Salesforce.com (CRM) Shows Renewed Upward Momentum

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.

Salesforce.com is an outperformer and its stock is poised for an upside breakout. Take a look at the following two articles for details – Has salesforce.com (CRM) Outpaced Other Computer and Technology Stocks This Year? and Salesforce.com Is Ready for an Upside Breakout.

Technicals

CRM has broken higher from a large bullish flag pattern that was six months in the making. The stock broke higher in November, and in the past week, it posted a series of higher highs and higher lows above the flag pattern to confirm the trend reversal. The stock is holding within a bullish trend channel and strong support is found near the lower bound of the channel as the 20-day moving average resides near it to create a confluence.

CRM Chart January 2020

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

Buy To Open CRM 07FEB20 162.5 Puts (CRM200207P162.5)
Sell To Open CRM 07FEB20 165 Puts (CRM200207P165) for a credit of $0.92 (selling a vertical)

This price was $0.02 less than the mid-point of the option spread when CRM was trading near $166.  Unless the stock rallies quickly from here, you should be able to get close to this amount.

Your commission on this trade will only be $1.30 per spread.  Each contract would then yield $90.70 and your broker would charge a $250 maintenance fee, making your investment $159.30 ($250 – $90.70).  If CRM closes at any price above $165 on February 7, both options would expire worthless, and your return on the spread would be 57% (650% annualized).

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

IBD Underlying Updates January 4, 2020

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.  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