Open Interest for Expiration 4/22/16 – Open

This was one of two premium posts  for members posted before week starting 4/18/16

Two weeks in a row the market gave us good opportunity in the beginning of the week, which we took advantage of, and then just sucked premium the rest of it. There is no denying that there is a lack of any significant selling pressure right now (more on that in the set-up post) and until we see signs of bigger sellers the primary strategy remains to buy the dip and not selling the rip.

Next week begins the bulk of large company earnings. For the stocks below that have earnings next week I will show their open interest, but without comments because earnings news trumps it.

AAPL: Pretty nasty close on Friday (regardless if the reason was OPEX or the Japanese supplier news). At this point I don’t see any advantage in getting long unless price gets to 107.79. On the flip side, if price gets to 111.50 I like the idea of trying puts. The nearest support levels below Friday’s low of 109.73 are 108.60 and 107.79.

AMZN: It has been very strong with very shallow dips and thus, I have it on my radar as a long next week. The current highest calls are at 620, but as of now I don’t see them as relevant unless price falls below 617 and stays below it. There is technical support at 617, 608, and 603 (the latter is a screaming buy). I would love to get this on a deep pullback, but as of now it is likely not probable and thus am aiming for a potential pullback to 617/618. Should there be no pullback, I would consider buying it over Friday’s high depending on the overall markets momentum. Levels of technical resistance are 638 and then 656.

BIDU: A very lovely winner for us last week. Now that it has momentum on its side it’s possible it’s back in play next week; however, the open interest gives me a bit of pause. BIDU as I’ve explained before can overcome high calls when it is backed by momentum, plus the open interest can shift so I won’t yet rule it out as a long just yet. There is support between 191.70 and 192.5 a potential long entry. If it falls below 191.70 for too long, then it may go on to fill its gap at 188.70 (a definite buy point that I have an alert set for). The other scenario I would look for to get long is if it remains between 192’ish and 197’ish for a few days. A long into the end of the week after such a consolidation has good odds of working out (given the overall market is healthy).

FB: The highest strike calls is currently at 110 and near where price closed on Friday. I am not interested in any long play unless price gets near 105; however, I am interested in playing this short if price can get near technical resistance of 112.50 especially if there is still calls lined up at 110.

GOOGL: Earnings on Thursday.

GS: Side note about financials in general. They began to perk up last week (although closed weak on Friday). Any continuation of bullish action will be important in determining if the market is going to continue its bullish trend or not. As for GS in particular, earnings are on Tuesday.

LNKD: I am a little surprised by the strength last week. It kind of went unnoticed. It might remain rangebound until earnings and then decide in which direction it goes in, but on a weekly chart it does seem to be forming a bottom and so it’s possible it breaks the range for a run into earnings. The low volume on the open interest makes it irrelevant for now (it also shows how little interest traders have in it since it has lacked momentum). If it can get over last week’s high then the next technical resistance is 122.50. Over that and it likely runs to 128 pretty quick. There is support near 113/114 and possibly a good entry point. I have this on my radar as a long next week. Below 112 however would put a run up into earnings back into question and strengthens the case for it staying rangebound into earnings. 106 is the breakdown level should this for some reason decide to drop hard.

NFLX: Earnings Monday. The outcome could definitely impact some of the other momo’s.

TSLA: It hasn’t violated any supports to consider being bearish on it. The only thing it has going for it that could be considered bearish is the open interest with more calls than puts and starting at 250. Having said that, recently the open interest has been shifting a lot after the first couple days of the week. For the most part it continues to be in a technical range of 240 to 260 and until that convincingly breaks it’s really only a scalping stock. Over 260 and the next resistance is 268.