12:50pm (EST)
The market appears to be tired today as both the bulls and bears gear up for next week’s big battle. As we head towards the weekend, the market is hovering around the breakeven line as Wall Street prepares for a big week with the elections and the Fed. The Dow is down 18 points to 11,095 while the S&P is 2 to 1,182. The Nasdaq continues to show a little strength and is up 4 points to 2,511.
As far as stocks…
Halliburton (HAL, $31.62, down $0.06) got slammed yesterday after news broke midday that tests conducted from the April 20 Gulf rig blowout showed the cement “foam slurry” used in the well wasn’t suitable for long-term use.
BP (BP, $40.83, up $0.23) got much of the blame and the majority of the bad press but its shares got a lift on the news. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill said that 3-out-of-4 tests Halliburton did on the slurry showed that the cement would become unstable down the road but both companies seemed to ignore the fact or “overlooked” the issue.
Shares of BP fell from $60 in late-April to a low of $26 by mid-June and there was a ton of cash that was made on the put side after the incident happened. It may not feel right to make money on such a disaster but the smart money was buying put options on BP after the accident and riding the stock lower. (For those of you who have purchased our option trading course, please review pages 92-96).
Halliburton’s stock dropped 8% yesterday but fell to a low of $28.86, or over15%, before cutting its losses in half. Still, we think a test of the mid-$20’s could come if the company is responsible for any damages. Today’s low has been $29.99.
We take a closer look inside our Members Area on some Halliburton put options that made over 500% yesterday and at one point the options, which opened at 13 cents, traded to a high of $2.46, or 1,650%! This is why we go fishing every day…
Folks, this weekend is the last weekend to get our trading manual, How to Trade Options on Momentum Stocks, with a free month service to our Members Area and all of our trade updates (a $129 value). The options course is full of tips and information on how we try to find explosive situations that are about to happen in a stock and turn them into option trades.
The manual took 3 years to write and provides real examples, in real time, on successful options trades that worked and why. We also include another manual, Momentum Stocks Watch List, which breaks down dozens of sectors on over 600 stocks and explains what moves these industries.
We are also doing videos that cover different sections of the manual to further explain how to find your own trades. If you are a beginning option trader or a seasoned vet, we honestly believe you will learn valuable information in our option manual that other “option courses” fail to offer. Many of these programs often want you to spend more money on software upgrades, more course materials, and pay for mentoring but it’s a bunch of hot air.
We show you how to use news, charts, and how to “think outside the box” when it comes to finding successful option trades. All at a fraction of the cost. We truly believe we have the best deals going and this has been our mission since our editor-in-chief started this website. He wanted to show ordinary investors how to find and use option trades to enhance their portfolios.
Yes, options are risky, but they are also CHEAP and they cost a fraction of what the stock is currently trading at in the open market. If you wanted to buy 1,000 shares of a $50 stock it would cost you $50,000. However, to CONTROL 1,000 shares of stock at $50 it might only cost you $500 or less!
We try to use cheap out-of-the-money options as a way to play a 5% move in a stock that yields 100% or more in an option trade. It’s that simple. Again, if a stock moves 5%, you will double your money if you are in the right option and we show you how.
In fact, here is a recent comment from a subscriber who purchased the option course:
“Rick, just wanted you to know that the manual has been helping a lot. I don’t seem so lost or in the dark as far as to what you are doing or why you are doing them. I feel like I can actually make a trade and feel confident of the outcome.
Quick success story: I placed an alert on (Research In Motion) RIMM when it hit 51.50 (this week). I immediately checked the charts and things looked poised to run to 55. I purchased (2) 52.50 calls for 1.05 each and within 1 day I made 110% on the trade.
Shares are still going up and had I owned more contracts I would have at least half positions still opened. If RIMM can break through the 200-day MA I might look to go long again. Thanks for your help. Let’s make more money!”
(Note: RIMM is at $57.01, up 80 cents, nice catch by the way!)
There are quite a few more comments like this one and our subscribers are already seeing the benefits. Again, this weekend will be the last we are offering the course at the special rate with a FREE 1-month membership to all of our trades and videos that are produced. We expect to have another video ready this weekend.
Other quick hits before we roll today…
Imax (IMAX, $21.79, up $0.40) hit a new 52-week high yesterday and again today after reporting earnings. In our 1pm update on Thursday, shares were at $19.90 and we said to watch for new highs. We initiated coverage of Imax 3 years ago when shares were under $3.
Vivus (VVUS, $7.71, up $1.58), a stock we profiled over a year ago at $4 is up 25% as it tries to push it weight-loss drug through to the FDA again. Their drug has a great shot of getting approved and we thought it might take another year but that could get cut in half as the company plans to submit new paperwork to the FDA in 6 weeks. THERE WILL BE A TRADE, soon…
And we are expecting breaking news any minute on another Biotech company we are currently following.
We will go over the important events in the Weekly Wrap on Sunday and we will also be bringing you coverage of two more companies. Since August, we have been expanding our research on certain stocks or sectors because we know not everyone trades options. Our goal is to grow the Weekly Wrap by bringing you more coverage of stocks that might be more beneficial buying outright then trading options on.
With CD rates at 1%, it makes no sense to keep your money in the bank when we can show you how to make more than that without as much risk as options trading. Look for a big issue on Sunday as we have missed a couple of weeks due to the launch of our option trading manual.
Have a good weekend everyone and we will see you Halloween night! Subscribers, check the Members Area and the Watch List (which is exploding with solid winners today as some have doubled for a 100% return or more!) for all of the last minute updates.
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