WOW!! Nice bowling there Ut. I am brewing some beer and transferring other beer to the secondary carboy. Will bottle tomorrow and again in about a month. Getting the 20 gallons or so ready for the summer push. BBQ, pig roast and campfire in the back yard for the kids to make smores. Living in the country is great!!

Thanks for the site, the cast and Master Talk. With some good fortune meeting my hurdles in the new FA job I may still make Chicago with profits in trading.

Thanks also to all of you on the blog, what a great way top learn. Oh, and Jeff, you have a relation from Cali named Eric who was in the 82nd Airborne 92-94?

Jason in Oregon

nice!

That was funny! I was looking at the pics thinking "wow, Jeff, how bout them shorts". Amber must not have been home to help pick the outfit!!

I think Eric missed his calling. Bowling is totally his thing!

Then I think - wow! how bout me checking out the blog on Saturday.....

Jodi
Canuck

Nice throw, Eric!

So, we have learned that tall men can't wear plaid shorts...or any man.

Thanks for the laughs!

How come I cant watch enough of Eric toss that ball down the lane? To be honest, Eric was actually having luck with that.

Jodi, I have tried for years to add my "input" to Jeffs wardrobe...however he has always been the eccentric type and my attempts have all been in vain. *sigh*

Dont be fooled, not only did the Marketcast fall short of beating us, they didnt' even come close. Kind of like the Warriors beating the Jazz........

Go Jazz.
(your so quiet about that these days)

Amber K

Wow!

Nothing like getting called out on your blog by your own wife! And taunting the man's TEAM too??

Nicely done, Amber.

Hey Eric,

If you throw the ball overhand, you might hit the pins outright!

Guys, Your balls are red and blue, and you only have one each. Does that mean something happened?

Nice!

Thanks for sharing...I think!

Thanks for reminding me why I follow the cast so closely. True talent, true style and excellent color coordination. blue, red but where's the white?

White balls...ah...that's what happened to the other two, they must have been scared off when the girls beat the pants off of the guys...and blue and red (bruised and battered) are what were left after all was said and done...!

Thanks for sharing with us. Amber, you're too funny. Like the spunk. I can see why Jeff married ya.


Have a great weekend.


Randall and Michelle (Dallas)

I am shorting all companies who produce plaid shorts. Hold my drink....

Rick James

Now I realize that "White men can't jump and Tall men can't bowl". I don't bowl much but my kids tell me that the goal is to hit the pins on a roll, not on the fly! Perhaps Eric should stick to throwing baseballs at pins during carnivals!! Or, get a Nintendo Wie to refine his bowling skills. I hope, for the sake of all of us that golf, that Eric sticks to Wie bowling.

So Jeff,
If that's your idea of great bowling attire, what does your golf outfit look like?
Jerry

Hello everyone - long time reader, first time poster. I've been reading the blog for a couple of months now and really appreciate it and everyone's input.

I wanted to ask some of the people that are going through the Investools PHD course if they would comment on their own process for starting with Investools, and how they made the call to go all the way through the PHD program. I have completed the Masters material and am looking at upgrading to the PHD program very soon. Did anyone use any personal milestones before making the decision to upgrade - like obtaining a certain percentage return on your trading before upgrading, making back a specific portion of the Masters program costs, etc. Any feedback would be much appreciated!

John

Glad to see our future is in good hands. At least I hope that Eric had combined america's past time of lager and bowling before launching that roll. Fun was had by all.

Jeff, please tell me you did not get those shorts at Nordstroms or I will have to find a new place to shop. I will admit to doing the Eric bounce once in college after a very difficult finals week. Some were bouncing into other lanes but that was not me and they said it had something to do with calcualting bounce distance as we were all engineering students - their idea of fun I guess.

Amber, if he does get his clothes at Nordstroms they have personal shoppers that you can set Jeff up with. Believe me I have been down that road and it worked for both Pam and I.

Jeff,

Nice shorts. Not! Enough said.

Happy Monday Addicts!

Questions to the forum:

Do stocks go down on the payment of dividends?
a. Always
b. Most often
c. 50/50
d. Less often
e. All of the above

Should one be concerned with dividends when your option is OTM due to expire the coming month or a short term trade?

In the final month of an option, how far away from option expiration does the Ice Cube REALLY begin to melt, four weeks, three weeks, etc.? Is there a ballpark standard or since all option’s theta is different, is every option different? Is this something that I should test using the Black Kohler Calculator?

Have a great week everyone! I hope I can pay more attention this week during trading hours, however, I don’t think my job will permit it… at least it hasn’t lately.

John,
I wish we had had someone to ask before we purchased all 20,000 dollars worth of the program. I would recommend the Associate's program. I think that you can get all the education you need for 10,000 dollars. The last 10,000 was a waste of money as far as me and my husband are concerned. So my advice is to listen to all the trading rooms, start trading (slowly), listen to Master's Talk, Market Cast, read books, read the blog and save yourself 10,000.

If I can be of any more help, let me know.

Randall and Michelle

something going on with Vip do not know what but up in pre market

lets make some money today

BIDU!

Gezundhite.

This comment has been removed by the author.

DavidS,

It's called a triangle breakout. So far it has successfully retested the upper trendline perfectly. If it holds, it's a $10 target in 2 weeks.

then again, remember the last triangle breakout on VIP? That one exceeded it's target by about 40 points and counting.

Brett,
Which stock are you talking about being a triangle breakout?

Oh, Jeff mentioned OMG last week or the week before breaking above 60. It did that Friday and is confirming today if anybody is watching that stock.

Randall and Michelle

R&M .. I am in OMG ... bought it late Friday afternoon on that breakout .... looks like a runner to me ... AND THANKS for your commments regarding more ITools education .. I am trying to decide whether or not to do the 3 day LIVE event this summer ... Any thoughts on that?

Would be interested in any others who have attended the 3 DAY LIVE session and whether or not it is worth your time and money ... THANKS!

Have a good week - traders!

Randall/Michelle,
Oh My Gosh! I'm in OMG and loving it. Caught it last Thursday at close. Was concerned when it pulled back below resistance but loved the volume and its turning into a good trade.

Long FRO. Waiting for entry back into DRYS.

Loving the water transports Jeff!

Rd

Yeah,
The three-day live training was great. Taught me a lot and got me motivated. I hope that helped with the advice on the training. My husband were just talking about goals and decisions on how to get out of the rat race and were talking about how great this training was but wishe we had known not to buy the whole package. 20/20 is always best. If you trade and get the stuff you've learned down and start making money, then maybe think about getting more training.

That's what we would have done and been a lot more pleased with our decision. We've been in Investools a little over a year. We studied like mad the first six months and got through all the material and started trading.

Have a great day all.

X looks like it is at support and might be a good entry point to the next level.

Randall and Michelle

Watching ISIL finally begin to break out of this nice consolidation pattern and head to inevitable new highs reminds me of a great quote from my favorite book. I'm going to assume you've read the book at least once since you're here.

"It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!"

R&M ... thanks ... just wanting to have good 20/20 now ....

Any other thoughts would be appreciated ..

Thanks to all!

Great quote, Brett.

Have you read How I made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market?

Randall and Michelle

Because of young kids we did the training online. I think in person may be better but we just could not pull it off. I would say that I had no idea what I was doing (with options) until concluding that class and then using what we learned.
Brett, I just evaluated all my recent trades this weekend and found (again) that I am in and out of trades too often and too quick. Sitting tight is what I need more of so thanks for the reminder. Oh and I am in ISIL as it never broke my trade rules, time was becoming an issue though.

For my .02, the live training was what really pushed me into trading.

NUE may be breaking out of a Sym Triangle.

Waiting to enter ISIL, finally!


Great Livermore quote Brett!

Glenn

STLD may be breaking out also.

Glenn

Benton,

I did the three day live online and was fortunate enough to get Jeff Kohler as an instructor (the other guy was Brett Crowther). It was excellent, shortly after I began trading real money. Unsure if Jeff is still teaching that?? online was well worth it for me.

Ladd

just re-read my post, hope it makes sense, I did not go to Utah and do the 3 day live I choose to do it online instead....just so I am clear.

Ladd

Brett,

Just finished 'Reminiscences...' this weekend ... WHAT A BOOK ... Got the tip from MTalk with Jeff .. and couldn't put the book down .... Livermore was something else ... and oh .. the things we can learn from him .... Patience! Patience! Patience!

I suggest the book to anyone as BASIC 101 stuff .... and it's in audible too ....

Good Morning Option addicts,

AKAM giving us a low risk entry the last couple days? SNP gave confirmation on the flag this morning; we'll see what the end of day looks like. Love the ESS Jeff, going to take some time but time is money! I know I will eat my words but ISIL doesn't do it for me; however, I did smash my head on some bricks four days ago. Hoping the jarring of the head would have an effect like that Phenomenon movie or something. I still like the BUCY, insider trading increasing during the consolidation, am I on crack? Let me know!

John, I sent you an email discussing the very subject Randall and Michelle addressed.

Jason

I sent this to the market cast as a question as well, maybe some could comment here (and this could give some a chance to think about what you might do prior to hearing Jeff and Eric talk about it).
I am long PCP. great trend, great stock etc. bought about 1 month ago and only have 25 days until expiration. how do I decide when to exit. Exit towards the close of strong day. exit on weak day. And how close do I let this get to expiration?
Thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
Thanks as always.
Ladd

Ladd - My $.02

1. When I bought PCP 1 month ago, I would have a target exit defined. What is yours?

2. If PCP is at or above my target, I would set a stop (yes, I use stops on options when in a winning trade). I would set it so it still gave room to move since PCP is still uptrending and may still run up some at this point (I see a ST target of $118.5

3. If your target price is not hit yet, I would sit tight and let the trade work more since the pattern is still intact.

thanks
Strat

BCSI jeffs pick from a couple of weeks ago breaking out

WNR July 45?

kim re test?

ACAS breaking temporary resistance if it holds it moght go to previous highs also it pays 7% divi

Look at volume on WMR. I fell in love with the 45 calls too cheap?
I hope it does not turn out to a scank and I do not get what I pay for

NIce bounce on NICE

I meant ARW on previous post look at volume

John,

I am a IT PhD student, and have a different view than others regarding the program. My wife and I struggled with the decision, and initially purchased only the Master's program with the idea that we would go further after we reached a certain level of profitability. After studying agressively and trading frequently (both paper and real), we determined we did not have the full picture, and decided to take the PhD program.

I do feel that most of the information regarding advanced options strategies can be learned in books, but the 3 day live and the Advanced Technical data is really great.

Like another poster, we have become consistently prfitable after our 3 day course, so to me this is a must do. I fully intend to take the 4 day curriculum for both advanced technicals and advanced options as well. The small class size, and easy access to instructers over a 3-4 day period is really effective.

In the end, I felt I was deciding my future, and would not let 12-13K stand in the way. I look at it as if I am getting another college degree, and I never regret getting my first two degree's.

All these great bullish plays today and no bearish ones.

Wait a minute...I see one...

FRX. Enjoy it.

(by the way, i checked the options on WNR and couldn't find one worth buying).

Ladd, what is the strike price on your option? If it's deep enough in the money now and the delta is really high then I wouldn't worry about exiting due to expiration approaching. You won't lose much time value if PCP continues to run.

But as to when to exit based on price action, that is something I am still working on as well. Jeff gave me a little guidance the other day about using the same indicators I always use (like support, resistance and trendlines) but shortening up the timeframe, so looking for short term support . . . etc. I haven't gotten my system completely figured out when it comes to letting winners run so I'm still in here with you trying to learn that side of things.

Strat,
Thanks for the reply. How did you get $118.50 as target? I see an uptrending channeling stock that could keep going.....forever? (kind of wish now bought more time). reality is I did not buy more time, and I need to find a good point to exit and look for good re-entry point. Not sure what that exit will be?
Tahnks again.
Ladd

Tim, thanks for the comment. bought the $100 strike. showing delta about .97.
You say, trend continues, hold until very close to expiration?
Ladd

Ladd,

Sorry I was not clear. I said ST target (short term target). I agree it can go forever, but your option is set to expire is 25 days. You need to balance that against the melting ice cube.

To my eye, I see it hitting 118.5 within the next 25 days within the context of the existing pattern(assuming no news or buyout etc.).

I was using the close on 5/14 and the low on 5/15 as support and a $3.5 - $4 move up since.

Just my thoughts.

Ladd,

I also should say that I am in and out of June options on PCP aready and am looking to re-enter on the next pull back. Because of that I have been watching it myself...

John-

I'm an IT PhD student as well and my views come closer to the anonyumous posting. We began with this program. My husband and I looked at this as an investment in our future and there were things that the PhD program had that the other programs didn't offer and we wanted a more well rounded approach.

We're taking the 3 day class this summer which we're very excited about. I've talked to a lot of traders who've already taken the class and they have all said how much their trading improved after this. I'm also planing on taking the 4 day classes in advanced options and advanced technicals.

It was a big stretch for us to sign up for the PhD program but we looked at it like getting a college degree and we've never been unhappy about the decision. It's furthuring our financial education. I can't put a price on that.

That's my two cents!

Good Morning Option Addicts!

KMX is breaking down.

liz
pasadena, ca

Can anyone tell me what's going on with the real estate stocks? I'm in PSA and have been very happy with it, but today it is reversing, and I notice ess and some other real estate stocks are doing the same. Has there been some news? I'm trying to decide whether the trend has changed or not. I plan to not exit till the end of the day, but wish I knew whether this was a hiccup or a trend change. Any thoughts?

Michael

BLUD is bouncing today. It's been down ST, but its been great over the long term. Also, ONT is trading on huge volume today.

liz and grant

Those real estate stocks move up and down when there is any sort of news that may suggest a rate cut
I saw on yahoo this morning expecting the economy to slow ie rate cut. just hold on to your shorts and wait for the close as there are many that try to pick the bottom.
I am giving up virtual profits today as well, but you have to be ok with that just use a crayon for your stops and hold on.

It is healthier for a stock to rebound for more momentum

DavidS,

Thanks for the reassuranc. I needed that.

Michael

John,

I am an IT PHD student as well. I started in the program about one year ago. I attended the 3 day live class in UT in Sept 06, the Adv. Technicals in Feb 07, and Adv. Options last week. I've learned a tremendous amount from the IT instructors. Books are great, but there is no substitute for all the live traing, web training, and hotline support.

I was trading with mediocre results until I took the advanced technicals class. That is when all of the material finally came together for me. If I hadn't gone through with the full program, I think I would have given up in frustration sometime toward the end of last year. It is only now that I'm seeing a $$$ return on the tuition.

The tuition represented my commitment to becoming a successful trader. Otherwise I feel that life would have gotten in the way of that goal and I'd probably not be much further along than where I was one year ago. As it is, I make about 10 to 15 trades a month and am consistently profitable. I still have a way to go before making this a career, but for me it took all of that training, patience and practice to get profitable (and I took some stunning losses early on).

If you don't have a clear plan for every trade, before you take the trade, along with certainty in your buy and sell signals, you should go for the PHD program.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Joel R.
California

Ugh! Looks like I caught a fake out rather then a breakout on ABT on Friday.

Now back in the asc. triangle. Going to give it more room and time though thought I had a nice entry...

Rd

David S,

I should have been more clear about KMX.

It's breaking the 24.50 support in a descending triangle with heavy volume. I meant it as a good thing. A nice bearish signal for about a 4 point move to the downside. ;-)



liz
pasadena, ca

Sean.....thanks for the patterns website, have not had a chance to check it out yet (hopefully later on today)

What about ICE......breaking out today, is the drama over ??

John....it think the best $$ spent has been the trading rooms and master talk (by far). It has been as if someone turned the lights on and now i can see. Jeff's sessions in master talk are always super, but if you take the time to listen to Alan and Kelly you can learn from them too (even if you don't trade the same way that they do, they are good teachers and it is good to get different perspectives on the market).
The master program is probably all you need unless you want to get "fancy" and trade alot of adv option techniques. You can trade a credit spread with out taking the adv options class. Also i think Chicago will be money well spent, this will be my first 3 day confr, but i know a few people that came to orlando and they were extremely happy with it. For $1000 you can probably learn some of the adv options techniques and save yourself $9000, plus you can meet Jeff !!! (and hang out with all of us) Well i hope that helps.

Ladd,

With a stock like PCP , VLO, TSO ect. I have had success tighting up my time frame and when a 2-5 min time frame down trend breaks and the uptrend starts taking another option with more time. Let the old option increase in vlue to cover bid/ask and commission then dump it with a limit order. You are subject to more risk for the 1/2 hour or so that you are in both. You need to be willing to lose some of your gains, but when it works your winner is still running.

Tom Degroodt in Des Moines
degroodtt@qconline.com