With the market selling off Thursday, there were several stocks that hit my radar which traded higher on abnormal volume. In this post, I will name 12 stocks which fought the trend Thursday November 19, 2009. I will be checking these stocks frequently to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. The second part of this post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

In this post, I will name 25 stocks which traded higher Wednesday November 18, 2009 on unusually higher volume. As always, I will keep an eye on these stocks Thursday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. The second part of this post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Here is a list of stocks which traded higher Tuesday November 17, 2009 on unusually higher volume. As always, I will keep an eye on these stocks Wednesday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. The second part of this post requires the knowledge of stock options.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Here is a tall list of stocks which traded higher Monday November 16, 2009 on unusually higher volume. When we have a move such as we did Monday, it is not unusual to see this many stocks moving higher on greater volume than the 50 day average. I will keep an eye on these stocks Tuesday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Here is a list of stocks which traded higher Wednesday November 11, 2009 on unusually higher volume. I will keep an eye on these stocks Thursday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Here is a list of stocks which traded higher Tuesday November 10, 2009 on unusually higher volume. I will keep an eye on these stocks Wednesday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Here is a list of stocks which traded higher Monday November 9, 2009, on unusually higher volume. I will keep an eye on these stocks Tuesday to see if there is continued buying pushing the stocks higher. This method is just one of the ways I use to pick stocks to structure particular option trades. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, per share % increase, and volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

In my last three blog posts, I listed some stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. Keep in mind, these were companies which I believed would have a positive reaction to the earnings. However, if the stock moved sideways on the number. this strategy would still likely return a gain the following day. This is because I am taking advantage of the increased levels of implied volatility factored into the option premium before earnings.

If you missed them, be sure to check out my October 19 blog post here, October 21 blog post here and my October 26 blog post here. So far this earnings season, the overall results have been very positive, even on eBay (EBAY), which sold off nearly 10% after earnings. I was able to purchase back the put options (closed the position) for a $4 per contract gain the following day. The best results are of course when the stock has a very positive reaction to the report and pops.

In my latest two blog posts Monday and Wednesday, I listed some stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. Keep in mind these are companies which I believed would have a positive reaction to the earnings, however if the stock moved sideways on the number this strategy would still likely return a gain the following day. This is because I am taking advantage of the increased levels of implied volatility factored into the option premium before earnings. If you missed them, be sure to check out Monday's blog post here, and Wednesday's here. So far this earnings season, the overall results have been very positive, even on eBay (EBAY), which sold off nearly 10% after earnings; I was able to purchase back the puts options (closed the position) for a $4 per contract gain the following day. The best results are of course when has a very positive reaction to the report and pops. My best trades so far this earnings season include the trades indicated in the two previous blog posts on the following companies:

• Google (GOOG)
• Apple (AAPL)
• Caterpillar (CAT)
• Texas Instruments (TXN)
• SanDisk (SNDK)
• Walter Energy (WLT)
• Yahoo! (YHOO)
• Amazon (AMZN)
• Microsoft (MSFT)

The put options sold on the stocks above were quickly closed within 2 hours after market open following the earnings report (some for as low as $1 per option contract). In most of the cases, the call options purchased were also sold the following day, but I continue to hold both the Google and Apple call options. In this post, I will lay out some trades for Tuesday and Wednesday (October: 27 and 28).

Here is a list of 21 stocks which traded higher Thursday on unusually higher volume. I have added all 21 of these stocks to my watch list (and invite you to as well), but chose only one to write about in detail in this post. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, Thursday's per share % increase, and Thursday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

In my blog post Monday I listed a few stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. If you missed it you can view the details here. As indicated I took positions on Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), Texas Instruments (TXN), SanDisk (SNDK), Walter Energy (WLT), and Yahoo! (YHOO). The first three have been closed for quick profits (excluding the Apple calls), and I will look to close my positions on the latter three Wednesday Morning. In this post, I will lay out some trades for Thursday, Friday, and Monday (October: 22, 23, and 26).

To reiterate my previous blog post:

Do you feel that you've missed out on a stock that has moved up greatly in this market? With earnings season upon us once again, it makes for a great time to be selling put options due to high implied volatility. In this article, I will outline an option strategy that I use particularly during earnings season. This will put money in my pocket up front, give me a chance to purchase the stock for less than it's trading for now, and also give me gains if the stock moves even higher. I must note that this strategy could lose money if the stock moves much lower after results and you get the stock PUT to you at expiration (or in the rare case of an early exercise). This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows some of the stocks I'm willing to go long (for reasons not discussed in this post), which will be reporting earnings this week. To understand the table below read the example used with Apple (AAPL) below.

In a previous OptionMaestro.com post, I outlined 25 stocks which I wouldn't mind going long at these levels. I wrote about getting long the stocks by using the buy-write option strategy. This is an updated post to that one, adjusting the strikes and prices accordingly for options expiration today. It is very important to write the shares out as early as possible as volatility rushes into the market in the morning, and not wait for it to start decreasing rapidly in the afternoon. It's not too late to get premium out of many of these stocks, and writing them for just a day decreases risk greatly. I will look to be purchasing some of the stocks mentioned below pre-market to write out at opening bell. As I've stated, I don't mind holding any of these stocks long which is why I'll be using this strategy today. If I get called out I won't mind because I'll still make money. Below is the list of stocks, the potential return if exercised, and protection if they do not get exercised. To learn more about the buy/write option strategy, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

Note that higher beta securities return higher percentages due to their levels of implied volatility, and because they are riskier.

With the October options expiration approaching us in just 3 days, I thought I would outline some trade ideas on stocks I wouldn't mind going long on, that would return good percentages by Friday (as of market close Tuesday). When using the buy/write option strategy, it is important that you are willing to hold the security in case it is below the strike price at options expiration. I have put together a list of stocks which will return a nice percentage gain if they are above the strike price as of October options expiration, but will also protect (lower cost basis) to the downside in case the stock sells off slightly and expires below the strike price. The list below is a very tall one, and for your convenience I have ranked the securities in order from the largest potential % return to the least. To learn more about the buy/write option strategy, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

Note that higher beta securities return higher percentages due to their levels of implied volatility, and because they are riskier.

Here is a list of 32 stocks which traded higher Friday on unusually higher volume. I have added all 32 of these stocks to my watch list (and invite you to as well), but chose only a couple to write about in detail in this post. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, Friday's per share % increase, and Friday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

Here is a list of 15 stocks which traded higher Wednesday on unusually higher volume. I have added all 15 of these stocks to my watch list (and invite you to as well), but chose only a couple to write about in detail in this post. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, Wednesday's per share % increase, and Wednesday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

As posted in Charting the banks on OptionMaestro.com, I was once extremely bullish on the financial stocks. Most of the targets which were unheard of back on May 10, have either been hit or passed. I am currently bearish short term; I believe we will see profits taken over the next month which would cause these financial stocks to move lower. In this article I will describe a way which I have been using (and will continue to use) to capture the downside on the financial sector. To understand the trade described in this article, you'll need a background of trading stock options. To learn more about the option strategy that will be outlined in this article, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

Why the financial sector? I chose the financial stocks because they are up the greatest % since the market bottom, and if this sell off continues, we may see the financial stocks suffer the most. The table below shows the performance of 10 financial stocks since March 9, 2009 (closing low on the S&P 500). Stocks are ranked in order from greatest % gain to least. I used data from Google Finance, so I know everyone has access to it as well.

Here is a list of seven stocks which broke out during Friday's trade on big volume. I will be keeping my eye on all of these stocks this week, but chose only one to write a detailed option trade about this week. All of these stocks demonstrated tremendous strength during Friday's trade breaking out to the upside on huge volume.

The table below shows the company, ticker, Friday's per share % increase, and Friday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

With the September options expiration approaching us in just 4 days, I thought I would outline some trade ideas on stocks I wouldn't mind going long (with the exception of AIG), that would return good percentages in just 4 days. When using the buy/write option strategy, it is important that you are willing to hold the security in case it is below the strike price at options expiration. I have put together a list of stocks/ETFs which will return a nice percentage gain if they are above the strike price as of September options expiration, but will also protect (lower cost basis) to the downside in case the stock/ETF sells off slightly and expires below the strike price. The list below is a very tall one, and for your convenience I have ranked the securities in order from the largest percent return to the least. To learn more about the buy/write option strategy, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

Note that higher beta securities return higher percentages due to their levels of implied volatility, and because they are riskier.

In this post is a fresh list of 25 bullish stocks to watch for the week of September 14, 2009. I will be keeping my eye on all of these stocks this week, but chose only one to write a detailed option trade about this week. All of these stocks demonstrated tremendous strength during Friday's trade breaking out to the upside on huge volume. The table below shows the company, ticker, Friday's per share % increase, and Friday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

The stocks which are most attractive to me from the list above are: Informatica Corp, Innodata Isogen Inc, Fibertower Corp, and Select Comfort Corp. However from the four listed, the only stock which has options available to trade is Informatica, so below is a detailed option trade involving Informatica. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.