TEN Exclusive: Options Update – 3/10/10

Written by Dan Micovic

Our report for tonight will be short.  Our readings have been spot on and this week has been one of our most profitable of 2010.  We are now finally getting mixed readings from our key indicators and our bullish stance has turned neutral.  This week’s action has been grinding with an upward drift but lacking volume which questions investors confidence in this move.  We are seeing overbought signals everywhere we look and there doesn’t seem to be that much left to the upside before we see a pullback.  The last two days of this week both include economic reports that can influence the near-term market direction.  We will watch these reports very closely.  We are now market neutral.

Weekly Economic Calendar:

Thursday

• Weekly initial jobless claims and the January trade balance will be released on Thursday. China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (CSUN), Aeropostale Inc. (ARO), Goldcorp Inc. (GG), Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (PSUN), and Shuffle Master Inc. (SHFL) are scheduled to report earnings.

Friday

• February’s retail sales, the March University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, and the January business inventories report are scheduled for release. AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN), and Kirkland’s Inc. (KIRK) are releasing their earnings reports on Friday.

New Trade Idea:

There will be no new trade tonight as our indicators are giving us mixed readings.  We will simply wait until we get through the economic reports due the remainder of this week before entering new trades.  Enjoy this weeks profits!

Open Positions:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) March 41 Puts @ .70

The puts triggered our stop and were closed.

PNC Financial (PNC) March 55 Calls @ .95 or better:

The calls easily hit our target of $1.75 for a beautiful profit of 75%.

Morgan Stanley (MS) March 28 Calls @ 1.00 or better:

We took profits at $2.00 for a 100% profit.  Nice Trade!

Related Reading:

• TEN Exclusive: Options Update – 11/21/10
• Fronteer Gold (FRG) Continues To Expand Long Canyon
• Two ETFs to Reap Earnings Growth in Financials
• TEN Exclusive: Options Update – 11/14/10
• TEN Exclusive: Options Update – 10/31/10

All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Any pricing or potential profitability shown does not take into account your trade size, brokerage commissions or taxes which will affect actual investment returns. Annualized returns are shown to assist in comparing investment of different durations only. Stocks and options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors and investing in options carries substantial risk. Prior to buying or selling options, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options available at: http://www.cboe.com/Resources/Intro.aspx.

Investors should be cautious about any and all stock or option recommendations and should consider the source of any advice on stock or option selection. Various factors, including personal or corporate ownership, may influence or factor into an expert's stock analysis or opinion. All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into individual stocks before making a purchase decision. In addition, investors are advised that past stock or option performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation or depreciation. Those involved with the preparation and distribution of this report may have had in the past, currently hold, or may purchase in the future stock and/or options in companies discussed in this report.