Lumentum Holdings (LITE) Is Coiling For An Up Move

This week we are looking at another company listed on the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List.  We use this list in our portfolio to find stocks that have been strongly trending higher and this week’s stock is an outperformer which has done exactly that.  The Terry’s Tips ’ portfolio that uses this list as its source for underlying ideas is now up 90.3% for the year to date.

Terry

Lumentum Holdings (LITE) Is Coiling For An Up Move

Lumentum Holdings hit all-time highs earlier this month and analysts believe there’s further upside ahead.  Here are two articles that reveal where Lumentum could be heading and why – Lumentum (LITE) PT Raised to $80 at Needham & Company; 3D Sensing Could Double LITE’S Value and DA Davidson Starts Lumentum (LITE) at Buy.

The technical outlook for LITE is solid.  The stock has been trending higher for over a year and a half and an acceleration of momentum can be seen since the start of May, shortly after the company announced earnings.

The earnings report caused a gap above the 20-day moving average and the stock has held above it since.  In addition to the moving average, horizontal support has been identified at $60.50 which held a decline earlier this month.

Lumentum has been consolidating sideways in a range over the past two weeks which is common in strong bullish trends.  A break of the upper end of the range, identified at $65.30, is likely to accompany an acceleration to the upside.

Lumentum Chart June 2017

*source Tradingview.com

If you agree there’s further upside ahead for Lumentum, consider this trade which is a bet that the stock will continue to advance, or at least not decline very much over the next four weeks.

Buy To Open LITE 18Augy17 55 Puts (LITE170818P55)
Sell To Open LITE 18Aug17 60 Puts (LITE170818P60) for a credit of $1.73 (selling a vertical)

This price was $0.02 less than the mid-point of the option spread when LITE was trading at $64.  Unless the stock rallies quickly from here, you should be able to get close to this amount.

If you use our favorite broker for this trade, tastyworks, your commission on this trade will only be $2 per spread (and there is no commission on closing trades, only the $.10 clearing fee).  Each contract would then yield $171 and your broker would charge a $500 maintenance fee, making your investment $329 ($500 – $171).  If LITE closes at any price above $60 on August 18, 2017, both options would expire worthless, and your return on the spread would be 52% (312% annualized).

Changes to Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 This Week:

IBD Underlying Updates June 23, 2017

IBD Underlying Updates June 23, 2017

We have found that the Investor’s Business Daily Top 50 List has been a reliable source of stocks that are likely to move higher in the short run.  As we said above, the Terry’s Tips portfolio which places spreads like the above one has gained 90% in the first six months of 2017 in spite of incurring some losses on some of the spreads placed.  Recent additions to the list might be particularly good choices for this strategy, and deletions might be good indicators for exiting a position that you might already have on that stock.

As with all investments, you should only make option trades with money that you can truly afford to lose.

Happy trading,

Terry