Trade of the Day: International Business Machines (IBM)

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International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has sat out the past three years of trading, essentially, as the new management navigates its way from a past of “big iron” installations to the future of the cloud. Shares came all the way down to $150 from a 2013 high of $205, and have hung around that area for the past six months.

IBM common remained fairly firm during the broad selling we’ve seen this week, and I’m confident it should hold up the rest of the week and next week. IBM is a good value, and investors are warming to the story again as, in general, IBM shares are really cheap now. And, because of the recent flat spot, the options are also very cheap.

While I typically trade front-month options to save on premium, for IBM I want to go out an extra month farther than usual to buy the IBM June $170 calls (IBM150619C00170000) on an early pullback like we saw on April 28. These are the monthly calls that expire on June 19, and you can buy them at current levels (currently around $4.15 per contract).

Set up to sell half of the IBM calls at my initial target of $6.90 and sell the rest at a second target of $8.25. Use a stop at $3.50, but good after 11 a.m. ET only to ensure you don’t get shaken out in any early-session volatility.

InvestorPlace advisor Jon Markman operates the investment firm Markman Capital Insights. He also offers a daily trading advisory service, Trader’s Advantage, and CounterPoint Options, a service that helps individual traders make steady, consistent profits with volatility-related instruments.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/05/trade-of-the-day-ibm/.

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