Weekly Options Trading Update

Market Beating Options: 100% Gain On VIX Expiration

The Aggressive Portfolio fell slightly for the week but the YTD remains exceptional at 29% and well ahead of the market return. We had two short option positions expire last week leaving us with 100% returns on both. We had taken a short spread position against the VIX index when the market suffered setbacks about a month ago. We got in at just the right time for when the market quickly recovered our short positions were quickly in the money. We do have other call option positions we are holding, but frankly they have just been moving sideways over the past week or so. We are currently sitting on a lot of cash in this portfolio. We are watching the overall market movement closely and will make additional investments in call options if market levels stay above the 1100 level. We bought one call option last week when the market hit this level and that was an option on Par Pharmaceutical. We were able to buy this option at a premium price that was only 11% above the current stock and exercise price. That is an excellent value for a long term option on a stock that has strong appreciation potential. We think we may be in position for big gains on this one if the underlying stock does well. We will buy more call options if the market can continue its march upwards. If we have another short term panic and premium prices rise, we may jump in and take another short position against the VIX and/or S&P Index. As we have said before, we remain cautious on call options at least until the market can sustain the 1100 level on the S&P. We do not feel the need to be too aggressive right now given that we have already earned an astounding 355% return on our portfolio return since inception in January 2007.

Portfolio Details Available Online At: http://www.marketbeatingstocks.com

Weekly Options Trading Update

Market Beating Options: Portfolio Rises 15% In One Week

Wow! A big move in our Aggressive Portfolio last week rising 15% and increasing the YTD return to 32%. That is a big move in just one week, but as we have said many times trading options is risky and returns can be very volatile. The biggest mover last week was our call option sale on Innophos Holdings. We sold this call option for a huge 202% gain as the underlying stock price made a strong move up based on their recent earnings report. Returns like that are possible on call options, if you can pick underlying stocks that make big moves like this one. We also closed our short position against the SPX index for a 95% gain. This was a short put position that expires in November which lost value quickly when the market rose sharply. We held this position for less than two weeks and were thrilled with a 95% gain! Our other short positions against the VIX Index have also made big moves. We took these positions on November 2 when the market moved sharply down and premiums were high. Now that the market has recovered, premium prices have fallen sharply and our positions have made big moves. We are now sitting on a 95% gain on a short VIX call option and a 20% gain on a short VIX put option, both purchased less than two weeks ago. Both options expire next week and if we can hold out until expiration that will bring 100% gains on both positions. We are 50% invested and may buy another call option or two if we find compelling opportunities. However, we remain cautious on call options at least until the market can break through the 1100 level on the S&P. We do not feel the need to be too aggressive right now given that we have already earned an astounding 365% return on our portfolio return since inception in January 2007.

Portfolio Details Available Online At: http://www.marketbeatingstocks.com

Weekly Options Recap

Market Beating Options: Portfolio With Biggest Weekly Gains

Our options portfolio though had the biggest turnaround rising 10% just last week! As we have said before, this is our most aggressive portfolio and returns can move sharply in either direction. That said, we think we are well positioned to finish the year strong and well ahead of the market return. However, the most important success measure in the portfolio return since inception and that is well this portfolio excels. Since inception in January 2007, the return on this portfolio is 312% versus a market loss of -25% over the same time period. No question that we take more risk in this portfolio, but we consider those risks worthwhile in light of returns like those. We took three new short positions which accounted for most of the weekly gain last week. We took these positions to take advantage of what we considered were oversold conditions from the prior week. The overall market got very pessimistic the prior week as the market indices dropped significantly. With those market declines came a sharp increase in volatility which helped push up option premiums. Higher option premiums make it more worthwhile to take short positions like the ones we took last week. All three short positions expire in November and we expect each of them to expire worthless which will leave us with 100% gains. We still believe this portfolio can make a strong run prior to the end of the year. We are 70% invested and may invest in another call option or two if we find compelling opportunities. However, we remain cautious on call options at least until the market can break through the 1100 level on the S&P.

Portfolio Details Available Online At: http://www.marketbeatingstocks.com

Weekly Options Trading Update

Market Beating Options: Portfolio With Biggest Gains Since Inception

The aggressive portfolio experienced a slight gain for the week as it continues a strong upward trend. That trend has propelled our performance gains to a whopping 317% just since January 2007. As we have said before, this portfolio does show a lot more volatility, but we think that risk is worth high returns like those. We just sold our call option position on the S&P Market Index to break even. We decided to sell as the market rose sharply this week. We had less than two months to expiration and grew concerned that the overall market may not continue its advance over the last two months of the year. We do not think we are in for a fall per se, just that the market may not continue to move up fast enough to warrant holding the risk on this position. We decided to sell and at least get our investment back. We have some other options that will expire in two to three months, so we will be watching those carefully to take advantage of selling opportunities. Option price volatility can increase significantly as expiration dates rapidly approach. The challenge with trading options is that investors not only have to get price direction right, but also have to get the timing correct as well otherwise options will expire worthless on expiration day. We are 60% invested and do plan to invest in another call option or two. However, the market is currently trading on the high side of what we believe is a reasonable trading range. In that light, we do not want to be too aggressive in this portfolio so we are not looking to get 100% invested right now. However, if we find a compelling buying opportunity we will invest and assume that risk.

Portfolio Details Available Online At: http://www.marketbeatingstocks.com

Labor Day Options View

Market Beating Foresight: Is Sentiment Changing

The stock market lost ground last week as the S&P dropped -1.2%. The week started with declines, but did recover some of those losses by the end of the week. Economic data was mixed as the Manufacturing Indexes showed improvement along with pending home sales. Payroll data was released on Friday and those numbers too were better than expected. But the market seemed spooked by an unemployment rate that rose more than expected. We sense that market sentiment is becoming more pessimistic with traders selling good news while bad news carrys more weight than it did just a few short weeks ago. September is traditionally the worst performing month and that too may be adding to the caution. The economy is still in declining although the pace of the declines has decreased. The worst may be over, but it will take time before consumer confidence returns and that is an essential ingredient for economic growth. We expect the unemployment rate to continue rising into next year, and those job losses will dampen any recovery. All signs still suggest that the recovery will be slow and could take several years as consumers regain confidence, rebuild wealth and reduce debt loads. Over the short term we expect the market to remain very bumpy, in range bound trading. We can make money in such a market by taking gains more quickly and turning over stocks more frequently. If volatility stays low, we know our trading strategy will exploit current market conditions, allowing expansion of our performance lead over competitors, as well as the broad market index.

Options Portfolio: Whopping 254% Gain Since January 2007

Our Options Portfolio is now up a whopping 254% just since January 2007. It is returns like those that make the additional risk worth while. We expect the market to end the year slighly higher. Not a great market for buying call options, but one for selective buying. We do plan to increase our allocations in call options but will do that slowly and selectively as the market shows continued improvement.

Weekly Recap - Stock Options

Market Beating Options: Looking for more Call Options

The Aggressive Portfolio (Options) had another strong week bringing the Year To Date return to 13.4%. We are not surprised at the big jump in performance. The aggressive nature of options trading can bring big moves in portfolio performance. We expect to beat the market by a large margin again this year. Options trading has been very lucrative for us. We now have an incredible 299% return since inception in January 2007. Yes there is higher risk, but we think that risk is worth returns like these. Our short spread position on the VIX continues to gain ground as the September expiration approaches. Options lose value as their expiration date approaches, which benefits short positions. All of our option positions increased in value except AgFeed Industries. AgFeed stock has come under pressure this month and that has reduced the value of our call position. The call does not expire until February 2010 so there is still time for this one to recover. As for future plans, we have cash to invest in this portfolio, and we remain optimistic regarding an overall positive trend over the next six months. In that light, we are looking for additional option buying opportunities and plan to increase allocations over the near term.

Portfolio Details Available Online At: http://www.marketbeatingstocks.com

Weekly Options Recap

Market Beating Foresight: Market Hits Fresh New Highs

Volatility returned as the Stock Market hits fresh new highs for 2009. For the week the broad market (S&P) ended 2.2% higher, a strong turnaround from earlier in the week. For the most part economic data was poor with jobless claims rising more than expected and housing data failing to meet consensus estimates. The stock market was able to shrug off the bad news and rise further. By the end of the week, better than expected home sales were released which helped the market realize a weekly gain. A lot more economic data is due for release next week, which we expect will confirm an economy that is slowly beginning to stabilize. Most key measures are still declining, but the pace of decline has certainly slowed. We think the worst is over, but acknowledge that the recovery will likely be weak and slow. We just do not see a quick return to the high flying days of the past few years. The de-leveraging underway amongst consumers and businesses will temper spending and economic growth. That said, we think the stock market is still an excellent place to invest. We are very optimistic that our stock selection strategy and portfolio management approach will significantly outperform the market indexes in this environment. Frankly, we would welcome a stock market with lower volatility, even if that means somewhat slower market appreciation. We know our strategy can far exceed market returns in just such an environment.

Market Beating Options: Looking for more Call Options

Our Aggressive Portfolio (Options)is up a whopping 283% just since January 2007 versus a -28% market loss (S&P) over that same period. That is truly a tremendous difference in performance in what has been the worst recessionary period since the great Depression. We continue to trade short spread positions on the Volatility Index (VIX) as that generates income for the portfolio. However, our trading of call options has had the biggest postive impact on our returns over time. At this time we are aggressively searching for more opportunities to buy call options. Our strategy is to buy six month "at the money call options" based on stocks that we find through our Momentum and Value stock screen. This has been a proven and lucrative strategy for us over time. We keep subscribers fully informed with all transactions that we make and maintain a buy list of stocks directly on our website. Many of the stocks on our buy list also trade options. Those are the options that we consider, particularly if option premiums are reasonably priced.

Portfolio Details Available Online At: http://www.marketbeatingstocks.com
Also Review Our Blog At: http://marketbeatingoptions.blogspot.com