Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Not so bad

The Qs recovered overnight a substantial portion of the initial dramatic response to INTC's earnings report. I suspect some of the big dogs were similarly positioned as myself prior to INTC's news, the difference being that they can manipulate things overnight and I cannot. I did basically nothing today, flipping some long puts for long calls, but making just enough to cover commissions as delta was absolutely dead in the FEB OTMs on both sides.
I stayed away from the WFC and WM trades mentioned yesterday....WFC's surprise rise and the ridiculously high cost of WM puts and calls made any kind of strangle play way too expensive for my tastes.
The Qs finished on a perfect long tailed doji for the daily bars, hinting that there may be a change in market temperament, but it's too early for me to get seriously interested in the long side. Although I am still holding long FEB OTM calls, I will wait until we get a 3/7 bar SMA crossover before I add to the position.
The smart money says wait till this earnings season is over prior to putting on any size as there could be some nasty surprises with a significant trickle down effect.
I'm adding the following link for my fellow traders featuring the aptly named Soggy Bottom Boys with their greatest hit. It seems appropriate to describe the curent markets.

No comments: