Research in Motion (RIMM - option chain) shares are rising today after the company's Co-CEO Jim Balsillie told Bloomberg that the company will begin rolling out its tablet computer, the Playbook, in the US during the first quarter of 2011. RIMM will launch the device globally during the second quarter. He also told Bloomberg, "There's a lot of demand and we are seeing a lot of interest from international retailers." Balsillie added that the company has not been losing corporate smartphone customers to its rivals Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), noting that RIMM's smartphone software platform should surpass AAPL's in the third quarter of 2011. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on RIMM.

RIMM opened this morning at $55.30. So far today the stock has hit a low of $55.27 and a high of $57.87. As of 12:15, RIMM is trading at $57.78 up $2.78 (5.0%). The chart for RIMM looks bullish and S&P gives RIMM a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) reported its Q3 earnings this morning, soundly beating analysts' expectations. Not counting $435 million expenses related to acquisitions and asset sales, Boston Scientific's profit in the latest quarter was 20 cents per share, while analysts were expecting just 7 cents per share. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BSX.

After hitting a one-year high of $18.69 in January, the stock slipped to a 52-week low of $12.11 in August. BSX opened this morning at $14.08. So far today the stock has hit a low of $14.06 and a high of $14.65. As of 10:50, BSX is trading at $14.52, up 67 cents(4.8%). The chart for BSX looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bull-put credit spread below the $12.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in just 3 months as long as BSX is above $12.50 at January expiration. Boston Scientific would have to fall by more than 15% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

BSX hasn't been below $12.50 by more than a few cents in the past year and has shown support around $13.80 recently. This trade could be risky if today's earnings are not as rosy as they seem at first glance, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by strong support just below $14, where the stock just bottomed.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

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