Friday, June 26, 2009

stock market 6/19 option analysis

Stock

CAT
A
HD
nYX
TXN
AMZN
MRK

Strong

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Market is maturing for a real pullback. Why?

First, I was a strong bear in the past several weeks. If I were the same myself as I were a week ago, I would short with no hasitation at the end of today. However, I'm not so sure and did not take any action. Why, just too many people are buying on dip, and MM is strongly supporting this behavior so far.

I'm evening wondering whether I should buy some SDS right now in AH, however, with earnings from AAPL,EBAY etc beating consensus estimates, I'm afraid of MM may push it up further tomorrow to trap the bears who baught their position at the close today.

That's exactly what MM want to see before the decisive pullback move, especially if it's not just a pullback, they need people to buy whatever they sell.

With more and more bears trapped into the status I'm in right now, MM will start to short the market soon.

Secondly, today's move and its close is unique since the rally started in early March. Consider that it's obivious that the uptread is weakening in the past two weeks, with today's rally effort faded, especially its close at low of the day. It's hard to imagine market is able to negatate the drop the day before yesterday. Which implies, a down trend is almost confirmation in place.

It's quite obiviously to me I should add some short position right now. But as I said, I dare not to do it.

With good earnings from AAPL, EBAY (tech is very strong these days), perhaps there is something left for the bulls. So not yet, bears, be patient for another day or two.

But I still stongly believe this will be the first down week since the rally started, which means either tomorrow, or Friday, we may see a big down day.

For bears, better to so small up and down tomorrow to release any energy left for the bulls, and a decisive down trend move on Friday to end the week.

Let's see what's going to happen. I'm afraid MM may not give me time to add short position ( I mean it will be too late when I have made up my mind.

Post it as an indicator for others to make their judgement of market status.

4/23/2009 Earning Report Market Data

Before Market Opens:
Economics:
8:30am ET

* Initial Jobless Claims for the week of 4/18 - Street expects 639K

Earnings:
Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) - consensus EPS $0.76
Bunge (NYSE: BG) - consensus EPS $0.49
CME Group (NYSE: CME) - consensus EPS $3.20
Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP) - consensus EPS $0.73
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) - consensus EPS $0.42
Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS)
Danaher (NYSE: DHR) - consensus EPS $0.73
Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP) - consensus EPS $0.11
EMC (NYSE: EMC) - consensus EPS $0.16
Exelon (NYSE: EXC) - consensus EPS $1.14
Fifth Third (Nasdaq: FITB) - consensus loss $0.27
Goodrich (NYSE: GR) - consensus EPS $1.07
ITT (NYSE: ESI) - consensus EPS $1.41
JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) - consensus EPS $0.03
L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) - consensus EPS $1.63
LB Foster (Nasdaq: FSTR) - consensus EPS $0.27
Marriott (NYSE: MAR) - consensus EPS $0.14
Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI) - consensus loss $0.33
National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) - consensus EPS $1.06
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) - consensus EPS $0.37
Old Dominion Freight Line (Nasdaq: ODFL) - consensus EPS $0.11
Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN) - consensus EPS $0.34
Potash (NYSE: POT) - consensus EPS $0.86
Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) - consensus EPS $1.01
Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) - consensus loss $0.34
ScanSource (Nasdaq: SCSC) - consensus EPS $0.24
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) - consensus loss $0.65
Hershey (NYSE: HSY) - consensus EPS $0.34
UPS (NYSE: UPS) - consensus EPS $0.56

Intraday or Not Specified:
Economics:
10am ET

* Existing Home Sales for March - Street expects 4.65M

Earnings:
AmSurg (Nasdaq: AMSG) - consensus EPS $0.39
AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO) - consensus loss $0.67
AutoNation (NYSE: AN) - consensus EPS $0.16
Avocent (Nasdaq: AVCT) - consensus EPS $0.21
Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) - consensus EPS $0.08
CoBiz (Nasdaq: COBZ) - consensus EPS $0.01
Deckers Outdoor (Nasdaq: DECk) - consensus EPS $0.64
DeVry (NYSE: DV) - consensus EPS $0.67
Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) - consensus EPS $2.22
EZCorp (Nasdaq: EZPW) - consensus EPS $0.36
Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI) - consensus EPS $0.59
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) - consensus EPS $0.22
KVH Industries (Nasdaq: KVHI) - consensus loss $0.18
Nucor (NYSE: NUE) - consensus loss $0.57
Philip Morris Int'l (NYSE: PM) - consensus EPS $0.69
Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) - consensus loss $0.39
SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) - consensus EPS $0.25
Taser (Nasdaq: TASR) - consensus loss $0.01
Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) - consensus EPS $0.66
US Airways (NYSE: LCC) - consensus loss $2.38

After Market Closes:
Earnings:
Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) - consensus EPS $0.31
American Express (NYSE: AXP) - consensus EPS $0.12
AmeriCredit (NYSE: ACF) - consensus loss $0.30
Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) - consensus EPS $1.15
Bucyrus (Nasdaq: BUCY) - consensus EPS $0.68
Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) - consensus EPS $0.97
CF Industries (NYSE: CF) - consensus EPS $0.71
Chubb (NYSE: CB) - consensus EPS $1.38
City National (NYSE: CYN) - consensus EPS $0.24
Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM) - consensus EPS $0.07
Con-Way (NYSE: CNW) - consensus loss $0.22
Data Domain (Nasdaq: DDUP) - consensus EPS $0.06
Eastman Chemical (NYSE: EMN) - consensus EPS $0.14
FNB Corp. (NYSE: FNB) - consensus EPS $0.12
J&J Snack Foods (Nasdaq: JJSF) - consensus EPS $0.25
Juniper Networks (Nasdaq: JNPR) - consensus EPS $0.17
KLA-Tencor (Nasdaq: KLAC) - consensus loss $0.26
MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) - consensus loss $0.02
Micrel (Nasdaq: MCRL) - consensus EPS $0.01
Microsemi (Nasdaq: MSCC) - consensus EPS $0.18
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) - consensus EPS $0.39
Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) - consensus EPS $0.31
PMC-Sierra (Nasdaq: PMCS) - consensus EPS $0.01
Ramco-Gershenson (NYSE: RPT) - consensus EPS $0.55
The Cheesecake Factory (Nasdaq: CAKE) - consensus EPS $0.10
YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW) - consensus loss $1.90

Saturday, April 18, 2009

How to become a profitable trader

Every trader has a learning curve. No one is immune to proving themselves to the trading Gods. When you have paid your dues they will open the vault to you. Unfortunately the key to unlocking the vault has nothing to do with hard work. It has everything to do with discipline.

"Knowing more" or studying harder does not necessarily make you a better trader. As a matter of fact if you study too much you will be confused and that leads to indecision. A huge enemy of profitable trading. It requires a plan with an edge, the ability to focus and the skill to refocus.

There is always the same curve for would be professionals, it is just a matter of where you are in the curve.

you lose money
you learn how to not lose money
you learn how to manage a trade and be green on the screen
you accept trading is about probabilities and learn how to use leverage

When a trader starts out and is losing money it is usually because he is trying to make money first. In other words focusing on how much a trade can make instead how do I manage risk.

When trader finally learns to focus on risk first, then assess profit potential he can now get more screen time. He begins to see the trades forming and takes losses as he should but he is not able to put all the pieces together. His timing is off.

Next trader learns that good entry price comes from anticipating what he will do before he needs to do it. He is no longer chasing. He is patient to get his price. He is making some money, but not pulling the trigger as quickly as he should, he doesn't trust himself yet.

What does he need to trust? He needs to trust he will do what he is supposed to no matter what happens next. That is where confidence comes from.

When trader reaches the final stage he now expects to make money. Does that mean he will make money every day? NO. Trader does however have full confidence he will follow his plan which allows him to use more leverage when probabilities and trade expectation are clear.

Ask yourself honestly where you are in the curve. This unbiased assesssment of what you need to work on will be the quickest and most productive road to consistent profitability. Looking in the mirror and lying to yourself will lead to years of frustration. You are either making money or not. The P&L doesn't lie

There are definite steps to trading success, know where you are and take the next step.

Ask a dumb question: how to apply "covered call"? from where broker? Thanks in advance.

A:
1. First you need to apply option trading capability in your account from your broker or trading firm. Sell covered call is the lowest level in option trading and has the least risk comparing other option tradings.

2. Option is the proxy of stock, it is a right to buy/sell certain stock in certain time period at fixed price. ( Strick Price)
To sell covered one call you should have at least 100 shrs underline stock. One call contact represents 100 shrs stock. One call contract means you have the right to buy 100 shrs of the stock in certain time frame at fixed price.

Sell covered call is just opposite of buying call.
By selling a call contract to a buyer, you have the obligation to provide 100 shrs of underline stock in certain period of time at fixed price. Since you already have underline stock, so your sold call is "covered" by your stock.

If you do not have stock, you still can sell call, but the call you sell is "naked" meaning the call does not has underline stock to cover. If buyer want to use his/her call contract to buy stock, you have to buy stock from market and provide these shares to the buyer at pre-defined price. ( or contact price.) For example. You sell a $50 August call of ABC stock at $2 and stock price is also $50 at the time. 10 days after you sell the call, the stock price went up to $60, the buyer has the right to buy 100shrs ABC stock from you at $50 regardless current stock price. You have to buy 100 shrs of ABC from market and deliver those shrs to the buyer at $50/shr That is dangerous if you are not seasonal trader.

3. After you done 1 and 2, you are ready to sell covered call. There are two parts to decide call price: 1)Intrinsic value 2) Time value which also related to Implied Volatility (IV) of the stock.

1) Intrinsic value: example: stock price is $50, for $45 call has $5 intrinsic value. (50-45=5)
2) Time value: The longer time period of contract contain, the higher time value of contract will have. Example: stock price is $50, For $50 call, there is no intinsic value but only the time value. August $50 call price is $2, so the time value from now to 8/15/08 (OE day) is $2. For Sep. $50 call it cost $3.

You can sell 1 August $50 call and get $2. By 8/15/08, if stock still has price $50 or under, you get $2 as the call contract expired worthlessly. Since you still own the stock, you can sell next month call again.

The IV plays important role in option price. High IV means stock price moving very quick in either direction. High IV generate high time value of the stock option.

For the covered call seller, the best time you sell the covered call is when IV has spike and option become very expensive. Seller has good chance to get profit. For the buyer, just do opposite of it, buy option when IV is low.

Normally, sell next month covered call is the best interest of seller. Because option time value decay within 30 days increase exponentially.

4. Something you should know about selling covered call.

Selling covered call is not risk free operation, in general there are two risks involved in this strategy:
1) If stock fall sharply after you sell covered call, you can not cut loss by selling the underline stock.
2) If stock up significantly after you sell covered call, you can not sell the stock before OE to lock in the profit.

It is not suitable for downside protection, since the premium is limited. For those stocks which has singnificant down side risk, this strategy is not suitable.

It is also not suitable for the stock which has significant upside potential in near term, become it locked up underline stock until OE. Share holders could miss good profit opportunities.

This strategy is suitable most for those stocks which moving in a range and having a positive slop in general.

The E Mini S&P Futures Contract （ES）

The E-mini S&P 500 futures contract (ES) is a trading vehicle offerred by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The price of the Emini SP closely follows the price of the S&P 500 Index. The Emini SP is a perfect and economical way in which to trade 500 of the largest and most important U.S. stocks.

The Emini SP is the smaller version of its "big brother", the standard S&P 500 futures contract. The Emini SP is one-fifth the size of the standard contract. The "E" in Emini stands for electronically traded and the "mini" means the smaller version of the standard contract.

Each full point of an Emini SP futures contract is valued at $50.00. The price of the Emini SP moves in one-quarter increments of $12.50. Each of these one-quarter movements is called a "tick". If the Emini SP moved 3.50 points, it would equal a move of $175.00 ( 3.50 points x $50 per point = $175.00).

The current price of one Emini SP contract is 820.00 points. That means the current market value of one Emini SP contract is $41,000 (820 points x $50 per point). For you to daytrade an Emini SP contract you are only required to put down a very small percentage of the current value of the contract. The amount required, which is similar to "margin", varies among brokers but could be as low or even lower than $500 per contract. You therefore can control an asset currently worth $41,000 by putting just $500 down.

The Emini SP futures contracts expire on a quarterly basis in March, June, September, and December. The trading symbols for 2009 are ESH9 for March; ESM9 for June; ESU9 for September: and ESZ9 for December. There can be more than one of the above contracts traded at the same time. For trading purposes though, we are most interested in and only trade what is called the "lead" contract. For instance, now both the March 2009 and the June 2009 contracts can be simultaneously traded. The "lead" contract is the March 2009 contract and that is the one we would be currently trading.

Normally, the last day that we trade the current lead contract is the Wednesday before the second Thursday of a contract month. The last day to trade the March 2009 contract therefore would be March 11, 2009. The first day that we trade the new lead contract is therefore the second Thursday of the contract month. The day that we start trading the new lead contract is called "rollover day". Rollover day to the June 2009 contract would be March 12, 2009. Exception: If the 1st day of a contract month falls on a Friday, the first Thursday of the month would be rollover day.

how to hedge overnight position risk

Today's market has big gap up and gap down. Those who have short term or long term swing positions can easily be caught off guard.
So it is crucial to know how to control your risk under this situation. I will take an example to explain the idea. If you have bought 1000 shares of DIA and current price is 71.35 and your stop loss in your mind is 70.99. If the next day gap down open at 68, you will get fill around 68, which is well below your stop loss. What you can do is to use future to hedge your overnight risk taking advantage of the fact of almost 24 hr trading schedule for YM. Write a small program to automatically short 2 contracts of YM (roughly the same as 1000 shares of DIA) if YM retraces 36 points, which is equivalent to 71.35 - 70.99 = 0.36 points of DIA.

Earning Report

Fortune 500 Earnings reports day (part)

Financial Sector

Rank Company Website Ticker Earnings Date Estimate EPS Actual EPS Act/Est % Report Period
9 Bank of America Corp. http://www.bankofamerica.com BAC 04/20/2009 0.05
122 U.S. Bancorp http://www.usbank.com USB 04/21/2009 0.20
172 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. http://www.bnymellon.com BK 04/21/2009 0.63
225 State Street Corp. http://www.statestreet.com STT 04/21/2009 1.02
245 Regions Financial http://www.regions.com RF 04/21/2009 (0.42)
321 KeyCorp http://www.key.com KEY 04/21/2009 (0.21)
447 Northern Trust Corp. http://www.northerntrust.com NTRS 04/21/2009 0.96
41 Wells Fargo http://www.wellsfargo.com WFC 04/22/2009 0.41
193 SunTrust Banks http://www.suntrust.com STI 04/23/2009 (0.65)
264 PNC Financial Services Group http://www.pnc.com PNC 04/23/2009 0.42
307 Fifth Third Bancorp http://www.53.com FITB 04/23/2009 (0.27)
425 Marshall & Ilsley Corp. http://www.mibank.com MI 04/23/2009 (0.33)

Insurance Sector

Rank Company Website Ticker Earnings Date Estimate EPS Actual EPS Act/Est % Report Period
43 MetLife http://www.metlife.com MET 04/30/2009 0.49
64 Allstate http://www.allstate.com ALL 05/07/2009 1.23
74 Prudential Financial http://www.prudential.com PRU 05/06/2009 0.99
93 Travelers Cos. http://www.travelers.com TRV 04/30/2009 1.30
165 AFLAC http://www.aflac.com AFL 04/29/2009 1.16
180 Chubb http://www.chubb.com CB 04/23/2009 1.38
246 Lincoln National http://www.lfg.com LNC 05/05/2009 0.78
251 Unum Group http://www.unum.com UNM 04/29/2009 0.60
312 First American Corp. http://www.firstam.com FAF 04/30/2009 0.28
435 Fidelity National Financial http://www.mibank.com FNF 04/27/2009 0.18

top 50

1 Wal-Mart Stores http://www.walmart.com WMT 05/14/2009 0.76
2 Exxon Mobil http://www.exxonmobil.com XOM 04/30/2009 0.96
3 Chevron http://www.chevron.com CVX 05/01/2009 0.81
4 General Motors http://www.gm.com GM
5 ConocoPhillips http://www.conocophillips.com/ COP 04/23/2009 0.44
6 General Electric http://www.ge.com GE 04/17/2009 0.21 0.26 23.8% Q1'09
7 Ford Motor http://www.ford.com F 04/24/2009 (1.21)
8 Citigroup http://www.citigroup.com C 04/17/2009 (0.34) (0.12) 64.7% Q1'09
9 Bank of America Corp. http://www.bankofamerica.com BAC 04/20/2009 0.05
10 AT&T http://www.att.com T 04/22/2009 0.48
11 Berkshire Hathaway http://www.berkshirehathaway.com BRK-A
12 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. http://www.jpmorganchase.com JPM 04/16/2009 0.32 0.40 25.0% Q1'09
13 American International Group http://www.aig.com AIG
14 Hewlett-Packard http://www.hp.com HPQ 05/19/2009 0.85
15 International Business Machines http://www.ibm.com IBM 04/20/2009 1.66
16 Valero Energy http://www.valero.com VLO 04/27/2009 0.50
17 Verizon Communications http://www.verizon.com VZ 04/27/2009 0.59
18 McKesson http://www.mckesson.com MCK 05/04/2009 1.15
19 Cardinal Health http://www.cardinal.com CAH
20 Goldman Sachs Group http://www.goldmansachs.com GS
21 Morgan Stanley http://www.morganstanley.com MS 04/22/2009 N/A
22 Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com HD 05/19/2009 0.27
23 Procter & Gamble http://www.pg.com PG 04/30/2009 0.80
24 CVS Caremark http://www.cvs.com CVS 05/05/2009 0.54
25 UnitedHealth Group http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com UNH 04/21/2009 0.67
26 Kroger http://www.kroger.com KR
27 Boeing http://www.boeing.com BA 04/22/2009 0.91
28 AmerisourceBergen http://www.amerisourcebergen.com ABC 04/23/2009 0.89
29 Costco Wholesale http://www.costco.com COST 05/28/2009 0.54
30 Merrill Lynch http://www.ml.com
31 Target http://www.target.com TGT 05/20/2009 0.50
32 State Farm Insurance Cos. http://www.statefarm.com
33 WellPoint http://www.wellpoint.com WLP 04/22/2009 1.24
34 Dell http://www.dell.com DELL
35 Johnson & Johnson http://www.jnj.com JNJ 04/14/2009 1.22 1.26 3.3% Q1'09
36 Marathon Oil http://www.marathon.com MRO 04/30/2009 0.41
37 Lehman Brothers Holdings http://www.lehman.com LEH
38 Wachovia Corp. http://www.wachovia.com WB
39 United Technologies http://www.utc.com UTX 04/21/2009 0.78
40 Walgreen http://www.walgreens.com/ WAG
41 Wells Fargo http://www.wellsfargo.com WFC 04/22/2009 0.41
42 Dow Chemical http://www.dow.com DOW 04/30/2009 (0.21)
43 MetLife http://www.metlife.com MET 04/30/2009 0.46
44 Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com MSFT 04/23/2009 0.39
45 Sears Holdings http://www.searsholdings.com SHLD
46 United Parcel Service http://www.ups.com UPS 04/23/2009 0.57
47 Pfizer http://www.pfizer.com PFE 04/28/2009 0.49
48 Lowe's http://www.lowes.com LOW
49 Time Warner http://www.timewarner.com TWX 04/29/2009 0.39
50 Caterpillar http://www.cat.com CAT 04/21/2009 0.06

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Trading Option Stock Gap UP/Down

Morning Gap Strategies

Having trouble with those irritating morning gaps? You're not alone. Many of us spend hours working on new setups, only to watch them go up in smoke overnight. But there's no need to throw out all of your hard work just yet. You can do a quick analysis, adjust your trading strategy and get into a good position well after the crowd pulls the trigger on a gap play.

Many traders still place market orders before the open and walk away. Unfortunately, this is a sucker move that yields the worst fills imaginable. Take a few extra minutes to plan your gap entry, and you'll get much better prices. No, this isn't a daytrading column, although it will benefit anyone who plays in the intraday markets. It's for swing traders trying to fine-tune their entries and get positioned where they can take home the most money. Here are some strategies you can use.

Stand aside at the open, and use the third-bar swing to find the best gap entry. This is a dependable reversal or expansion move on the five-minute chart, occurring 11 or 12 minutes into the new trading day. This phenomenon is a relic of the old 15-minute quote delay. In past years, painting the tape before retail investors could access stock prices ensured a few extra pennies for market insiders. Because retailers were the last "paper" in the door, natural forces would then take over and trigger reversals or breakouts. Although real-time market access has grown substantially, this third-bar swing still shows its face on many days.

Let the stock draw the first three five-minute bars, and then use the high and low of this "three-bar range" as support and resistance levels. A buy signal issues when price exceeds the high of the three-bar range after an up gap. A sell signal issues when price exceeds the low of the three-bar range after a down gap. It's a simple technique that works like a charm in many cases. If you use this technique, though, a few caveats are in order to avoid whipsaws and other market traps. The most common is a first swing that lasts longer than three bars. If an obvious range builds in four, five or even six bars, use those to define your support and resistance levels. Also consider the higher noise level in five-minute charts. A breakout that extends only a tick or two can be easily reversed and trap you in a sudden loss. So let others take the bait at these levels, while you find pullbacks and narrow range bars for trade execution.

Gap location is more important than the gap itself. Does the opening bar push price into longer-term support or resistance? A strong up gap may force a stock through several resistance levels and plant it firmly on top of new support. Or it can push it straight into an impenetrable barrier, from which the path of least resistance is straight down.

Three-bar range support and resistance often need to complete a testing pattern before they will yield to higher or lower prices. This comes in the form of a small cup and handle, or an inverse cup-and-handle pattern. Simply stated, price reverses the first time it tries to exceed an old high or low, but succeeds on the subsequent try.

Price gaps generate other action levels as well. The most obvious is the support line in an up gap (or resistance line in a down gap). We'll call these "reverse break" lines. Violation of the reverse break can trigger price acceleration toward the gap fill line. These market mechanics make perfect sense: everyone who entered a position in the direction of the gap is losing money once price moves past the reverse break line.

The gap fill line marks support in an up gap and resistance in a down gap. In other words, the odds favor a reversal when price reaches it. Paradoxically, this is a terrible place for swing traders to enter new positions. The reverse break line will resist price from re-entering the three-bar range. In fact, price bouncing like a pinball from the fill line to the reverse break line and back to the fill line sets off a powerful trading signal in the opposite direction. It predicts the demise of the gap and a significant reversal.

The flip side of this reversal is a failure of a failure signal. In other words, price overcomes resistance at the reverse break line and retests the high of an up gap (or low of a down gap). The ability of price to retest these levels issues a strong signal to take positions in the direction of the gap.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

march 26 2009 Market Event

Before Market Opens:
Economics:
8:30am ET

* Initial Jobless Claims for the week of 3/21 - Street expects 650K
* Final GDP for Q4 - Street expects down 6.6%

Earnings:
ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) - consensus EPS $0.37
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) - consensus EPS $0.37
Fred's (Nasdaq: FRED) - consensus EPS $0.22
GameStop (NYSE: GME) - consensus EPS $1.34
Synta Pharma (Nasdaq: SNTA) - consensus loss $0.88
UTi Worldwide (Nasdaq: UTIW) - consensus EPS $0.23

Intraday or Not Specified:
Earnings:
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) - consensus EPS $0.62
ARYx Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ARYX) - consensus loss $0.61
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) - consensus EPS $1.40
Conn's (Nasdaq: CONN) - consensus EPS $0.63
Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC) - consensus loss $1.03
Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) - consensus loss $0.02
Wet Seal (Nasdaq: WTSLA) - consensus EPS $0.07

After Market Closes:
Earnings:
FreeSeas (Nasdaq: FREE) - consensus EPS $0.36
Response Genetics (Nasdaq: RGDX) - consensus loss $0.25
Smart Modular (Nasdaq: SMOD) - consensus loss $0.01
Spectrum Controls (Nasdaq: SPEC) - consensus EPS $0.20
SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) - consensus EPS $0.52
TIBCO Software (Nasdaq: TIBX) - consensus EPS $0.08
Xyratex (Nasdaq: XRTX) - consensus loss $0.26

Stock Options Tax Information

Options capital gains from trading

Calculating capital gains from options trading adds additional complexity when filing your taxes.

A stock option is a securities contract that conveys to its owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a particular stock at a specified price on or before a given date. This right is granted by the seller of the option in return for the amount paid (premium) by the buyer.

Any gains or losses resulting from trading equity options are treated as capital gains or losses and are reported on IRS Schedule D.

Option Sales

IRS Publication 550 page 57 features a table of what happens when a PUT or CALL option is sold by the holder. The table is summarized below:

* Please note that if you are the holder of a put or call option (you bought the option) and you sell it before it expires, your gain or loss is reported as a short-term or long-term capital gain depending on how long you held the option.

If you held the option for 365 days or less before you sold it, it is a short-term capital gain.
If you held the option for more than 365 days before you sold it, it is a long-term capital gain.

However, if you are the writer of a put or call option (you sold the option) and you buy it back before it expires, your gain or loss is reported is considered short-term no matter how long you held the option.

Option Expirations

All stock options have an expiration date. If an option expires, then this closes the option trade and a gain or loss is calculated by subtracting the price paid (purchase price) for the option from the sales price of the option. It doesn't matter if you bought the option first or sold it first.

If you bought an option and it expires worthless, you naturally have a loss. Likewise, if you sold an option and it expires worthless, you naturally have a gain. If your equity option expires, you generated a capital gain or loss, usually short-term because you held the option for one year or less. But if it was held longer, you have a long-term capital loss.

IRS Publication 550 page 57 features a table of what happens when a PUT or CALL option expires. The table is summarized below:

* Please note that if you are the holder of a put or call option (you bought the option) and it expires, your gain or loss is reported as a short-term or long-term capital gain depending on how long you held the option.

If you held the option for 365 days or less before it expired, it is a short-term capital gain.
If you held the option for more than 365 days before it expired, it is a long-term capital gain.

However, if you are the writer of a put or call option (you sold the option) and it expires, your gain or loss is reported is considered short-term no matter how long you held the option.

Sounds simple enough, but it gets a much more complicated if your option gets exercised.

Option Exercises and Stock Assignments

Since all option contracts give the buyer the right to buy or sell a given stock at a set price (the strike price), when an option is exercised someone exercised their rights and you may be forced to buy the stock (the stock is put to you) at the PUT option strike price, or you may be forced to sell the stock (the stock is called away from you) at the CALL option strike price.

There are special IRS rules for options that get exercised, whether you as the holder of the option (you bought the option) exercised your rights, or someone else as the holder of the option (you sold the option) exercised their rights.

IRS Publication 550 page 57 features a table of what happens when a PUT or CALL option is exercised. The table is summarized below:

Your option position therefore does NOT get reported on schedule d, but it's proceeds gets included in the stock position from the assignment.

When importing option exercise transactions from brokerages, there is no automated method to adjust the cost basis of the stock being assigned. Brokers do not provide enough detail to identify which stock transactions should be adjusted and which option transactions should be deleted.

Broker 1099 and Options

Remember that broker 1099 we referred to earlier? Don’t expect to see your gross proceeds for any options trades accounted for here! Most broker 1099s only account for stock trades, which leaves an active trader “high and dry” when it comes time to complete the IRS Schedule D or Form 6781. And don’t forget: just because an option transaction isn’t listed on your 1099 doesn’t mean you don’t have to report it to the IRS and pay any tax liability.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Zecco Trading

Equity Trades

Equity trades include stock and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). With Zecco Trading, you get 10 free stock trades every month when you maintain a $25,000 net equity balance or execute at least 25 trades each month (paid or free). Otherwise it’s just $4.50 per trade. See details. (Note: There are transactional fees on sell orders in the free trades.)

	Zecco Trading	E*Trade	TD Ameritrade	Scottrade	OptionsXpress
Internet	Free	$12.99	$9.99	$7.00	$14.95 (0-8 trades per quarter) and $9.95 (9 trades + /quarter)
Broker Assisted	$19.99	$12.99 (+$45.00)	$44.99	$27.00	$9.95

Options Trades

As a Zecco Trading customer online options trades are $4.50 plus $0.50 per contract with no minimums. Options exercises and assignments are $4.50.

	Zecco Trading	E*Trade	TD Ameritrade	Scottrade	OptionsXpress
Online Trade (+ contract)	$4.50 (+ $0.50)	$12.99 (+ $0.75)	$9.99 (+ $0.75)	$7.00 (+ $1.25)	$14.95 (+ $1.50)
Broker Assisted (+ contract)	$19.99 (+ $0.75)	$57.99 (+ $0.75)	$44.99 (+ $0.75)	$27.00 (+ $1.25)	$14.95 (+ $1.50)

Etrade Stock and Options

Transaction Pricing

Stock and Options

Qualifications	1500+ trades/quarter	150-1499 trades/quarter	$50,000+ in assets or 30-149 trades/quarter	Less than $50,000 in assets and 0-29 trades/quarter
Stock and Options Trades	$6.99	$7.99	$9.99	$12.99¹
Simple Options (options contract fee per contract)	$6.99 plus $0.75	$7.99 plus $0.75	$9.99 plus $0.75	$12.99 plus $0.75
Options Contract Fee	$0.75

Complex Options

Options/Options (options contract fee per contract in both legs)	$6.99 plus $0.75	$7.99 plus $0.75	$9.99 plus $0.75	$12.99 plus $0.75
Stock/Options (options contract/contract)	$6.99 plus $6.99 plus $0.75	$7.99 plus $7.99 plus $0.75	$9.99 plus $9.99 plus $0.75	$12.99 plus $12.99 plus $0.75
Options Exercise/Assignments	$19.99

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Stomach Ache

A. Syndrome differentiation

(a) Differential diagnosis:

Stomach ache should be distinguished from angina pectoris, hypochondriac pain and abdominal pain. Although angina pectoris is a disorder of the heart meridians characterized by precordial pain, it occasionally manifests itself as an epigastric pain. In this case, it may be differentiated by the colicky character of its pain and its accompanying symptoms such as suffocative sensation, sweating, coldness of limbs, indistinct pulse, etc. Stomach ache caused by liver-qi attacking the stomach may manifest itself as a radiating pain to the hypochondria, but the epigastrium is the primary painful site. Abdominal pain may complicate with stomach ache, and the two disorders can be distinguished from each other by the analysis of their causes and the accompanying symptoms.

(b) Differentiation between asthenia and sthenia syndromes:

The asthenia-syndrome of stomache is characterized by a sudden onset, a prolonged course with intermittent relief and pain relievable by pressure and warmth. This type is mostly due to deficiency of spleen-yang and stomach-yang or insufficiency of stomach-yin and is difficult to cure. The sthenia-syndrome of stomach ache is marked by an insidious onset, a short course and pain associated with tenderness. This type usually results from retention of cold in the stomach, immoderate eating and drinking, an attack of liver-qi on the stomach or stagnation of blood in the stomach, and it responds well to medication. Moreover, cases with hemorrhage due to the involvement of collaterals by blood stasis commonly manifest themselves as a primary asthenia-syndrome and a secondary sthenia-syndrome.

B. Therapeutic principles

Regulating qi circulation and the stomach and arresting pain are the general therapeutic principles for stomach ache, which may be modified according to the cause and the presenting syndrome of the individual case.

Best Headache Medicine

Since headaches are the recurring feature in your life it is better for you to understand the root cause, the genesis of headache in you. It is very important to train yourself in handling them depending upon the nature and severity of the headache.

In fact headache medicine training appears to be the next logical step. The achievement affecting the secular life especially in the urban and metropolitan centers are stupendous and as such the reasons for the headaches have also increased manifold.

It is normal for you to treat migraine headache with over the counter medications. It is the accepted practice every where, though it may not the best practice. You know that such medication can not provide you with permanent cure. But the pain and confusion associated with the migraine headache is so severe that you are willing to swallow anything to get rid of that condition.

The instant relief that you get is all that matters. You very well know that your pain is suppressed not eliminated with these medicines. Such pain-killers do generally bring along with them their trusted side-effects which are not at all good for you in the long run. If you are one of those who get side effects more severely than the original disease, your suffering will be more.

Common Cold Medicine

Cold viruses are contained mainly through the nose and spread through nasal fluid which is why it is so important for people to wash their hands after they sneeze or cough. Using Kleenex for tissue can be very helpful in preventing the spread of a cold. Children should always be encouraged to use Kleenex and to keep anti-bacterial soap on hand at school.

Even when you are trying to prevent a cold or the spreading of a cold, inevitably your child will have several during their many years at school and this is something that you might as well plan for well in advance. It is smart to have a medicine cabinet well stocked and ready to go for the days when a cold will hit your young child or someone else in your family. Make sure you have a variety of cold medicines to serve everyone in the family when the cold and flu season arrives.

Vicks Vapor rub is always good to have on hand to put on your sick child’s neck and throat area when he or she isn’t feeling well. In addition to the Vicks treatment you need to choose some internal medicines which will quickly help contain the cold.

High fevers will need immediate attention by Children’s Tylenol, Children’s Motrin or another form of the above. For instance, Children’s Tylenol plus cold and cough can help your child battle the days of the cold. Be sure to read the directions and don’t mix medications with anything else without checking with your child’s pharmacist or doctor.

Dimetapp is a favorite cold and allergy liquid that many children don’t mind to take because of the grape-flavored medicine that has long since been a favorite. Elix Sure is another great cold medicine for children who are a little under the weather. And of course there are many more medications for children and adults alike.

Natural home remedies are still among the favorite cure for a common cold and many say that since the common cold is indeed a viral infection and can not be cured by any antibiotics or penicillin, home remedies will work just as well as anything else and that may very well be true.

Hot teas and teas with lemon and honey have long been regarded as a great tea for common cold and the common sore throat. Antioxidant teas and vitamin C have been said to effectively fight the wrath of the common cold. Gargling salt water with warm water and salt has always been a favorite among moms for children complaining of a sore throat.

Other things that have been said to cure the common cold include a zinc lozenge which can be taken at the onset of a cold. The lozenges are said to cut the time that someone has a cold almost in half. However, this is not proven as of yet and would be hard to prove because people fall ill with a common cold gradually and often times don’t realize they have the cold until their immune system wears down completely.

Another old remedy for the common cold is the remedy of good old fashioned alcohol! And that isn’t the rubbing alcohol that you buy in a pharmacy, it’s the drinkable alcohol! A hot toddy is said to cure the common cold if you drink enough of them. A hot toddy is made with one tablespoon of honey, 3 shots of brandy, lemon and tea. It is something that many believe does work if you sip on several per day during your common cold ailments.

Rock-n-rye is an old stout drink that many people can’t stomach but if you can drink it straight up in a couple of shot glasses, you’ll quickly see a difference. If not, you may at least have an alcohol buzz!

Cold remedies and cures for the common cold can certainly raise some eyebrows because many people have some really strange beliefs as to what cures the common colds. Still, other factors play into how quickly someone will recuperate from the cold. Bed rest can help speed up a recovery as well as getting a good night’s sleep with at least eight hours per night in rest.

Gatorade and other fluids will help you keep yourself well hydrated while you are ill. Keeping warm with mittens and scarves when you go outside will ensure that you don’t take a backset on any possible recuperation when you must go out into the cold weather. Be smart and bundle up in warm clothing if you must go outside when you are sick.

Kleenex and throat lozenges on hand is always a good idea and making sure you don’t forget the Vick’s vapor rub when you are going to be inside for the rest of the day is a good idea too. You don’t want to wear this outside of course, but you should keep your neck and chest saturated in it when you can because you will breathe easier which can often make you feel better instantly when you have a cold. Nasal passages are clear from the vapors that you smell when you use the Vick’s Vapor Rub.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Can common cold affect on sperm?

Think of sperm as something that is being made all the time but that takes 72 or so days to mature. So, in the testicle, there are sperm that are young and mature and every stage in between.

When a man gets a fever or illness, all of those sperm, both young and old can be affected. That means that the sperm can be abnormal for the next 72 days or so. However, they may NOT be affected. It depends on the illness.

Therefore, to have a sperm sample that has no chance of being affected by this fever, one has to wait about 2.5 months to retest.

Is it safe to take cold medications during pregnancy?

I work in a pharmacy and Robitussin is safe to take. It has to be the plain kind though. Stay away from anything that says DM , which adds ingredients for other symptoms. However, there has been no problems linked to the DM variety either. Whomever posted that Guaifensein is categorized as a class B drug is wrong. It is actually a class B drug, which means that there appears to be no genetic or pregnancy risk associated with its use. People, please make sure you are 100% correct before posting incorrect information which may frighten others who have taken this. A number of nonprescription cold and cough medicines are safe during pregnancy. These include Tylenol (the FDA puts this in Class B), antihistamines such as Claritin (Class B) and saline nasal sprays (Class A). To see current classifications make sure you are looking on an updated site. There are sites which list certain medications as being a class c, but over the years, these have been updated to a class b.

When a Put:	If you are the holder:	If you are the writer:
Is sold by the holder	Report the difference between the cost of the put and the amount you receive for it as a capital gain or loss.*	This does not affect you. (But if you buy back the put, report the difference between the amount you pay and the amount you received for the put as a short-term capital gain or loss.)

When a Call:	If you are the holder:	If you are the writer:
Is sold by the holder	Report the difference between the cost of the call and the amount you receive for it as a capital gain or loss.*	This does not affect you. (But if you buy back the call, report the difference between the amount you pay and the amount you received for the call as a short-term capital gain or loss.)

When a Put:	If you are the holder:	If you are the writer:
Expires	Report the cost of the put as a capital loss on the date it expires. *	Report the amount you received for the put as a short-term capital gain.

When a Call:	If you are the holder:	If you are the writer:
Expires	Report the cost of the put as a capital loss on the date it expires. *	Report the amount you received for the call as a short-term capital gain

When a Put:	If you are the holder:	If you are the writer:
Is exercised	Reduce your amount realized from sale of the underlying stock by the cost of the put.	Reduce your basis in the stock you buy by the amount you received for the put.