If you have been long AAPL over the last few weeks
you are having a very happy Friday.

Today I closed down the last part of my AAPL
Bull Call Spread for 286% profits in two
weeks of trading.

The following is a recap of my posts in the
Swing Trader Room, this is my personal daily
trading diary where I post my AAPL trades and
thoughts on the market.

For the first time ever, I thought I would pull
back the curtains for everyone to see and hopefully
learn from how and why I placed the trade AND how I
managed it once I was in.

By the end of today I was up 98.6%

This profit percentage is an average of the profits I
took along the way. Keep reading below to see each move.
Note: I've highlighted my after thoughts in green.

Swing Trader Update from Monday, March 10th, 2013

Good afternoon traders…
Well the unexpected happened this afternoon, AAPL cleared the $435 level with increased volume. What does this mean? Well, it means that we now have an increased probability that AAPL will be neutral to bullish for a possible swing trade.

Other indicators that are lining up with this:
1. The heikin ashi candles just had the second green bar in a row (where the 2nd one goes above the first one).
2. The DEMA’s are bullish
3. And the MACD is starting to roll up!

All these stacked on top of each other have triggered me into a trade. However… we have to remember the over all context here! AAPL is still in a long term down trend (almost 6 months now), so… that said, we need to be cautious.

I just stepped up and bought some call spreads… here’s my trade!
Bought to open March4 13 calls $440 strike
Sold to open March4 13 calls $460 strike

THESE CALLS EXPIRE NEXT WEEK!
I entered this trade when AAPL was at $435 for a debit of $5.00 and will
be looking for AAPL to rise to $460 by the end of NEXT WEEK. (AAPL is sitting at $460 right now)

This trade has a 3 to 1 risk reward ratio. If I’m right, my max profit is $1500, if I’m wrong, I risk $500 per spread. Above is a chart of AAPL and a risk graph showing my trade.

Here’s my swing trader update from Friday March 15, 2013
Patience sure pays in the stock market….
The AAPL Bull Call Spread I placed earlier this week is now up 30%

I am going to book some profits right now and trim this position down a bit.
Remember, just a couple days ago when this same position was down 30%
Now at 7:22am PT as AAPL is sitting at $441.50 I am going to take half my position off for profits. ( I should of held out longer for more profits... hindsight in always 20/20)

This trade still has potential to run a bit next week especially since we’ve already moved above the $435 and $440 resistance zone I’ve been writing about for the last couple weeks, that’s why I’m still leaving some on… however, profits are profits and I have to stick to my game plan which was… as I wrote when I put this trade on, I ”will start to scale out if we see a nice pop over the next couple days!”

Here’s my swing trader update from Monday March 18th, 2013

Good morning, two quick things… 1. I just took another 1/4 of my position off for almost 100% profit. See chart below, notice we are at an important resistance point. 2. We have our AAPL TV: Mastermind LiveStream coming up in 45 minutes. This will be a great time to talk about how and when to scale out and take profits on trades that are working plus a ton more…. see you soon!

Another Monday Update
A quick little afternoon update… AAPL is still on fire and just hit new intraday highs of $457.46 I love it! My trade is up over 150% right now!

Here is a quick rundown of the trade so far:
Entered Monday 3-11-13 at $435
Sold 1/2 for 30% profit on Friday
Sold 1/4 for 94% profit earlier today
Still holding 1/4 which is 150% up right now.

The down trend we have been in for the last six months has officially been taken out. This is great news and I think people are starting to jump on the wagon. I’m going to leave the last 1/4 of my trade on, If AAPL closes above $460 this Friday then I will make 300% on this last piece in two weeks. I love options!!!

Here’s my swing trader update from Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

I’m always so amazed at how quickly AAPL can move. Less than a week ago, AAPL was sitting at $425, this morning it tagged my $460 target area and immediately pulled back to the low $450’s. Meanwhile my bull call spread is still up well over 100%. Times like these remind me why I like to scale out of trades as profits present themselves.

For now the $460 area is holding as resistance and if AAPL closes where it is right now, it will form a candle called the dark cloud cover. However the day is still young AND it’s only Tuesday, we have a lot of trading left this week.

Some thoughts from this morning. I was looking at turning my bull call spread into a butterfly this morning but didn’t pull the trigger, looking back it would of been a perfect time to do this… even though I didn’t do the adjustment, I thought I would go over it for everyone. Here is my original trade:
Bought the $440 call
Sold the $460 call

Now that AAPL has moved up over $20 since I put the trade on,
I could now:
Sell the $460 call again and
buy the $480 call

This would turn my bull call into a butterfly which would accomplish two main things. 1. it would neutralize my delta 2. it would reduce my over all risk in the trade by bringing in a credit to balance my original debit. Just some food for thought. (This adjustment was a great idea, I should of pulled the trigger. I would of cashed in another $4,000 in profits)

Here’s my swing trader update from Thursday, March 21st, 2013

If you are watching AAPL right now… WOW, we just got a huge spike in buying, AAPL is up near $457 right now and still climbing after breaking out of an intraday wedge near $453.

I’m still holding 1/4 of the Bull Call Spread I placed last Monday when AAPL was at $435 – with this current spike the trade is now up over 200% These are the days I love being an options trader. I am going to peel off some profits at 200% and leave just a few contracts on for tomorrow (remember, the options in this trade expire tomorrow).

If AAPL closes above $460 tomorrow then I make 300% on the remaining contracts.
A break above $460 could send us up to $480. I don’t think this will happen this week. Maybe over the next week or two. Considering my trade ends tomorrow I may consider re-entering a trade come Monday. We will see how the rest of the week plays out. Trade Safe

Here’s my swing trader update from Friday, March 22nd, 2013

Quick update, AAPL just spiked above $460 and I closed down the last couple contracts for a 286% profit. I’m now flat AAPL.

The End... I'm now flat AAPL as I write this. It's late in the day Friday and it's been an amazing last couple weeks.

I hope you learned a few new tricks like stacking the probability in your favor with indicators and option risk reward.

To get my swing trader email updates everyday you can Subscribe Here to AAPLTrader Premium Access, this also gives you access to our AAPL Analysis Page and our AAPL TV: Master Mind LiveStream ( a 2x weekly 60 minutes live broadcast where you can ask me anything).

Oh and one last thing... Keep an eye out for the Apple Investment Strategy Guide - set to release next week.

Trade On,

Micah

 

Micah Lamar
Founder and CEO
AAPLTrader Social Network
Customer Care: (775) 391-0344
Support@AAPLTrader.com

Micah also writes for Seeking Alpha, The International Business Times and The Wall Street All-Stars. Micah is a Stock & Options Mentor, helping thousands of traders become more successful! Supporting traders in learning technical analysis, option spreads and trading as a business.