Play Video As tech tumbles, one technician sees opportunity in an industry leader
This week's tech wreck hasn't deterred TradingAnalysis.com founder Todd Gordon from his bullish bet on Apple.
"You don't see the decline in Apple that we've seen in the Nasdaq," Gordon said on CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Thursday. "You can see this shelf of support is really holding in Apple just around the $215 mark so I really like how Apple is behaving here."
Apple shares have dropped more than 4 percent this week through Thursday's close, slightly better than the 6 percent decline in the Nasdaq 100.
It was up more than 2 percent in Friday's premarket.
For Apple to stay above trend, Gordon says the tech-heavy QQQ ETF has to avoid sustaining any further technical damage.
"We need the broader market to stabilize," he said. "If we break below $168 and we start approaching $163 that's when the warning signs are being fired."
The QQQ ETF has dropped 5.5 percent over the past two days, but remained a roughly 1 percent drop from $168. A decline to $163 would mark a nearly 4 percent sell-off from Thursday's close. It was up 2 percent in Friday's premarket.
To make money off Apple's expected advance, Gordon prefers to sell options premium, rather than buy it.
"If you're bullish in Apple, there's no sense in paying for very expensive calls because if you get the direction right and Apple bounces but the implied volatility drops you could actually lose money because the value of your calls are very pumped up," he said.
Instead, Gordon is taking advantage of increased volatility heading into the company's Oct. 30 earnings report. He's selling the Nov. 2 $215 put and buying the Nov. 2 $205 put for a credit of $3.
This is a bullish bet that Apple will stay above $205 through November expiration.
Apple shares were at $219.03 in Friday's premarket trading, up more than 2 percent.
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