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Costco. It's Short Term Options

 Options on stocks in the $1,000  range often move  50%  or more in only a matter of  minutes on the opening on Wednesday and Thursday's . The trick is to  anticipate correctly which way the markets are going to move. That's a fools game you might say? Yes and no. It may not be a game you ever play but it might be something to consider to put in your bag of tricks when you are on a role. One thousand dollar stocks sometimes move five, ten or fifteen dollars on the day. If you have profits it's best to take them quickly. Costco is a prime example of that. Let's look at this mornings action. First it's five day and one day charts. Tuesday's trading was kind of choppy. Might it drop on the opening tomorrow? Here is a look at where the 1,035 series of Puts closed that expire this Friday. They closed at $8.50. It looks like Costco cycled up about five times yesterday. Given a weak market opening doesn't it stand to reason a three or four or five dollar will be i...
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An Example of Call Options on Caterpillar Prior to an Earnings Release

Not all retail option traders are up to the challenge. What am I talking about? Caterpillar Calls just before an earnings release.This is a blogging site about Caterpillar Calls and Caterpillar Puts. The stock could have a huge jump if the earnings beat expectations or investors could be worried a recession looms. Look at both Caterpillars thirty day and five day charts.
Now look at what the 262.50 Calls are priced at which expire at the end of the week (August 4th).
Very few option traders are playing them. Normal in my opinion should be over 1,000 contracts in a series like this trading everyday and a few thousand open interest contracts. With global warming more heavy equipment will always be needed to rebuild our roads and bridges getting washed away by floods. That plus Caterpillar recently come to terms on their contract talks and supply chain issues are getting better. Did you see how Boeing jumped in price on it's earning report a few days back? Caterpillar could jump too. Here is Boeing's chart in reaction to thier earnings report.
These 262.50 Calls cost about $500.00 a contract to purchase which is to rich for many option players to buy into. I get that. I also understand that the stock is already up over $20.00 in the last month so some shareholders may be thinking of selling out on the release of good news. Looking at Boeing once again look at the open interest on it's slightly "out-of-the money" Calls that are to expire in five trading days.That to me is a normal volume of trading.
Why is there so much caution in the air? One reason is that if Caterpillar jumped five dollars on good news that wouldn't move the needle on it's Call options all that much. Maybe a 50 or 60% gain. Built into the options price is five days of time value which makes them somewhat expensive. What do I expect? I expect a gain. **August 1st. Here is their earnings report.
Let's check back in a day or two to see how the needle moved on this stock. It jumped. The 262.50 Calls well up over 400%.
Wow. It was a crazy gain. PART TWO Let's go on a few days to see what is happening.
Now here is how it finished the week.
Timing was everything.

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