Trade Alert – (MS) December 10, 2025 – TAKE PROFITS – SELL

When John identifies a strategic exit point, he will send you an alert with specific trade information as to what security to sell, when to sell it, and at what price. Most often, it will be to TAKE PROFITS, but, on rare occasions, it will be to exercise a STOP LOSS at a predetermined price to adhere to strict risk management discipline.

 

 

Trade Alert – (MS) – TAKE PROFITS 

SELL the Morgan Stanley (MS) December 2025 $150-$155 in-the-money vertical Bull Call debit spread at $4.90 or best

 

Closing Trade

12-10-2025

expiration date: December 19, 2025

Number of Contracts = 25 contracts

Never miss an opportunity to derisk your portfolio just ahead of a major economic event. That is the case with Morgan Stanley (MS) today, where we already have 85.74% of the maximum potential profit in hand hours before a Fed move on interest rates.

The Fed futures show a 93% probability of a cut. But given the calendar, we could get a buy the rumor, sell the news to the downside. The risk/reward of continuing is no longer favorable with only seven days until the December 19 option expiration.

To say we nailed the financials this month would be an understatement. Since we added it 15 trading days ago, the stock rose by $15, or 9.34%. As a result, you get to take home $1,500, or 16.23% in 15 days. Well done, and on to the next trade.

There is no better beneficiary of falling interest rates than banks, as it reduces their cost of capital for lending.

There is also no more regulated industry than financials, as many of you in the industry already know. Any lightening of the burden flows straight to the bottom line. It also opens up new business for (MS) in that antitrust is out the window.

That will lead to a big increase in mergers & acquisitions business, where (JPM) is very active. It is one of their most profitable business lines. A few phone calls and you make $100 million.

I have to admit a bias in favor of Morgan Stanley. I worked there for ten years and helped pioneer many of the international business lines, as well as their fund management business.

I am therefore selling the Morgan Stanley (MS) December 2025 $150-$155 in-the-money vertical Bull Call debit spread at $4.90 or best

Only use a limit order. DO NOT USE MARKET ORDERS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Just enter a limit order and work it.

If you don’t want to sit in front of a screen all day or live in a foreign time zone when the US stock market is closed, such as Australia, or don’t want to sit in front of a screen all day, simply enter a spread of Good-Until-Cancelled orders overnight, like  $4.90, $4.88, $4.86, and $4.84. You should get done on some or all of these.

To learn more about the company, please visit their website at https://www.morganstanley.com

This was a bet that Morgan Stanley would not fall below $155.00 by the December 19, 2025, option expiration in 28 trading days.

Here are the specific trades you need to exit this position:

Sell 25 December 2025 (MS) $150 calls at………….………………$29.00

Buy to cover short 25 December 2025 (MS) $155 calls at……..$24.10

Net Proceeds:………………………….………..…….………………………$4.90

Profit: $4.90 – $4.30 = $0.60

(25 X 100 X $0.60) = $1,500, or 16.23% in 15 days.

 

 

 

To see how to enter this trade in your online platform, please look at the order ticket below, which I pulled off of Interactive Brokers.

If you are uncertain about how to execute an options spread, please watch my training video by clicking here.

The best execution can be had by placing your bid for the entire spread in the middle market and waiting for the market to come to you. The difference between the bid and the offer on these deep-in-the-money spread trades can be enormous.

Don’t execute the legs individually, or you will end up losing much of your profit. Spread pricing can be very volatile on expiration months farther out.

Keep in mind that these are ballpark prices at best. After the alerts go out, prices can be all over the map.