Time To Pull The Plug...

Time To Pull The Plug On Gap Inc. (GPS) Hello Smart Option Sellers! GPS has been somewhat of a thorn in our side since putting on the original put-sell position back in March. We rolled that position in May, and now we hold the shares in our very first long stock holding. But alas, GPS can't seem to get out of its own way and it's time to pull the plug. If you haven't seen the news, GPS fired its CEO Art Peck last night, and gave an updated (lower) forward guidance for 3rd quarter results and the rest of the year financials. Both sets of news items were not received too well by the market and the stock has dropped about $1.30 per share to its current level of $16.80. In of itself, that's not such a bad move, as it's been fluctuating between $16 to $18 over the last few months. Just this past week, it looked like it had been gaining momentum and making the move to head above $18 per share, which is our line in the sand for a profitable play. I had been planning on closing the whole position down before they released earnings on November 21. Well, that plan has been scrapped now as they basically just let the cat out of the bag that earnings will be lowered. At this point, it doesn't make sense to hold onto a position that will most likely linger down at these levels, or possibly continue to drift lower. With the broader markets having a good year and making all-time new highs, holding a position like GPS doesn't make sense anymore. So, we're going to shut it down. There are two parts to closing this trade, so please read all the instructions before moving forward. Here's what you can choose to do: Note: you will only execute this buy-back trade if you already hold the put-sell position in your account. If you don't have the position, you can disregard these instructions. 1. Buy-back (buy-to-close) all of your GPS December 20, 2019 $17 strike call option contracts between the current bid & ask market, GTC, as a closing transaction (buy-to-close). And 2. Sell all your GPS long stock shares at market. Currently, with the stock near $16.85 per share, the $17 call options have a market of $1.12 bid/$1.16 offer, but you will buy at the prevailing rate when you place your order. Make sure to check the bid/ask market on the call option when you get to trading screen as the prices are moving around fairly quickly. If the stock rallies, the call option will get more expensive. If the stock starts to fall, the call option will get cheaper. Try to place your buy order somewhere in the middle of the bid/ask spread to get the best possible fill price. You don't need to automatically buy right at the offer price. You can do better! There's always risk with any kind of investing, but one of the hardest types of risks to contend with is the after-market announcements such as this, which always causes a stock to gap either higher or lower. You can't prepare for those types of moves. Sometimes they'll work in your favor, and sometimes not. This time, it went against us (but not too badly). We will take an unfortunate (somewhat small-ish) loss on this trade and I will have the details on Monday. For some, the loss will be at different levels, depending on when you entered the trades. For anyone who may have different ideas about GPS and wish to maintain the current positions, you are more than welcome to do so. Officially, we will be closing it out. So, get your orders in there, and let us know your fill prices. That's all for now. Continue to hold all other open positions as-is. Contact us here with fills, comments, questions or concerns. Regards,

Lee Let's Grab That Cash!