#038: Mon 1/5/2009
State of The Energy & Materials Market As We Enter 2009

As we begin trading in 2009, the energy and materials markets are living throuogh their own bear market not too dissimilar from the equity markets. So how are we going to tackle 2009? First the most important variable on the price of energy and materials will be the economic activity in the U.S. and worldwide. It is important to remember that the U.S. is the largest customer of most countries. When the U.S. catches a cold, the rest of the world catches the flu. Unfortunately, the U.S. has a flu instead of a cold and as such the world could have a case of pneumonia. Our favorite trades will remain spread trades but we may continue to deploy either a call or put trade as the opportunity arises.

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#115: Mon 12/22/2008
Uusual Options Volume In The Energy & Commodity Universe

Valero (VLO) saw options activity jump 34% over its 20 day average. Both puts and calls were active. Other unusual options action included MON HMY GFI. ~more~

#114: Thu 12/18/2008
Closing the OIH December $75 Put To Complete Our Bearish Put Spread For a Loss of 18.92%

Earlier this week, we covered the December $70 Put (OIDXN) in OIH for $0.68. We sold this put at $3.55. Now we are closing the December $75 Put (OIDXW). We are long at $5.90 and will close here at $2.60. For a loss of $3.30. The difference on the spread is a loss of $0.43 on a spread cost of $2.35. The percentage loss is -18.92%. ~more~

#100: Mon 1/5/2009
Options action in the Energy/Materials patch

Options action is heavy in Valero (VLO) with calls outbidding puts 2:1. Activity is up by 22% today against the 20 day average. ~more~

#115: Mon 12/22/2008
Uusual Options Volume In The Energy & Commodity Universe

Valero (VLO) saw options activity jump 34% over its 20 day average. Both puts and calls were active. Other unusual options action included MON HMY GFI. ~more~

#114: Thu 12/18/2008
Closing the OIH December $75 Put To Complete Our Bearish Put Spread For a Loss of 18.92%

Earlier this week, we covered the December $70 Put (OIDXN) in OIH for $0.68. We sold this put at $3.55. Now we are closing the December $75 Put (OIDXW). We are long at $5.90 and will close here at $2.60. For a loss of $3.30. The difference on the spread is a loss of $0.43 on a spread cost of $2.35. The percentage loss is -18.92%. ~more~

#113: Wed 12/17/2008
Sell Halliburton (HAL) stock for a 17.61% gain

On October 29th, we bought calls in Halliburton. The calls were going to expire worthless so we bought the stock at $15.33 on November 21st and sold the $17.50 Puts for $4.00. They were closed yesterday for a profit of $3.42. The November Calls cost us $3.40 so we made a profit of .02 cents on the options and a profit of $2.68 on the stock. The total gain was $2.70 on a purchase price of $15.33 or 17.61%. ~more~

#112: Wed 12/17/2008
Taking Action on Our Remaining Call Position in Freeport McMoran (FCX)

Yesterday we coverd the Freeport McMoran (FCX) December 30 Call (FCXLE) for $.05 and they were put on at $2.10. This gives us a profit of $2.05 on the call sold. We remained with an open buy positon in the December 25 Call. it was purchased at ... ~more~

#038: Mon 1/5/2009
State of The Energy & Materials Market As We Enter 2009

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#037: Tue 12/16/2008
As the dollar goes, so goes the price of energy and commodity ETFs!

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#036: Tue 12/16/2008
Update on December Expirations and Recommendations

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#035: Mon 12/1/2008
Weekly Review: Is the dollar ready to roll over soon?

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#100: Mon 1/5/2009
Options action in the Energy/Materials patch

Options action is heavy in Valero (VLO) with calls outbidding puts 2:1. Activity is up by 22% today against the 20 day average. ~more~

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#099: Wed 12/24/2008
Unusual Options Activity From Monday & Tuesday

A twofer!! Here are the unusual options positions from the past two days. ~more~

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#098: Tue 12/16/2008
Fertilizer stocks see unusual action in options.

Options actions was heavy in Exxon (XOM), Potash (POT) and Mosaic (MOS) among others. ~more~

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#097: Thu 12/4/2008
Overall options activity high again in Exxon (XOM)

Yesterday we put on a put spread in Exxon (XOM) based on the unusual options activity. Ideas often begin upon review of this screen. Overall, today's action brought out no new insights. ~more~

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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~

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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~

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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~

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