Dear Reader,

Yesterday, we looked at a Monthly Price Chart of Post Holdings, Inc. noting that the stock’s 1-Month Price is trading above the 10-Month SMA signaling a ‘Buy’.

For today’s Trade of the Day we will be looking at an On Balance Volume chart for Ford Motor Co. stock symbol: F.

Before breaking down F’s OBV chart let’s first review which products and services are offered by the company.

Ford Motor Company designs, manufactures, markets, and services a range of Ford trucks, cars, sport utility vehicles, electrified vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through three segments: Automotive, Mobility, and Ford Credit. The Automotive segment sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.

Confirming a Price Downtrend with OBV

The F daily price chart below shows that F is in a price downtrend as the current price is below the price F traded at six months ago (circled). The On Balance Volume chart is below the daily chart.

On Balance Volume measures volume flow with a single Easy-to-Read Line. Volume flow precedes price movement and helps sustain the price downtrend. When a stock closes up, volume is added to the line. When a stock closes down, volume is subtracted from the line. A cumulative total of these additions and subtractions form the OBV line.

On Balance Volume Indicator

● When Close is Up, Volume is Added

● When Close is Down, Volume is Subtracted

● A Cumulative Total of Additions and Subtractions form the OBV Line

Volume flow precedes price and is the key to measuring the validity and sustainability of a price trend. 

We can see from the OBV chart below that the On Balance Volume line for F is sloping down. A down-sloping line indicates that the volume is heavier on down days and selling pressure is exceeding buying pressure. Selling pressure must continue to exceed buying pressure in order to sustain a price downtrend. So, On Balance Volume is a simple indicator to use that confirms the price downtrend and its sustainability.

The numerical value of the On Balance Volume line is not important. We simply want to see a down-sloping line to confirm a price downtrend.

Confirmed ‘Sell’ Signal for F

Since F’s OBV line is sloping down, the most likely future price movement for F is down, making F a good candidate for a put option purchase.

Let’s use the Hughes Optioneering calculator to look at the potential returns for a F Put Option Purchase.

The Put Option Calculator will calculate the profit/loss potential for a put option trade based on the price change of the underlying stock/ETF at option expiration in this example from a flat F price to a 12.5% decrease.

The Optioneering Team uses the 1% Rule to select an option strike price with a higher percentage of winning trades. In the following F option example, we used the 1% Rule to select the F option strike price but out of fairness to our paid option service subscribers we don’t list the strike price used in the profit/loss calculation.

Trade with Higher Accuracy

When you use the 1% Rule to select a F in-the-money option strike price, F stock only has to decrease 1% for the option to breakeven and start profiting! Remember, if you purchase an at-the-money or out-of-the-money put option and the underlying stock closes flat at option expiration it will result in a 100% loss for your option trade! In this example, if F stock is flat at 11.96 at option expiration, it will only result in a 4.9% loss for the F option compared to a 100% loss for an at-the-money or out-of-the-money put option.

Using the 1% Rule to select an option strike price can result in a higher percentage of winning trades compared to at-the-money or out-of-the-money put options. This higher accuracy can give you the discipline needed to become a successful option trader and can help avoid 100% losses when trading options.

The goal of this example is to demonstrate the powerful profit potential available from trading options compared to stocks.

The prices and returns represented below were calculated based on the current stock and option pricing for F on 7/18/2022 before commissions.

When you purchase a put option, there is virtually no limit on the profit potential of the put if the underlying stock continues to decline in price.

For this specific put option, the calculator analysis below reveals if F stock decreases 5.0% at option expiration to 11.36 (circled), the put option would make 32.0% before commission.

If F stock decreases 10.0% at option expiration to 10.76 (circled), the put option would make 68.9% before commission and greatly outperform the stock over the same period*.

The leverage provided by put options allows you to maximize potential returns on bearish stocks.

The Hughes Optioneering Team is here to help you identify winning trades just like this one.

Interested in accessing the Optioneering Calculators? Join one of Chuck’s Trading Services for unlimited access! The Optioneering Team has option calculators for six different option strategies that allow you to calculate the profit potential for an option trade before you take the trade.

Get Trade Insights Directly From Chuck

You can start getting market insights directly from 10-Time Trading Champion Chuck Hughes.

See what he’s trading and when with his exclusive Inner Circle Trading Service where he will send you his hand-picked stock and option trades.

Just call Brad at 1-866-661-5664 or 1-310-647-5664 to join or CLICK HERE to schedule a call! 

Wishing You the Best in Investing Success,

Chuck Hughes

Editor, Trade of the Day

Have any questions? Email us at dailytrade@chuckstod.com

*Trading incurs risk and some people lose money trading.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided by the Legacy Publishing LLC (“Legacy”)  Trading Services, newsletters and educational publications (“Services”) is not customized or personalized to any particular risk profile or tolerance. Nor is the information published by Legacy  a customized or personalized recommendation to buy, sell, hold, or invest in particular financial products. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Please note that results may not be typical and can vary from person to person. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock and options market, including the loss of your investment. Any investment is at your own risk. You should only trade or invest your “risk capital” – money you can afford to lose. Trading stocks and stock options involves high risk, and you can lose the entire principal amount invested or more. There is no guarantee that systems, indicators, or trading signals will result in profits or that they will not produce losses. Chuck Hughes’ profit results are not typical. Chuck Hughes is an experienced investor, and your results will vary depending on risk tolerance, amount of risk capital utilized, size of trading position, willingness to follow the rules and other factors. The actual profit results presented here may vary with the actual profit results presented in other Legacy publications due to the different strategies and time frames presented in other publications. Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Other than the refund policy detailed elsewhere, Legacy does not make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using the Services. Open trade profit snapshots of Chuck Hughes’ trading accounts represent the open trade profit performance for the trade(s) or the portfolio displayed on the day the snapshot was taken. Open trade profits may have increased or decreased when trades were closed out. Other strategies may not have been profitable during the same time period the open trade profits were displayed. In order to avoid a conflict of interest, Trading Service recommendations were not executed by Chuck Hughes or his associates. The trade entry and exit prices (and resulting profit/loss) represent the price of the security at the time the recommendation was disseminated. Trading Service profits are not based on actual trades and have certain limitations. Because the Trading Service trades have not actually been executed, the results may understate or overstate the impact of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Also, the Trading Service results do not include the costs of subscriptions, commissions, or other fees. No representation is being made that you will achieve profits or the same results as any person providing a testimonial. Testimonials may relate to various other products offered by Legacy Publishing and not the product offered here, but all of these products are based on Chuck Hughes’ system. Performance results of other products described in such testimonials may be different from results for the product being offered and may have been achieved before the product being offered was developed. Results described in testimonials from other products or the product being offered may not be typical or representative of results achieved by other users of such products. No representation is being made that any of the persons who provide testimonials have continued to experience the same level of profitable trading after the date on which the testimonial was provided. In fact, such persons may have experienced losses thereafter or may have experienced losses preceding the period of time referenced in the testimonial. Cash Payout trades receive cash credits from the sale of option premiums. The net profits for Cash Payout trades may be less than the cash received for the sale of the option premium. Some cash income figures presented represent the total amount of option premium collected during the referenced period. Actual profits were less.  Auto-trading, or any broker or advisor-directed type of trading, is not supported or endorsed by Legacy Publishing LLC. For additional information on auto-trading, you may visit the SEC’s website: All About Auto-Trading, https://www.sec.gov/reportspubs/investor-publications/investorpubsautotradinghtm.html