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Sometimes the option buyers we lovingly refer to as degenerates really outdo themselves. As we’ve discussed many times, I have been selling covered calls on favorite stock Guidewire (GWRE) since its IPO last year. The trading strategy has resulted in nothing that couldn’t have otherwise been achieved with a simple buy-and-hold thus far, but with […]
Facebook has quietly carved out – and bounced up from – solid support in the high teens. Signs that monetizing mobile may not be as hopeless as previously thought have helped buoy a FB rally of 50% since September. So should we buy or sell FB here? The correct answer may be both – as […]
Many investors are betting on social unrest, soon. Gun manufacturers Smith & Wesson (SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger & Company (RGR) are close to new breakout highs – check the trend on the multi-year charts: These two charts correctly predicted US election results long before the final votes were tallied. (via StockCharts.com – click to enlarge) […]
Intel looks like it may be finally carving out a bottom, after a relentless decline (by blue chip standards) that saw it give back all of its 2012 gains. The specter of a post-PC world continues to weigh heavily on INTC – the result of which is a stock that is FREAKING CHEAP! Who ever […]
Have to love that volatility when you’re slinging covered calls on blue chippers! The market has now decided that Microsoft’s outlook is not fatal, at least for the time being. We initially bought MSFT at 29.76 on Oct 5th, selling one covered call simultaneously, and another one into the ensuing crash. This reduced our cost […]
The tech contrarian in me wants to believe that the post-PC era is going to be less apocalyptic for stalwarts like Intel and Microsoft. Sure, Dell and HP are toast – but they’ve been dead in the water for some time. Intel, on the other hand, has a server-side business that is doing great. Even […]
Those GWRE calls gave us more than a bit of a scare in terms of getting our shares called away, as Guidewire reported blockbuster earnings and the stock spiked last month. Since then, shares have eased back below the 30 mark, giving us a textbook example of why selling covered calls against shares you want […]
Our covered call sale on Guidewire is backfiring a little bit – the stock keeps going higher! An excellent quarterly earnings report is to blame. Guidewire keeps on closing deals and collecting recurring checks from existing customers. The result: GWRE has rallied from $26 to $32.15, straight through my strike price of 30. So the […]
The stabilization and surprising recent strength of the US housing market is starting to make the headlines – but if you’ve been following the charts of the homebuilders, the latest “good news” is no surprise to you. Homebuilder ETF ITB broke out to three-year highs earlier in 2012, and the uptrend remains in place, with […]
Yesterday I tried something new – selling covered calls in my IRA account. It’s a strategy I’ve been reading about, and pondering, for years. And what better experimental ground than my IRA and this blog! Ideally this strategy should be employed on safe, dividend paying blue chip stocks. So we’re naturally going off-script in our […]
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