SheriffBarclay said:

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So you're buying ITM calls at appx $10 strike price and then selling today when stock pops above 11? Am I understanding that right? I want to try that one out.

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Might be ITM or just below $10. A big % of the time big gaps give a move downward first 30 minutes. That's when I'd look to enter the trade based on the signal.

ATW $14.69 ask now. That's why pre-market trading is a must have for trading. Sold at over $15 and might not see that number again for now. Also it's sucking that Put option strategy of $14 strikes out of play.

oldarmy1 said:

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ATW $14.69 ask now. That's why pre-market trading is a must have for trading. Sold at over $15 and might not see that number again for now. Also it's sucking that Put option strategy of $14 strikes out of play.

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Wise

oldarmy1 said:

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ATW $14.69 ask now. That's why pre-market trading is a must have for trading. Sold at over $15 and might not see that number again for now. Also it's sucking that Put option strategy of $14 strikes out of play.

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ATW spiked back so the Put strategy in full play now.

Entering GILD Jan 6th $75 Strike at 77 cents.

Here's why I posted the GILD option trade. This is an intraday 1 minute chart from the open to now. Reverse H&S as clear as day so if that right shoulder breaks above clear resistance it's off to the races.

oldarmy1 said:

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oldarmy1 said:

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ATW $14.69 ask now. That's why pre-market trading is a must have for trading. Sold at over $15 and might not see that number again for now. Also it's sucking that Put option strategy of $14 strikes out of play.

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ATW spiked back so the Put strategy in full play now.

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If you entered those ATW PUTS on that crazy spike back above $15 congrats! That's how its done folks. ATW back down to $14.24 now

ATW head & shoulders. Note support. If that loses it will be below $14 quickly. Also, these patterns aren;t sure things if it breaks the H&S pattern by trading above the shoulder highs then that is broken.

ATW now negative. PUT options in the money.

What are your most predictive chart patterns OldArmy? Most of your charts you post are tea cups and head and shoulders, so I take it those two are key chart patterns for your trading signals?

bmks270 said:

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What are your most predictive chart patterns OldArmy? Most of your charts you post are tea cups and head and shoulders, so I take it those two are key chart patterns for your trading signals?

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Those are the two most trad-able patterns you'll find but don't forget the volume underpinning it. Both the GILD and ATW patterns played out as indicated today. The GILD calls only had an 18% gain but the ATW Puts rocked the house with a 112% gain. Not bad for 6 hours of market time.

GILD is an obvious bell-weather for the bio-pharma sector that has been the lagger during the bull run. You can see the lower tops and lower lows during the decline. We had that double top resistance I lined out that was an easy short sell. Now we have a double bottom that factored into today's Call entry. I love these kind of trades because when this close to support your stop is baked in.

GILD is a planted stock of mine but I still trade them when an opportunity presents itself. We can see that the slide downward has flattened out which could finally lead to a reversal trend back upwards the 1st quarter of 2017. As long as this support holds its a good time to set your position and then have a triggered stop if it loses $71.

oldarmy1 said:

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bmks270 said:

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What are your most predictive chart patterns OldArmy? Most of your charts you post are tea cups and head and shoulders, so I take it those two are key chart patterns for your trading signals?

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Those are the two most trad-able patterns you'll find but don't forget the volume underpinning it. Both the GILD and ATW patterns played out as indicated today. The GILD calls only had an 18% gain but the ATW Puts rocked the house with a 112% gain. Not bad for 6 hours of market time.

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Thanks, I take a really conservative trading strategy and plan to become more aggressive so this is helpful.

My pleasure. When I post a real time entry like GILD yesterday I have high confidence, knowing some are mirroring specific trades.

It's up another 45 cents premarket so those options will make a further move early. At some point, should that double bottom signal the actual end to the decline a stock should explode upwards breaking the previous down trend top.

In other focus, we have the fed with interest rates expected to be raised tomorrow so markets could become choppy today. I imagine a lot of traders will be shorting the open if this +70 DOW open occurs.

I'd caution against that because it's been known since pre-election plus we are closing in on a super magnet number, 20k DOW. If a trader is looking for a short term exhaustion correction then look for a "flash" move above 20k for entering some hedge Put options.

GILD up $1.47 Options rocking

TRV broke out of longer term resistance.

oldarmy1 said:

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GILD up $1.47 Options rocking. GILD breaks $75.50 and you have confirmation of a bottom reversal completed.

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Going to begin buying a position in OSIR for 2017 today. Not concerned with short term action.

Last thing on GILD. Options doubled and I always get my capital back when selling half gets me there. A planted option in essence, especially with time decay considerations. This one is out to Jan 6th so the quick move after entry yesterday and continuing today allowed for the quick recapture of capital.

Real-time update - Closing out ATW $14 Puts with ATW trading at $12.75 - Homerun!

the heck is going on with CLF ?

azulAg said:

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the heck is going on with CLF ?

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That would be the end of a short squeeze double. Look at volume from Oct. 27th start (note first 5 days of lower highs on tight ranges (there's what you want to spot in tandem with that bottom support spike day) and then the gap fill that popped to initiate the main squeeze.

Relentless when the big money knows they have the shorts by the .....let's say margin....lol

Getting ready for a repeat of ATW Ole Army?

aggiediehard10 said:

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Getting ready for a repeat of ATW Ole Army?

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What you talking about Willis?

GILD 75.50 premarket.

Update GILD $75.94 and those Jan. 6th $77' strike options are $1.18 x $1.25....a triple. I am selling the rest due to it being a trade and not interested in owning more than my planted shares - even though this move looks like a nice hold for anyone who followed.

Bought SNCR yesterday. OldArmy1, what do you think?

SlackerAg said:

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Bought SNCR yesterday. OldArmy1, what do you think?

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Does it trade options? On the move but took a quick look at the chart, while driving. Super low volume stock which explains why a few million shares can whip it up and down like the most recent move to highs on some volume followed by a drop back down on almost mirror volume.

That "goal post" volume is troubling and created a big head with last few days potentially a right shoulder. Pull up a yearly chart and draw a line from the lows just prior to left side of that first volume spike across to the low trade on the current right side. Whatever number that is should be your warning point for a stop loss.

If it trades options and you are wanting to hold longterm because you like the company fundamentals then buy a cheap $30 put out as far as possible that doesn't cost more than $200 per 100 shares (1 option). If it breaks that neckline downward sell the stock, hold the options and then as it approaches $30 buy the shares back knowing you can't lose beyond $30 due to those Puts.

That's my quick take

SlackerAg said:

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Bought SNCR yesterday. OldArmy1, what do you think?

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OK...at a stop and wanted to share the chart with comments. You had a long period of resistance around $36 and once that was finally broken it becomes support. Clearly you can see that rule of thumb traded exactly later in the year, as indicated. Now you have that big jump on the volume spike and an equivalent volume spike on the sell off that filled the gap. That gap fill is actually a healthy move so see if it can resume a healthier trend while keeping an eye on $39.50 holding.

I took a quick look at the options and they are ridiculous spreads, which isn't a surprise given the fluctuations in the stock price. If this is a trade then put a tighter stop than $39.50. If it's a long term position then maybe a throw a bid on the January 20th $35 strikes at $0.20 and if they get filled you sleep better at night.

Speaking of goal post volume troubles. SHIP - OUCH! It lost it's long term support and is a lottery ticket buy at new lows.

Here's a formerly troubled stock due to bad accounting practices that looks to have cleaned up its books and actually has a decent model/med pipeline prospect.

It caught my eye on the big volume move and I studied it and spoke to some people in the company. I am buying a position starting here at $5.09 with eyes wide open that should the markets go through a consolidation move it will likely move further down to the $4.30 mark. That's where I would load the boat.

Note that we haven't had a volume day since the big move. That tells you that a lot of buy and hold investors are in the shares long-term.

OA,

What trading platform do you use? I've got a simple TDA account and it hasn't let me get trading access for the last hour or so - mobile nor pc. 100% cash this morning, but that is lucky.

One Tooth Man said:

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OA,

What trading platform do you use? I've got a simple TDA account and it hasn't let me get trading access for the last hour or so - mobile nor pc. 100% cash this morning, but that is lucky.

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Ive made 6 or 8 trades today on TDA on the APP

I'm spread out across multiple platforms but all of them are level 2 trading based. Here's an example:

https://www.lightspeed.com/technology/trading-software/

Thanks again for all the info OldArmy! It definitely helps seeing these charts to reinforce patterns and keys to look for when looking into various companies.

I have a little more generic question as I get going on trading options now that I have a base understanding of the actual options and their functions.

How do you find the companies or underlying's that you are trading? I know some come from interest in certain sectors, but I can get overwhelmed sometimes by the number of underlying's out there and how to whittle that down into a more reasonable watch list. I was wondering if you are normally filtering down to a smaller group of companies to look further into based on a couple different key metrics, such as implied volatility, volume, bid/ask spread, etc?