PeterDrier.com

Longs:

Shorts:

New position

Not new per se, but new to this blog. IMCL Jan8 40 calls. Bought a few months ago, on fundamental basis that IMCL was short term undervalued. It’s since been down 20-30% and up as much as 20%. Will keep a tight stop on it going forward. I’ve had it over 30 days, so I can sell it at any time.

Commentary

C popped up a bit today, and I need to consider selling the January’s before my window runs out. (normal folks would sell the Decembers)

Apple’s up as well, but after being severely burned in the run up between 150 and 180 by being over covered, I’m inclined to leave Apple no more than 1/2 covered throughout their best season.

Tags: Trading by Peter
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Compared to yesterday, today was a breeze.. so much so that I didn’t trade anything..

Position Recap:

Have a good night..

Tags: Trading by Peter
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I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something about the switch to winter fashion that catches my eye. When the weather goes below 40, the new winter coats come out, and everyone seems to “bundle up”..

Winter clothes tend to hide a bit more than their summer brethren, so perhaps a fall body looks extra slim in winter coverings..

The solid dark colors look good on most..

Covering a lot up is a win for many

And those rosy cheeks, wrapped in colorful scarves, warms my day.

Welcome oh cold weather beauty, your knee high leather boots can kick my ass any day..

Tags: Life by Peter
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Position Recap for Nov 28:

C - Jan10 30 Call (@8.475) - Up 7%

PCP - Jan9 140 Call (@34) - Up 14% ( $450/per)
PCP - Jan8 145 Caller (@11.3) - Down 48% ($368/per)

Initiated new position:

MRVL May 12.5 call @ 3.57, currently at 3.5 - Down 3%

Commentary

The PCP caller is down somewhat significantly today, but that’s in percentage terms.  Joined with the long call though, I’m still ahead.  In a more perfect world, I would have timed it better, and perhaps sold it for 10-11 range, had that dip not happened this morning.

Tags: Trading by Peter
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I already have a position with Jan9 140 calls.. Have had it for a little over a month, and last month sold 100% against it with Dec 155s. They returned 86% when I closed out the caller, leaving me naked long until today.

A pretty substantial pop this morning, and I decided to cover somewhere around the 143.5 level. The stock was up 4 or so, and it looked like the whole market might pull back. I also felt that PCP could go higher, so I decided to cover only 1/2 of my long position

PCP did pull back about 2, but has since gone to 147+.

So I’m in with the following:

-1/2 Jan8 145 C @ 7.7

(1/2 being half the number of contracts I’m long)

This is intended to protect my gains, at the cost of potentially more gains.

Exit Strategy

I have to hold for a month.. So 30 days from now I’ll evaluate where PCP has gone, and either buy this caller back, or let it ride through expiration.

I may also sell the other 1/2 if I feel that PCP has more fully topped off it’s trading range.

Tags: Trading by Peter
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Citigroup:

1. Beaten up lately, for good reason.. 48 -> 30 in the last 6 weeks
2. Dividend still holds, though possibly not forever
3. $200+ per share in assets
4. It’s a huge bank, huge enough to survive it’s problems, even if they’re billion dollar problems
5. 7.5 billion $ investment
6. Layoffs

So I bought some Jan’10 30 calls for roughly 8. If I had a little more time to babysit the order, 7.5 would have been a better target.

Exit Strategy:

I have to hold for at least a month. But anyone following this can sell Dec or Jan calls against it to provide downside protection. I’d recommend the Dec 32.5’s right now, and the Jan’s of the same if we’re at this level post expiry. 30s should also be considered if we drop below 30.

Other than protection, this is a long term holding. I’d expect to make ~1 per month on average selling calls against it, while accumulating some longer term slow gains on the leaps. If the implied volatility dropped to such a level where I couldn’t sell calls for ~1.5 a month (expecting to lose a few, so ~1 on average for income) and the stock had recovered to a level fitting of it’s business, then I’d consider closing the position.

It’s also possible that C will drop further. If I can roll these options down to Jan10 25’s, for less than 1.75, then I’d do that as well ($5 improvement in strike for $1.75)

I expect to have this position through the end of 2008.

Tags: Trading by Peter
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We go through our daily lives putting any number of things into our bodies, caffeine and sugar being somewhat dominant for me lately.

As a result, I’ve noticed 2 things..

• Caffeine reduces my patience..  I’m naturally a bit quick to start off with, and additional caffeine only serves to lower the response time limit before I move on with other people.  I consider this a poor response on my part, and the first step in fixing it is to acknowledge the problem.
• Sugar wears off quickly..  I’ve had upwards of 3 twenty ounce cokes in a day. That’s 750 calories, or about 45 teaspoons worth of sugar.  And the trick seems to be, once I have the first soda (either in the morning or with lunch) I need to have additional sodas to keep from falling off as the day wears on.  This is more about the sugar than the caffeine in those sodas.

So, in light of both of those things, I’m cutting back..  hopefully off, but there’s workplace performance to account for, and I have to get my job done above all other desires..

Day 1..  Made it to 4pm without either soda or coffee, but caved in light of excessive yawning.  One soda total for the day (not counting the tonics mixed with my vodkas later that evening)

Day 2..  It’s nearly 4, and I’m again yawning more than I’d like..  I’ve made exception today to have milk as alternative.  It’s arguably better for you than soda, while still having lactose (milk sugar) to give me a little bit of help.  Bonus points for vitamins and protein, and it’s skim so my fat intake isn’t increasing.  Plus, it’s free thanks to all those coffee drinkers in the office.

I’ll let you know how it continues..  hopefully I don’t develop a half gallon a day milk habit.

Tags: Life by Peter
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The time has come for me to start another blog. This is either my 3rd or 4th depending on how well I’m trusting my memory today, and chances are it will be my last.

What happened to the other ones?

They were each born out of some inkling to write. To say something.. Yet I hadn’t exactly found my place yet and each have died off as time didn’t permit them the environment to grow within.

What’s new?

This will have a better focus. Specifically on the following topics to start, with more added as I see fit:

• Photos - Status updates for parties I’ve done the photography for. What’s coming, what’s behind, and announcements when I post new sets.
• Photography - General writing about photography. I’m asked quite often for my advise and it seems a shame to have this conversation be limited to two people. Let the world share, and perhaps we’ll all end up ahead.
• Trading - General stock market & options trading commentary. In the same vane as Photography, I have a lot of one off conversations with folks which could be put in the public view for many to share in. These aren’t “advise” though, so get your own accountant/financial planner.
• Rants - I live in New York City, there are plenty of things that irk me, and better placed here to collectively laugh at than for me to smack someone who might actually deserve it.
• Life - Whatever I feel like..

Specifically absent is work. Unless your blog is your work, it’s unwise to blog about work.

Why is this the last one?

This is the first one tied specifically to me. The others all had varying levels of anonymity, and were easier to lose/drop when I didn’t feel like I had the time. This one has the added intention of optimizing some of the tasks I have multiple times over. So instead of having the “what camera do you recommend” conversation with 5 different people between now and Christmas, I could have 1 post, with comments and updates to answer the same question for those people and more. Net result, the answer is better for all, I save some repetition in conversation, and everyone wins.

The itch to write is also growing. Perhaps I have more to say, or more likely I have fewer outlets for expressing myself to the world. Either way, that need can fester itself here for all to read..

So enjoy, or not.. and at the very least, play nice!

Tags: Blog by Peter
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