patriot Coal's (PCX -6.8%) warning triggers a broader sell-off in coal stocks. ANR -7.6%. BTU -3.3%. CNX -3.8%. JRCC -7.6%. ACI -6.9%. The fact the warning was related to the production of high-end coal used for steel making is likely to raise fears of slowing global industrial output.

Per GOOG Finance these two companies are not related companies, which I think it strange, but as with all data, its is a good as the input. Well this bring us to why I like this as a swing trade and we will be looking at the 5 min chart with 3 days of data for some answers.

Viewing the 5 min chart it appears that WLT has made a double bottom pattern (1/11/2012 and 1/13/2012); we want this to hold. Price was taken to the downside, on Friday's news compounded by the S&P Euro Downgrades games of other countries. If there is more games, that could bring us to a third attempt to the 58.17 area, maybe. This is a swing trade.

WLT (Price Target +$60.00) +$2.00 from Friday's close.

WLT (Stop Loss -$56.63) -$2.12 from Friday's close.

****There has been some addition news on this this company, which came in after hour.

WLT - Walter Energy (WLT $56.55 -$2.20) Updates Production Outlook and Announces Executive Appointments..

They provided guidance that 2012 met coal production will be between 11.5 million and 13 million metric tons. Also, Walter Energy, Inc. (Walter) commented on fourth quarter results and announced that it has made three executive appointments. Given this combination of factors, Walter estimates that fourth quarter 2011 financial results were below the low end of its prior guidance. As noted above, actual financial results will be disclosed at end of February 2012.

C on a JPM Earnings Drop

2012-01-13T16:24:00.001-08:00

EcoNews Jan 9 - Jan 13, 2012

2012-01-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

EcoNews Int'l - Jan 2 / Jan 6

2012-01-02T05:33:00.000-08:00

Smell The Roses, Wisconsin Feel The Pain

2012-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

EcoNews - Jan 2 - Jan 6

2011-12-31T08:59:00.000-08:00

US Market TimeLine for Options

2011-12-31T08:34:00.001-08:00

This is should give you some insight to the workings of the markets as a whole. The adrenaline rush generally last until 10:00 or 10:30 A.M. As, the most intense action in the market happens right when it opens. Nonetheless, options traders will be better prepared, That's it. No fancy stuff.

Chart was revised with Red line Boxes to an Option Traders standard. Basic chart was created by by Jerome "Mel" Hickerson is a technical analyst who uses software-generated analysis of breadth and institutional buying to trigger his signals for day trading indices and ETFs.

GLD - 149.00 DEC C

2011-12-29T16:34:00.001-08:00

7:01 AM Gold continues its late-year slide, off 2.4% to $1,526/oz., the lowest price since early July. Off 3.6% to $26.28, silver has returned to its low for the year.

AMZN - 170.00 DEC Call

2011-12-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

7:22 AM Goldman's Heather Bellini suggests Amazon (AMZN) could miss consensus revenue forecasts of $18.19B (up 40%). The firm however, maintains its Neutral rating and $190 price target.

9:18 AM Amazon (AMZN) proclaims 2011 "the best holiday ever for the Kindle family," with sales of more than 1M of the devices/week throughout December, led by the new "Fire." The company also notes the success of its Direct Publishing program, with the #1 and #4 best-sellers on Kindle both published independently by their authors. Shares -2.7% premarket as Heather Bellini warns on the company's Q4 revenue.

General Market Observation

2011-12-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

I have become convinced that when the profits run, let them run. However, when the markets aren’t moving much, it’s better to make a small profit and close position. Better to have cash on hand ready for opening a new position than to sit and wait out the market and wait for it to make more profit.

EURUSD

2011-12-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

PT are the Red and Purple lines..

$EURUSD where will it go from here if the 1.29124 level is pushed through.

Dec. 28 at 5:13 PM

$EURUSD chart on a 5 min ... 1.29251 next price.. http://chart.ly/4bjck5y

Dec. 28 at 5:19 PM

$EURUSD almost at the 1.29251 area.... ES_F needs to pushed higher and help out. http://chart.ly/8sbdjdd

Dec. 28 at 5:46 PM

$EURUSD this is done

Dec. 28 at 6:06 PM

$EURUSD 5 min chart.... 1.29300 in the cards ... http://chart.ly/l7sg46u

Dec. 28 at 6:47 PM

$EURUSD Surpassed the 1.29300 area, on the 5 min chart. http://chart.ly/7b9iil6

Dec. 28 at 7:00 PM

GS = EURO

2011-12-28T15:42:00.001-08:00

Today - Wednesday, December 28, 11:43 AM Europe closes at session lows, knocked for a loop by a rapid dive in the euro (to be fair, cable dropping right alongside), which began around 9 AM ET. Stoxx 50 -1.6%, Germany -1.9%, France -1.1%, Italy -0.7%, Spain -2%, U.K. flat. The euro continues to slide, -1.2% at $1.2920. Cable -1.2% at $1.5476.

The euro tumbled to 15-month lows after the ECB reported European banks had deposited a record amount. Financials were among the weakest stock sectors; commodities were clobbered. NYSE declining issues outnumbered advance's four to one.

LVS - Lotto Option Play

2011-12-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

This a mover on some Govt news, that the Obama Administration; new interpretation, by the department's Office of Legal Counsel, said the Wire Act applies only to bets on a "sporting event or contest," not to a state's use of the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within its borders or abroad.

"The United States Department of Justice has given the online gaming community a big, big present," said I. Nelson Rose, a gaming law expert at Whittier Law School who consults for governments and the industry."

ECONEWS - DEC 26 - DEC 30

2011-12-25T08:54:00.001-08:00

SPY - Interesting DEC 12,200

2011-12-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

Extending the Extended

2011-12-24T03:09:00.000-08:00

3:07 PM The SEC announces that it's extending the public comment period on the Volcker Rule by 30 days after it was initially slated to end Jan. 13, 2012.

10:09 AM The House has approved the 2-month payroll tax cut extension. The bill now goes to the President for signing. As part of the bill, President Obama is forced to make a decision within 60 days on whether or not to approve construction of TransCanada's (TRP +1.1%) 1.7K mile pipeline.

EcoNews - DEC 19 - DEC 23

2011-12-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

SINA - Rebound - Options Weekly

2011-12-17T06:23:00.001-08:00

This was insane for this company to reverse on a dime hit a low of the day at 10:00AM ET. Options Weekly where pretty much lotto tickets you could have lost the entire investment of the option.

GS - OTM DEC 90 P

2011-12-13T14:01:00.001-08:00

7:29 AM The euro gives up its moderate gains after a meeting breaks up between Greek officials and private bondholders without a deal being made on a debt swap, according to a banker involved. Negotiations will continue. Euro flat at $1.3197

7:55 AM The EFSF sells €1.97B in 3 month paper priced to yield 0.22%, with a bid/cover ratio of 3.2, according to the Bundesbank. The supposedly good news is being offered as a reason for the bounce in European shares and peripheral debt this morning. It was little more than a month ago that the EFSF hoped to have €1T in firepower.

12:32 PM It used to that 10-year Treasurys would never fall through 3%. Now, with the yield straddling 2% for weeks

1:13 PM Amid end-of-year lower volumes, Treasury's reverse their losses as the 10-year auction comes in strong with a huge indirect bid (the group including global central banks). The 30-year yield -0.03 to 3.03%; 10-year sinks below 2%, -0.03 to 1.99%. Maybe you shouldn't count on 10-years cresting 3% anytime soon.

2:20 PM Detail from the FOMC: "Notwithstanding some apparent slowing" globally, the U.S. economy has been expanding moderately. Household spending advancing, but business fixed investment growing "less rapidly." Inflation has moderated since earlier this year. As always lately, panel stands "prepared to employ its tools" to promote recovery.

Should continue to see more downside, by Friday as the ECB President will be speaking for Thurs and Fri market sessions.

GOOG - Option 630.00 C DEC 11

2011-12-12T14:24:00.001-08:00

Two hours before the close we decided to pick up some $GOOG 630.00 DEC 11 C 3.90 x 4.00; which looked interesting here. But, the market was not having any of it. GOOG just bounced around, making us think this was wrong. The high of this option was 4.50; which we thought would be able to see again.

Market started to put in the work and allowed us to take $GOOG 630.00 DEC 11 C out at 4.20. But if held 4.40 could have be achieved, but who want to hold overnight in this environment.

GS - Drop

2011-12-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

The rating agencies weighed in on last week's EU deal and didn't see much (I, II), as Europe's ongoing debt debacle and an unexpected guidance cut by Intel sparked a sell-off in stocks before bouncing off the Dow's 200-day MA.

4:49 PM U.K. banks worry about their influence over financial services policies decided in Brussels following PM Cameron's withdrawal from the new EU treaty.

4:41 PM Goldman Sachs (GS) cancels its information session at Penn and reduces the number of student interviews as it seeks to limit hires to those who have previously interned at the bank. With the weak job market, students are more likely than in the past to stick with firms they intern for rather than shop around, limiting the need for Goldman to find new recruits.

Closing near the lows, appears to be more downside to this stock, maybe....

ECONEWS DEC 13 - DEC 16

2011-12-11T08:56:00.001-08:00

ECONEWS - DEC 5 - DEC 9

2011-12-04T08:08:00.001-08:00

SPY - Chart (DAILY)

2011-12-03T14:52:00.001-08:00

GS - Weeekly Options - Insane

2011-12-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

This was a trade on both side of the table, which could have been actionable....

BAC - Weekly Options

2011-12-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

6:38 PM Bank of America (BAC) is close to its limit on how much stock it's authorized to issue without being forced to go to shareholders to ask for permission, according to a Reuters report. Although it may not be that difficult to do, it does reflect just how much the bank has forced to sell to keep itself afloat. Since 2007, the bank's share float has soared from 4.5B shares to 10.1B, an increase -read dilution of shareholder equity - of nearly 125%.

Stock Market Calendar - Holiday Schedule

2011-11-20T07:16:00.001-08:00

CRM - After Earnings Announcement

2011-11-19T10:21:00.003-08:00

In make a play after the earnings announcement its a test of ones skill, as in life. Most options player love the fact that they enter an stock underlying before the announcement, but only to find that the where right in the direction.

However, the IV in the option sux out the premiums and you mostly found yourself on the losing side of the earnings play. Well the above was to take a position after the earnings.

As you can see, CRM still had downward pressure on the earnings announcement that this weekly option play paid you out.

50 x .55 = $2,800 debit
50 x 1.60 = $5,000 credit

or

10 x .55 = $500 debit
10 x 1.60 =$1,000 credit

Disclaimer: Friday Weekly - Options are not for the faint at heart, you are fight for this market not to break your bank... Risk on fund you're able to loss and keep your losses small.

BIDU - Weekly OptionsEx

2011-11-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

Nice little weekly option, play on a flat liner of a Friday OptionsEx.

100 x .78 = $7,800 debit
100 x 3.00 = $21,000 credit

or

50 x .78 = $3,800 debit
50 x 3.00 = $10,000 credit

SPY = Weekly

2011-11-19T05:37:00.001-08:00

SPY - Flat Liner

2011-11-19T05:06:00.000-08:00

Market gear up for the SuperCommittee and the Holiday Season. As you can see, Friday was a flat liner for the S&P 500.

XOM - Mid Day Scan

2011-11-18T20:14:00.001-08:00

This was a mid day scan of the Most Active list, the XOM NOV 77.50 where in play. Open around .12 and moved .57 for a high, but could have been higher if some one hit the bid when it was .65 on the day.

SPY - Waterfall

2011-11-17T19:24:00.001-08:00

US Dollar is putting some major pressure on this market and we like the fact it has brought, back some major Volatility back into the market.

PCLN NOV 530 C

2011-11-15T17:03:00.000-08:00

These were the lotto ticket today.

AAPL - Drop?

2011-11-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

AAPL didn't take to much of a dip today, so where do we go from here... AMZN just relased the Kindle Fire one day earlier, though the Kindle Fire is receiving less-than-glowing reviews, Amazon (AMZN +1.7%) is outperforming today, while Barnes & Noble (BKS -2.7%) is selling off after rallying strongly last week (I, II). An in-depth Wired interview with Jeff Bezos, in which he goes over Amazon's hardware, content, and web services strategies, could be giving bulls some encouragement.

7:44 AM The first reviews for Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle Fire are ambivalent. "The Fire does not have anything like the polish or speed of an iPad (AAPL)," says the NYT's David Pogue. Engadget calls the device "a great value," and loves its content integration, but also writes, "When stacked up against other popular tablets, the Fire can't compete."
Sunday 8:37 AM While "the pricey Android" guys are likely to feel the immediate brunt of the $199 Kindle Fire (AMZN), Brooke Crothers believes the iPad (AAPL) will be vulnerable in the longer term. The impact is "as inevitable as the $999 MacBook Air," which began life in the $1,800-$3,000 range.

CAT - Weekly Play

2011-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

This was a good payday for Friday... Could have been in the trade at .08 - .09 and punched out at 1.20; which would have been a good number.

50 Contracts at .09 to 1.20 = 5K off a (5 hundred investment)

100 Contracts at .09 to 1.20 = 10K off a (1K investment)

GS vs Italy

2011-11-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

9:32 AM In a 10-Q filing today, Goldman Sachs (GS -3.9%) discloses that AIG has threatened to sue over its MBS dealings with the firm. Goldman also raises its expectations of costs stemming from mortgage-related lawsuits from $485M to $15.8B.

6:25 AM Sources say Goldman Sachs (GS) is looking to raise about $1.5B by unloading part of its stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Shares of ICBC have recovered about 50% from their October lows.

JEF - To Big Fail or To Big To Hedge

2011-11-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

$JEF Net long cash of $91M, and $100M short futures. The bulk is L&S involve Italian debt. Hedged?!?

Monday Nov 7th - Earnings Release

2011-11-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) is a global online travel company that offers its customers a range of travel services, including the opportunity to purchase hotel room reservations, car rentals, airline tickets, vacation packages, cruises and destination services in a price-disclosed manner.

This is company has a confirmed earnings release on 11/07/2011 at 4:05 PM ET, After Close with no scheduled Conference Call . This will be a news-maker and whom will benefit from this news-maker.

Look at the Related companies in this companies sector. They are Expedia, Inc. (EXPE) and Travelzoo, Inc. (TZOO).

DISH Network Corporation (DISH) is a pay-television provider, with approximately 14.133 million customers across the United States as of December 31, 2010.

This is company has a confirmed earnings release on 11/07/2011 at 6:00 AM ET, Before Open with a Conference Call scheduled for 12:00 PM ET. This will be a news-maker and whom will benefit from this news-maker.

Look at the Related companies in this companies sector. They are Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) and DIRECTV (DTV).

News Maker Sympathy - Option InPlay

2011-11-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Qualcomm among gainers as tech stocks rise

(9:48 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks claimed the high ground in early trading Thursday, with Qualcomm Inc. QCOM +0.14% up $3.62 a share, or 7%, at $55.87 following its upbeat quarterly results. Storage-memory developer Fusion-io Inc. FIO +0.85% also performed well, rising $22.4 a share, or 7%, to $34.12 after it swung to a quarterly profit.

Based off this News-marker - Weekly Option InPlay

2011-11-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

CBS profit climbs 38% on streaming fees, ad sales

(4:11 PM ET) CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- CBS Corp. CBS -2.12% said Thursday its third-quarter profit rose 38% on increased international syndication sales, primetime advertising sales and streaming video licensing fees from Netflix Inc. NFLX -0.21% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.12% , topping most Wall Street forecasts. The entertainment giant said it earned $338 million, or 50 cents a share, on sales of $3.37 billion, compared with a profit of $245 million, or 35 cents a share, on revenue of $3.30 billion in the same period last year. Analysts polled by FactSet Research were expecting a profit of 46 cents a share on revenue of $3.44 billion.

Based off this News-marker - NFLX 90 NOV WK C 2.95 from .53

Futures Prior to European Open

2011-11-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Cash in on Sympathy Option Plays - Weeklies:

2011-11-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

When a underlying stock which a sector has some good news and begins to move up, the underlying stocks of the other companies in the same sector will often start to run up as well – in sympathy with the original mover.

If one company in the sector is doing well, it's possible that demand for the whole sector's business is growing or that the whole sector will develop its products or market so that all companies in the sector will become desirable for least a day or two.

Likewise, when a underlying stock has bad news and begins to tank, others in the sector will often start to trend down as well. A great way to handle sympathy plays is to look at all the underlying stocks in the sector to see whether others have started running with the news-marker.

We are a weekly options crew and sometimes will venture into the underlying stocks. Here is some insight on how to adept this to weekly options.

Example:

8:28 AM More on MasterCard's Q3 report: Gross dollar volume of transactions grew 18.1% Y/Y, up from Q2's 16.4%. 13.6% growth in U.S. dollar volume, 20.4% growth in international volume. Processed transactions rose 20.5%, up from Q2's 17.4%. Free cash flow was $991M, up 72% Y/Y. MA +6.7% premarket. V +2.7%. AXP +2%.

8:12 AM MasterCard (MA): Q3 EPS of $5.63 beats by $0.82. Revenue of $1.81B (+27.3% Y/Y) beats by $100M.

As you can see that (MA) had reported Before the Open at 8:00 AM ET and scheduled a Conference Call at 9:00AM ET, who cares about this news-marker, well its simply the fact that this is a weekly option player and it has two other weekly option players in its sector.

At 8:28 AM the last line of the paragraph, shows Visa (V) and American Express (AXP) these are the laggards – underlying stocks that should also start running but haven't yet.

Make sure there's no news of its own in the laggards that will keep it from following the sympathy news-markers trend.. Remember, news is news, but how the sector reacts to the news is the point.

EU - Conference

2011-10-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Speaking at the press conference, Sarkozy says the IMF (i.e. U.S., maybe China too) will partner with the EU to provide additional bailout funds. Of interest is that the 50% haircut is only for privately held Greek paper - i.e. it does not apply to ECB and IMF holdings.

IDCC - Earnings Long Straddle

2011-10-25T15:19:00.001-07:00

AMZN - Long Option Straddle, Earnings Due 10/25 AH

2011-10-25T14:26:00.001-07:00

NFLX - Long Option Straddle

2011-10-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

You would have been able to cover this trade with a profit from this Long Option Straddle before earnings came out the night before.

NFLX - Earnings

2011-10-23T11:24:00.001-07:00

LVS - Earnings

2011-10-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

AAPL 395 OCT P - OptionEx

2011-10-22T06:43:00.001-07:00

AAPL is still having some issues with a recovery, as they are in the 12 Steps Program. There are some nice returns on the Weekly Options side, but with the current Whack-A-Mole conditions in this market, Scalping is a better play. The profits could have been easily a investment on capital loss, as well.

Keep the Powder Dry....

GS - Earnings Release

2011-10-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Earnings Day!!

S and the IPhone 4S release

2011-10-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

S and the IPhone 4S release.

GS

2011-10-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

The FED Budget was pull and delay by one (1) day. What ever that was about this company will be releasing on 10/18.

GS - Earnings InPLay

2011-10-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

JPM release earnings on 10/13 in the morning with a Conference Call at 10:00AM ET. GS appears to be back into a sideways consolidation action.. GS release their earnings on 10/18.

NFLX Prems Sux

2011-10-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

NFLX opened up to the downside and attempted to rally a few times during the day, based on the end of day. The stock put in a gain to 108 and change. FastMoney was talking about add on puts. So many think this is a short term bottom put in for this company. That maybe the case for the weekly option holders.

We picked up some NFLX at 1.10 and this option closed at .35 sux out of the perms on this one. Price is above the moving averages and on the Daily Chart, its shows a clear and clean breakdown to the 2010 levels for this stock. Weeklies are toast and this stock underlying will be without ya'll.

EcoNews This Week

2011-10-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

PCX - Weekly Options Why ?!?

2011-10-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

Its really unknown why this company has weekly options, but this company produced a great return on Friday before it expired on Friday. .28 cents per contract returned a .94 cents per contract on the close.

Option Lotto:

10 contracts @ .28 = 280 in
10 contracts @ .90 = 900 out
Gross/Net Profit $620 commission (not included)

*Remember 100 shares are in 1 option contract. So 10 contracts equal 1,000 shares of underlying stock or index.

SPY - EcoNews

2011-10-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Just have to wait and see how the Jobs Number looks in the morning.

BAC - Wild Card Weekly Option

2011-10-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

BAC Bank Of America has been in the news of late with all the Home Loans and CDS and Fleecing the common saver. Day was a fire sale on the BAC 6 OCT WK C.

You could have been in at .05 - .07 range and gotten out at .30 - .32; would have been a nice way to end a week of trading this prozac market.

AAPL - Prior Closing Weekly Puts

2011-10-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

AAPL was down in pre market by 6 points, however before the bell the AAPL was just down 2 point on the open. The Weekly options Call closed out at .67 and the Puts closed out at .55; the day before.

Well, the Calls high for the was over 2.00 and the Puts high for the day was over 1.00 per contract, remember these were weeklies and they needed to be closed out before the prems were sucked out of them as you can see where they both closed out at.

SPY - Prior To Oct 11 - "Volcker rule"

2011-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

In the morning we have Initial Jobs Numbers and ECB Speaks...

AAPL - Passing of Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

8:00 PM Apple's (AAPL) memorial site for Steve Jobs, who has died at the age of 56: "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being... Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple." (WSJ obituary)

7:37 PM Steve Jobs has died, AP reports Apple (AAPL) has said. Updated 7:40 p.m.: A short statement from Apple's board.

SPY - Stagged a Last Mintue Rally

2011-10-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

Big Deal, you say.

How Much Is This Option Worth

2011-10-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

A question I get asked quite often is – “How Much Is This Option Worth?” Its not hard to find out this information, as your trading platform should provide this information to you .

You can use this information for gaps up and gaps down. As options, do not trade in the "Pre-Market" You need to know what the delta is for your strike price, here is a simple calculation. In the above example AAPL, was trading late after the announcement of the next IPhone.

2011 Oct 07 360.00 Call for Apple Inc

Delta: 0.77 ( Delta tells you how much the option will move with a dollar move in the underlying Stock or Index)

Multiply

Point Value Move of the Underlying Stock or Index: 9

Current Market Price

Entry Price: 6

Add

Looks like this

9 x .77 = 6.93 + 6 = 12.93 Gap Up (round to the near number = 12.90 exit price of better). Also, the reverse would be to subtract, if AAPL continued in a decline.

Quite simply, the delta represents the change in dollar value of the option as AAPL stock or index moves up or down $1.00. Remember, the delta is based on a $1.00 stock or index movement. If AAPL or index had increase only $.50, the delta is cut in half.

Online Brokerage System Failures: Delays Could Harm Our Option Business

2011-10-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Volatility in this market is getting pretty high, which is good in a sense of trading an option. In recent weeks we have noticed that there are times when our Online Trading Platform has frozen out, or logged us off. Or, whatever you have seen in your own experiences. What happens next is you call your back office “Broker Jockey”. Goes sometime like John “I just got logged off the system, what that about?” John “We are have issue with the internet provider and are trying to resolve it”.. So, You ask: Your Trading Platform is up and running? WTF John also so adds: “I can assist you with a trade, $$ in Broker Jockey – Eyes”...

So, as of late, retail traders have been experiencing system outages, from there Online brokerage firms. We personally have experienced two occasions with two different Online brokerage firms we deal with. And luckily they have been on two different days and times.

As a Retail Trader, your business is depends on the continued reliability of the Internet infrastructure. We receive and process trade orders through a variety of electronic channels. Our online trading services are heavily dependent on the integrity of the systems supporting them.

However, you ever read your brokerage statement on the it's Internet Infrastructure?

Standard Practice Statement in an Online Brokerage Agreement.

Well.

“Our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. In addition, extraordinary trading volumes could cause our computer systems to operate at an unacceptably low speed or even fail. While we have invested significant amounts to upgrade the reliability and scalability of our systems, there can be no assurance that our systems will be sufficient to handle such extraordinary trading volumes”.

This what we do, how are you going to tell us your systems are unable to handle “extraordinary trading volumes.”

“Our systems and operations, including our Web servers, and those of our third-party service providers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, sabotage, encryption failures, break-ins, intentional acts of vandalism, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, computer denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems and operations, and similar events”.

Sure there are natural causes, with a grain of salt, as well

Moreover,

Internet infrastructure may be unable to support the demands placed on it if the number of Internet users continues to increase, or if existing or future Internet users access the Internet more often or increase their bandwidth requirements. In addition, viruses, worms and similar programs may harm the performance of the Internet.

The Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damage to portions of its infrastructure, and it could face outages and delays in the future. These outages and delays could reduce the level of Internet usage and our business could be materially adversely affected.

This includes maintenance of a reliable network backbone with the necessary speed, data capacity and security for providing reliable Internet services.

Financial Losses are not an option in our business, sure you can have a backup plan for a Earthquakes, Floods, Fires. Where is the Nearest Brokerage Office? But, “Unable to handle “extraordinary trading volumes.” WTF!!

Options Expiration: What Happens If I Don't Close An Option Trade Before Expiration

2011-10-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

If you trade options (Weeklies or Monthlies to LEAPS), it's imperative that you understand the basics of exercise and assignment. As you know from the basic definition of options, gives its owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy the stock at the strike price

Exercise is the term used when the owner (i.e. someone who has a long position in a call or put) uses his right to buy (in the case of a call) or sell (in the case of a put) the stock.
Assignment is the term used when someone who is forced to sell (in the case of the call) or buy (in the case of a put) the stock.

Remember, for every option trade there is a buyer and a seller, so if you are short an option, there is someone out there who is long that option and who could exercise.

Major Key thing to remember is that, on expiration, brokerage firms will automatically exercise any equity option that is $0.01 or more in-the-money.

Options exercise takes place officially on Saturday night.

What this means is that your options will be converted into shares and you will become a proud stock owner!

You can be potentially obligated to outlay a lot of money to buy stock. Specifically, trading 10 contracts (1 contract is worth 100 underlying shares of stock). So you would be obligated to buy 10 x 100 = 1,000 at (the strike price).

That comes out to a whopping outlay of cash!

Major Key: Close them out.

EcoNews - Next Wk

2011-09-30T19:06:00.001-07:00

BIDU - Up and Down - OptionEx

2011-09-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

2:57 PM Don't worry too much about the Department of Justice joining a probe of U.S.-listed Chinese Internet firms, S&P Scott Kessler says in raising his rating on Baidu (BIDU -2.1%) to Strong Buy. Keep your eyes on the prize: China's 500M-plus users, he says, and Baidu is well positioned given its big search market share and emerging digital offerings.

9:56 AM Chinese Internet stocks continue to plummet following yesterday's reports of DOJ, SEC, and FBI investigations into alleged accounting fraud. BIDU -6.2%. SINA -5.1%. SOHU -6.3%. SNDA -3.7%. YOKU -4.4%. TUDO -8%. RENN -7.5%. MOBI -5.3%. (also)

This market gaped down and this made a run to the upside, however, this was short lived and proceed to move back down, with Chop-fest in mind. As, you can see this company is in the news and is in the process of been investigated. This morning the underlying stock gap down, then made a turnaround. The BIDU 100 SEP C and BIDU 105 C were on the order list.

Also, a shout out @Sangluccitrades Chat room, make a killing this thing.

2nd Play

Late Afternoon the BIDU 105 SEP P were on the order list. Until the late session around 2:30PM ET; this is when the Bond Market closed. And 3rd Qtr end on a down note.

SPY - 3rd Qtr End

2011-09-30T14:59:00.001-07:00

12:20 PM Another troubling data point regarding China: CDS spreads for Chinese debt have taken off today, reaching the 200bp level. Meanwhile, UBS is out with a negative report on the country, forecasting GDP growth will decline to 7.7% in Q1, as softening exports have a domino effect on manufacturing, investment, and consumption.

9:46 AM Spreads widen on Morgan Stanley (MS -5.4%) five-year CDS to 455 bp, highest since March 2009. Bank of America’s (BAC -1%) spread also is up 3% to a record 410 bp.

SPY - European Decision In The Wings

2011-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

SPY 111 OCT P open up to 2.00 in change, with it close out by the end of day for 2.85 in change. Ben did speak after the market but it was pretty much the same thing over and over. European decision in the wings and on deck tomorrow. Will have to see how the market reacts and also, EcoNews of Initial Jobs and GDP numbers are out at 8:30AM ET.

GOOG Darkside

2011-09-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

GOOG SEP 525 P could have been purchased in the morning. Open Price was 1.45 per contract and end up at the 4.00 per contract by end of day. It was a pretty interesting day, as the market were pretty much in a mixed market mode.

We had thought that the the SPY would rise to 120.00 for Ben after the market, well it went the other way for a 2.00 per contract loss on an SPY SEP 120.00 C contract.

2nd Play

GOOG SEP 530 P should have been purchased, as the market started to slide. This was a entry of at or around 4.10 to get it to run up to the 6.00 per contract level by end of close. Well look at the news at 3:58PM; so basically after the market close.

3:58 PM Samsung's(SSNLF.PK) deal to pay royalties on its Android devices to Microsoft (MSFT -0.4%) is bad news for Google's (GOOG -2%) mobile strategy because it means Android is no longer free, according to Heard On The Street. Now it becomes harder for others to get away without paying, and it narrows the effective price gap with operating systems like Windows Phone.

SPY Monday Reblancing.

2011-09-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Standard market action today with the Overnight Futures down and the morning session be positive.

Also, the SPY OCT 115.00 C are in the money as of this morning on Monday. The gray box, is the next level to bring the option chain into before OCT expiration.

EcoNews for SEP 26 - SEP 29

2011-09-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Bradley Dates for Market Action

2011-09-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge the chart, to see the notes.