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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kayaker who wrote (106607)	8/5/2008 6:02:53 PM
From: Q8	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206358

Another way to do it is to "Sell puts to open" at a lower price than the existing energy stock and to protect against a violent downturn to buy a lower strike of puts.. so i.e. covered puts.. that way you can own an energy stock at a lower price if the option you sold have some value at the end of the expiration period and you are not shorting "naked"...ie. almost unlimited losses on the downside. Of interest: McMoRan Exploration Buyer Still Pumped By ALEXANDER EULE Director Robert Day bought $9.4 million in the energy explorer's stock. Tables: Buyers \| Sellers DESPITE A SIGNIFICANT RUN-UP in shares of McMoRan Exploration (ticker: MMR), a long-time director and frequent buyer of the company's stock is not deterred. Last week McMoRan director Robert Day spent $9.4 million for 352,000 shares of the oil and gas explorer. The transactions, at per-share prices ranging from $25.87 to $26.93, were disclosed Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. McMoRan's shares are up 91% over the last 12 months compared with a 17% gain for the DJ U.S. Exploration and Production Index. Day, who has been a McMoRan director since 1994, now owns 4.5%, or 2.5 million shares, of the company's outstanding stock. McMoRan did not return a call seeking comment on the transaction. Day ranks 297th on the 2007 Forbes' list of richest Americans, with a net worth of $1.6 billion. He is chairman of Trust Company of the West and also sits on the boards of French banking giant Societe Generale (SCGLY) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX). Societe Generale holds a majority stake in Trust Company of the West. McMoRan Exploration and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold once shared a parent company. In a research note, InsiderScore.com notes that Day's prior purchases preceded McMoRan's run to an all-time high earlier this year. Shares hit $35.52 in June. They closed Monday at $26.75. In January the billionaire bought $15.3 million in stock for an average price of $13.72 per share and another $8.1 million in February with shares trading at around $16. The company has seen no shortage of insider buying. Over the last two years, insiders have purchased $55 million worth of stock versus total sales of $6 million, according to InsiderScore.com. Shares are up 46% during that period. The company concentrates its exploration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that McMoRan had picked up exploration at the Gulf's Blackbeard site. It is picking up where others had thrown in the towel. Exxon Mobil (XOM) had drilled to 30,000 feet before leaving the project behind, at a cost of $200 million, according to the Journal. In mid-July, Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Noel Parks noted that the project had attracted "keen interest" from investors and the industry. The firm rates McMoRan at Neutral with a $15 price target, which is based on the firm's asset value calculation for proved reserves. "We observe that McMoRan shares have generally held up better than most explorers and producers during the tough past week or so, and we cannot help but wonder if the market is expecting positive news from the [Blackbeard] project," Parks wrote. The company said it had proved oil and gas reserves of 398.5 billion cubic feet of equivalent as of June 30, compared with 364 billion as of Dec. 31, 2007. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Kayaker who wrote (106607)	8/5/2008 6:21:33 PM
From: Bearcatbob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206358

"But there's not much talk of CCs when stocks are at new highs." If you buy the shares at a high price and sell the CCs you run the risk of losing the share value. By buying XTO today and selling the CCs I am hoping there is not much downside and that I do get called away at 55 in 17 months. From 44 to 61 would be a nice gain. I can also use the cash for something else. In another year I will be retired and I see the opportunity to sell CCs as a away of generating the income I will need. I can see the possibility of raising my monthly income with staggered sales. Bob