Good news, when to flip some options?

[Gasp100]

The company I work for just signed a huge partnership (well, huge for us) and premarket earnings are up around 20% already. I've been considering flipping some options (not all of them) or selling some stock that I picked up in the employee stock purchase program because we could use some to pay off debt. Should I take advantage of this brand new news or ride the wave and see how high we can take this sucker? It's almost year end and traditionally the market turns bearish, no?
Thoughts?

[Big Boss Man]

For diversification purposes it is not good to have a lot of money invested in your employer's stock. If something bad happens with your company, you could lose both your job and investment. That being said if you are comfortable with the risk, I would not worry too much about general market trends if you are holding the stock due to specific fundamentals such as a new partnership.

[Gasp100]

I agree with investing too much into your own company, but most of this were options as part of bonuses and the employee stock purchase is only 2% of my pay. So, for me it's basically gravy that's quickly turning into a viable means of paying off a decent chunk of debt (gear debt included). I also am only 1/3 vested in the options so I couldn't completely "cash out" even if I wanted to which is a good built in measure for myself right now.
I love finance.google.com -- basically realtime feeds, fun to watch! (Sometimes)

[RichSZ]

Sell the stock. Buy an amp.

[Guitar55]

Whatever decision you make, have no regrets.

[c94123]

Too often you hear about people who wished they would have sold and didn't. You are fortunate in this economy to be pondering whether to take some money off the table. My old boss used to say that the guys running around with all the money are the guys who sold too early. Good luck. Worse case scenario you make some money and pay down debt and are in a better financial position. Just make sure you address any potential tax situation properly before you spend all that cash.

[French Fry]

Originally Posted by Big Boss Man

For diversification purposes it is not good to have a lot of money invested in your employer's stock. If something bad happens with your company, you could lose both your job and investment. That being said if you are comfortable with the risk, I would not worry too much about general market trends if you are holding the stock due to specific fundamentals such as a new partnership.

That's good advice right there.

Don't commit too much to your company, but do what's sensible based on how the company is looking short and long term.