MyHappyTrading's  Instablog

Happy Mother's Day!

It was another choppy week on the market. Stocks struggled to find a direction and eventually ended down on JPM's announcement of a $2 billion loss on Thursday. However, we had a strong week with big profits on VRTX, as high as +1185%. We also caught some nice intraday trades, including a +156% win on LINKD puts. Here are the closed trades for the week:

• 12:43 | Ecstatic Plays GOOG ($608.00) Sold to Close 05C620 May 620 calls, at $3.00 -48%
• 10:26 | HappyTrading AAPL ($569.30) Sold to Close 05C580 May 580 calls, at $3.30 -49%
• 12:42 | Ecstatic Plays FFIV ($124.00) Sold to Close 0511P125 May 125 put, at $1.80 +16%
• 09:47 | Ecstatic Plays VMW ($101.10) Sold to Close 05P100 May 100 put, at $1.95 +5%
• 09:45 | HappyTrading CTXS ($79.00) Sold to Close 05P80 May 80 put, at $2.55 +28%
• 07:32 | HappyTrading GOOG ($611.00) Sold to Close 05C620 May 620 calls, at $4.80 -29%
• 07:31 | HappyTrading GOOG ($610.95) Sold to Close 05C620 May 620 calls, at $5.80 -13%
• 09:16 | HappyTrading FAS ($94.00) Sold to Close 0511P95 May 95 put, at $2.60 -20%
• 08:51 | Ecstatic Plays BIDU ($125.20) Sold to Close 0511P125 May 125 put, at $1.50 -29%
• 07:30 | HappyTrading SLV ($28.03) Sold to Close 05P29.5 May 30 put, at $1.56 +111%
• 12:50 | HappyTrading VRTX ($63.80) Sold to Close 05C38 May 38 calls, at $25.70 +1185%
• 12:49 | HappyTrading GOOG ($614.80) Sold to Close 0511C610 May 610 calls, at $8.70 +47%
• 12:36 | HappyTrading GOOG ($615.50) Sold to Close 0511C610 May 610 calls, at $9.10 +54%
• 12:23 | HappyTrading GOOG ($612.70) Sold to Close 0511C610 May 610 calls, at $7.50 +27%
• 11:19 | HappyTrading AAPL ($562.80) Sold to Close 0511P555 May 555 put, at $3.80 -21%
• 11:01 | HappyTrading AAPL ($562.80) Sold to Close 0511P555 May 555 put, at $4.80 +26%
• 10:19 | Ecstatic Plays CMG ($397.90) Sold to Close 0511P400 May 400 calls, at $6.10 +17%
• 08:28 | HappyTrading AMZN ($219.00) Sold to Close 0511P220 May 220 put, at $3.50 +3%
• 07:39 | HappyTrading LNKD ($102.90) Sold to Close 0511P105 May 105 put, at $4.60 +156%
• 07:35 | HappyTrading LNKD ($103.70) Sold to Close 0511P105 May 105 put, at $3.70 +106%
• 11:22 | HappyTrading VRTX ($56.30) Sold to Close 05C38 May 38 calls, at $18.40 +820%
• 11:08 | HappyTrading CMI ($105.40) Sold to Close 05P110 May 110 put, at $5.85 +102%
• 09:23 | HappyTrading VRTX ($54.60) Sold to Close 05C38 May 38 calls, at $16.50 +725%

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The weak close on Friday puts the market on a very slippery slope. Financials have now turned weak. There has not been strength in the industrials (ie. energies, mining, metals... etc.). CSCO's earnings on Thursday evening also exerted pressure on the techs. In addition, the uncertainties in Europe are not helping. Still, buyers seem to keep trying to prop up the market. In the face of all the adversities this week, the market held up considerably well. We'll dissect the market further this evening in my Market Forecast for the coming week.

Happy Mother's Day and HappyTrading! ™

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Happy Easter!

Last weekend, in my Market Forecast, I wrote,

"For the new week, the market may get an early test on the resistance levels again (SPX 1410 and Nasdaq 3100). Then, the market may struggle a bit to keep above those levels. On the down side, SPX has support between 1390 and 1400; for Nasdaq, support is 3075. If techs and financials remain strong, we may see the market get a new leg up by the end of the week. Energy stocks seem to remain weak."

Well, by now, it should come as no surprise that my market forecast was right on again. The market did get another "early test" on the resistance levels. On Monday, SPX charged higher to above 1420 and Nasdaq topped 3100. Financials and techs led the market higher. We scored some nice trades and locked in the profits. But, by Tuesday afternoon, financials had turned weak, and the market turned lower. Energy stocks were among the weakest. On Wednesday, the market took a quick drop in the morning before stabilizing between 1390 and 1400. Techs made an attempt to bounce a bit on Thursday, but, the financials remained weak. Friday was Good Friday and a market holiday. The market ended the week slightly lower, with SPX just below 1400 and Nasdaq just above 3075.

We wrapped up a very nice week, trading on both sides, with nice winners in FFIV, GLD, PCLN, and AAPL.

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For the week, the Dow was down 151.9 points; SPX fell 10.39 points; and Nasdaq slid 11.07 points. Gold fell below $1640/ounce and oil was flat. This evening, at the time of this writing, the Asian markets were mostly lower. Here's how the US market looked after last week,

SPX

On Thursday, SPX slipped 0.88 point to close at 1398.08. It closed just below 1400 and below its 20-day MA. The MACD was lower.

Nasdaq

Nasdaq added +12.41 points to close at 3080.5. It closed below its 10-day MA. The MACD went down.

The market has been struggling against the same resistance levels for a couple of weeks now. The Dow has been the weakest among the market indices, closing just below its daily MAs last week. For the new week...

To read the rest of this article, please subscribe to HappyTrading "Premium Articles" by going to the Premium Services (click here) page. If you are already a subscriber, please click here: Market Forecast 4/8/12.

Well, the market struggled to find a clear direction this week. However, there are still plenty of good trading opportunities. The market basically ended flat for the week, but, we traded on both sides and captured another nice week!

We started with a +92% winner on FFIV calls that we held over the weekend. Then, we continued with PCLN calls, although we were a bit too cautious and cashed them out a day early. Puts on GLD (gold) got us an overnight +96% profit. Finally, we made some good trades on AAPL with both puts and calls to wrap up the week:

• 09:42 | HappyTrading AAPL ($633.30) Sold to Close 0413C625 Apr 625 calls, at $14.50 +32%
• 09:39 | HappyTrading AAPL ($634.30) Sold to Close 0413C625 Apr 625 calls, at $15.40 +40%
• 07:08 | Ecstatic Plays LNKD ($99.50) Sold to Close 0405P100 Apr 100 put, at $1.00 -17%
• 12:49 | HappyTrading RIG ($51.98) Sold to Close 04P52.5 Apr 53 put, at $1.92 +8%
• 10:55 | HappyTrading NFLX ($110.00) Sold to Close 04P110 Apr 110 put, at $4.25 +13%
• 08:00 | HappyTrading CREE ($29.40) Sold to Close 04C32 Apr 32 calls, at $0.80 -60%
• 07:35 | Ecstatic Plays AAPL ($620.00) Sold to Close 0405P620 Apr 620 put, at $4.50 +29%
• 06:56 | HappyTrading CHKP ($64.15) Sold to Close 04C62.5 Apr 63 calls, at $2.45 -8%
• 06:41 | HappyTrading PCLN ($740.00) Sold to Close 0405C740 Apr 740 calls, at $6.79 -4%
• 06:40 | HappyTrading GLD ($157.80) Sold to Close 0405P160 Apr 160 put, at $2.39 +96%
• 12:41 | Ecstatic Plays PCLN ($739.40) Sold to Close 0405C735 Apr 735 calls, at $9.40 +34%
• 12:10 | Ecstatic Plays PCLN ($737.70) Sold to Close 0405C735 Apr 535 calls, at $8.50 +21%
• 12:03 | Ecstatic Plays PCLN ($737.00) Sold to Close 0405C735 Apr 535 calls, at $8.00 +14%
• 08:13 | Ecstatic Plays FFIV ($139.40) Sold to Close 0405C135 Apr 135 calls, at $4.60 +92%
• 07:41 | Ecstatic Plays FFIV ($139.10) Sold to Close 0405C135 Apr 135 calls, at $4.35 +81%
• 07:17 | Ecstatic Plays FFIV ($138.80) Sold to Close 0405C135 Apr 135 calls, at $4.20 +75%

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On Friday, the latest jobs data showed that the hiring dropped slightly, although the jobless rate fell to 8.2%. The market was certainly cautious ahead of the report. We'll take a closer look at how the market is doing in my weekly Market Forecast on Sunday evening.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Good night and HappyTrading! ™

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