InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[Jean-Michel RIOND]

Well hrbart, playing with options means you accept some risk. Thats the first thing. Then, think about the potential of IDCC in the future. If you think the shares are likely to go up, sell puts. In the contrary, sell calls. Never sell calls if they aren't covered. Too risky.
I prefer to sell puts that to buy calls. The premium is in my favor.
I suggest you sell jan04 puts, strike 20$, but wait until a dip in the share price. A good sell would be at 1.80$ or higher. You can sell the half now (1.50$) and, if the share price goes down, sell another half later.
Of course, selling puts doesn't offer you the same upside potential as buying calls, but the premium is in your favor. If we are at 18.50$ at the expiration day in january, you will be able to buy back your puts at about the same price you sold them. In the contrary, you can keep the premium.
I think the share price wont move very much before we settle with nokia and samsung. Meanwhile, keep your shares and make money with the options selling puts.
Another possibility is to sell puts and at the same time, with the money, buy calls. Personally, I sold jan05 puts (strike 22.50$) and bought jan05 calls (strike 15$). The shares will cost me 15.70$ in jan05 (15$+7.20$ = 22.20$ less 6.50$ = 15.70$). And I'm convinced that in jan05, the share price will be higher than 16$. (in fact, I think it'll be much higher).
There are an infinity of possibilities, but I allways made money selling puts. And if you choose a smaller premium (for example jan04 puts strike 17.50$ at 0.50$), you will almost allways be able to keep the premium.
Don't be in a hurry, take your time, be patient, wait for a good opportunity.
And remember, playing with options is risky.
A good link for options :
http://www.optionsxpress.com/quote_option_chain.asp?SESSIONID=&IsSubmited=true