Microsoft Feeling No Pain; ERTS Hurts

Greetings from New York where it's snowing white flakes of kindness from the folks offering support about my dog. Thank you is woefully insufficient but it's all I got at the moment, friends.

Let's talk trading, if only to keep me from these humiliating and out-of-character tears. I've got a trader to play later, people. Need to suck it up a bit.
 

• Electronic Arts (ERTS) reports tonight, and I'm expecting something slightly worse than what they've already preannounced. For what it's worth -- from someone 1 pet-food commercial away from sobbing like Rocky when Mick died -- I've shorted some common and gotten long some reasonably cheap February calls. The ERTS train wreck is either in the stock or it isn't. No short common/long calls set-up is perfect but I rather like the one Pete Najarian and I just fashioned.
  
  
• On that topic, Ralph Lauren (RL) reports tomorrow. I've met the guy (very nice) and like the product. I've also noticed that it's selling more than 50% off up here, which is more or less specifically the target market for expensive casual wear. I've shorted the common, largely because the options were expensive and a "buy the news" rally may be in the stock, but I rather doubt it lasts.
  
  
• Anyone else noticing the absolute slobber-knocking being administered to Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and JP Morgan (JPM)? Bank of America, to pick on one of the names, is down a stunning 18% in the last 5 days I find it both jaw-dropping and sad (not my-dog-is-dying sad, but sad nonetheless) that people still want to argue with me about the merits of "Buy and Hold." It's a 2-choice market, folks. "Trade and Run" (or "Hit & Run" as my man Coop says) or stay entirely out of stocks. If you have another plan I'm 98% ears and 2% sympathy.
  
  
• Disney (DIS) reports tonight and I'm expecting nothing but hideousness and tragedy. I've halved my position which makes it "large enough to start a conversation with Snow White but too small to pay for a Disney vacation of any length with the dollar amount of what I have left." I was right about Disney being best of breed. What I should have taken into account is the fact that the breed is a Shi Tzu. 
  
  
• For those Disney shareholders who find my sale to be disheartening, I would note that Microsoft (MSFT) has been running like a scalded chimp since I sold it. Or at least it's up a buck, which is enough to make me both furious and openly self-hostile. The point isn't my unusual psyche but rather this: Sometimes you've just got to chuck Snow White into the volcano prior to the stock going higher. If Snow White looks like Bill Gates, all the better.