SPY Puts Purchased

Earlier today, I was able to get a Put position in on C. At about the same time, I put in a limit order for some SPY April 130 Puts at $1.89. I wasn’t really watching the market later in the day as it just seemed to be doing nothing and next thing you know…my [...]

Building Short Position in Citi

I tried to get short C on Friday via puts at a decent price, but nothing was really working out for me. I was looking for some sort of up-tick before I got in. Well, today, that came. Breaking news out of C that they are restructuring its global business into three regional units and [...]

Altria to Phillip Morris

I was incorrect on Friday when I assumed that Altria (MO) would be spinning off Phillip Morris International with the ticker symbol PMI. The new ticker symbol is PM. My apologies to the PMI Group.

Breaking Up Altria is Easy To Do

Today, Altria (MO) is spinning off Phillip Morris International to separate an overseas growth company and a value domestic. The breakup will happen today and for each share of MO you own, you will get one share of PMI (by the way, what is happening to the PMI Group, Inc. which already has that symbol??). I own [...]

Can You Short the Financials?

For the most part, you can’t short any of the financials. The Fed is on the case. However, I think there is one financial you can short before earnings next month and that is Citigroup (C). I think this company is a disaster. Remember when it was at $50 a share with a 5% dividend [...]

NYX Short-Term Loss

Today I liquidated half of my position in NYX so that I could take a short-term loss to help off-set my overall short-term gains this year. I had 109 days before my first lot of NYX became a long position and my cost was at $80.70. My other lot has 144 days before it becomes [...]

Four Trading Lessons From Bear Stearns

I am always looking for trading lessons after something happens where I should have seen it coming. I don’t think it is productive to say, “Why didn’t I do that?” However, I do like to look at the lessons that have been taught and try to remember them so the next time they happen, I will [...]

Visa Purchased

So yesterday, before I left for Graceland, I bought V. I just couldn’t help myself. I put in a limit order of $59 and I ended up purchasing 20 shares for $58.79 a piece. Today, V is up 11% and I am happy. This is what I expected it to do. I did not expect [...]

Gasoline Cracks Trade Negative

So I just recently bought into an ETF with the ticker UNG. This is my first go-round at trading anything to do with futures. The fund primarily invests in oil and natural gas and other petroleum based futures contracts. I have been looking for an entry point to get in because all of my research [...]

UNG Entry Point Reached

On Friday, I finally found my entry point for UNG and decided to buy. I have a cost basis of $48.60. As I told my sister on Sunday, I was hoping for a pull-back so I could put on the rest of my position. At $42 a share, I would buy more. This morning, natural gas [...]