Random Things

Tech got crushed today as the Naz dropped 1%.
Apple was down 2.6% during the day and it's down another 3% or so in after hours.
Google dropped 4.75% after a downgrade.
Ebay was down over 2% during the day and another 2% in after hours.
The big news was between Intel and AMD. Intel came out with a poor report that sent its shares down almost 11.50% (although I think they are increasing their capex numbers, which some analysts saw as a good thing). On the other side, AMD came in with a profit and is up over 10% in after hours.


I'm going to buy the Schweser notes/study guide tomorrow and I'll post a review (this goes along with the last post). I'm at least a little happy that I passed the sections that matter the most to me (equities, derivatives, fixed income, etc.), but I'm still pretty mad that I didn't pass overall. I can't wait for the June test.


Internet: my cable modem kit finally arrived, but I need to install it. I'm *hoping* I'll have a reliable connection by tomorrow. Then I'll be able to post on a regular basis and thanks for putting up with these sporadic posts! I know they haven't been too good lately due to the lack of time I have on a computer, so I'll try to make up for that in the near future.

When is it good to sell some premium (options)? When volatility is high, because this leads to more expensive options (higher premiums). FRX came out with a somewhat poor report last week, but the stock reacted positively due to other news. I sold a call on FRX to lower my cost basis in terms of return calculations. It was down pretty far early in the day and I was hoping for a rebound later on. I got the rebound and sold the call for a little more than expected (.90)
I sold the Feb 45 call and got back $90 in return (only one contract). I did this because there is uncertainty around FRX, it is in a volatile state, and I wouldn't mind selling my shares for $45.
There's a chance they could receive some good patent news, but the probability might be on the low side. Plus the option only has about one month left and I'm hoping time value decay will kick in and the premium will start to go down.

Think or Swim now has automatic transfers (cash withdrawals and deposits) so I'm setting that up tomorrow. It should take a few days, but then I'll be able to transfer some money over. I have a good amount of cash in my bank and I want to move it into another account.
If I have time, I'm also going to contribute to my Roth IRA sometime this week.