Making some Changes

I have a busy day, but I lightened up a little into this strength this morning and got a little more defensive. I sold ETFC. I had a portion of my long position on a trailing stop that was taken, but I then decided to sell the rest as well. I had to stick to the discipline of my thesis and that was that any buyout announcement would happen fast and not slow. I walked with only a 20% profit, but that is still not bad for one weeks work.

I used this cash to buy more ROCM and started a position with SIRO. The dental supply company reports next Friday and I think that all the bad news is mostly priced in.

I also lightened up by selling my AAPL Dec185 calls on this mornings pop for a loss. Time premium is killing me and holding instead of rolling looked like more risk. I solidly believe in AAPL, but I am not willing to risk a losing position on betting that AAPL will take off in the next 10 days (which is what a profit would require). I will add at-the-money calls on a dip and roll the money into January options.

I also took a profit on some GRMN calls. I took half off the table. I see GRMN taking off, but I am also tired of watching the market fall off each afternoon, so I will re-enter on a dip.

Finally, I bought some ZOLT Puts. Just a nibble. I will explain this further in a more detailed post later this afternoon.