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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lynn who wrote (48650)	11/9/1999 12:58:00 PM
From: Jill	Respond to of 152472

OT Lynn, for what it's worth, judicious use of options is an important tool in building a portfolio. Some use it as gambling, others use it wisely. When a stock is about to go on a tear like qualcomm, calls can treble, quintable, even go up 1,000% in a short time (matter of weeks or months). Selling puts on a stock you are bullish on gives you "free" money when the puts expire worthless--or at the very least, allows you to purchase 100 shares blocks at cheaper than the price you might buy on any given day you went long (because you are picking up the stock at the strike price you choose minus the premium--almost inevitably below the market price). In addition, using leaps allows you to avoid short-term volatility if you want to start that way. I suggest you follow this closely for awhile, don't let the gamblers give it a bad name, and if you're technically minded and fascinated, wade into it in your own time. Over time you reduce your cost basis on a stock a lot, and you can also create percentage gains you simply couldn't with plain equity alone. It's more complex than that, of course, but a balanced portfolio is also one with a balanced approach to all the different strategies. Jill