We bought some vertical bull spreads targeted on the 300 strike quite a while ago, subsequently rolling them to give us the position for a net credit of 1.13. The long side used calls with a Nov 22 expiration that could conceivably be back in play, but I’ll wait to hear from subscribers before I attempt to revive the position. At the moment, the rally begun last Wednesday from 235.65 looks bound for a minimum 262.54 (see inset). This implies that the pullback to its midpoint pivot sibling at 253.95 is buy-able, either via camouflage or with a ‘mechanical’ stop-loss of about 2.80. If you choose the latter, I’d suggest holding the position to a single round lot. _______ UPDATE (12:25 p.m. EDT): The stock has vaulted $7 in the early going, most of it on the opening bar, to trade at a so-far high of 262.49 — a nickel from my target. As a practical matter, no one could have gotten long, which is exactly what Mr Market intended. However, I am still trying to determine how many subscribers may have been long to begin with via the vertical bull spreads we did earlier. We’d given them up for dead after building into them a guaranteed profit of $113 per spread. _______ UPDATE (October 9, 2:40 p.m.): Unable to pry loose a response from subscribers, I am “de-listing” this tout. Rolling the spread foward as recommended would have produced an additional 0.80 of profit per spread, regardless of what the stock does.
