Dykstra: Citigroup Options Standing Tall

Now, as I do every Friday, it's time to look at your emails. First, I must take this time to thank all of you for your widespread support; thank you!

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Kudos to you on Massey Energy. I paid a large price to learn that options are good until time runs out. What an education it was looking at today's prices.

I have been following your picks and deep-in-the-money calls strategy for about a year, and Massey taught me that you just cannot panic. If you have not guessed yet, I sold early at a price lower than my breakeven point because I feared time was running out.

Thanks for all the great information you share with your readers.

Thank you for your kind words. You are right: As expiration looms closer, it gets harder and harder not to be swayed by the hand of emotion. The lesson you learned due to anxiety and impatience may come with a cost, but as such, it becomes a lesson you won't quickly forget.

All too often, investors never truly learn this lesson, and they consistently buy too late and sell too soon. Remember this: not all games are won or lost in the final minutes of the game, but there are times when they are.

Keeping a level head at all times is very important and easy to master if you arm yourself with information and have a clearly defined strategy as expiration approaches.

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What happened to your EDSCT $5.00 limit order in the unfilled section?

This order was not filled during the week, and the order to purchase was canceled. Too many followers of my DITM calls strategy were leaving their good-till-cancelled buy orders in too long, resulting in questions about what they should do with options that were never filled and not listed in the Stat Book.

To simplify things for the reader, the Stat Book now lists orders that were not filled during the week. Recommendations listed in the Market Watch section have been canceled.

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Sometimes I read your column later in the day, and the price at which I buy the DITM call is lower than the price you paid earlier in the day.

In that situation, should I set my GTC sell at $1 above where I bought my position, or $1 over where you opened your position?

I love your column.

As an investor, you are in the driver's seat and only you decide the GTC selling price of the trades you make. You have a better chance of a win if you place your GTC sell order at $1 above your buy price, but with weekly advice on buy levels, you have the opportunity with these trades to earn extra profits that might be possible setting your GTC selling price with me.

With 30 consecutive wins, I'd have to say that whichever choice you have been using, it has been working for you. It's always a good idea to stick with methods that yield consistent wins.