The Option Block

Trading Block: Weekend Review: VIX Options and Futures 5/9 through 5/13. Has VIX bottomed? Yen volatility surges as Central Bank meetings loom. Hedge funds are not what they used to be. Odd Block: Puts trade in Twitter Inc. (TWTR), puts trade in Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), and puts trade in CF Industries Holdings inc. (CF) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses ratio spreads and sector...

Trading Block: S&P was all over the place, to settle down only 0.2%. A little flip on volatility. Apple is no longer the most valuable company in the world. Will online retailers take over retail stores? Are malls dead? Monsanto cheater, could you be more obvious? Odd Block: Big call buying in JNK, massive long-term call buying in JD, and UPS calendar put trades. Around the Block: Bears mini camp....

Trading Block: Options Civil War: Which side are you on? Earnings today before the bell: Tyson Foods, Liberty Media Group, Sothebys. Traders on edge as Staples-Office Depot deal decision looms. Are markets more sensitive to the Fed these days? Stocks to watch: LendingClub, Krispy Kreme, Freeport-McMoRan, Valeant. Odd Block: Call roll in American Capital LTD (ACAS), buying time call stupid in Nokia...

Trading Block: Earnings "Straddle Battle" pitted Tesla against Alibaba. Who won? Other interest in Blizzard, XLE Odd Block: OTM call buyers in Weatherford International PLC (WFT), long-term collar trades in Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (OIH), and put spread trades in SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (XME). Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from Oarmin333 - Hi. I have been learn...

Trading Block: What is going on in the market? Options #QuestionOfTheWeek: Earnings Straddles - $AAPL(4.5%), $FB(7%) & $AMZN(8%). Which will be the most accurate? 45% Facebook - Close $108.89 (Straddle. $7.62) - Open $119.57: Difference. $10.68 / 9.8% - Missed by 40% 29% Amazon - Close $602 (Straddle. $48.16), Open $666 - Difference. $64 / 10.6% - Missed by 33% - WINNER!! 24% Apple - Close $104.35...

Xpress Block: We have special guest co-host: Barry Metzger, CEO of optionsXpress. He discusses: The latest developments at OX. Interesting platform upgrades and tech overhauls What are the OX clients trading during the height of earnings season? Any interesting customer questions/feedback? Trading Block: Options Traders Brace for Amazon Earnings. Amazon at $612.60. ATM straddle $49, approx. 8%. Li...

Trading Block: Stocks drop ahead of earnings onslaught. Traders may just be forced to unwind all those VIX bets. Earnings today before the bell: Xerox, Haliburton Earnings today after the bell: The Container Store AAPL - ATM straddle: $4.90, approx. 4.6% FB - ATM straddle: $8, approx. 7.2% AMZN - ATM straddle: $49.50, approx. 7.9% Odd Block: Calls trade in Health Care SPDR (XLV), calls trade in Ba...

Trading Block: Earnings! Thursday - (Before the Bell): General Motors Company, Southwest Airlines, Under Armour, Verizon Communications; (After the Bell): Microsoft, Alphabet Inc., E*Trade Financial Company, Starbucks Corporation, Visa Inc. MSFT - $56, ATM Straddle $2.37 - approx. 4.2% GOOG - $756.40, ATM Straddle $41.50 - approx. 5.5% SBUX - $60.77, ATM Straddle $2.25 - approx. 3.7% Odd Block: Ca...

Interview Block: Today we are joined by special guest Mal Clissold President and Owner of SCC Capital Group, LLC. We discuss: How frequently and with what percentage do they delve into the individual stock world? What positions do you have that are designed to protect and potentially profit against a major one-day move? What kind of fund does he run? How does he control risk for his positions? Wha...

Trading Block: U.S. stocks fluctuate on earnings a crude oil retreats with gold. CITI before the bell tomorrow. Stock = $45, ATM straddle - $1.40 / approx. 3%. CME traders say chances of April interest rate hike are zero. Earnings: Thursday (all before bell) - Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Delta Air Lines, PNC Financial Services, BlackRock. Odd Block: Calls trade in Kate Spade Inc (KATE), puts tra...

Trading Block: The fear gauge just hit an all-time high. Turbulence for Delta Air Lines, Inc.: Two earnings trades for DAL stock. Under Armor selling off over 5% today, and over 50% since last week. Earnings today after the bell: Alcoa, Bank of the Ozarks Odd Block: Calls trade in SPDR GLD Gold Trust (GLD), puts trade Avon Products, Inc (AVP), and calls trade in Steel Dynamic, Inc (STLD) Strategy...

Trading Block: Today we are joined by Nick Howard, Founder & CEO of Bantix Technologies, LLC, and creator of QuikStrike. Stocks tumble amid choppy start to April; Dow drops more than 150. OCC gratified by changes to DOL fiduciary rule that benefit users of listed options. Ally Financial jumps into brokerage business. Earnings: Thursday - Rite Aid, CarMax, ConAgra Foods (all before bell). Odd Block...

Trading Block: March Madness Poll - Winner: TradeKing, which (beat Interactive Brokers in the finals. Drawing winners will be announced on Thursday's Option Block. An update on March options activity from ISE. OCC cleared contract volume up 4% in March. CME Group notches record ADV in Q1, while FX volumes fall. Stocks to Watch: Apple, Tesla, Alaska Air, Intel, Brocade. Odd Block: Calls trade in Ni...

Trading Block: March Madness Poll - Vote today for TradeKing or E*Trade to find out who will go to the finals against Interactive Brokers, who beat OptionsHouse to make the final round. Stocks higher as the end to a rocky quarter nears. Yellen killed the strong dollar rally. Stocks to watch: Tesla – new electric Model 3 unveiled today. A modest rally for Tesla – up only 5% intraday. Lululemon – ea...

Trading Block: A bull market in the S&P 500 goes AWOL as history rewards patience. Could Jan. 1, 2018 become the next "Perfect Banking Storm"? Appeals court upholds determination that CBOE patents are invalid. Stocks to Watch: Pandora, Avon, GameStop, Cal-Maine Odd Block: Selling paper in The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Aug call buyer in iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 20 ETF (FXI), and strange seller...

It may be a trading holiday, but you still need your Option Block fix, right? We dug through the archives to bring you some of the best of Option Block. This episode was posted in November, 2015.

Trading Block: The most up-to-date result of our March Madness Poll. Stocks to Watch: Valeant, Tesla, Starwood, Marriott, Markit, IHS. Stocks dip, dollar advances in wake of Fed comments. Odd Block: Bullish call action in iShares Dow Jones US Homebuilder ETF (ITB), upside call buyer in Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC), and christmas put tree in US Steel Corp (X). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses ou...

Trading Block: U.S. crude options volatility sinks as prices bounce off Feb lows. CBOE to list options on FTSE 100 and China 50. Options traders prepare for "worst of all worlds".Fed scales back rate-rise forecasts as global risks remain. Earnings after the bell: Adobe Systems Inc., Aeropostale Odd Block: Calls trade in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM), calls trade in Genesis Energy LP (GEL...

Trading Block: ICE would keep London Stock Exchange if it bought LSE Group. Fed to sit tight on rates at March meet, hint at hikes to come. Earnings today before the bell: 3D Systems Corp. Odd Block: Put buying in Banco Bradesco SA (BBD), 1-by-2 put spread in CarMax Inc. (KMX), and calls trade in Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses short put spreads. Listener Mail...

Trading Block: Big news today from an options exchange perspective: Nasdaq announced it has agreed to acquire International Securities Exchange (ISE), an operator of three electronic options exchanges, from Deutsche Borse Group. Investors greeted the Nasdaq deal to buy International Securities Exchange, the US options business of Deutsche Borse, with some skepticism on Thursday, sending Nasdaq sha...

Trading Block: Goldman Sachs sees best time in two decades to buy S&P 500 calls. Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will next raise U.S. short-term interest rates about six weeks earlier than previously thought, after the government reported U.S. employers added many more jobs than expected in February. Earnings today after the bell: Shake Shack. Odd Block: Calls trade in Alcoa Inc. (AA), put...

Trading Block: Continued relief rally. VIX now has a 16-handle. Huge contango in the VIX. Who blew the all-clear signal? Cage match in junk stocks. CBOE reported that total trading volume in February was 92.9 million contracts. OCC announces cleared contract volume increased in February. OCC announced that total cleared contract volume in February was 338,300,969 contracts. . Why CME would want to...

Trading Block: Traders are now taking the possibility of a Trump presidency seriously. What was once thought to be a flight of fancy is moving ever closer to becoming reality, with one of the real estate moguls rivals, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, declaring that Trump may be "unstoppable" if he dominates the upcoming Super Tuesday contests. Gold allure burnished by Fed outlook as treasuries lag: analys...

Trading Block: Gold goes for a ride. SeaWorld earnings today after the bell and taking it on the chin. Off approx. 9%. Odd Block: Calls and puts go up in Restoration Hardware Inc. (RH), call spreads go up in Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC), and puts go up in Cypress Semiconductors (CY). Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from Matt M1000 - Hello Mr. Longo and All Star Cast. I have...

Trading Block: Options market sees 50% chance of massive S&P plunge. Stocks may have rebounded from their recent lows, but the option market still implies a big chance that stocks plummet anew before the year is out. Earnings today after the bell: Fitbit, Inc., ATM Straddle: $2.90 - 18.3%, calls 2/1 over puts; stock nearly hit $52 last summer: Now a pale shadow of what it used to be. Earnings toda...