Category Archives: Giorgio’s Corner

Market Opinion: After seeing both Wal-Mart and Dell miss estimates and a Greek bailout finalized…we have yet to see if the S&P500 will react as “sell the news.”  On Tuesday we saw the market sell-off after the open and get bid back up quickly after 30minutes.  Then as the S&P broke new lows of the day in the late Tuesday afternoon, buyers stepped in once again for a small closing rally.  In the end the price action was quite mundane on the S&P, but the bidding on the lows was telling that this market has a lot of support and wants to continue higher (regardless of my opinion).  Thus today we entered a Feb’24 SPY 134/133 bull put spread as a hedge against our existing Feb’24 136/137 bear call spreads.  We have yet to see how both positions play out later this week.  As for new bull put spreads I’m looking at EOG Resources (EOG) and Baidu (BIDU).  I am willing to play the market to the bear side once again, but I’m going to need to see a convincing sell-off (one where Apple falls).

Continue reading “Giorgio’s Corner – Trading BRIC Stocks” »

Market Opinion: We had a rough day on Feb’17 since the market continued to rally.  Only 2 of our 3 February option trades expired worthless.  Our UltraShort Gold ETF (GLL) 20/21 and SPY ETF 137/138 bear call spreads expired for 20.48% and 11.11% in gains, however our loser (-29.76% loss) was a SPY 136/137 bear call spread which we rolled into Feb’24 expiration.  The market continues to flex its muscles, and a down day is nowhere in sight.  The largest down day we’ve seen on the Dow Jones Industrial this year has been roughly -90 points…that’s not a lot, hence volatility has dried up.  It’s amazing that after Apple (AAPL) seemed to put in a top 3 days ago that we continue higher.  I cannot understand why we’ve rallied so far so fast, however I know that I’ve been wrong in my short term perspective for the past 3 weeks.  After much analysis, I’ve found a very bullish area of the market which I plan to trade for the next month or two…oil stocks. 

Continue reading “Giorgio’s Corner – Energy Stocks for Feb-Apr Expiration” »

Market Opinion: Today we lost Apple; after the stock hit a high of $526.29 at roughly noon (eastern) it proceeded to sell off hard throughout the day to close below $500.  While the stock traded in the $510 range I reacted with a Mar’17 550/560 bear call spread for a sell limit of 0.60.  The Apple sell off is important news because the stock comprises of 15% weight of the Powershares QQQ.  The SPDR S&P500 (SPY) sold off accordingly due to Apple which took a lot of pressure off our Feb’17 136/137, 137/138 bear call spreads.   Unfortunately though, even with all our expected gains on Friday we are still probably going to end this month with a meager gain/loss due to my early entries on many bear call spreads as the market extended its rally from January.  I think 1350 has proved to be significant weakness for the market, but I’m not expecting a large sell-off.  Instead, I see a lot of initial support on SPY at $130.  That said, on the long side I continue to favor bull put spreads in Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Big Lots (BIG), and bear call spreads on UltraShort Gold (GLL).

Continue reading “Giorgio’s Corner – Reviewing Mosaic” »

Market Opinion: The market looks much overbought, however the bulls believe that the strong unemployment numbers, Greek bailout, and strong Apple (AAPL) earnings should ultimately lead us higher.  If that is the case, then volatility ETN’s TVIX and VXX should continue their downtrend into future months.  If you’re a bull then I encourage you took look at some bull put spreads on Big Lots (BIG) or bear call spreads on UltraShort Gold (GLL).  If you a bear (like me) then I suggest you enter some bear call spreads on SPDR S&P500 (SPY) or Netflix (NFLX).  Surprisingly the overbought condition on the McClellan Oscillator has vanished.  It seems as though last Friday’s sell off was the only down day we could get.  I’m skeptical however, Apple stock finally hit $500 today which I think was enough for bull price action for Apple lovers to hit the sell button.  Already we’re seeing the futures in negative territory; I cannot say the market is topping out because every day I’m wrong.  For how our Feb’17 136/137 bear call spreads are under pressure of going in the money.  If this occurs, we are simply going to roll the spread into March. 

Continue reading “Giorgio’s Corner – Google… Seasonally Strong or Weak” »

Market Opinion: Market futures gapped up on Sunday since austerity measures in Greece have been approved.  This is a big deal since this implies Greece will not be defaulting by its next debt payment deadline.  Regardless of this news I’m not a market bull, yes I accept the fact that we’re in an uptrend (I placed a March Occidental Petroleum ‘OXY’ bull put spread accordingly last week) however, I see the market as extremely overbought even for bull market conditions.  For now if you’re a bull you must ask yourself which securities can continue to rise or still make you money even if the market moves against you.  Those of you who are bulls, I recommend March bear call spreads on the UltraShort Gold ETF (GLL), or bull put spreads on CF Industries (CF), Big Lots (BIG), or Occidental Petroleum (OXY) .  Since, I’m neutral to bearish on the market I currently favor March bear call spreads on SPY, QQQ, NFLX, and MSFT.   Looking ahead, if the market continues to act irrationally bullish I may initiate a Mar’17 40/37.50 bull put spread, and perhaps an April GLL bear call spread.  If we see any weakness in the market I will be compelled to sell March Spy 140/141 call spreads.

Continue reading “Giorgio’s Corner – Is Apple’s Short Term Uptrend About to Stall?” »