Month: December 2013

Where Does EMC Go After NSA Revelations

EMC seems to have quite a problem on its hands now that rumors have circulated that their RSA division has been accepting payoff from the NSA.  We have seen shareholder lawsuits against IBM for not disclosing business risks involved with losing business internationally as a result of working with the NSA.  Related risks for EMC include failure to disclose NSA involvement to shareholders in their regular SEC filings, loss of business internationally and domestically from the customer backlash, and regular reaming from the security community at conferences and other venues.

The weekly chart of EMC shows support/resistance below 26.  A play in the direction of the break down/out could be available.   This is a wait and see trade where we need confirmation before entering.

2013-12-24-EMC-TOS_CHARTS

TGT Loses Payment Card Info Resulting In A Dip

After the breaking news over at KrebsOnSecurity that Target (NYSE:TGT) has been impacted by a payment card breach it is time once again to look for a dip to buy.  The low point at approximately $61 matches up with some decent support and resistance levels from 1Q13.  TGT is riskier than other sectors due to the retail environment at this time of year.  Any attempt to buy the dip should be done close to $61 with a very tight stop.  Any general bad news from the retail sector could blow this trade up.  Low trading volumes from the financial industry taking vacation could also cause large price swings in either direction. Short Put Verticals are not the best for this, though an ATM Long Call Vertical will give about 50/50 odds over the next week.

2013-12-20-TGT-TOS_CHARTS

 

Update: We decided to go with a weekly 62/63 Long Call Vertical.  Closing out one day before expiration gets about a net 18.00 per contract.