Trader Alert: Buying calls but don’t be thunderstruck

I was caught in the middle of a railroad track (Thunder)
I looked round and I knew there was no turning back (Thunder)
My mind raced and I thought what could I do (Thunder)
And I knew there was no help, no help from you (Thunder)

Sound of the drums, beatin’ in my heart
The thunder of guns tore me apart
You’ve been – thunderstruck — AC/DC Thuderstruck

I once played Thuderstruck for my mom, a classically trained concert pianist, and she sat down at the piano and played that opening guitar lick on the piano just like Angus does on the guitar. It’s important to apply winning concepts in one area of investing to another in the same way.

Quick hits this morning:

I’m buying a tiny bit of Google calls dated out into September or later with a strike price of $650 or higher. I’m not going huge and I’m not buying near-term puts because this isn’t about tonight’s earnings call. I also don’t have enough exposure to Google in the overall portfolio and I’ll probably look to buy more long-dated calls if the stock is to get hit tonight after it reports earnings. That said, I do expect a good report from Google and unless the Motorola acquisition is kicking them in the butt, the fundamentals otherwise were likely strong and I’m not sure Wall Street’s caught up to just how much advertising leverage there is in the Android model….especially looking out into next year. At any rate, I’m always scared when I buy before earnings, but emotion is not going to dictate my trades. If you’re buying GOOG near-term calls hoping for upside tomorrow, please don’t gamble any more than you are willing to lose without hurting your overall portfolio or emotional state.

FIO’s up about 8% or so this morning. There’s some news out there, but as you guys know this is one volatile stock and sometimes it can make big moves without a fundamental driver. I bought some FIO calls a couple days ago and I’m sitting tight on the position for now.

AC/DC – Thunderstruck