Earnings season is upon us again. In the next 2-4 weeks, a good portion of the publicly traded stocks will announce their earnings. These announcements have the potential to cause some big movements. The problem is we don’t know whether the earnings announcement will cause a bullish or bearish move. The straddle/strangle strategy is one way to try and capitalize on these big moves. A straddle is buying a call and a put for the same strike price. We don’t care whether the stock moves bullish or bearish as long […]

When we want to know what is going on in the stock market, most people will take a look at some broad market index such as the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) or the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU). These are two of the most widely used ways to measure the market. Some will also consider looking at the Nasdaq 100 Index ($NDX), or the Russell 2000 Small Cap Index ($RUT), or the Wilshire 5000 Composite Index ($WLSH). Another index we can look at is the Volatility Index ($VIX) or VIX. […]

Tomorrow is expiration time for the March monthly options.  If we had some covered call trades for March, do we need to take any action?  The general rule for covered call trades is to do nothing at expiration time.  The main reason to exit a covered call trade would be if the stock is, or looks to be, dropping significantly.  If the stock is holding steady or increasing in value since entering the trade, your best bet, under most circumstances, is to do nothing and let things play out. One […]