Investors Flock to Facebook (FB) Post-Election

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our options portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place option spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

Facebook rose sharply higher in the past week for a gain of 11.5%. The following two articles discuss the rationale behind the move and its implications – 3 Stocks That Are Big Winners After The U.S. Election and Best Mutual Funds Buy Up FANG Stocks Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook.

Technicals

The price action points to the same narrative as suggested by the articles mentioned above. There was a large move lower ahead of the election, likely attributed to investors covering their position ahead of the election. But then the rally in the past week catapulted FB to a new 2-month high, signaling a clear shift in sentiment from the earlier uncertainty. Further, FB’s outperformance compared to the broader markets during this time shows that it remains a favorite among investors. Near-term support is seen at $284 as the price point acted as resistance last month. The strong show of buying as of late suggests that near-term dips will be shallow, but if FB dips below $284, further support is seen at the 50-Day moving average. This moving average falls near a rising trendline that originates from a low printed in late June.

FB Chart November 2020

If you agree there’s further upside ahead for FB, consider this trade which relies on the stock remaining above the $292.5 level through the expiration in five weeks.

Buy To Open FB 11DEC20 290 Puts (FB201211P290)
Sell To Open FB 11DEC20 292.5 Puts (FB201211P292.5) for a credit of $1.08 (selling a vertical)

This credit is $0.02 less than the mid-point of the option spread when FB was trading near $293.  Unless the stock rallies quickly from here, you should be able to get close to this amount.

Your commission on this trade will be only $1.30 per spread.  Each spread would then yield $106.70. This reduces your buying power by $250 and makes your investment $143.30 ($250 – $106.70).  If FB closes at any price above $292.5 on December 11, both options will expire worthless, and your return on the spread would be 74% ($106.70 / $143.30), or 844% annualized.

Changes to Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 This Week:

IBD Underlying Updates November 7, 2020

We have found that the Investor’s Business Daily Top 50 List has been a reliable source of stocks that are likely to move higher in the short run.  Recent additions to the list might be particularly good choices for this strategy, and deletions might be good indicators for exiting a position that you might already have on that stock.

As with all investments, you should only make option trades with money that you can truly afford to lose.

Happy trading,

Terry