Terry's Tips Stock Options Trading Blog

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

The actual Terry’s Tips  portfolio that places trades that you read about here has gained 99.7% so far in 2018.  That’s pretty close to doubling our money in less than six months, and all the paying Terry’s Tips subscribers who are following that portfolio, either on their own or through the free Auto-Trade service offered by thinkorswim are happy campers right now.

Terry

Grubhub (GRUB) Offers An Attractive Entry Point

Grubhub’s stock price recently broke higher and several analysts expect the upside momentum to continue.  This article published on Benzinga includes a target that suggests about a 20% upside.  A detailed article outlining why there could be more upside in GRUB was also published on InvestorPlace.  While the second article has a bit more of a conservative target, it still points to a potential 10% gain in the stock price.

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

The real-life Terry’s Tips portfolio that trades these spreads has gained 97% so far in 2018, and has 4 spreads in place that will increase the gain to 123% in 3 weeks if the underlying stock prices hold their current prices or go up by any amount. And the year will not be half over by then.  Clearly, we have some happy campers who subscribe to our newsletter service, especially those who are having trades placed in their account through the Auto-Trade service offered by thinkorswim.

Terry

Can Nvidia (NVDA) Continue Its Earnings-driven momentum?

Several analysts have renewed their bullish NVDA outlook following their recent earnings report.  Here are two of them – Why Nvidia (NVDA) Is a Strong Buy and Nvidia Seen Soaring to Record on Explosive Growth.

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Terry

Bauzun (BZUN) Breaks To Fresh Highs Following Earnings Report

Bauzun stock rose sharply late last week following their earnings figures.  Investor Business Daily has provided a narrative and an article on Seeking Alpha argues why BZUN is a stock worth holding.

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Terry

Consider IPG Photonics (IPGP) Following the Technical Breakout

In addition to being listed as one of the IBD Top 50 companies, Investor’s Business Daily recently wrote about IPGP, outlining the reasons why the growth stock is setting up for another advance.  Also take a look at this publication which discusses why IPGP is trending.

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Terry

Align Technologies Consolidates In a Range, Is It Ready To Break Higher?

Align Technology posted a strong performance last year.  Not only did it outperform its sector, it was also ranked the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 for 2017.  The following articles outline the details – 3 Growth Stocks I’m Holding Onto No Matter How Bumpy the Market Gets and Is Align Technology (ALGN) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year?

From a technical perspective, ALGN has been mostly consolidating within a range over the last few months.  Ahead of the recent earning’s call, the stock briefly dipped below range support at $243 but it managed to regain it following the earnings report.  Current prices offer an opportunity to buy the stock near the lower bound of the consolidation.  There is some potential for an upside break, in line with the broader trend.  The rationale being that a quite few of the stocks listed in the IBD Top 50 list have shown strength in the past week and some have even broken to fresh highs.  This signals some potential that the bullish trend may have resumed in the markets.

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Terry

Netflix(NFLX) Pulls Back After Earnings, Is It a Buy?

Recent hikes in the price target for Netflix stock among analysts suggest there is further upside.  Stifel Nicolaus has raised their target from $345 from $325 and Raymond James increased targets from $290 to $330.

When using the Diagonal Condor Earnings Strategy, one of the things we like to find is a stock about to announce earnings where the options have priced in a post-announcement price fluctuation which is greater than the historical average of the post-announcement changes for that company.

Our goal is to create two diagonal spreads at a credit (or slight debit) which allow for a profit to be made if the post-announcement fluctuation is within the historical average amount.  In the past few weeks, we have placed spreads that met these criteria on several companies, including Carmax (KMX), TD Ameritrade (AMTD), and Red Hat (RHT), and these plays were all profitable, with returns from 30% to over 70% including commissions in a single week.

This week, we are looking forward to taking a position in Mastercard (MA) which announces earnings before the market opens on May 2.  The 4May18 options have priced a 3.8% post-announcement price change while the average change for the last eight quarters has been only 1.1% (about $2 when the stock is trading about $175).

Here are the trades we made this week using . . .

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Terry

Micron Technology (MU) Retreats – Can it Hold Above the Psychological $50 Handle?

Micron Technology has posted an impressive gain in the early year and several analysts are expecting more upside.  The following two articles provide the details behind this view – 3 Stocks That Could Double Your Money and Bull of the Day: Micron (MU).

Facebook (FB) announces earnings after the close on April 24, 2018.  I have submitted an article to Seeking Alpha outlining the reasons I believe that the stock will trade higher (or at least, not lower) after the announcement compared to its current level. If they accept my article for publication, I will send you the link.  If they don’t accept it in a timely basis, I will send it along to you.

Here are the trades we made this week in accordance with this positive post-announcement outlook using the Diagonal Condor Earnings Strategy that is outlined here in case you missed it earlier.  Note that one of the diagonals is being placed at a slight debit, a small deviation from the strategy.  This should not be a problem because the 1Jun18 options are considerably higher than this debit, and will surely hold up enough so that one of the two spreads is guaranteed to be a serious gainer.

BTO 1 FB 1Jun18 160 put (FB180601P160)

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Terry

Adobe Systems (ADBE): A Stable and Consistent Player

The following two articles suggest ADBE offers good value at current prices – Is Advanced Micro Devices Stock Undervalued? and AMD Stock’s Fall Has a Silver Lining for Value Investors.