Sunday, June 6th Portfolio Update and Weekly Trade Ideas

Portfolio Update: My current taxable portfolio is worth $49,766.50, up from the $48,081 I started June with. I have $3,371.12 in my options account and $46,395.38 in my stock account.

June 1st-June 4th Trades
I made two trades this week: JSDA (short) and JAV (long). I traded JAV twice (tho only tweeted once as I didn't realize my second entry until after it seemed fair to post). I made a total of $899.85 on JAV. Thus far, I am sitting on a paper profit of $1316 on JSDA. My LT positions in that account (ALXA, ARNA) lost me about $500.

I shorted JSDA at 1.60, 18.85, 2.10 and 2.20 for a final average SP of 1.996. I am still holding 2/3 of my position. I anticipate it may spike again Monday depending on market conditions. It's been pumped a lot by penny sites so may gain some momo from that so I'll need to decide if I should cover some more here and reshort on a spike or sit tight and wait for a drop. I'm still holding because I think this could see 1.50 or lower on a retrace. That said, I've been reminded of some lessons thanks to JSDA:

1. Phase in to positions so if you need to avg up or down you can do so accordingly. I needed to avg up in my JSDA position and ended up with a larger position than I normally would because I started with buys that were too big. Beginning with a smaller initial position, or setting my short price higher even if it meant I didn't catch the trade would have been two ways to avoid overinvesting in one security. I bought a day early and so had to ride up a sizeable pop.

2. Take profits. I decided to lower one of my cover orders for JSDA and as a result am sitting on shares worth 1.80 instead of having shed another third of my position at 1.65. I did lock in profit on JAV, and that accounts for about half of the increase in my portfolio tho I invested a smaller amount of money.

Trade Playlist updates for June 6th-June 11th, 2010:
PGNX was due for FDA news on Friday and didn't receive any. As this is not a PDUFA date for a new drug formulary, but rather a new drug delivery system for an existing drug (prefilled syringes) I don't know that it will show any sort of significant action either way on FDA news, and am taking it off my play list.

For this week, my potential playlist is: QCOR, OXGN and DCTH. QCOR is due for an FDA approval on June 11th. This is not new drug, but rather approval of their drug Athcar gel for a new purpose. Athcar is already marketed for MS and used off label for infantile spasms. The approval would be an official FDA shout out saying they recommend Athcar for the use of infantile spasms. Given it's monster run (based in part on FDA approval anticipation and in part of solid Q results) I imagine we'll see some sell off on an approval spike.

DCTH and OXGN both presented clinical trial results at ASCO this weekend. To read more about what they presented:
Reuters Article on Delcath Melanoma Clinical Trial results
@Stocks MD- His Thoughts on Delcath Clinical Trial
Oxigen Phase 2 Lung Cancer Trial Results

Positions:
Outside of my JSDA position, I own three different put options in the months of June and July for QCOR. I think the June puts may be problematic in terms of liquidating them given the proximity of expiry to the date news is due, but here's hoping for the best.

I will look to trade DCTH and OXGN based on how the trial result news influences the SP.

June Starting Balances/Holdings, Goals, ASCO and the FDA

My current taxable portfolio is worth $48,081. I have $3,400 in an options account and $44,600 in my stock account.

At the end of June, I'll transfer anything above $50,000 to a savings account. If my account falls to $40,000, my husband will do an intervention and take the account away:)

I prematurely transferred $10,000 in May profits before the week closed out and then my $NBIX short rallied and left me 2k below my mark. So I am starting June with a small deficit. It was a really good learning lesson about locking in profits and controlling greed. All in all though, I'm very happy with May beyond the gray hairs I grew watching the market correct. I was reminded to wait for my target, execute it, and get out when it's time.

My goal is to earn between $1,000-2,000 weekly trading until I go on maternity leave in mid-October. It's ambitious, I know, especially for a part time trader. Sometimes I make it and other times I don't. I am giving myself until October to see if I can be successful with my goals. My family is expanding and my trading profits are going into a house downpayment savings account.

I am holding (and sometimes trading) ALXA, VVUS, BIOD, ARNA, JAZZ in my IRA or taxable in anticipation of October FDA approval dates. This month PGNX, QCOR and VVUS are on my play list. Each has a catalyst. The first two have FDA approval dates, June 4th and 11th respectively, the third is releasing clinical trial info for their erectile drug and has an FDA panel meeting for it's weight loss drug next month. I am also watching the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, which runs June 4th-8th in Chicago. Several bios are presenting clinical trial information and may be good for pop or drop plays. I am watching ARQL, KERX, AEZS, HNAB, GNBT, DCTH and CDLX.

For more info on ASCO plays, I'd suggest reading:

John Welsh's ASCO write up
Adam Feuerstein's ASCO write up on The Street
Biorunup's writeup ASCO and the "Run Up Method"
Mike Havrilla's ASCO Coverage (multiple links on his site)