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To: craig crawford who wrote (25465)	11/10/1998 2:39:00 PM
From: Dell-icious	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

From thestreet.com: Options Buzz: Yahoo! Takes Options Traders for Another Ride By Dan Colarusso Senior Writer 11/10/98 2:28 PM ET So, you wanna be a tough guy and short the Internet stocks? Good luck. Yesterday, put plays on major Internet players such as Yahoo! (YHOO:Nasdaq) and Excite (XCIT:Nasdaq) highlighted the action as traders sought to hedge their long stock positions. Hopefully, for them at least, they didn't get too cautious in a sector characterized by boundless optimism and seemingly endless upside. "It has been painful to short the Internet stocks," says Lillian Seidman, of the Seidman-Skupp options team at Miller Tabak Hirsch. Painful indeed. The Yahoo November 150 puts for which some people paid 2 3/8 ($237.50) Monday were trading at 1 5/16 ($131.25) at midday as the stock jumped almost 10 to 175. And in Excite, the November 40 puts slid to 3/8 ($37.50) from 3/4 ($75) yesterday as the stock rose 5 7/8 to 53 1/16. That's good news for options writers (or sellers), who are seeing the puts they sold move further from being in-the-money and closer to their wallets. Put options sellers run the risk of getting assigned and buying shares that have fallen, although some traders use the strategy to buy equities they feel are undervalued or unfairly beaten down. Many pros, however, are opting to stay out of the Internet fray, citing the kind of pain to which Seidman refers and the potential volatility of the sector. "When they stop trading on fundamentals, what do you do?" asks Kyle Rosen, the options strategist at Strome Susskind. "Right now, these stocks are a sideshow more than anything else." Rosen says much of today's acceleration could be the cause of a short squeeze and activity stemming from retail investors, exactly the kind of unpredictable action that scares professional traders. Although the volatility of the past two months has had one positive byproduct. "All the leverage and speculation has been washed out of the market," Rosen says. "With prices coming down the past two weeks, people are still taking that opportunity to hedge." Bulls weren't going anywhere, though. Excite's strength kept call buyers in the mix as they snapped up the November 55 calls, sending volume to more than 2,400 on the three exchanges that trade Excite's options. Yahoo players opted to sell puts, primarily the November 165 contract, and sent volume to more than 2,000 in early action. The price of the contract stood at 4 1/8 ($412.50), down 2 5/8 ($262.50) from the open. There was significant attraction to the November 170 Yahoo calls as volume reached more than 1,800 this morning. Mike Riley, the Yahoo options specialist on the American Stock Exchange, says the trading had a sense of urgency this morning but had tailed off early in the afternoon. "People were buying calls and selling puts, a lot of it in the morning," Riley says, adding that the puts trading were slightly out-of-the-money while the call action was squarely in-the-money. "It was broad-based, and we couldn't tell whether it was opening of new positions or panic buying to close. There was both," Riley says.

To: craig crawford who wrote (25465)	11/10/1998 6:02:00 PM
From: McNabb Brothers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

craig, Need to be very careful shorting any of the internet stocks! Are you still short KTEL or were you stopped out! You have really kept quiet lately, so I assume your trading is not what it use to be! Every trader has his or her days and it's best to keep a core holding of blue chips and only trade a small percentage of ones total portfolio! I've been in a 100 percentage trading situation and when it turns against you if is not funny! Again be careful! Hank