Over the weekend, news broke that Merus N.V. $MRUS is being acquired by Genmab $GMAB for $97 per share. The stock closed Friday at $69, sitting at the upper end of a more than two-month sideways consolidation.
We were in it.
Back on June 6th, I published a trade alert for All Star Options subscribers, entering a July/December call calendar spread at the $65 strike:
"I like buying a $MRUS July/December 65-strike Call Calendar spread for approximately $6.00 net debit (or cheaper). This means I'll be short the July 65 calls and long an equal amount of the December 65 calls. The debit I pay today is the most I can lose. If $MRUS rips higher to/through the $65 level before my short July calls expire, then I'll close the spread and book whatever profit is available. The closer we are to expiration day of the July options, the higher the potential profit. Ideally, the July calls will expire worthless and I'll be left with the Long December calls for a ride. That's my hope. Two ways to win."
Read that again. Did any of that sound like I had a feeling this stock would become a buyout target?
Of course not. I had no idea this was coming.
All I was doing was trusting the technical research my team published on the trade and following the price action. That's all I ever have. No insider information. No crystal ball. Just charts, analysis, and a plan.
This buyout news sent the stock up 36%, allowing me to sell my calls and close the trade for a nearly 400% return on invested capital:
Lucky? Absolutely.
But it wasn't blind luck. It was luck I created.
Here's what people miss when they see trades like this: the "lucky" outcome was only possible because I did everything right leading up to it. I followed a disciplined process. I sized the position appropriately. I had clear risk parameters—any closing price below $49 invalidated my thesis, and I would have been out.
The setup was technically sound. The risk was defined. The plan was in place.
Then the market did what markets do—sometimes they reward you beyond your expectations.
This is what creating your own luck looks like. It's not about predicting buyouts or having some special insight. It's about consistently putting yourself in positions where good things can happen when opportunity knocks.
Think about it: if I hadn't been in MRUS at all, no amount of luck would have mattered. If I'd been in with sloppy risk management and gotten shaken out during the consolidation, the buyout news would have been meaningless to me.
But because I remained true to my process, applied strict risk management, and allowed the plan to play out, I was positioned when fortune smiled.
Getting lucky doesn't happen on a schedule. I can't predict the next time I'll "get lucky." But the best way I know how to create luck is to keep stepping up to the plate with a game plan and sticking to it.
Every. Single. Time.
The more you do this—the more you follow your process, trust your research, manage risk appropriately, and give good setups room to work—the "luckier" you tend to get.
Today was a reminder that luck favors the prepared. And preparation looks a lot like discipline, consistency, and trusting your process even when you can't see what's coming next.
We don't control the outcomes. But we absolutely control the process that creates opportunities for lucky breaks.
That's how you make your own luck in the markets.
Sean McLaughlin | Chief Options Strategist, All Star Charts
