1:00 pm (EST) The bulls are struggling to extend yesterday’s gains as the Dow is currently down 67 points to 9,041. There is a bevy of news, some good, some bad. Most of our positions are holding up well and the bulls still appear as if they want to hold Dow 9,000. Wednesday and Thursday will be crucial in the direction that some of our trades will be taking. A few I want to talk about now are… Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD, $39.24, up $.13) has made a high of $39.80 but I mentioned $40 being a serious area of resistance. The August 40 calls (BQUHH, $1.230, up $0.05) traded as high as $1.60 when the market opened and one of the trading tips I gave was that it is better to sell at the open then buy. The premiums in the options were a little jacked-up going into earnings which is why we aren’t seeing a bigger pop. This trade wasn’t a homerun but we weren’t expecting one. This trade is now officially closed and if you decide to leave the position open it could do well IF Buffalo breaks $40. I warned you of the risks of leaving the August call options on DryShips (DRYS, $6.68, down $0.40) open. We closed the August 7 calls (OOCHJ, $0.50, down $0.15) yesterday at 65 cents for 160% return and they are still up 100% from an entry level price of 25 cents on July 21st. The September 7.50 calls (OOCIU, $0.55, down $0.18) have a stop of 40 cents. Earnings are Friday. USEC (USU, $4.15, down $2.03) was the one trade that blew up on us. I mentioned in the Weekly Wrap to hold off on opening any new positions and I’m glad I did. The August 7.50 calls (USUHU, $0.05, down $0.20) were recommended at 52 cents on July 16th based on the company getting some funding. They were at 26 cents Monday morning. This trade was based on an event and I knew the stock was capable of making a 50% move but I was VERY surprised that they did NOT get the funding. The smarter trade would have been to place a strangle or a straddle on the position…the August 5 puts (USUTA, $1.10, up $0.85) are up over 325% today. For those of you who have just signed on this week, scroll down to get a complete overview of the trades. I have started a new format that gives entry and exit prices and what the current “Action” is but sometimes I will talk about trades in this format. If I don’t do an update tonight, I’ll be back with the complete list of the trades in the morning. For our new readers, I post the Blog before 9:30am, or before the opening bell, and another around lunchtime between 12pm and 2pm. If I post at night, it’s a bonus and it means we are busy. I wanted to get this information out because some of you have said you don’t have time to check me every hour. This way, you can check on the market or trades at set times so that you won’t be guessing when I post. Also, if some of you would like to follow some of the past trades, request a track record, and look up the trades in the archived sections. Each trade on the spreadsheet has a date and you can reference it by doing a search or through the archives. Many of you who have followed me for a couple of years know I don’t blow smoke. I have included the time in the Blog posts so that when subscribers click on the Title of the blog they can see that the times I post are accurate. We are the only website that I know of that makes our trading results available, ALL of them. My success rate is 70%-75% on directional trading and I want everyone to be able to use this blog to their advantage. Take a look at the Watch Lists and Trading Tips in the Categories section if you are new. The goal is to be able to follow a ton of stocks in a little amount of time to se where the money is flowing. This is how I come up with trades. We target 100% returns while keeping losses at 50%. I didn’t mean to be long-winded but I want all of you to get the most bang for your buck with your subscription. And as always, email me if you have ANY questions. I respond in 24 hours or less. Also, if you are new to options trading and do not have a trading account, I will help you set up one. Just ask. That is all I have for now. See you tonight or in the morning. Rick@MomentumOptionsTrading.com]]>