Sean McLaughlin, Author at All Star Charts Page

[Options] Not the Right Environment for Income Trades

February 20, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

With nearly 55 days until April expiration, this is the time I start looking at index and sector ETF’s for possibilities in selling delta-neutral income spreads.

This is an exercise I do every month where I analyze the current volatility priced into each of the most liquid optionable ETFs and measure where each ETF sits within its most recent 90 day trading range.

Well, this afternoon as I went through my monthly analysis, it was determined that out of all of the major ETFs that I follow not a single one offered appealing volatility to sell into and each ETF was trading near the upper or lower end of its most recent trading range. This tells me that ETFs are continuing to trend — and a trend is not your friend when you are a delta neutral premium seller. [Read more…]

[Options Premium] More Upside in REITs?

February 19, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

The real estate arena has been on a wild ride since early December. The sector (as measured by $IYR, US Real Estate ETF), tumbled more than 13% in less than four weeks, only to completely retrace the move in the next four weeks then continue trudging higher as if nothing happened. The move has been nothing short of astonishing. We’ve made our bet on a fade with $IYR, but to cover our bases, we’ve going to take a flier on an individual stock in the space that offers us a nice reward-to-risk opportunity and will hedge our sector risk, somewhat. [Read more…]

[Options Premium] Buying on a Pullback

February 14, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

Another name in the cybersecurity space we’ve had our eye on the past couple weeks has offered us the pullback we were looking for to get involved. And there is an earnings event on the horizon that can act as a positive catalyst to drive our gains. [Read more…]

[Options Premium] More Opportunity in Pharma

February 11, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

Many of the sectors which formed the most beautiful bases during the recent stock market correction reside in the medical devices, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals sectors. Stocks here didn’t plunge as deep as most, they found firm footing quickly, and are now showing signs of moving higher again. One such play has us very interested from a risk versus potential reward standpoint. [Read more…]

[Options Premium] Palo Alto on my Mind

February 7, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

Our boy Bruni did a deep dive into the Cybersecurity space recently and served up a bunch of names that are setting up well to lead the market higher. Importantly, earnings are on the horizon which offers both an opportunity for a positive catalyst, as well as the need to tread carefully if the sector disappoints. We’ve got a plan for that… [Read more…]

[Options Premium] A Shiny Opportunity

February 5, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

The third new trade we teased during our most recent All Star Options conference call has rewarded our patience, offering us a better entry point. And we’re gonna lean into this one… [Read more…]

[Options Premium] Advanced “Momentum” Devices

February 3, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

A leader during the last bull run appears to be setting itself up to resume its leadership once again. During our February All Star Options conference call, we laid out a patient play for participating in the next leg higher, should one materialize. We’re ready to start jumping in. [Read more…]

[Options Premium] Opportunistically Fading REITs

January 31, 2019 by Sean McLaughlin

We saw this tweet from our friend Josh and we totally agreed:

this move in REITs is slapstick comedy pic.twitter.com/6wtROUYeB9

— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) January 31, 2019

This move in $IYR (iShares US Real Estate ETF) is incredible, and we might go higher from here still. But I’m willing to bet a mild retracement will soon be at hand — or at the very least we’ll see a pause. [Read more…]