<p>Streetsmart on schwab’s site.On streetsmart, schwab has implied volatilities…and oct 24…I see volatilites around 30. </p>
<p>40 is incredibly high for a 100 stock with this valuation. This announcement is going to be very interesting. Obviously. :)</p>
<p>Yes it will, especially with my 99 puts expiring on Friday. Other than Monday, the only opportunity for me to see how this plays out is at lunch time at the court house. I started practising how to trade options on my phone. It is really a pain trying to do anything complicated.</p>
<p>Yeah…trading can be tough on the phone. Especially spreads. :)</p>
<p>You can change the implied volatilities in streetsmart. I like that. </p>
<p>Doct, How are you going to concentrate on the case? </p>
<p>I think there will be big moves, one way or another, on Sept 8 (in anticipation of the announcement) and then again after the 9/9 announcement. I’ve noticed there is often more movement in anticipation of a big event than after, if the announcement isn’t a surprise. There’s been enough hype about the presser that there’s a good likelihood that it will fizzle … but who knows. The AAPL shares I’m holding were a buy-and-hold investment so I’ll just be watching and enjoying the ride, unless shares drop far enough for me to get stopped out. </p>
<p>Doct-- can you protect yourself with a stop-loss order placed in advance? </p>
<hr>
<p>Calmom, I was in AAPL last year when it was 480, I believe, in/out making profit. Not a long term holder. :D</p>
<p>You are aware that the current price is after the 7:1 split, right? At the current price (just shy of 99), that equates to a pre-split value of 693. I mean, I’m not sure what the point of your post is. Buy-and-hold investors have realized a 70% rise in price since whenever you were holding it. I’d be very happy if I could have a portfolio full of stocks that appreciate that much. </p>
<p>I think it’s a good stock, long term – but I can’t lose on it no matter what – if it retreats in value I have a stop-loss set enough above my entry price to be a reasonable short-term profit-- and if it grows – well that’s even better. </p>
<p>But if you are getting a better return on your money with active trading, good for you. I don’t trade as actively as you do,but I do trade more actively in my tax-sheltered account, but generally with stock that’s a lot cheaper so that I can afford to buy more shares. </p>
<p>Well doct, the stock could rally on Monday…</p>
<p>Yes I know, I bought the options before the split and then decide to close that out after a profit because I think the odd price would drive me crazy. And after the split and bought again.
I don’t care to be buy and hold, and that doesn’t mean I’m right. I had 1000 shares of Microsoft in the 80s when it first went IPOs, If I kept it I would be millionaires ten times over. </p>
<p>Your choices are fine, it sounds like you have fun trading. I just think that for me, the options trading is labor-intensive, and runs up a lot of charges in commissions over time. Also as I am on the west coast, I would have to be trading at 6:30 am if I wanted to get in on trades at or near market open – and I personally am not at my best during early morning hours. So I’ll continue to dabble in options, but it just is a whole lot easier to go the buy-and-hold route, at least in a rising market. Particularly in my taxable account, given favorable tax treatment for long-term gains and dividends. I do expect the current bull market to peak in the near future, and when it does it might be a good time to re-allocate and re-evaluate… </p>
<p>Bought back the aapl 9/5 99 puts and sold the 10/3 98 puts for .41. Typically I prefer weekly puts but in this case since I really won’t have good access to the internet except at lunch, I’m going out ~ 1 month or approximately getting .10 per week. This also brings my breakeven point to 96.97 if I get assigned. At this stage I view any long position above 90 as being very dangerous.</p>
<p>I traded today too. </p>
<p>I bought the 9/12 98-99 call spread and sold the 101-102 call spread for a little under 22 cents. I dont understand Schwab’s software but it took two hours to fill the 98-99 call spread. Commissions were a little under 1.00 a contract in addition. </p>
<p>Excluding commissions I make money between 98.22-and 101.78. This trade is not as good as the last one. I think the positive expectations at expiration are zero with a 45 volatility. Maybe even a little negative. </p>
<p>However, I am doing this because I want to play. 
I am not going to lose much or make much. Lose a little over 500 and make a little less than 1500 at the maximum losses or gains. </p>
<p>I expect the volatitility to drop closer to 30.</p>
<p>I think the breakeven for a day or 2 after the announcements are going to be closer to 97-103.
So I have some room. </p>
<p>I expect to not hold all of this thing all the way to expiration. However, I never thought it would be so difficult to put this trade on.</p>
<p>Doct, Good luck with the trade. I want this stock trading at least 98 1/4. :)</p>
<p>Your condor would be easy to input in etrade. They have it set up to do butterflies, condors etc. as opposed to how Schwab has it set up.</p>
<p>Yeah. Schwab sucks. </p>
<p>I am giving Schwab a year to improve their options capability. I have to think about it. If I knew I was going to trade more…</p>
<p>I dont always trade condors…I just dont like taking the risk in aapl. )</p>
<p>The 99 straddle is trading around 4.5 so I guess the buyers are saying the stock is going to move more than 4.5 points and the sellers disagree. I could start hedging my trade so much I can’t win or lose. </p>
<p>It was way easier to execute trades on the floor than this electronic way. There were multiple ways I could do the trade I ended up doing, but I can’t do that electronically. I could have tried to do the above trade 2 or 3 ways and if I got filled on the floor one way, I could just stop. </p>
<p>Electronically, if I enter different kinds of orders, I run the risk of getting filled on all of them.</p>
<p>Which leads me to this…</p>
<p>Can I enter orders on etrade or anywhere else where if I am filled on one order…all the other orders are cancelled automatically?</p>
<p>For example…</p>
<p>I could buy the 98-99 call spread or I could sell the 98-99 put spread. </p>
<p>If I place orders on both these spreads can I put a contingency on the orders? So filled on one order, the other cancels?</p>
<p>Anyone playing Yahoo when BABA goes public?</p>
<p>I have never tried to do any conditional orders on an option. In etrade, it looks like you can only do conditional orders on stocks not options.</p>
<p>Doct, ok. Thanks. Do you like your executions with etrade?</p>
<p>Razorsharp, you did not answer my question. Are you using IB?</p>
<p>They seem to be quicker, I just find it easier to put in the order. For you condor, when you put in the 98 - 99, as soon as you put in the 101, it automatically puts in 102. It automatically has buy - sell, sell - buy etc. It’s just an easier interface. It does cost 9.95. Also the total cost of the transaction comes up faster in Schwab.</p>