ETFs Versus Individual Stocks

After analyzing my past trades alongside the S&P and their corresponding ETFs I have come to conclusion that from here on out I will be trading the ETFs.  Although AAPL has the highest return I could have made a comparable return by trading the highly liquid ETFs that have similar or higher premium.

I can also use other contrarian ETFs to hedge my trade and make my overall portfolio delta neutral.  

 

SPY, YHOO, AAPL 52 week comparison

 

QQQ, SPY, YHOO, AAPL 52 week comparison

 

Trading notes 1-1-15

After watching the market over the last few days and seeing the Santa Claus rally I feel confident that my instincts are good about where the market is going.

There may be a pullback at some point these next few weeks so I am going to watch the market carefully. People are getting out of positions now that they couldn’t have at the end of the year because of tax implications.  I am of course going to play the probabilities but I want to time my trades more effectively.

The stocks I am watching are Apple, Yahoo and Facebook I think that Apple may pull back based on the lack of confidence in their upcoming products. I think that Yahoo can go either way based on what Marissa Meyer announces in the next few days or weeks about what they're going to do in regards to their Alibaba shares. I think that Facebook is the more promising company for growth because it has a lot of other businesses under its umbrella I just think the other people playing the market don't have the same confidence in the company because they don't trust a young Mark Zuckerberg. But as Facebook keeps outperforming and over delivering I think the stock will go higher.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT OPTIONS

If you are trading large numbers of contracts:

NEVER LET AN OPTIONS TRADE GO TO EXPIRATION

Let me say that again NEVER LET AN OPTIONS TRADE GO TO EXPIRATION

I don’t care if you are up and you can make more money if you let them expire.  It’s not worth the risk especially if you are trying to make more money by overleveraging your trade. 

Let’s say you sold 10 contracts on AAPL and bought 10 for a put spread.  Your high strike was 114 and your low was 110.  Your thinking the most I can lose is $4,000 because of the spread.  WRONG

When you get close to expiration the 110 contracts go down to zero value and there are no bids out there for you to close your trade if you really need to.  

Once your insurance trade has gone to zero you are essentially in a naked put and you are at the mercy of the market for whatever happens.

If your 114 contracts become “In the Money” you are now on the hook for $114,000 with no way of exiting the trade.  You can’t sell or roll over to the next week because there are no bids out there for your 110 contracts. 

SO I REITERATE… If you don’t have the margin to cover the trade NEVER LET AN OPTIONS TRADE GO TO EXPIRATION

Trading Large Numbers of Options Contracts

I’ve been experimenting with using larger numbers of contracts on my credit spreads for a larger gain and after executing a few trades I can say that I do not recommend this strategy for everyone but it has been very lucrative.  You have to be a lot more vigilant when executing these trades and there are some tighter rules you have to follow.

• Make sure you are only trading larger name stocks with a large amount of volume (liquidity). Names like AAPL, SPY, BABA, etc.
• Make sure the lower leg of your trade has some bids out there so you can close your position or roll your position, preferably no less than .05.
• Never let these trades go to expiration.  You never know what the stock is going to do and you don’t want to be exercised with high volume contracts especially if you don’t have the money to cover the transaction. 

This last reason is the precisely why I do not recommend these trades for everybody but if you can stomach the risk they can be highly lucrative.  Just be ready to deed your house over to your broker if it goes south on you.

Apple is a Buy

Back when Apple was in the 400s I wanted to buy but it would have used up a lot of my investment money.  Now that it is trading around 100 (after the stock split) I am jumping in.  This is a great opportunity for the small investor to get in on a stock that is only going up.  Because of its consistent innovation and its entrenched following in the marketplace, Apple is a bulwark stock that will bolster any portfolio.  Now with the Apple Pay announcement, Apple is poised to take a commanding lead in the smartphone market.  I don’t even own an iphone, but I own Apple stock.