Playing with the ProShares Ultra S&P500 (ETF) (NYSE:SSO) Options has become a National Pastime for many investors looking to play the broad market swings.  A simple excercise in selling covered calls and knowing when to execute them can keep you afloat and do what I like to call 'charge rent' on the shares I own.  Using stock options to protect your investment is a tool every trader should know and use in 2009.

High yield savings accounts are a bit of the rage these days given the economy is in the toilet.  So if you are putting money, such as your emergency fund, into a savings account, make sure you are getting the best rate.  Let's review a few of the offerings that we would recommend.

Second Quarter 2009 Earnings Season starts up this Wedensday with Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) leading the pack, and after the horrible week we had last week, investors are hoping for signs or clue about any type of end to the recession.    What type of guidances will we see from companies this coming week, will the revenue forecasts begin to improve or will we see more of the same?

One of my favorite methods of buying securities is using what I call 'Guerrilla Trading', when a stock has taken a huge beating and its been left for dead, enter the 800 lb. Gorilla.  This isn't taking a chance on a falling knife, rather, identifying a stock that you've been hunting from afar then when the moment strikes, you swing in from the jungle vine.

High Yield CDs (Certificates of Deposits) are a safe and easy way to lock your money away for months at a time and know that you are going to bank some type of return even if it may be small, knowing that there is no risk  provided you go with a FDIC Insured institution.

I made over 50% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for June by using Covered Calls.  Yes, stock options, can be extremely volatile and dangerous… to buy!  So, why not get on the other side of the fence and sell them?  I recently bought one of the leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs).  Here is how the transaction(s) went.