Dykstra's Deep-in-the-Money Call: Cisco

Like the market, most of the excitement in the sporting world came after hours on Thursday.

There was no shortage of marathon games last night. On the ice, the Philadelphia Flyers scored in double overtime of their playoff game against the Washington Capital to take a commanding series lead 3 to 1.

On the diamond, the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies were locked in an epic battle until the wee hours of the morning, which wrapped up after 22 innings.

My old team the New York Mets even got in the action, besting the Washington Nationals in the fourteenth inning on a wild pitch. (I took part in my fair share of memorable extra innings playoff nail-biters (think Game 6 at Shea).)

For their part, stocks were hit or miss during the regular session and the Dow finished basically flat. However, internet juggernaut Google (GOOG) provided a dose of excitement when it handily beat the Street's quarterly revenue and earnings expectations. The firm said revenue jumped 42% from the first quarter last year. Profits, excluding one-time items, totaled $4.84 a share. Analysts had been calling for $4.52 a share.

Today, we're going to try and grab a win, and we'll go extra innings if we have to. Today, I'm going with Cisco Systems (CSCO), the world's largest manufacturer of routers and other equipment used for the Internet.

Earlier this week, Cisco Chairman John Chambers said the U.S. computer networking giant plans to grow its business in China significantly over the next five years, making the country one of its top three markets. Cisco, which entered the Chinese market in 1994, announced in November a $16 billion plan to expand in China.

The stock got a small boost in the last couple of days, but is still trading well below its 52-week high of $34.24. In fact, it closed at $23.89 yesterday and traded as low as $23.58 during the session. Its lowest point in the last year was $21.77.

The San Jose, Ca.-based shop, which reports its quarterly figures on May 6, has some legs under it and I expect it to run a bit.

Therefore, I am placing an order to buy 10 October 20 (CYQJD) calls for $4.90 or better. Remember to stick to the game plan and set your exit price with a GTC (good till cancel) $1.00 above the entry price. The goal is to put a mark in the win column and grab a $1,000 profit.

Always Remember: Life is a journey, enjoy the ride!

Know What You Own: CSCO operates in the networking and communication devices industry, and some of the other stocks in its field include Nortel Networks (NT), Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). These stocks were recently trading at $7.21, +2.85%, $23.80, +1.88% and $6.19, +1.81%, respectively. For more on the value of knowing what you own, visit TheStreet.com's Investing A-to-Z section.

At the time of publication, Dykstra had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Nicknamed 'Nails' for his tough style of play, Lenny is a former Major League Baseball player for the 1986 World Champions, New York Mets and the 1993 National League Champions, Philadelphia Phillies. A three time All-Star as a ballplayer, Lenny now serves as president for several privately held businesses in Southern California. He is the founder of The Players Club; it has been his desire to give back to the sport that gave him early successes in life by teaching athletes how to invest and protect their incomes. He currently manages his own portfolio and writes an investment strategy column for TheStreet.com, and is featured regularly on CNBC and other cable news shows. Lenny was selected as OverTime Magazine's 2006-2007 "Entrepreneur of the Year."