Showing posts with label Covered calls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Covered calls. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Port 24 update
I finally had a chance to revisit the Port, and spent a while cleaning it up.
MITI was bought out, CLSN and DCTH had reverse splits (boy do I wish I'd sold those prior to the mothball!) and a few calls expired worthless.
This morning I check out the prices of CLSN, DCTH, and PIP and "sold" them at the bid.
Just now I couldn't resist and picked up 2000 shares of VHC.
So the current Port looks like this:
Cash $27,780.30
1500 ARQL
1200 BTX
2600 CLDX
2500 CORT
1100 EXEL
7000 NNVC
6000 PPHM
1600 SGMO
2000 VHC
1800 ZIOP
Total worth (as of this moment) is $213,642.30.
That is a return of 113%, and annualized to about 16% over nearly seven years. Almost 4 of those years, the Post has been neglected to a sorry degree, too! Not bad.
I'll be more active now, and utilizing calls as usual to pick up additional income.
Good luck to all portfolios in the days ahead!
Friday, April 10, 2015
ARNA
Longtime readers know I have been a fan of Arena for years.
I am absolutely unhappy with the stock price and have been for years. They were screwed over by the DEA for not getting it scheduled for almost a whole year after Belviq's approval. That killed a lot of momentum. The attitude of doctors for "diet and exercise" and avoiding a pill hurts too, but that is slooooowly changing.
Today's price is about $4.55. And although I am still a fan of the company, I don't see blockbuster price moves soon. So I would be comfortable with selling calls against a position at this point - I want to be long the stock but I think July $5s (if you can get $.35 for them) sound about right. Maybe even the Oct $5s, with the idea of buying them back with some probable summer volatility). On the first you get almost 8% return for 3 months, with another 9% if exercised (all minus commission, of course).
2-5% a month, on a "boring" stock. :-)
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Port24 revival
I will be taking the Port out of mothballs soon.
Fortunately the stocks I'd selected were smaller biotechs, for the most part, that need years to come to fruition. I need to review the last few buys and sells to make sure I have the positions current, then will be posting where I'm at.
As a reminder, the Port24 is a fictitious portfolio, started with $100,000, a target of 24% returns per year, and hopefully demonstrating the power of smallcaps combined with covered calls. I think I was averaging around 18%+ a year for quite a while and it will be interesting to see where I'm at with the neglect of over two years.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Today's trades and new Port24 additions
I have two trades for covered call fanatics, today. PIP and VHC both have very good arguments for a trade which yield 14 and 8%, respectively.
PIP is trading at $2.74, with the Aug11 $2.50s selling for $0.65. You'll end up losing 24 cents on the shares, if exercised, but gain the 65 cents on the option, netting 41 cents profit per $2.74 share - over 14% for a month. On the downside (especially important to note if they lose their lawsuit) you are "protected" down to $2.09.
VHC is trading at $34.55 with the Aug11 $35s selling for $2.80. That is an 8% dividend while you wait, with an extra 1% of capital gains if exercised.
I think both of these will end where they are, or higher, on 8/19/11.
---
On the Port24 front, I miss having NBIX already, but will not buy in again here.
I bought 2500 CORT at $3.82, 6000 PPHM at $1.78, and 1800 ZIOP at $5.87. I am trying to buy lots of stock that end up somewhere around $10K at a whack.
I sold 20 Jan12 $2.50 calls against 2000 of the 6000 PPHM (Peregrine Pharma) for $25/contract. This is about a 14% return for the 6 month period, with an additional 40% return if exercised. I LOVE this risk/reward ratio, especially since I've only sold options on a third of the position. If the price rises into the $2s again, I will sell more, at much higher premiums.
I also sold 18 Aug11 $6 calls against the ZIOP (Ziopharm) for $25/contract. While "only" a 4% return for the month, I am more than willing to either lose the stock if over $6, or rinse and repeat under $6.
CORT (Corcept) is a stock I will hang onto for a couple months, assuming there will be a runup into the $5s or more as the FDA PDUFA date approaches. I'll sell calls at that point.
Port24:
19.8% annualized return (since 5/14/2008)
$5,468.80 in cash
1500 ARQL (0)
1200 BTX (0)
2600 CLDX (0)
9000 CLSN (0)
1600 DCTH (0)
300 DNDN (0)
1100 EXEL (0)
2000 MITI (0)
7000 NNVC (0)
2500 PIP (0)
1600 SGMO (0)
2500 CORT (0)
6000 PPHM (20)
1800 ZIOP (18)
PIP is trading at $2.74, with the Aug11 $2.50s selling for $0.65. You'll end up losing 24 cents on the shares, if exercised, but gain the 65 cents on the option, netting 41 cents profit per $2.74 share - over 14% for a month. On the downside (especially important to note if they lose their lawsuit) you are "protected" down to $2.09.
VHC is trading at $34.55 with the Aug11 $35s selling for $2.80. That is an 8% dividend while you wait, with an extra 1% of capital gains if exercised.
I think both of these will end where they are, or higher, on 8/19/11.
---
On the Port24 front, I miss having NBIX already, but will not buy in again here.
I bought 2500 CORT at $3.82, 6000 PPHM at $1.78, and 1800 ZIOP at $5.87. I am trying to buy lots of stock that end up somewhere around $10K at a whack.
I sold 20 Jan12 $2.50 calls against 2000 of the 6000 PPHM (Peregrine Pharma) for $25/contract. This is about a 14% return for the 6 month period, with an additional 40% return if exercised. I LOVE this risk/reward ratio, especially since I've only sold options on a third of the position. If the price rises into the $2s again, I will sell more, at much higher premiums.
I also sold 18 Aug11 $6 calls against the ZIOP (Ziopharm) for $25/contract. While "only" a 4% return for the month, I am more than willing to either lose the stock if over $6, or rinse and repeat under $6.
CORT (Corcept) is a stock I will hang onto for a couple months, assuming there will be a runup into the $5s or more as the FDA PDUFA date approaches. I'll sell calls at that point.
Port24:
19.8% annualized return (since 5/14/2008)
$5,468.80 in cash
1500 ARQL (0)
1200 BTX (0)
2600 CLDX (0)
9000 CLSN (0)
1600 DCTH (0)
300 DNDN (0)
1100 EXEL (0)
2000 MITI (0)
7000 NNVC (0)
2500 PIP (0)
1600 SGMO (0)
2500 CORT (0)
6000 PPHM (20)
1800 ZIOP (18)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Pharmathene (PIP)
PIP had a great day today, up 26%, to $3.04. This is the stock that I bought yesterday in the Port24 (and in a real money account).
I touched months ago on the topic of having watchlists of stocks, that should be reviewed daily to weekly. Once you have a feel for where the stock price tends to move (and of course, knowledge of the timing of upcoming events), you will get a feel for when a stock is simply insanely priced. It's worth reviewing Benjamin Graham's (and Warren Buffett's) continuing referral to Mr. Market: that silly little guy who shows up every day either manic or depressive, offering stocks for sale at wildly inflated prices because he's so rosy, or at crazily depressed prices because he's glum or convinced the sky is falling. The trick is that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY AT ANY POINT - it is entirely up to you. You can agree with everyone that Apple makes the best listening or tablet devices, but until there is a shock to the stock price and it's offered at something you consider value, you don't have to buy it! Yesterday was simply a time when PIP was being offered at a price that was entirely "glum" Mr. Market.
Recall however that I also sold July $2.50 calls against the position I added yesterday (within the Port24). Although I've technically "lost" paper money on this trade, as opposed to simply buying the shares, I am not too sad. I entered the trade looking only at the one month objective of gaining the 12% (144% annualized!!!) return should PIP be at more than $2.50 on July 15th. I am quite firmly convinced it will, so I am not touching the trade at this point.
Please note there IS something I could (and may well) do at this point. I bought the stock at $2.42 and sold $2.50 calls for $0.30. I could buy back those same calls for $0.80 now, and then sell the stock for $3.04. I would lose $0.50 per share on the options, but gain $0.62 per share on the underlying shares. Of course, you have to factor commissions into the above, so it's not a full 12 cent gain per share... maybe more like ten on average.
That would be a 4% gain, obviously not nearly as nice as the 12% I stand to gain if left in place. On the other hand, this is a 4% gain in ONE DAY. That annualizes to 1,440%! Such comparisons are silly when you talk about a one or two day gain, but then I have that cash on hand for future trades, instead of locking it up for a month. Since this trade is about 8% of the entire Port, there is some interest in closing it out quickly if I can do so at a better than already-planned return.
Stay tuned!
Regards,
Trond
I touched months ago on the topic of having watchlists of stocks, that should be reviewed daily to weekly. Once you have a feel for where the stock price tends to move (and of course, knowledge of the timing of upcoming events), you will get a feel for when a stock is simply insanely priced. It's worth reviewing Benjamin Graham's (and Warren Buffett's) continuing referral to Mr. Market: that silly little guy who shows up every day either manic or depressive, offering stocks for sale at wildly inflated prices because he's so rosy, or at crazily depressed prices because he's glum or convinced the sky is falling. The trick is that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY AT ANY POINT - it is entirely up to you. You can agree with everyone that Apple makes the best listening or tablet devices, but until there is a shock to the stock price and it's offered at something you consider value, you don't have to buy it! Yesterday was simply a time when PIP was being offered at a price that was entirely "glum" Mr. Market.
Recall however that I also sold July $2.50 calls against the position I added yesterday (within the Port24). Although I've technically "lost" paper money on this trade, as opposed to simply buying the shares, I am not too sad. I entered the trade looking only at the one month objective of gaining the 12% (144% annualized!!!) return should PIP be at more than $2.50 on July 15th. I am quite firmly convinced it will, so I am not touching the trade at this point.
Please note there IS something I could (and may well) do at this point. I bought the stock at $2.42 and sold $2.50 calls for $0.30. I could buy back those same calls for $0.80 now, and then sell the stock for $3.04. I would lose $0.50 per share on the options, but gain $0.62 per share on the underlying shares. Of course, you have to factor commissions into the above, so it's not a full 12 cent gain per share... maybe more like ten on average.
That would be a 4% gain, obviously not nearly as nice as the 12% I stand to gain if left in place. On the other hand, this is a 4% gain in ONE DAY. That annualizes to 1,440%! Such comparisons are silly when you talk about a one or two day gain, but then I have that cash on hand for future trades, instead of locking it up for a month. Since this trade is about 8% of the entire Port, there is some interest in closing it out quickly if I can do so at a better than already-planned return.
Stay tuned!
Regards,
Trond
Sunday, May 22, 2011
May options expiration
There were certainly some surprises this last month in the Port24. I had sold covered calls against CLDX, ONTY, NBIX, DCTH, and MITI.
All expired harmlessly except for ONTY - it has been rising sharply and were exercised a good 25% above my $4 strike. It hurts to lose the extra amount I might have made, except for two things:
1) would I have actually sold at this price, or would I have sold earlier, or waited and had it go down again?
2) I bought these about a year ago with an average price of $3.46, and sold $0.70 cents of premium along the way... so my net return here has been around 35%.
CLDX just did a secondary offering which knocked it down from exercisable range to the present price. I expect it to be nudging $4 again within a couple months.
NBIX has dropped recently but with Phase 3 trials starting late summer, it should be climbing nicely over the next few months.
Celsion (CLSN) enrollment in the HEAT trial continues to be something I look forward to, over the next two months. They should have hit the 190th PFS event easily by this time and so we'll get to know the results of an interim calculation by the end of Q3 at the latest.
The Port has an annualized return of 17.1% with just over three years. That compares nicely to the S&P being flat over the same period and the Nasdaq gain of 7%.
With ONTY being exercised, I have $28,913.35 in cash and the following holdings:
Shares (calls sold)
2600 CLDX (0)
1200 BTX (0)
2000 NBIX (0)
7000 NNVC (0)
1600 DCTH (0)
3600 PZG (0)
9000 CLSN (0)
2000 MITI (0)
800 SGEN (8)
1600 SGMO (0)
All expired harmlessly except for ONTY - it has been rising sharply and were exercised a good 25% above my $4 strike. It hurts to lose the extra amount I might have made, except for two things:
1) would I have actually sold at this price, or would I have sold earlier, or waited and had it go down again?
2) I bought these about a year ago with an average price of $3.46, and sold $0.70 cents of premium along the way... so my net return here has been around 35%.
CLDX just did a secondary offering which knocked it down from exercisable range to the present price. I expect it to be nudging $4 again within a couple months.
NBIX has dropped recently but with Phase 3 trials starting late summer, it should be climbing nicely over the next few months.
Celsion (CLSN) enrollment in the HEAT trial continues to be something I look forward to, over the next two months. They should have hit the 190th PFS event easily by this time and so we'll get to know the results of an interim calculation by the end of Q3 at the latest.
The Port has an annualized return of 17.1% with just over three years. That compares nicely to the S&P being flat over the same period and the Nasdaq gain of 7%.
With ONTY being exercised, I have $28,913.35 in cash and the following holdings:
Shares (calls sold)
2600 CLDX (0)
1200 BTX (0)
2000 NBIX (0)
7000 NNVC (0)
1600 DCTH (0)
3600 PZG (0)
9000 CLSN (0)
2000 MITI (0)
800 SGEN (8)
1600 SGMO (0)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Buying BTX
Another buy in the Port - 1200 BTX (Biotime) @$7.31. I am not selling calls right away.
Cash: $10,593.85
Position (calls against)
2600 CLDX (26)
1200 BTX (0)
2000 NBIX (20)
7000 NNVC (0)
7000 ONTY (70)
1600 DCTH (16)
3600 PZG (0)
9000 CLSN (0)
2000 MITI (0)
800 SGEN (8)
Regards,
Trond
Cash: $10,593.85
Position (calls against)
2600 CLDX (26)
1200 BTX (0)
2000 NBIX (20)
7000 NNVC (0)
7000 ONTY (70)
1600 DCTH (16)
3600 PZG (0)
9000 CLSN (0)
2000 MITI (0)
800 SGEN (8)
Regards,
Trond
Thursday, April 7, 2011
More covered calls & Port24 update
Seeing as how option expiration is next week, I decided to get some premium this morning. DNDN Apr $40s for $0.38, DCTH May $9s for $0.50, and SGEN Jun $17.50 for $0.85. Nanoviricides (NNVC) is having a good week, up the $1.50s on more FluCide news. I actually sold a little in my real money portfolios, as I try to trade this one more actively than I sometimes do (this is in an IRA so I don't have to worry about taxes). If you have a 2 to 5 year holding time, this is still not a bad time to buy but I suspect it will be 10 to 20 cents lower in a month or two. The Port24 is back over 20% annualized returns... Dendreon's return to the high $30s as well as Nanoviricide's pop contributed. Celsion has been lagging but I expect within three months it will be the star of the show. I am loaded in CLSN in my real money accounts as well. Cash = $3,390.35 2600 CLDX (26) 400 DNDN (4) 2000 NBIX (20) 7000 NNVC (0) 7000 ONTY (70) 1600 DCTH (16) 3600 PZG (0) 9000 CLSN (0) 2000 MITI (0) 800 SGEN (8) Regards, Trond
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Another covered call sale
On Friday I sold 20 NBIX calls - the May $8s - for $0.25 in the Port. That brings us up to a 16.5% annual return and rapidly closing in on three years of the Port24. I have the holdings listed below. Of them all, the only ones I would consider buys right now are Celsion, Nanoviricides, and Paramount Gold. I would expect PZG to release their first resource report this coming week, and will probably sell out of the Port when that occurs. I have quite a few shares of PZG in my real-money accounts, however, and will only sell modestly there... I think 2011 will be a great year for PZG. Nanoviricides may not have any news for months but then again it may announce something any time. I wouldn't add massively today, but to start a position it's a great time in the $1.20s. Celsion also may not move for a couple months but it really is time to fish or cut bait here. By May or June it will have started its runup, and I expect to have a double from here by the end of June. Regards, Trond Port24 holdings (calls against) 2600 CLDX (26) 400 DNDN (0) 2000 NBIX (20) 7000 NNVC (0) 7000 ONTY (70) 1600 DCTH (0) 3600 PZG () 9000 CLSN (0) 2000 MITI (0) 800 SGEN (0) $1,814.37 cash
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Portfolio strategies and March options expiration
Investing for a blog is slightly different than investing in your own real money portfolio. I try to keep things as true as possible to what actually happens -- commissions, fees, and whatever the bid/ask happens to be.
One difference is the bid/ask - the amount you can sell or buy a stock or option for. Let's look at Dendreon - on a day where the price is $32.79, that might entail a bid/ask of $32.79/32.80. You can sell it for 32.79 but have to buy it at 32.80. In a real world portfolio, you can enter a limit buy at $32.75 - if during the day the ask price falls to $32.75, the order fills and you've bought at a better price. You might not, however, get filled at all! I almost always enter limit orders so as to "game" a few cents on my entry and exit price. I do not have such a luxury in the Port24, since I wouldn't know if I ever would have gotten filled or not! And the volume comes into play also... on microcaps such as Celsion that may only trade 50,000 shares a day, a 4,000 buy can drive the ask price up by a few cents.
A couple cents here or there, even on a thousand shares, really is not a big deal - $10 or $20. Options, however, present a wholly different challenge. The bid/ask spread tends to be wider on low price or low volume stocks, and can be as large as 30 to 40 cents difference. A limit order here is MUCH more necessary and "gaming" the order is important. If the bid/ask is $0.25/0.45, a sell entered for $0.35 -- maybe even $0.40 -- might well be filled. You can easily gain an extra $20, 30, or 40 on a trade simply by keeping that in mind. On a $5,000 buy in for the stock, where you are expecting a 2% return on your covered call, an extra $25 raises your return percentage-wise by another half percent. Half a percent over 12 months is an extra 6% a year! Always enter limit orders on options!!
Another difference in the way a real vs. fake portfolio can be managed is the psychological factor. I have staked myself to a 24% return in the Port24 (something I am far short of at the moment) and being long Celsion for so long (heck, even Dendreon over the last year!) has hurt my performance when measured over an individual month or series of months. I refuse to sell calls for the most part because there is the chance for a really good movement in the share price coming up and I want to capture that. However, I have opportunity cost in the meantime of the covered call premiums foregone. And monthly, I have to report "underperformance" of my 2% a month return. There is always the temptation to do something "wrong" to make the monthly numbers look better! (This, by the way, is very much why I mistrust a lot of companies' quarterly earnings - there are many things they can do to fiddle around with a particular quarter's earnings... a one-time charge here, etc.) All I can do is remember why I am in a particular stock and stay true to it. In the long run, assuming I'm right on Celsion, a 100%+ return in a year looks better than 2% in each of 12 months.
For March's opex in the Port24, both Delcath and Seattle Genetics expired without being called. Delcath, of course, went horribly wrong a few weeks ago with the FDA not even accepting the filing of the NDA. I'm holding here, as European approval is also in the works and should cause a re-runup towards the end of the spring. SGEN could well bounce around a buck or two up or down; I will simply wait for a small bounce up and sell calls again.
One extra note about the Port24 - several weeks ago I announced the intention to "move" the assets to Zecco from Scottrade. Immediately afterwards, Zecco announced a pricing change, adding a few dimes to their stock and option commissions. While it is still cheaper than Scottrade and for a new money account I would certainly recommend Zecco, for this situation where I'd have to pay "transfer" charges I am just going to keep basng my buys and sells for now off Scottrade's commission costs. Having said that, please don't let such costs deter you from doing transfers in real money accounts - many brokerages will compensate you for the transfer charges as an inducement for your business!
Real money wise, I am coming close to being an idiot with Celsion. I have been buying all the way down from the low $3s through the $2.30s. A large part of me wishes I'd only now heard of it and had bought the entire stake here! We should finally see some movement in the next 1-8 weeks... culminating in a really nice runup by June awaiting full enrollment of the HEAT trial, and the interim calculation announcement. While I don't truly expect a successful interim and trial stop, the increased eyeballs and realization of the microscopic float should cause a share price move of several dollars.
Paramount Gold & Silver should be releasing one of their resource reports within weeks. Not knowing exactly what regions will be included makes it hard to predict share price movement, but suffice it to say over the next year I expect a double or more. That makes it worth hlding on, or adding here.
Regards,
Trond
One difference is the bid/ask - the amount you can sell or buy a stock or option for. Let's look at Dendreon - on a day where the price is $32.79, that might entail a bid/ask of $32.79/32.80. You can sell it for 32.79 but have to buy it at 32.80. In a real world portfolio, you can enter a limit buy at $32.75 - if during the day the ask price falls to $32.75, the order fills and you've bought at a better price. You might not, however, get filled at all! I almost always enter limit orders so as to "game" a few cents on my entry and exit price. I do not have such a luxury in the Port24, since I wouldn't know if I ever would have gotten filled or not! And the volume comes into play also... on microcaps such as Celsion that may only trade 50,000 shares a day, a 4,000 buy can drive the ask price up by a few cents.
A couple cents here or there, even on a thousand shares, really is not a big deal - $10 or $20. Options, however, present a wholly different challenge. The bid/ask spread tends to be wider on low price or low volume stocks, and can be as large as 30 to 40 cents difference. A limit order here is MUCH more necessary and "gaming" the order is important. If the bid/ask is $0.25/0.45, a sell entered for $0.35 -- maybe even $0.40 -- might well be filled. You can easily gain an extra $20, 30, or 40 on a trade simply by keeping that in mind. On a $5,000 buy in for the stock, where you are expecting a 2% return on your covered call, an extra $25 raises your return percentage-wise by another half percent. Half a percent over 12 months is an extra 6% a year! Always enter limit orders on options!!
Another difference in the way a real vs. fake portfolio can be managed is the psychological factor. I have staked myself to a 24% return in the Port24 (something I am far short of at the moment) and being long Celsion for so long (heck, even Dendreon over the last year!) has hurt my performance when measured over an individual month or series of months. I refuse to sell calls for the most part because there is the chance for a really good movement in the share price coming up and I want to capture that. However, I have opportunity cost in the meantime of the covered call premiums foregone. And monthly, I have to report "underperformance" of my 2% a month return. There is always the temptation to do something "wrong" to make the monthly numbers look better! (This, by the way, is very much why I mistrust a lot of companies' quarterly earnings - there are many things they can do to fiddle around with a particular quarter's earnings... a one-time charge here, etc.) All I can do is remember why I am in a particular stock and stay true to it. In the long run, assuming I'm right on Celsion, a 100%+ return in a year looks better than 2% in each of 12 months.
For March's opex in the Port24, both Delcath and Seattle Genetics expired without being called. Delcath, of course, went horribly wrong a few weeks ago with the FDA not even accepting the filing of the NDA. I'm holding here, as European approval is also in the works and should cause a re-runup towards the end of the spring. SGEN could well bounce around a buck or two up or down; I will simply wait for a small bounce up and sell calls again.
One extra note about the Port24 - several weeks ago I announced the intention to "move" the assets to Zecco from Scottrade. Immediately afterwards, Zecco announced a pricing change, adding a few dimes to their stock and option commissions. While it is still cheaper than Scottrade and for a new money account I would certainly recommend Zecco, for this situation where I'd have to pay "transfer" charges I am just going to keep basng my buys and sells for now off Scottrade's commission costs. Having said that, please don't let such costs deter you from doing transfers in real money accounts - many brokerages will compensate you for the transfer charges as an inducement for your business!
Real money wise, I am coming close to being an idiot with Celsion. I have been buying all the way down from the low $3s through the $2.30s. A large part of me wishes I'd only now heard of it and had bought the entire stake here! We should finally see some movement in the next 1-8 weeks... culminating in a really nice runup by June awaiting full enrollment of the HEAT trial, and the interim calculation announcement. While I don't truly expect a successful interim and trial stop, the increased eyeballs and realization of the microscopic float should cause a share price move of several dollars.
Paramount Gold & Silver should be releasing one of their resource reports within weeks. Not knowing exactly what regions will be included makes it hard to predict share price movement, but suffice it to say over the next year I expect a double or more. That makes it worth hlding on, or adding here.
Regards,
Trond
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Port24 update - SGEN
Cash was freed up by selling CLDA. I am allergic to holding on to cash and have bought 800 Seattle Genetics (SGEN) at $15. I turned around and immediately sold 8 Mar11 $15 calls for $0.40 each. 2.5% return in just over 2 weeks, assuming we hug $15 for awhile.
Regards,
Trond
Regards,
Trond
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Dendreon helped the Port24...
Well, the Port is "ta-da!" back where it should be. That is, back to 24% returns, annualized.
Dendreon was the prime mover, of course, and I yesterday sold 500 of the 900 shares the Port held. With the proceeds I bought 2,000 MannKind (MNKD) at $6.93 and sold 20 June $8 calls against them for $55 each.
I promised a brief writeup on MannKind but am lacking in time today. So suffice it to say MNKD is another stock I'm buying in my real-money IRA - selling some calls and holding most long through the summer.
Regards,
Trond
Dendreon was the prime mover, of course, and I yesterday sold 500 of the 900 shares the Port held. With the proceeds I bought 2,000 MannKind (MNKD) at $6.93 and sold 20 June $8 calls against them for $55 each.
I promised a brief writeup on MannKind but am lacking in time today. So suffice it to say MNKD is another stock I'm buying in my real-money IRA - selling some calls and holding most long through the summer.
Regards,
Trond
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Port 24 update and other news
First some news ...
I have not decided exactly how or when, but I am going to switch out my Port24 (fake money, albeit serious thought) holdings for one of my real life IRAs. It is getting to be too much of a headache to actually manage another portfolio that does not immediately affect my new worth.
This is sad for one specific reason: this was the one portfolio where I tried to focus as exclusively on covered calls as possible. I see that as "safe", even with the priority on pre-earnings biotechs. On the plus side, you'll get to see exactly how I think and react on stocks I own and am thinking about. I do not think I will go to the lengths of posting every move before actually trading; it is my real money and sometimes I will want to make the trade ASAP. I will think more about this over a few weeks and let you know. Feedback is ALWAYS welcome.
Dendreon announced another BIG hiring this morning. Varun Nanda has joined the management team as SVP of Global Commercial Operations. Mr. Nanda comes from Roche/Genentech, where he brought Avastin into commercialization.
I do not see a Rest Of World partnership for Dendreon anymore... with Mr. Nanda and Hans Bishop on board they look ready to market Provenge themselves, worldwide. May 1, and probable Provenge approval, is less than a month away!
Port24:
A fair amount of movement this morning!
I sold 1500 ALTH ($$8.36) and 1000 MELA ($7.32), while buying 500 more Dendreon ($39.11), 7000 PZG ($1.44), and 3500 VICL ($3.45). I sold 29 $5 Jul calls against ARNA, and 5 Apr $40s against the DNDN.
Allos had a nice couple days this week, adding almost $1. It is time to take the gains. I *think* they will have great news in Q2, from an ongoing trial, but in biotech, you take some off the table when you get some gains. I had bought these at $6.68 in October 2009, and sold some calls against them, so I definitely had a winner here.
MELA is the opposite, although I sold so many calls that the loss is not as bad. The FDA delayed their application by 180 days recently, and it fell 20%. I may just get back in, later, but I see this as "dead money" for 3 months.
The 500 Dendreon is just a 8 day play for the almost 3% of option premium. I'd LOVE for Dendreon to close on 4/16 under $40 so I can keep the shares, though!
ARNA will have it's FDA PDUFA date on October 22. The July calls net me a little premium (6% for less than 4 months) while I wait. And heck, with the stock at $3.16, if I "lose" them at $5 I will not be crying!
The two new buys are VICL and PZG.
PZG (Paramount Mining) is a black sheep here, being neither a biotech, nor optionable. A gold exploration company, it is strictly a 2-5 month buy for straight-up capital appreciation. I will talk about this one more later, suffice it to say I have some in my real money IRA as well.
VICL (Vical) has a great pipeline and should have some news in the summer/fall that will allow me to sell some $5 or even $7.50 calls later in the year for some juicy premiums.
That makes the Port now worth $130,206, or a 30% return. Annualized, it is only 15.9%, well shy of my target. On the plus side, the S&P and Nasdaq indices have annualized returns over the same period of -6.75% and 9.5% respectively, so I am beating them. In a month and a week, the Port turns 2!
Regards,
Trond
I have not decided exactly how or when, but I am going to switch out my Port24 (fake money, albeit serious thought) holdings for one of my real life IRAs. It is getting to be too much of a headache to actually manage another portfolio that does not immediately affect my new worth.
This is sad for one specific reason: this was the one portfolio where I tried to focus as exclusively on covered calls as possible. I see that as "safe", even with the priority on pre-earnings biotechs. On the plus side, you'll get to see exactly how I think and react on stocks I own and am thinking about. I do not think I will go to the lengths of posting every move before actually trading; it is my real money and sometimes I will want to make the trade ASAP. I will think more about this over a few weeks and let you know. Feedback is ALWAYS welcome.
Dendreon announced another BIG hiring this morning. Varun Nanda has joined the management team as SVP of Global Commercial Operations. Mr. Nanda comes from Roche/Genentech, where he brought Avastin into commercialization.
I do not see a Rest Of World partnership for Dendreon anymore... with Mr. Nanda and Hans Bishop on board they look ready to market Provenge themselves, worldwide. May 1, and probable Provenge approval, is less than a month away!
Port24:
A fair amount of movement this morning!
I sold 1500 ALTH ($$8.36) and 1000 MELA ($7.32), while buying 500 more Dendreon ($39.11), 7000 PZG ($1.44), and 3500 VICL ($3.45). I sold 29 $5 Jul calls against ARNA, and 5 Apr $40s against the DNDN.
Allos had a nice couple days this week, adding almost $1. It is time to take the gains. I *think* they will have great news in Q2, from an ongoing trial, but in biotech, you take some off the table when you get some gains. I had bought these at $6.68 in October 2009, and sold some calls against them, so I definitely had a winner here.
MELA is the opposite, although I sold so many calls that the loss is not as bad. The FDA delayed their application by 180 days recently, and it fell 20%. I may just get back in, later, but I see this as "dead money" for 3 months.
The 500 Dendreon is just a 8 day play for the almost 3% of option premium. I'd LOVE for Dendreon to close on 4/16 under $40 so I can keep the shares, though!
ARNA will have it's FDA PDUFA date on October 22. The July calls net me a little premium (6% for less than 4 months) while I wait. And heck, with the stock at $3.16, if I "lose" them at $5 I will not be crying!
The two new buys are VICL and PZG.
PZG (Paramount Mining) is a black sheep here, being neither a biotech, nor optionable. A gold exploration company, it is strictly a 2-5 month buy for straight-up capital appreciation. I will talk about this one more later, suffice it to say I have some in my real money IRA as well.
VICL (Vical) has a great pipeline and should have some news in the summer/fall that will allow me to sell some $5 or even $7.50 calls later in the year for some juicy premiums.
That makes the Port now worth $130,206, or a 30% return. Annualized, it is only 15.9%, well shy of my target. On the plus side, the S&P and Nasdaq indices have annualized returns over the same period of -6.75% and 9.5% respectively, so I am beating them. In a month and a week, the Port turns 2!
Regards,
Trond
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Port update - options expiration
Quick summary of the Port, along with GenVec update:
On Friday, the Port had all 2000 ProGenics (PGNX) called away at $5, and the Elan calls expired worthless, allowing me to keep the premium and the shares. We're back to above 17% annualized return, still well shy of the 24 I am aiming for. I still feel it is doable, if I just put some time back into this Port. I have only been selling calls on 1 to 3 holdings a month, where I should be turning 100% of the holdings. I'll be selling the Genvec this coming week, since it does not offer options and I'm up over 10% already, having been in it for only a month. Time to take that profit and buy something I can sell calls against!
GenVec should be announcing the interim PACT trial results within 4 weeks now. On January 15th they said 10 to 12 weeks, and Friday 3/19/10 was exactly 9 weeks. While they may announce this coming week, both their annual earnings call and the recent Roth presentation suggested it could spill over into April so I would put more faith into it happening right around the first week of April.
In my real money IRA, I have an insane amount tied up in both Dendreon and Genvec - something like 85% of the total value. It has served me well, as the majority of Dendreon was bought under $6 (now $35) and my Genvec average basis is around $1.25 (now $2.80). I am however, finally at the point where I'll be selling at least a third of my GNVC over the next week or so, and may even dent my DNDN by 10% or so. I am far more confident that Dendreon will get approval, but at this price (mid 30s) I just do not see the return that I saw at the mid $20s we were at only a couple months ago. Genvec, at a little below $3, is also a MUCH different creature risk/return wise, than it was at the $0.77 I started buying at. The upcoming data release is a short term make-or-break event; it could go down (I honestly don't see it going below $1.50) on so-so data, but it could spike as much as another $7-10 on statistically significant data. There is a "reasonable" chance of stat-sig results - say 20-30% - but I am not risking 40+% of my net worth on a 20-30% chance of a home run. Please note that everyone's personal sense of risk vs. reward is vastly different - I AM in effect saying I'm okay with risking ~25% of my net worth!
This is because I already have a two bagger on Genvec - the most likely worse case scenario brings me back to a only slight average gain. I contrast this to the results, if excellent, and it makes sense for me to hold about 2/3 of what I have now, through the data release. For someone buying in now, it would be a greatly different risk/reward calculation.
Please also note that IF GenVec does drop, it very likely could be because the market is disappointed in the data not being excellent, and NOT because the data is bad. At the 92nd event - the first interim look) the hazard ratio was already .753 - the lower from 1.0 the better. This would have been a very good result, but investors were spooked because at 24 months, there was no apparent drug benefit. Missed was the fact that only three patients were still alive and uncensored, and one of those was in the placebo arm. Thus the placebo curve matched the drug-arm curve. As this interim look, at 184 deaths, most of those censored patients will have died, which will "normalize" the placebo curve and probably lower the hazard ratio even further. ANYTHING that relieves the worry about the 24 month death rate and shows improving hazard ratio beyond the .753 already seen, will vastly increase the chances of statistical significance at the final trial calculation. If the data is like this, but Mr. Market is disappointed, this could be the buy of a lifetime - with only a 18-24 month holding period until fruition. Heck - I went through this with Dendreon already from 2007 - 2009, and was rewarded with a $4 stock going to $25 (and currently $35, with a probable $40-45 in May).
Next post: more buy candidates, with the cash I now have in hand!
Regards,
Trond
On Friday, the Port had all 2000 ProGenics (PGNX) called away at $5, and the Elan calls expired worthless, allowing me to keep the premium and the shares. We're back to above 17% annualized return, still well shy of the 24 I am aiming for. I still feel it is doable, if I just put some time back into this Port. I have only been selling calls on 1 to 3 holdings a month, where I should be turning 100% of the holdings. I'll be selling the Genvec this coming week, since it does not offer options and I'm up over 10% already, having been in it for only a month. Time to take that profit and buy something I can sell calls against!
GenVec should be announcing the interim PACT trial results within 4 weeks now. On January 15th they said 10 to 12 weeks, and Friday 3/19/10 was exactly 9 weeks. While they may announce this coming week, both their annual earnings call and the recent Roth presentation suggested it could spill over into April so I would put more faith into it happening right around the first week of April.
In my real money IRA, I have an insane amount tied up in both Dendreon and Genvec - something like 85% of the total value. It has served me well, as the majority of Dendreon was bought under $6 (now $35) and my Genvec average basis is around $1.25 (now $2.80). I am however, finally at the point where I'll be selling at least a third of my GNVC over the next week or so, and may even dent my DNDN by 10% or so. I am far more confident that Dendreon will get approval, but at this price (mid 30s) I just do not see the return that I saw at the mid $20s we were at only a couple months ago. Genvec, at a little below $3, is also a MUCH different creature risk/return wise, than it was at the $0.77 I started buying at. The upcoming data release is a short term make-or-break event; it could go down (I honestly don't see it going below $1.50) on so-so data, but it could spike as much as another $7-10 on statistically significant data. There is a "reasonable" chance of stat-sig results - say 20-30% - but I am not risking 40+% of my net worth on a 20-30% chance of a home run. Please note that everyone's personal sense of risk vs. reward is vastly different - I AM in effect saying I'm okay with risking ~25% of my net worth!
This is because I already have a two bagger on Genvec - the most likely worse case scenario brings me back to a only slight average gain. I contrast this to the results, if excellent, and it makes sense for me to hold about 2/3 of what I have now, through the data release. For someone buying in now, it would be a greatly different risk/reward calculation.
Please also note that IF GenVec does drop, it very likely could be because the market is disappointed in the data not being excellent, and NOT because the data is bad. At the 92nd event - the first interim look) the hazard ratio was already .753 - the lower from 1.0 the better. This would have been a very good result, but investors were spooked because at 24 months, there was no apparent drug benefit. Missed was the fact that only three patients were still alive and uncensored, and one of those was in the placebo arm. Thus the placebo curve matched the drug-arm curve. As this interim look, at 184 deaths, most of those censored patients will have died, which will "normalize" the placebo curve and probably lower the hazard ratio even further. ANYTHING that relieves the worry about the 24 month death rate and shows improving hazard ratio beyond the .753 already seen, will vastly increase the chances of statistical significance at the final trial calculation. If the data is like this, but Mr. Market is disappointed, this could be the buy of a lifetime - with only a 18-24 month holding period until fruition. Heck - I went through this with Dendreon already from 2007 - 2009, and was rewarded with a $4 stock going to $25 (and currently $35, with a probable $40-45 in May).
Next post: more buy candidates, with the cash I now have in hand!
Regards,
Trond
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Port 24 and assorted biotech news
Port 24 update:
The only January options I had sold were 10 MELA $10 calls, and they were exercised, with the stock at $11.05 last Friday.
With that cash, I bought 300 more Dendreon shares today, and sold 3 Feb $32 calls against them for $0.89 per share.
I am living by my resolution to be a little more active in the Port! I also sold the following calls today:
16 ELN March $9s for $0.30
15 SGMO Feb $7.50s for $0.25
10 MELA Feb $12.50s for $0.20
2 AMAG Feb $55s for $0.50
I almost sold calls against ALTH - but I feel there is a little more room beneath the stock before selling calls. AOB needs to climb closer to $5 to make it worth selling calls, and NBIX at $2.50 is not satisfactory to sell the $2.50s, and the $5s are not worth anything yet.
The Port 24 thus has the following stocks (covered calls in parentheses)
1500 ALTH
200 AMAG (2)
2000 AOB
4900 ARNA (24)
700 DNDN (3)
1600 ELN (16)
1000 MELA (10)
2000 NBIX
2000 PGNX (20)
1000 RMTI (10)
2500 SGMO (15)
.. with cash of $2,680. This gives me a port value of about $132,500 and a 19.3% annualized return. I'm getting closer to my 24% return, again!
Stocks:
Genvec released a PR that they have licensed their hearing loss pre-clinical work to Novartis, for $5M plus milestones and royalties. They also hit the 184 death interim trigger in the PACT trial on Friday, and will have data in 10 to 12 weeks. I'm nearly as excited about Genvec as I was about Dendreon, but caution that the risk/reward is much slighter here at $2 than at $0.76 when I first mentioned it here a few months ago. I was still buying in my real-world IRA at $1.70, but am probably done for now.
Dendreon had an interview published in the Xconomy online magazine with the new COO Hans Bishop. It is a MUST READ, here: http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/01/19/dendreons-new-operations-man-hans-bishop-aims-to-keep-provenge-trains-running-on-time/
Sangamo had good results (albeit from one patient, in a Phase I trial) here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sangamo-BioSciences-Announces-prnews-1693198508.html?x=0&.v=1
Regards,
Trond
The only January options I had sold were 10 MELA $10 calls, and they were exercised, with the stock at $11.05 last Friday.
With that cash, I bought 300 more Dendreon shares today, and sold 3 Feb $32 calls against them for $0.89 per share.
I am living by my resolution to be a little more active in the Port! I also sold the following calls today:
16 ELN March $9s for $0.30
15 SGMO Feb $7.50s for $0.25
10 MELA Feb $12.50s for $0.20
2 AMAG Feb $55s for $0.50
I almost sold calls against ALTH - but I feel there is a little more room beneath the stock before selling calls. AOB needs to climb closer to $5 to make it worth selling calls, and NBIX at $2.50 is not satisfactory to sell the $2.50s, and the $5s are not worth anything yet.
The Port 24 thus has the following stocks (covered calls in parentheses)
1500 ALTH
200 AMAG (2)
2000 AOB
4900 ARNA (24)
700 DNDN (3)
1600 ELN (16)
1000 MELA (10)
2000 NBIX
2000 PGNX (20)
1000 RMTI (10)
2500 SGMO (15)
.. with cash of $2,680. This gives me a port value of about $132,500 and a 19.3% annualized return. I'm getting closer to my 24% return, again!
Stocks:
Genvec released a PR that they have licensed their hearing loss pre-clinical work to Novartis, for $5M plus milestones and royalties. They also hit the 184 death interim trigger in the PACT trial on Friday, and will have data in 10 to 12 weeks. I'm nearly as excited about Genvec as I was about Dendreon, but caution that the risk/reward is much slighter here at $2 than at $0.76 when I first mentioned it here a few months ago. I was still buying in my real-world IRA at $1.70, but am probably done for now.
Dendreon had an interview published in the Xconomy online magazine with the new COO Hans Bishop. It is a MUST READ, here: http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/01/19/dendreons-new-operations-man-hans-bishop-aims-to-keep-provenge-trains-running-on-time/
Sangamo had good results (albeit from one patient, in a Phase I trial) here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sangamo-BioSciences-Announces-prnews-1693198508.html?x=0&.v=1
Regards,
Trond
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Port 24 update and real-world trades
Well I did not get a chance to post yesterday but I made some changes in the Port.
I sold the last 400 BCRX, bought 2000 PGNX and 1500 ALTH, and sold 10 MELA calls (Nov $10s, for $0.40).
BioCryst is close to either getting an Emergency Use Approval or not. I would miss the price spike, but I also will miss the cratering if it does not get it. This Port is not for extreme trading -- I will definitely focus on biotechs (simply because that is what I follow for the most part) but the covered call strategy works perfectly by buying into biotechs, selling calls against the premium generated by trial or approval hype, and then selling BEFORE the actual date.
In my real-world IRA, I have been buying NBIX ($2.74), PZG ($1.27) and MNKD ($5.13). All of these are, in my estimation, good for a double or more in the next 12 months.
The Port stands as follows:
2000 AOB
2000 NBIX
1600 ELN
400 DNDN
4900 ARNA
2500 SGMO
2000 MELA (10)
2000 PGNX
200 AMAG
1500 ALTH
Cash: $5,231.55
Regards,
Trond
I sold the last 400 BCRX, bought 2000 PGNX and 1500 ALTH, and sold 10 MELA calls (Nov $10s, for $0.40).
BioCryst is close to either getting an Emergency Use Approval or not. I would miss the price spike, but I also will miss the cratering if it does not get it. This Port is not for extreme trading -- I will definitely focus on biotechs (simply because that is what I follow for the most part) but the covered call strategy works perfectly by buying into biotechs, selling calls against the premium generated by trial or approval hype, and then selling BEFORE the actual date.
In my real-world IRA, I have been buying NBIX ($2.74), PZG ($1.27) and MNKD ($5.13). All of these are, in my estimation, good for a double or more in the next 12 months.
The Port stands as follows:
2000 AOB
2000 NBIX
1600 ELN
400 DNDN
4900 ARNA
2500 SGMO
2000 MELA (10)
2000 PGNX
200 AMAG
1500 ALTH
Cash: $5,231.55
Regards,
Trond
Friday, September 25, 2009
Various stocks and two Port24 trades
One of the nice things about selling covered calls is that when a stock goes down, you can buy back the calls you sold, at a profit.
That is exactly what I did today for the Port; I had sold 6 Oct $35 DNDN contracts for $84 each and bought them back today for $20 each -- $350 profit after commissions.
Then I turned around and sold 6 Oct $28s for $100 each.
Do not get me wrong, Dendreon is still a stock I want to own. But I do not believe it will be above $28 in the middle of October. They announced yesterday that the amended BLA will not be filed until the middle of November, and so I just don't see any real gains through then. If we see a spike downwards, I very well may simply buy these back too...
I also bought (for the Port) 2000 AOB at $4.83 and sold the Oct $5s for $20 each. [disclosure: I also did this today in my real IRA with 1000 shares...]
I did well in selling ALTH - they did get approval, as I thought, but revenue and profits are going to be a few months away and so the market did not treat Allos very well today. As a 6 month stock, I think buying today would be a good thing, but it is not quite right for the Port today.
ARNA is also a screaming buy today. Note it could well drop some more in the next week but at $4.60 a share there is too much upside to ignore it. I have a sizeable stake in the Port already, so will not be buying, but it could make readers very happy one month (Obesity conference at the end of October) and one year (FDA approval) out.
Regards,
Trond
That is exactly what I did today for the Port; I had sold 6 Oct $35 DNDN contracts for $84 each and bought them back today for $20 each -- $350 profit after commissions.
Then I turned around and sold 6 Oct $28s for $100 each.
Do not get me wrong, Dendreon is still a stock I want to own. But I do not believe it will be above $28 in the middle of October. They announced yesterday that the amended BLA will not be filed until the middle of November, and so I just don't see any real gains through then. If we see a spike downwards, I very well may simply buy these back too...
I also bought (for the Port) 2000 AOB at $4.83 and sold the Oct $5s for $20 each. [disclosure: I also did this today in my real IRA with 1000 shares...]
I did well in selling ALTH - they did get approval, as I thought, but revenue and profits are going to be a few months away and so the market did not treat Allos very well today. As a 6 month stock, I think buying today would be a good thing, but it is not quite right for the Port today.
ARNA is also a screaming buy today. Note it could well drop some more in the next week but at $4.60 a share there is too much upside to ignore it. I have a sizeable stake in the Port already, so will not be buying, but it could make readers very happy one month (Obesity conference at the end of October) and one year (FDA approval) out.
Regards,
Trond
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Dendreon and the Port24
Pete, selling is ALWAYS the hard thing to call.
One of the best things I think you can do is keep a trading journal, and when you buy something, write down what you expect and why you would sell.
I freely admit I have blinders on when it comes to Dendreon (and Elan). However, I have called DNDN the "safest one year stock" for a reason - within a year I see a fairly easy double. If I went into revenue projections and P/E or P/S ratios I could easily show how Dendreon could be worth $100 in 2 years, or way more than that beyond because of the pipeline. This is a retirement stock - akin to folks who bought Amgen two decades ago. (how's that for a pump!)
I have to say with today's volume and price, there may be news coming this weekend. At this point, if you would LIKE to have some Dendreon in your portfolio, I do not think I would sell.
---
I also want to mention that as of today, the Port 24 has a 34% return, or on an annualized basis, 25%. I have (finally) achieved the 24%+ returns I have been aiming for. In the coming months I will be much more aggressive on the covered calls and NOT simply waiting for price appreciation of the underlying shares.
Regards,
Trond
One of the best things I think you can do is keep a trading journal, and when you buy something, write down what you expect and why you would sell.
I freely admit I have blinders on when it comes to Dendreon (and Elan). However, I have called DNDN the "safest one year stock" for a reason - within a year I see a fairly easy double. If I went into revenue projections and P/E or P/S ratios I could easily show how Dendreon could be worth $100 in 2 years, or way more than that beyond because of the pipeline. This is a retirement stock - akin to folks who bought Amgen two decades ago. (how's that for a pump!)
I have to say with today's volume and price, there may be news coming this weekend. At this point, if you would LIKE to have some Dendreon in your portfolio, I do not think I would sell.
---
I also want to mention that as of today, the Port 24 has a 34% return, or on an annualized basis, 25%. I have (finally) achieved the 24%+ returns I have been aiming for. In the coming months I will be much more aggressive on the covered calls and NOT simply waiting for price appreciation of the underlying shares.
Regards,
Trond
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
More Port 24 updates
Did a bunch at lunch today.
Sold the 6000 JAV for a 1 month 43% profit. It very well may keep going but I'm taking it off the table.
Bought 1800 AOB at $5 and sold the Aug $5 calls for $0.25. Around a 4% profit if over $5 in a month...
Sold 4 Aug $24 Dendreon calls for $0.90.
Bought 200 AMAG. Have not sold calls yet as I think it will go up in a couple weeks.
This is the current Port:
1800 AOB (18)
2000 NBIX
1600 ELN
1000 DNDN (4)
4900 ARNA (29)
2500 SGMO
400 BCRX
2000 MELA (20)
200 AMAG
$1980.36 cash
ann. = 10.62%
In my real IRA I also bought some AMAG today. I'll have to update my Favorite stocks!
Regards,
Trond
Sold the 6000 JAV for a 1 month 43% profit. It very well may keep going but I'm taking it off the table.
Bought 1800 AOB at $5 and sold the Aug $5 calls for $0.25. Around a 4% profit if over $5 in a month...
Sold 4 Aug $24 Dendreon calls for $0.90.
Bought 200 AMAG. Have not sold calls yet as I think it will go up in a couple weeks.
This is the current Port:
1800 AOB (18)
2000 NBIX
1600 ELN
1000 DNDN (4)
4900 ARNA (29)
2500 SGMO
400 BCRX
2000 MELA (20)
200 AMAG
$1980.36 cash
ann. = 10.62%
In my real IRA I also bought some AMAG today. I'll have to update my Favorite stocks!
Regards,
Trond
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
...and two more call positions... Port 24
Sold 4 Jul $27s of Dendreon at $0.64 each and 6 Jul $9s of Elan at $0.15.
Note the Elan calls are selling at 2% and if exercised would yield 27%+. This is EXACTLY the risk I'm looking for - getting my 2% a month with huge upside. The $8 calls are $0.30 which is a 4% monthly return, and probably are a smarter play. I actually do NOT want to lose my Elan shares which is why I elected to only sell 6 calls at the $9 strike.
Regards,
Trond
Note the Elan calls are selling at 2% and if exercised would yield 27%+. This is EXACTLY the risk I'm looking for - getting my 2% a month with huge upside. The $8 calls are $0.30 which is a 4% monthly return, and probably are a smarter play. I actually do NOT want to lose my Elan shares which is why I elected to only sell 6 calls at the $9 strike.
Regards,
Trond
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