Stocks and Trading Thread - Channeling your inner Mono

[Caliga]

I bought Vodafone stock last week.

ATTENTION BOARD EUROTRASH: Buy more Vodafone products PLZ.

[MadImmortalMan]

I bought a little GLD today. I may ease back into PSLV again if there is a significant dip in it soon. This is options expiration week, so we should know a bit better in a couple days how this post-silver-crash will shake out.

[Caliga]

I'm getting assraped by holding Ford right now.

[MadImmortalMan]

Maybe Brazilian religious iPhone apps or whatever it was will explode soon. 

[MadImmortalMan]

Damn, I hope none of you are holding RIMM.

[Ed Anger]

I've avoided RIM for a while now.

[Caliga]

Maybe Brazilian religious iPhone apps or whatever it was will explode soon. 

[MadImmortalMan]

My options experiment is nearing the end of the second month. The June calls expire on the 18th (this Sunday). I sold my June AA calls at .54 for a total take of 378 in time premiums. AA is worth..15.40 right now. I bought at just about 17, so I'm down 1200 in value there. I've made a little over 600 in time premiums over the two months while losing 1200 in stock value. I also received a $72 dividend payment on the AA stock on 5/25.


So, I'm down 525 or so. I suppose it could be worse. I could be down the whole 1200 for this shitty month. 

Today's looking up, at least.

Woohoo.

AA now trading at...14.67. So my open June 16 calls are expiring. I buy them back for a penny. I sell to open new July calls at a 13 strike price for 1.78. In the money but not much. This nets me $1246 in cash. The stock value is down $1624 from my original purchase price.


So, for May, June and July I've banked $1800 or so in time premiums while losing $1624 in stock value. Hopefully the market will rebound and I'll get my losses wiped out, but if the in the money calls I just sold get exercised during the next four weeks, I'll have made some money.

[Caliga]

Nice going.

[Ed Anger]

If Rimm drops a bit further, I may jump in thinking it is a takeover target. Hmmmmmmm

[MadImmortalMan]

If Rimm drops a bit further, I may jump in thinking it is a takeover target. Hmmmmmmm

I was thinking about that too. Here's some dude's take on it from SA:

Acquisition Scenario

The probability of Microsoft buying Research In Motion does not make much sense. All one has to do is study public statements by Microsoft and Nokia (NOK) related to their cooperation and the strategy of Microsoft as it relates to the acquisition of Skype, it becomes clear that there is not a technological or business reason for Microsoft to buy Research In Motion.

Google (GOOG), with the success of Android, certainly doesn't have the appetite to buy Research In Motion.

Carriers such as Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) would not want to buy Research In Motion for the fear of alienating Apple (AAPL) and Google. Cable operators, such as Comcast (CMCSA) have their focus on content and are not likely to jump to Research In Motion's rescue. If Comcast were to consider an acquisition in the wireless space, Sprint (S ) is a much better fit. Research In Motion has significant operations in Asia and Latin America where Comcast has no operations and thus no possibility of offering bundled services.

Satellite operator Dish Network (DISH) appears to be in the market for acquisitions, but it is better off engineering a merger with Direct TV (DTV).

Our analysis shows that there are not any obvious buyers of Research In Motion in Europe.

Indian and Chinese companies may have an interest but they tend to buy only when the assets are cheap. A good example is Tata Motors (TTM) of India buying Jaguar from Ford (F).

Our analysis shows that the Indian and Chinese companies will be attracted to Research In Motion at a stock price around $20.00.

The conclusion is that under this scenario, the value of Research In Motion is $20.00.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/275378-what-is-the-true-value-of-research-in-motion

Seems to point to nobody buying them, but you never know. There are a few potentials he doesn't mention there.

Edit: There is also the fact that Ballmer has a long history of doing things that don't "make much sense".

[Caliga]

Edit: There is also the fact that Ballmer has a long history of doing things that don't "make much sense".

Ballmer sucks.  So there's a very real possibility of Microsoft buying RIM.

[MadImmortalMan]

My options experiment is nearing the end of the second month. The June calls expire on the 18th (this Sunday). I sold my June AA calls at .54 for a total take of 378 in time premiums. AA is worth..15.40 right now. I bought at just about 17, so I'm down 1200 in value there. I've made a little over 600 in time premiums over the two months while losing 1200 in stock value. I also received a $72 dividend payment on the AA stock on 5/25.


So, I'm down 525 or so. I suppose it could be worse. I could be down the whole 1200 for this shitty month. 

Today's looking up, at least.

Woohoo.

AA now trading at...14.67. So my open June 16 calls are expiring. I buy them back for a penny. I sell to open new July calls at a 13 strike price for 1.78. In the money but not much. This nets me $1246 in cash. The stock value is down $1624 from my original purchase price.


So, for May, June and July I've banked $1800 or so in time premiums while losing $1624 in stock value. Hopefully the market will rebound and I'll get my losses wiped out, but if the in the money calls I just sold get exercised during the next four weeks, I'll have made some money.

The calls I sold last week at 1.79 are now selling at 2.29. Not that it matters to me. I've got my cash. But it would have made a $300 difference if I could have sold them at that price Friday. I need to find out if that's because the stock is up 3% or so, or if it's because call buyers like to re-up the first couple days of the option month. Time to research.



Edit: Seems to be almost entirely correlated to the stock price this far from expiration day. Which makes sense, because the $300 difference I didn't get from selling the calls up here I have got back in the stock value. (My losses are that much less than they were Friday.)

[Ed Anger]

My inner risk taker is wanting to buy 100 or 200 of NBG @~1.40. So far, my inner risk taker has been tied up and locked up in the spleen.

[Admiral Yi]

Dang.  I was expecting a big jump in Wallie World because of the USC decison decertifying the class action suit, but it's only up 25 cents.