Sell to close your the November 124 S&P 500 Depositary Receipts (SPY) call option (SPY+KT) at the market for an about 40% loss.  Read More

Buy to open the January 125 Merrill Lynch Oil Service HOLDRS (OIH) Trust (OIH + AE) call option. Pay no more than $7.90 for the option. There are blue skies again in the Gulf region. In her wake Hurricane Rita left an awful lot of rain and high winds but the overall damage caused by the storm, while severe, was far less than anticipated.  Read More

Buy to close the Procter & Gamble (PG) January 55 put option (PG + MK) for a 50 percent gain in less than two months.   We wrote (sold) the P&G call option early last month anticipating the stock would rise (or, at the very least, stand still) as the year progressed and the company moved closer to finalizing its acquisition of Gillette.  Read More

Buy to close the ExxonMobil January 60 put option (XOM + ML) for a xx percent gain in less than two weeks.   Read More

Buy to open the Genentech January 85 call option (DWN + AQ). Pay no more than $5.60 for the option.   Genentech (DNA), the 800-pound gorilla of the biotech industry is under intense selling pressure today, after having fallen sharply on Friday, in part because the company's drug lineup is seemingly competing with itself.  Read More

Buy to open the April 30 Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) call option(AQM+DF). Set a limit to pay no more than $6 for the call.   Our old friend Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) continues to best our expectations. We've bagged trading profits on this stock twice now, most recently closing out a call option for a big gain in August.  Read More

September 21, 2005  Buy to open the January 90 Retail HOLDRs (RTH) put option (RTX + MR). Set a limit to pay no more than $3.60 for the option.  Regardless of the effect Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will have on our economy, one segment that's headed for trouble is retailers.  Read More

Sell to close the March 100 Philadelphia Gold/Silver Index call option (XAV + CT) at the market for a profit of about 50 percent.   Read More

Buy the iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ) on margin at the market price. It's a new dawn in the land of the rising sun. Just a few weeks ago pundits were writing the political career obituary of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Koizumi had called a surprise election, staking his future on a single policy debate: reform of the postal system.  Read More

Buy to open the November 124 S&P 500 Depositary Receipts (SPY) call option (SPY+KT) at the market.  Read More