Two messages today – first, a reminder that in celebration of the New Year, I am making the best offer to come on board that I have ever offered.  It is time limited.  Don’t miss out. 

Second, I sent this Idea of the Week to Seeking Alpha last week, but they have changed their policy, and they no longer publish articles which are primarily about options.  (I posted on my blog instead.)  It was a real shame because the information was extremely valuable. 

Yesterday afternoon, I personally bought AAPL Jan1-13 545 puts for $3.05 each, betting that the “down on Friday” pattern would continue.  Over the course of today I unloaded the puts for an average of almost $12, gaining almost 400% on my money in a single day. 

I intend to invest about half my winnings and buy at-the-money AAPL Jan2-13 calls today near the close. 

Terry 

Six consecutive successful Apple option plays, and more still to come? 

Three weeks ago I wrote an article about how to play the unusual stock action pattern of Apple (AAPL). - Play Apple Volatility With A Unique Weekly Options Strategy

For some unclear reason (most likely options-related, at least to my way of thinking), AAPL tends to fall on Fridays, often quite dramatically, and to move higher on Mondays. 

At that time, I suggested that buying at-the-money puts Thursday near the close (or shortly after the open on Friday) would often result in extraordinary gains if you sold the puts near the close on Friday.  For the past three weeks, this pattern has continued in spades. 

The stock fell on Friday in those three weeks by $19.90, $2.40, and $5.47.  Since at at-the-money put with a single day of remaining life would cost about $4, your average gain over these three weeks works out to more than 150% per week.  During these three weeks, greater gains were possible by buying the puts before the close on Thursday rather than after the open on Friday (in the prior 12-week test, the stock often opened up a bit higher on Friday, suggesting that might be a better entry point). 

The results for Mondays were not as dramatic, but still quite impressive.  Of course, buying an at-the-money call either Friday near the close or near the open on Monday would cost closer to $10 because there would be five trading days remaining rather than only one, so the initial cost of the option would be about double the amount required to buy puts in anticipation of the Friday drop. 

Over the last three weeks, on Mondays, AAPL has moved higher by $9.04, $.84, and $22.58.  Substantial gains would have come your way in two of the three weeks with probably a break-even in the week when the stock budged up only $.84. 

Will this Friday-Monday pattern continue?  No one knows, for sure.  My experience is that trading patterns identified by back-testing do not always hold up going forward.  But somehow this one seems different.  Until the pattern is broken, at least buying puts near the close on Thursday seems like a good bet.  Even if you lose the entire bet on occasion, there have been so many Fridays when the drop has been substantial, over time, the returns could have been extraordinary. 

At heart, I am not an option buyer.  I prefer collecting decay from selling short-term options (using longer-term options as collateral rather than stock).  But for many months now, the daily and weekly fluctuations in AAPL have been considerably higher than the implied volatilities of the options would suggest.  As long as this pattern persists, buying AAPL options rather than selling them seems be in order, especially when there us some reason to believe that buying a put or call (rather than a straddle or strangle) gives you an edge.  The Friday-Monday phenomenon might just be the edge you need. 

Invest in Yourself in 2013 for Half the Price 

The presents are unwrapped.  The New Year is upon us.  Start it out right by doing something really good for yourself, and your loved ones.  

The beginning of the year is a traditional time for resolutions and goal-setting.  It is a perfect time to do some serious thinking about your financial future. 

I believe that the best investment you can ever make is to invest in yourself, no matter what your financial situation might be.  Learning a stock option investment strategy is a low-cost way to do just that. 

As our New Year’s gift to you, we are offering our service at the lowest price in the history of our company.   If you ever considered becoming a Terry’s Tips Insider, this would be the absolutely best time to do it.  Read on… 

Don’t you owe it to yourself to learn a system that carries a very low risk and could gain 36% a year as many of our portfolios have done? 

So what’s the investment?  I’m suggesting that you spend a small amount to get a copy of my 70-page (electronic) White Paper, and devote some serious early-2013 hours studying the material.   

And now for the Special Offer – If you make this investment in yourself by midnight, January 9, 2013, this is what happens: 

For a one-time fee of only $39.95, you receive the White Paper (which normally costs $79.95 by itself), which explains my two favorite option strategies in detail, 20 “Lazy Way” companies with a minimum 100% gain in 2 years, mathematically guaranteed, if the stock stays flat or goes up, plus the following services: 

1) Two free months of the Terry’s Tips Stock Options Tutorial Program, (a $49.90 value).  This consists of 14 individual electronic tutorials delivered one each day for two weeks, and weekly Saturday Reports which provide timely Market Reports, discussion of option strategies, updates and commentaries on 8 different actual option portfolios, and much more.   

2) Emailed Trade Alerts.  I will email you with any trades I make at the end of each trading day, so you can mirror them if you wish (or with our Premium Service, you will receive real-time Trade Alerts as they are made for even faster order placement or Auto-Trading with a broker).  These Trade Alerts cover all 8 portfolios we conduct. 

3) If you choose to continue after two free months of the Options Tutorial Program, do nothing, and you’ll be billed at our discounted rate of $19.95 per month (rather than the regular $24.95 rate). 

4) Access to the Insider’s Section of Terry’s Tips, where you will find many valuable articles about option trading, and several months of recent Saturday Reports and Trade Alerts. 

5) A FREE special report “How We Made 100% on Apple in 2010-11 While AAPL Rose Only 25%”. This report is a good example of how our Shoot Strategy works for individual companies that you believe are headed higher. 

With this one-time offer, you will receive all of these benefits for only $39.95, less than the price of the White Paper alone. I have never made an offer better than this in the twelve years I have published Terry’s Tips.  But you must order by midnight on January 9, 2013. Click here, choose “White Paper with Insider Membership”, and enter Special Code 2013 (or 2013P for Premium Service - $79.95). 

Investing in yourself is the most responsible New Year’s Resolution you could make for 2013.  I feel confident that this offer could be the best investment you ever make in yourself. 

Happy New Year!  I hope 2013 is your most prosperous ever.  I look forward to helping you get 2013 started right by sharing this valuable investment information with you. 

Terry 

P.S.  If you would have any questions about this offer or Terry’s Tips, please call Seth Allen, our Senior Vice President at 800-803-4595.  Or make this investment in yourself at the lowest price ever offered in our 8 years of publication - only $39.95 for our entire package - using Special Code 2013 (or 2013P for Premium Service - $79.95).