#024: Sun 8/17/2008
Energy and material prices continue to slump. Is the end near?

The Monday Morning Review is where we analyze the state of stocks, bonds, currencies and energy/materials markets on a week over week basis. The goal of our weekly review is to keep you our reader aware of the various markets and then during the week we will offer comment on changes to existing themes and monitor our individual positions. We now have four bullish call positions against bearish put positions. The overall market was mixed this last week but materials and energy markets continue to get pounded. The market remains in a downtrend that has not been able to right itself since October when the S&P 500 peaked at 1576.09. So far we have had ...

~more~

#084: Fri 8/15/2008
Repair Damage On Tesoro (TSO) and Nabors (NBR)

We had purchased August 22 Calls in Tesoro (TSO) and a modified August synthetic long spread in Nabors Industries (NBR). Both stocks are lower and we still believe in these stocks so we will attempt to cover our losses with two repair techniques. ~more~

#083: Fri 8/15/2008
Allow First Solar (FSLR) August 260 Puts to Expire Worthless for a gain on the spread

As noted in our previous alert on July 31, we closed half of the First Solar spread, the call side, with the intention of not having to cover the put position that was put on as a short. The stock is currently above $260 at $264.31 so do not cover the put as it will expire worthless which will give us a closing price on the spread at $7 with an entry price of $5.50. The gain is 27%. ~more~

#084: Wed 8/6/2008
Unusual call activity in Chesapeake (CHK)

Chesapeake has traded 70,560 calls today and only 23,937 puts. ~more~

#084: Fri 8/15/2008
Repair Damage On Tesoro (TSO) and Nabors (NBR)

We had purchased August 22 Calls in Tesoro (TSO) and a modified August synthetic long spread in Nabors Industries (NBR). Both stocks are lower and we still believe in these stocks so we will attempt to cover our losses with two repair techniques. ~more~

#083: Fri 8/15/2008
Allow First Solar (FSLR) August 260 Puts to Expire Worthless for a gain on the spread

As noted in our previous alert on July 31, we closed half of the First Solar spread, the call side, with the intention of not having to cover the put position that was put on as a short. The stock is currently above $260 at $264.31 so do not cover the put as it will expire worthless which will give us a closing price on the spread at $7 with an entry price of $5.50. The gain is 27%. ~more~

#082: Wed 8/6/2008
Buying calls in this natural gas stock

With the pullback in natural gas prices, the natural gas stocks have been hit too hard. Therefore, we will go long calls in ... ~more~

#081: Thu 7/31/2008
Close half the spread in FSLR

Last week we put on a spread in First Solar. We will close half the spread ... ~more~

#024: Sun 8/17/2008
Energy and material prices continue to slump. Is the end near?

~more~

---

#023: Wed 7/23/2008
Update on USO put spread

~more~

---

#022: Tue 7/22/2008
Hurricane Dolly starting to weaken

~more~

---

#021: Thu 7/17/2008
What is going on in the energy and materials patch?

~more~

---

#084: Wed 8/6/2008
Unusual call activity in Chesapeake (CHK)

Chesapeake has traded 70,560 calls today and only 23,937 puts. ~more~

---

#083: Thu 7/31/2008
Unusual Options Activity for Thursday

Today we see action in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (HLX) as it trades 5,165 calls and only 697 puts with no news to report. ~more~

---

#082: Wed 7/30/2008
Unusual Options Activity for Wednesday

Today we see action in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (HLX) as it trades 2,875 calls and 859 puts with no major news to report. ~more~

---

#081: Tue 7/29/2008
Very heavy call action in Diamond Offshore (DO)

Calls are very active today in Diamond Offshore (DO) as 15,695 calls have traded against 743 puts. ~more~

---

Advantages of Call Options Over Stock
10/01/2007

Options were originally created to hedge or avoid risk. By purchasing or selling options, you can custom tailor the profit and loss profile of your holdings which is something that long stock holders cannot do. ~more~

---

Why all the Excitement about Options?
09/11/2007

While there are numerous advantages to options, most can be grouped into one of three categories. First, significantly less money is spent to gain control of stock. Second, investors can alter the profit and loss profiles to accept or reject particular risks. Third, investors can profit from a lack of movement in the stock, which is certainly something that cannot be done with stock ownership. Let's take a closer look at each of these reasons in turn. ~more~

---

Education Corner, Options - There's Risk in Reward
by Bill Johnson, 04/20/2006

Over the past few months, I've presented some hedging ideas and strategies for retail investors. Many of the questions I receive have a similar tone where people ask things like, "Wouldn't it be better to buy the $50 call instead of the $55?" or "Wouldn't it be better to sell a higher strike put so that you get a bigger credit?" While these are great questions, there is one simple way to answer them all decisively — by understanding the elusive concept of risk versus reward. ~more~

---