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To: mepci who wrote (27966)	8/5/2000 7:40:51 PM
From: sq39	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 35685

mepci, re: 'one statistic is that the majority of option buyers lose money' is there something wrong with me? i've closed out 42 options (no puts, just calls, a few covered) so far this year with only four losses,(my second year with options). how can the majority be losing? i thought it was a 50-50 statistic, for every winner a loser.

To: mepci who wrote (27966)	8/5/2000 7:58:19 PM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 35685

mepci! Would like to welcome you to the porch. I believe that you came because of the Ad that we placed on the front page of the Wall Street Journal staring Dr. Dave Gleitman. I guess it is true that it does pay to advertise. Well sir you have just discovered a group of folks like no other on the internet. This here is one big happy family and seems like you just might fit right in. I see on your first post you were offering to help someone. That is just what we do around here is pitch in to help each other. BTW: If you have any questions or if we can do anything to help you. Just pop in on the porch and ask your question. Someone will be glad to help ya. Now you just pull yourself up a rocker sit down and let me get you a glass of some mighty fine lemonade. There will be plenty of folks coming by to talk to you about just most any and everything. Ya can consider yaself a porcher and keep in mind that just anyone can't be one. Ya gotta be a very special person to become a part of this family and you are just about to meet a bunch of them very special folks. Ya gonna see a lot of love and caring from folks so ya might as well be prepared for a little of that too. Again let me say Welcome to the porch and you make yourself right at home. love, dealer

To: mepci who wrote (27966)	8/5/2000 11:44:39 PM
From: Dr. David Gleitman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 35685

Dear Mepci: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Over the years there have been good trades and bad trades. As one poster once remarked, it's OK to make mistakes, just recognise it for what it is then learn from it. Most of my option stratagies involves selling covered calls. Some of these trades have limited my profits by being called out, as with RMBS back in july. Other times, I have speculated on JDSU calls for August when it was to be placed on the SP500, which because of deteriorating market conditions, have caused me to sustain some significant loses. Usually, I try to adjust my options strategies based upon stock performance and seasonal shifts in the marketplace. One of the problems that I face is knowing when to sell a position (when it's profitable). It seems that selling short term covered calls at various times before options expiration at a strike price that would allow me to make some additional profit (usually I sell the short term call at the strike price right above maximum open interest for that month). If it reaches the strike price, in the money and get taken out, then I can't complain (too much, anyway) because I have already made a profit with the combined equity valuation and the premium of the option. Using margin more prudently is another lesson that I have taken under serious consideration. With regards to buying calls, that's a bit more challenging. I did it with success with IBM, MYGN, BRCM when the company ran into a significant pricing correction as a result of the overall negative market sentiment (read market correction) as opossed to any intrinsic change in the fundamentals of the company itself. Buying calls and leaps with QCOM has so far proven to have been a disaster, but I still have several months left to go before proving myself right/wrong. I do appreciate any and all constructive critiques. That is one way that I get to learn from these experiences. Regards, David