I’m the poster who bought COP at $60/share, and I haven’t checked the price since. It’s a long-term position for me, since I believe oil prices will keep rising. I subscribe to Zeal Intelligence (monthly newsletter only) and saw the Nov 60 call listed in the trades for the more frequent Zeal Speculator readers. You told me to get the Nov calls, but I didn’t for two reasons.
First, since I don’t subscribe to the Zeal Speculator, the source of the Nov COP call recommendation, I wouldn’t be informed when it is time to sell for some reason. If Zeal thought it was time to sell, they would mention it in Zeal Speculator, which I don’t get. They would not mention it in the monthly newsletter that I get.
Second, I am a conservative and amateur stock investor. I have only made Long purchases. I haven’t got the guts to branch into shorting, options, etc. Although your post made me think that I should study it.
It’s wonderful that you are doing so well in your stock positions. However, for amateurs like me with fears of going short and buying puts and calls, could you please post your losses as well as your wins, so beginners like me can see if this method works for more than one trade. I would like to know the downsides of buying calls.
Since options in the above example provided such a higher return than the long position, why don’t all the big fund managers and pros buy only options? It sounds like very little risk and a lot of upside, and if that is guaranteed, everyone would be doing it. I know there is no such thing as low risk and high returns, so what am I missing?
On a related note, I like and trust Chris Johnston’s trading service because he publishes his losses along with his wins. His losses are published on his trading service web page, at the top, for everyone to see. He’s an unemotional investor, who realizes trading involves wins and losses.
