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October 13, 2020 | Cautionary Signs

Rick Ackerman

Rick Ackerman is the editor of Rick’s Picks, an online service geared to traders of stocks, options, index futures and commodities. His detailed trading strategies have appeared since the early 1990s in Black Box Forecasts, a newsletter he founded that originally was geared to professional option traders. Barron’s once labeled him an “intrepid trader” in a headline that alluded to his key role in solving a notorious pill-tampering case. He received a $200,000 reward when a conviction resulted, and the story was retold on TV’s FBI: The Untold Story. His professional background includes 12 years as a market maker in the pits of the Pacific Coast Exchange, three as an investigator with renowned San Francisco private eye Hal Lipset, seven as a reporter and newspaper editor, three as a columnist for the Sunday San Francisco Examiner, and two decades as a contributor to publications ranging from Barron’s to The Antiquarian Bookman to Fleet Street Letter and Utne Reader.

The yellow flag is out, since the Nasdaq 100, AAPL and the E-Mini S&Ps all failed to reach their respective Hidden Pivot price objectives on this week’s run-up. In addition, VXX, which tracks short-term S&P 500 volatility, looks like it’s primed to turn higher following a withering decline begun more than a month ago. If this proves correct, it would imply the next move in the underlying index will be down. Rick’s Picks subscribers were able to reef the sails by cashing out half of the bullish AAPL butterfly spreads they’d put on a week earlier for twice their acquisition cost. The position was tied to a $152 rally target that lies 25% above, but my gut feeling is that it will be reached before the options expire on November 20. This is notwithstanding the stock’s fall from a 127.32 peak on Monday to 119.65. We may look to stock up on call spreads again if AAPL continues to fall, so subscribers should stay tuned to the chat room for real-time guidance

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October 13th, 2020

Posted In: Rick's Picks

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