There goes Cloud, but here comes Apple!

I think the cloud trade is over for now but for those of you still looking to place trades on technology, how can you not put some money into the premier name in tech...Apple! The stock is clearly breaking out and with the Streets analyst placing price targets well above $300/share (one just placed a target of $400 recently), its hard not to get involved. I've found some particular interest in the November $330 call strikes. That's ~16% away from where its currently trading at, but I believe that Apple will break $300 before they report next week. I think this could result in a 30-60% move in the option to the upside which is currently trading at $2.90 per contract. Futures are down and tomorrow may provide an excellent entry point to get long Apple options going into earnings. Good luck everyone!

Is it over for Cloud Computing? I don't think so..and Goldman agrees!

So with the recent sell-off in all the could computing stocks, what should we do? The two most interesting in this group are VMW and CRM. Both have been up significantly this year and a pullback should not be treated as an opportunity to exit them. Instead, it gives us a great chance to buy them. How would I do this? Well, to buy 1,000 shares of CRM even at current levels, it would cost $105,000. That's alot of dough. The option chains provide a much cheaper way to participate in any upside in the stock to follow the brutal selling.

The trade? Let's take a look at a short-term approach:

Short-term:

Look at the Oct 110 strike calls that expire in about a week. They are currently trading at $1.20 and any upside in the stock north of $2-$3 would mean at least a 50% move in the option. Remember guys, to participate on the equivalent of 1,000 shares of upside in the stock, we are only shelling out $1,200 (versus $105,000 worth of stock)!

LVS still has legs!

Casinos continued to rally as investors couldn't get enough casino stocks with exposure to China. Names that did particularly well included Wynn Resorts (Wynn) up 4% and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) up 3.6% on very large volume. LVS traded 39 million shares which is nearly 30% higher than its average volume. On a day where the S&P 500 traded lower by almost 1% shows that these guys have plenty of room to run. So, I'm going to make a fairly low risk bet buy suggesting a call strike waaaay OTM. I'm going to go after the $45 strike upside calls expiring Jan 2011. These guys are currently trading around $1.20 and I think that a double is well within reach. I see this stock going to $40/share in the very near-term (within the next 30 days) if this bullish action continues. If that were to occur, B-S suggests these guys almost doubling. Should we hold our for a deuce? No, take 50% upside and run! ;).

Buy Atmel Stock NOW!

Not only is the Company trading near its 52-week range but the stock reportedly has a $12 price target by Jeffries. If you've been following Atmel stock like i have for the past 10+ years, You will realize that the Company's stock seems to have very bullish momentum. The guy at Raymond seem to agree and say the following:

"After two days of meetings with Atmel’s management last week we came away with significantly increased conviction on the Atmel story,” he writes in a research note. “We are upgrading ATML … based on increasing secular momentum in the broad-based 8- bit and 32-bit [micro-controller] markets and also the rapid market share gains in next generation multi-touch screen applications in smartphones and tablets.”

They have put a $12 price target on the which I think is very achievable. Now I know that a $7.80 stock is not what one would define as "expensive" but there is a cheaper way to participate in potential upside in the Company. Take a look at the March 2011 7.5 strike upside calls trading at $1.05. Your break even price at expiration is around $9 but I believe that the bullish momentum this stock is experiencing will propel it to much higher level. I would not be surprised if we see the stock move towards $12/share by Jan or Feb of next year before it starts to become attractive to potential buyers. Semi's are a hot commodity right now and underpriced companies like Atmel would be an asset to many players...especially those looking to leverage the boom in touch screen technology which Atmel provides products for.

Switch Oct Apple 300's with Apple 310's

I believe the market is in for a breather for the next few days and though we could see a pullback in Apple as well, I prefer not to take Apple off the table completely as I continue to believe that the stock is breaking out and will continue to do so as we approach their earnings report next month. The Apple $300 calls closed at $3.80 while the $310's closed at $1.80 meaning that we can leave an apple trade on with half the cash we would need if we leave the Oct 300 strike on. I would take half of the profits left over from the $300 strike and buy the $310's. If apple continues to break out and successfully breaks $290 tomorrow, these calls would appreciate nicely as well. I think we still have a good 40-60% upside on these calls just on another $3-$5 move in the stock over the next few trading days.

ADOBE HAMMERED OVER 21% AFTER LOWER THAN EXPECTED FORECASTS

Once again the market may have provided us with an opportunity by terribly overdoing the sell-off with Adobe. Sure, the forecasts were lower than expected and Apple is also hurting them badly but if you notice the stock is currently trading at levels close to its 52-week low. So far the 52-week low level of $25.81 has held. If it were to break that level (meaning close below it), then all bets are off from the long-side and you are probably better off selling your position (which I would recommend be a small one). However, if we are able to hold this level and close above it for a few days as the stock consolidates over the course of the next few days, we could see a run to $28/share. So how should we play it? We could just buy the stock outright but I would less inclined to do so. I would purchase the Jan 2011 $28 strike call option trading at around $1.45 currently. If the stock was to make a run to even $27/share over the next few trading days, I believe we would see a substantial (possibly over 20%) rise in the price of the option. Not bad for $1.45 trade is it?

Buy the Aapl October 300 calls NOW!

Apple is trading significantly higher today on back of the news that Google docs will now be made available to edit on the Ipad and the Iphone will start selling China this week. The stock is up nearly 3% and the 300 Oct call has nearly doubled today. With 4 weeks still remaining in the expiration of this option, I think there is plenty of room to make money here. Do I think Apple will cross 300? Maybe, maybe not. But remember, it does not have to do that for us to make money. We will take advantage of the "time-value" of the option and leverage any further upside moves in the stock (and hence the option) to profit from it. I think a run to $290/share is very likely this week alone which could result in another 30-50% move in this specific strike. For those of you still hesitant from spending $2.20 on the 300 strike can go after the $310 strike for just under $1. This is definitely also going to show strength if the apple touches or clears 290 this week. Many apple investors have been waiting for this move. The stock not only cleared its 52-week high, it blew past it signaling a very bullish trend that many believe can take the stock to well over $300/share (inching closer to the analyst price targets that go as high as $360+). I'm not the only one that is suggesting a bullish trend on the stock to continue. We had over 100,000 options trade on the call-side in apple with the 300 strike as the most active with over 30,000 contracts alone!

Ok, guys, here's our chance to get in on apple at an extremely low entry point with a very bullish signal in place. Let's take advantage of this and get on the bandwagon.