Stock Futures and “Triple Witching” Fridays

If you noticed a lot of trading volume at the close of trading last week, don’t worry- you didn’t miss some big news. You see, last Friday wasn’t just any other Friday. And no, I’m not talking about Alibaba. Last Friday was “triple witching” Friday! One of the most frustrating parts to learning about the…

What I’m Selling: Hewlett-Packard

Whoahhhh, easy now. Let’s be mature about this, Hewlett-Packard. I know, I know. You don’t have to send me the link. I remember all the great things I said about you less than one month ago. But we need to talk. You see, I admit I said all those things about you. I looked right in…

Introduction to Stock Options

People are funny. Sometimes the best sales pitch that a salesman can make to a customer is, “Oh you mean this? No, you don’t want to buy this! In fact, stay completely away from these all together; you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into…” Nothing makes people more curious and more interested than a secret. I’ve…

What the Options Market is Saying About Apple

I’ve mentioned several times that I don’t do much option trading. In certain specific situations, the leverage that options provide is just too tempting to pass up, but most of the time options are not a great investment. In fact, about three out of every four option contracts expire worthless, which is something you should…

The Takeaway From Apple’s Big “Event”

I’ve had a lot of fun watching the circus surrounding Apple’s unveiling event today. I even spent most of my lunch break watching Apple’s Stocktwits feed. Never have I seen such a combination of intelligence, overconfidence, absurdity, naivety, desperation, backpaddling, un-backpeddling, re-backpeddling, and general confusion. I loved every minute of it. Day traders are a…