Yesterday at around 3:30 I decided to make a play on Intel's earnings.  I was expecting a disappointment after AMD's lowering of guidance a few days earlier.  So I decided to take a chance and buy some 22.5 February puts.  I was initially looking at the 20's, but I didn't think there was enough volatility in the stock to move it down to 20, and I didn't want it to expire worthless on me, so I went with the lesser leveraged play of the two.

I bought the contracts for $1 a share, and even though the company surprised to the upside, it went down in afterhours because of fears of margins being cut because of price wars within the group.  So I sold my puts this morning for $1.40 a share, and booked a nice 18 hour 40% gain.

I was contemplating doing the same with Apple today, but I feel sales may have been too strong in the holiday season, so I decided to stay on the sidelines, watch, and hope for a disappointment.  If Apple disappoints, I'd expect the market to tank tomorrow on no leadership from the tech sector, which is what everyone is looking for at the moment.