Like a Moth to Light

I have been ZOLT'ed. Like a moth to light, I can't seem to get away from losing money on ZOLT once again. The company reported better than expected earnings of $0.24 EPS, a penny better than expected, despite a huge hit to their P/L because of derivative accounting and the huge $20 million conversion that hit the books this quarter.

Gross Margins are still below where the company needs to be to make a go at things long term (currently 29% and they need 35%), but once again, investors seem to be willing to get the company a pass this quarter. There are some true believers in the carbon fiber story that don't want facts to get in the way.

Today, I quickly covered my ZOLT puts and moved on.

I also covered my XLF and TIE puts as well. The tape is holding up very well. I had expected a sell off today due to profit taking that didn't happen. No thesis to keep them, so I covered expecting a another bounce from our Fed Chairman after his speech tonight.