Thursday, June 5, 2008

When a stock is moving up (erratically):

Buy a call of a lower strike price (e.g., 24) and sell a call of a higher strike price (e.g., 28) of the same expiration date.

Explanation: if the stock moves higher from 24 - 30 the 28 call will not appreciate as much as
the 24 call. If the stock moves lower, the call you are long will not loose value as much as the call you are short thus you can cover the short call at a lower price.

When a stock is moving lower (erratically):

Buy a put of a higher strike price (e.g., 28) and sell a put of a lower strike price (e.g., 24) of the same expiration date.

Explanation: if the stock moves lower from 30 - 24 the 24 put will not appreciate as much as
the 28 put. If the stock moves higher, the put you are long will not loose value as much as the put you are long, thus you can cover the short put at a lower price.

Case in point (FSLR): I believe the stcok will move down (erratically)

BOT to Open 3 Jun $240 put Executed $10.00
SLD to Open 3 Jun $230 put Executed $8.10

Current price of FSLR = $256

Lets say if it moves to $245 the $240 put will be worth $4 and the $230 put be worth $0. So the profit = $2

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