Welcome to our new video series, Options Stew, where we take a look back at what's been cookin' in the option pits this week. Join us as we sample just a few of the unusual option plays from the past week, with our "recipe" broken down into three unique segments:
So, whether you're a novice to the options arena or a seasoned option speculator, whet your palate with a helping of Options Stew by clicking the image below.
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Due to the diversity available to options traders, investors have many paths toward achieving a profit. For a bearish trader, the simplest path is to buy (to open) a put contract. By doing so, the trader is placing a bet that the underlying stock will trade significantly below the option's strike price by that contract's expiration date. This strategy is pretty straightforward, but it fails to take into account the potential complexities involved in positioning your portfolio to profit from stocks that are not in a clearly defined downtrend. What's more, due to the size of the drop needed in the underlying security, an outright put purchase often rules out stocks that have additional downside potential, but which could stall near technical support levels. read more...
McDonald's Corp (MCD: sentiment, chart, options) is in the news this morning as the company announced a 2.6% increase in January sales at restaurants open at least 13 months. Same-store sales in the closely watched U.S. region fell 0.7%, while those in Europe and in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region both rose 4.3%. read more...
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Option traders are betting on a continued slump for casino concern Bally Technologies Inc. (BYI: sentiment, chart, options) , despite an upbeat analyst endorsement over the weekend. read more...
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Research In Motion Limited (RIMM: sentiment, chart, options) has attracted an unusual amount of attention from option traders today – especially on the put side of the tape. In early afternoon activity, the BlackBerry maker has seen roughly 17,000 puts change hands, already surpassing the stock's expected single-session volume of about 15,000 puts. read more...
Earnings season is upon us, and investors all across Wall Street are hoping to take advantage of these potentially volatile few weeks. Large bull (and bear) gaps, upgrades and downgrades, and short squeezes all become increasingly more likely during this period, as companies meet, beat, or miss quarterly expectations. As such, it is imperative that traders be well equipped to deal with all of the eventualities. read more...
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Bullish call spreads are known by a variety of different names among options traders. But whether the position is a bull call spread, bullish debit spread, or a long vertical call spread, it is still constructed by purchasing an at-the-money or in-the-money call while simultaneously selling an out-of-the-money call. The reasoning behind pairing up these seemingly contradictory options is really quite simple: limited risk. read more...
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