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This episode of the Option Block dives into the latest developments in the options market, driven by the news of a potential detente on the US-China trade war front. The host Mark Longo and co-hosts Andrew Giovinazzi (The Option Pit) and Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management) discuss the impact of this news on various market indices, individual stock movements, and volatility instruments like VIX. Key topics include substantial spikes in major tech stocks such as Amazon, Facebook (Meta), and Nvidia. The episode also explores unusual options trades in stocks like Kosmos Energy, Commscope Holding, and Centrus Energy, and features a reflection on the late Alex "The Viceroy" Jacobson's impact on the options education landscape. The show wraps up with Uncle Mike Tosaw's Strategy Block focusing on the year of the collar and what to watch for in the markets towards the end of the week.   01:27 Meet the Hosts and Co-Hosts 01:54 Kicking Off with 80s Trivia Challenge 06:42 Trading Block: Market Analysis and Trends 26:31 Unusual Options Activity: The Odd Block 27:25 Remembering Alex "The Viceroy" Jacobson 27:55 Kosmos Energy Trade Analysis 34:32 Commscope Holding Company Insights 37:11 Centrist Energy Corp. Trade Discussion 40:19 Uncle Mike Tosaw's Strategy Block: The Year of the Collar 46:04 Around the Block: What to Watch Until Next Episode 51:58 Closing Remarks and Upcoming Shows  

This episode of the Option Block dives into the latest developments in the options market, driven by the news of a potential detente on the US-China trade war front. The host Mark Longo and co-hosts Andrew Giovinazzi (The Option Pit) and Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management) discuss the impact of this news on various market indices, individual stock movements, and volatility instruments like VIX. Key topics include substantial spikes in major tech stocks such as Amazon, Facebook (Meta), and Nvidia. The episode also explores unusual options trades in stocks like Kosmos Energy, Commscope Holding, and Centrus Energy, and features a reflection on the late Alex "The Viceroy" Jacobson's impact on the options education landscape. The show wraps up with Uncle Mike Tosaw's Strategy Block focusing on the year of the collar and what to watch for in the markets towards the end of the week.   01:27 Meet the Hosts and Co-Hosts 01:54 Kicking Off with 80s Trivia Challenge 06:42 Trading Block: Market Analysis and Trends 26:31 Unusual Options Activity: The Odd Block 27:25 Remembering Alex "The Viceroy" Jacobson 27:55 Kosmos Energy Trade Analysis 34:32 Commscope Holding Company Insights 37:11 Centrist Energy Corp. Trade Discussion 40:19 Uncle Mike Tosaw's Strategy Block: The Year of the Collar 46:04 Around the Block: What to Watch Until Next Episode 51:58 Closing Remarks and Upcoming Shows  

[VIDEO] #201: You Don't Have “Writer's Block” What you have instead is a story you are telling yourself because you're a writer. The way out of “writer's block” therefore is to rewrite your story. All you have to do is identify the story that needs to be rewritten. So which is it? Read more on Typeshare! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/heather-larson3/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/heather-larson3/support

Fearless 5 #201: You Don't Have “Writer's Block” What you have instead is a story you are telling yourself because you're a writer. The way out of “writer's block” therefore is to rewrite your story. All you have to do is identify the story that needs to be rewritten. So which is it? Read more on Typeshare! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/heather-larson3/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/heather-larson3/support

Dill, Brent, and Anna are joined by Jeff and Steve from Erie Ale Works!THE A BLOCK:What was your cheap beer of choice when you were a kid living in the sticks? Which local business benefitted the most from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund? Who else got funds? Our previous visit with Jeff led us on a different path - what a difference working with him made for us! What's going on with Erie Ale Works? How are they holding up? How did the lockdown effect business for them?  How did Jeff and Steve meet and start brewing together? What was the turning point? Jeff has a lot of problems with you people and now we're going to hear about it. =====================================================================The Ember+Forge Beer Segment! Be sure to catch this segment LIVE every Wednesday on Facebook! Erie Ale Works German Pilsner - It's a traditional German Pilsner, basically “what beer is” with all German hops, then chilled for 3-4 weeks. =====================================================================AFTER THE BREAK:Jeff tells us all about their Festivus Event! Come and join in the fun at the Shop at 19th and Chestnut on December 23rd! Jeff brings us up to speed on what's going on for the event! Doors open at 3, party starts at 4! Why do we need kids in advertisements? They're not props! Steve has grievances.  This is wild! Jeff talks about the Erie Ale Trail - there's 15 breweries on the trail! =====================================================================Do you feel like you aren't getting enough Idiotville? Check out our Patreon for BONUS CONTENT at Patreon.com/idiotvillepodcast(c) 2021 Idiotville Productions. This content may not be used without written permission of Idiotville Productions. =====================================================================www.idiotvillepodcast.buzzsprout.com www.patreon.com/idiotvillepodcast - It's back!www.teepublic.com/idiotvilleproductions=====================================================================Our theme song is composed and performed by Warehouse 11: Guitars by Brian Blake, drums by Dave Blake, bass by Chris Owochttps://www.facebook.com/Warehouse11Band/ http://www.warehouseelevenband.yolasite.com/=====================================================================www.idiotvillepodcast.comwww.facebook.com/idiotvillepodcastinstagram: idiotvillepodcastTwitter: @BrentNLibery, @TheRealJakeNew1, @Dill_spears, @TedBrogan2, @MartyBalawkay, @Trashsportstakeidiotvillepodcast@gmail.comJoin our Facebook group!Support the show (http://Patreon.com/idiotvillepodcast)

In the first episode of the Successful Songwriter Within, I talk about Writer's Block: What is it and MORE IMPORTANTLY, How do we move past it to write the songs that we know are somewhere tugging at our heart? Have you ever sat down to create something – anything – like writing a song, a blog post, a painting or a pitch for a meeting at work and found that the second you put something out – you absolutely hate it? BLOCKED!!! In this episode I give you THREE DYNAMIC SOLUTIONS to get yourself on the path to fluid and seamless songwriting. SIGN UP for my FREE Mindful Tutorial to take you from Stuck to Successful here: https://www.musicandmindfulness.co/3-Step *Intro Track Produced by Brandon Adams, written by Lisa McEwen, Tawna GoForth & Brandon Adams --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Trading Block: A look back at the year in trading The worst holiday week ever? Dow rallies 1,000 points, logging its biggest single-day point gain ever 2018 YEAR END REVIEW MVP of the Year: Now we've got quite the horse race to see who will be crowned the most valuable company by the end of the year. Amazon was briefly number one today, but closed in the second spot. Now we have: MSFT at 860.43 billion market cap. - NOW 753B AAPL at 877.04 billion market cap. -  NOW 721B AMZN at 866.63 billion market cap. - NOW 693B Mail Block: Options question of the week. The final #QOTW for 2018 is a big one! Time to play along w/ #VolatilityViews and dust off your #CrystalBall. Quite simply - where do you think $VIX will close for 2019? Bonus points: Reply/DM/Email w/ your specific pick. Closest (within 1pt) will win Fabulous Prizes. Low: 8-11.99 Normal: 12 -16.99 Elevated: 17- 23 Very Elevated: > 23 Around the Block: What to look forward to in 2019?

Trading Block: Looming government shutdown spooks the market. Most active today: SPY - 2.1M (ADV 3.44M) VIX - 326k (603K ADV) Earnings Highlights: Monday - Oracle (after bell) Tuesday - Darden, Navistar, FedEx Wednesday - Rite Aid, General Mills Thursday - Conagra, Nike Friday - Carmax Odd Block: Tesla put summary, opening call sale in (ONB), opening call love in (CG) and put love in Macy's (M) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses 1256 contracts and wash sales. Mail Block: Options qusetion of the week Which upcoming volatility product are you most excited about trading in 2019? Or are you content to stay with the original despite lingering issues? SPIKES Realday/RealVol Voldex/Skewdex I'll stick with VIX Listener question: Question from CodeLife10 - What is your thought on JPM tomorrow? Around the Block: What's on the radar for the pre-holiday week?

Trading Block: A look at the week in trading (so far). Selloff mode is back - somewhat. Apple iPhone XR slack demand spooking markets. GE continues to decline on power weakness. Vol creeping back in. Equities: Growth in US corporate earnings expectations remains strong. Odd Block: Tesla put summary Opening call love in (ZNGA) - from 11/5. Opening call love in (ETM) - from 11/1. Put love in (BCS). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses adjusting a short call and short put. Around the Block: What do we think will shake the market this week?

Trading Block: OCC cleared contract volume up 8.7% in September. Total cleared volume up 18.6% year-to-date. Equity options volume up 14.3% in September and up 21.7 percent year-to-date. Odd Block: Call sale in Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU), Puts trade in AMETEK, Inc. (AME), and Call-palooza in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) Mail Block: Volatility flash poll, plus live questions from Duke University VIX has soared to 18.50 & $VVIX hit 120. Is this the new normal or a quick blip? Let's put that to the test starting with this week. Quite simply - Where do you think VIX will close this Friday? Here: 18-19.5 Higher: > 19.5 Lower: 16 - 17.99 Lowest: < 16 Around the Block: What's on the radar going into the weekend?

Trading Block: Trump trade war is back on the tape - China implemented more tariffs on U.S. goods. Earnings: Thursday - HP, Intuit, Gap Friday - Foot Locker Odd Block: Rolling calls in Union Pacific Corporation (UNP), bullish paper in Coty Inc. (COTY) and opening puts in CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (CBL) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses investing in marijuana stocks. Mail Block: Options question of the week We're talking about #Crypto #Derivatives at the upcoming @BlockchainVoice Conference (register at http://VoiceOfBlockChain.com). So this week we want to know which #Crypto product you'd like to see listed on a major venue next. 72% - Bitcoin Options 8% - Ripple Options/Futures 15% - Ether Options/Futures 5% - Litecoin Options/Futures Listener questions and comments: What's on your mind? Comment from TradingTrooper -$CGC begins trading weekly options today Comment from FContangotrader -@OptionPit @OptionVol greasy meatball and rock lobster combo lol Re: Olive Garden $300 all you can eat pass: Comment from Volatility Trading -Low carb diets be damned Around the Block: What are we watching?

Trading Block: Earnings! Wednesday - Target, Lowe's, Barnes & Noble Thursday - HP, Intuit, Gap Friday - Foot Locker Plus, TSLA has major issues - SEC investigation, drug cartels, etc. Odd Block: Put roll in QEP Resources Inc (QEP), Roling puts in Flower Foods Inc (FLO), Call palooza in PayPal (PYPL) Mail Block: Options question of the week This week we would like to know more about your level of #options expertise. Quite simply - how would you describe yourself at a dinner party? 13% - Current/Former Pro 18% - Retail Options Wiz 47% - Retail Options Dabbler 22% - Looking to Get Started ANOTHER Options question of the week: We're talking about #Crypto #Derivatives at the upcoming @BlockchainVoice Conference (register at http://VoiceOfBlockChain.com ). So this week we want to know which #Crypto product you'd like to see listed on a major venue next. Reply/DM w/others #Bitcoin $XRT $ETH $LTC Bitcoin Options Ripple Options/Futures Ether Options/Futures Litecoin Options/Futures Listener questions and comments: Question From Cbade: Looking to sell some Ford weekly 9.50 puts for $.25. My broker says I don't have enough cash in my account to cover a 10 lot. How much money do I need to have to sell 10 puts on a $9 stock? Around the Block: What's coming up this week?

Trading Block: A review of the week from a trading perspective. APPL (earnings were on Tuesday) Apple makes history by becoming first U.S. company to reach $1 trillion market value Earnings: Thursday - Activision/Blizzard, Shake Shack, Blue Apron, Go Pro Friday - CBOE Odd Block: WMB Call-palooza and GRPN Pre-Earnings Call 1x2. Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the possible outcome of more rate hikes. Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question of the week: EarningsSeason is still in full swing. Which names will dominate your #Options trading this week? Apple - $AAPL Tesla- $TSLA GoPro - $GPRO CBOE - $CBOE Listners weigh in: Question from Andrew Lane - I tried searching for options on the major advisor news sources including Pensions & Investments and Financial Advisors magazine and came up blank. Why do these mainstream outlets ignore this space? Where should I go to learn more about options for advisors? Around the Block: What's coming up of interest?

Trading Block: The week in trading (so far) Social media tech stocks are taking a bath Earnings: Tuesday - Apple Wednesday - Tesla Thursday - Activision/Blizzard, Shake Shack, Blue Apron, Go Pro Friday - CBOE Odd Block: More Jan 2019 50 Puts in Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), line-in-the-sand puts in Adient PLC (ADNT), and put sweeps in AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS). Mail Block: Options question of the week EarningsSeason is still in full swing. Which names will dominate your options trading this week? Apple, $AAPL Tesla, $TSLA GoPro, $GPRO CBOE, $CBOE Listener comments: Comment from Value Dissenter -Tesla. Yay puts. Question from Ellen - When would you buy those $TSLA Jan 50 puts? Question from LOO7 -I think the market is top heavy here. What should I be looking at in terms of options trades? I mostly own spy in my portfolio. Straight 5% OTM puts or something else? Around the Block: What's on the radar for the rest of the week?

Trading Block: Trump trade war spooks markets again. We are fully into zone two. Will vol explode, or is it just a bunch of nothing? Will there be a 50-handle move in the S&P within the next three days? Will this be another year of record volume? Which exchange is dominating the flow so far? Odd Block: TSLA takes a drubbing. Returning to the Rent-A-Center trade from Tuesday. SBUX closing some locations. Is IQIY Inc. being impacted by the threat of trade war? Strategy Block: Managing risk comes before sentiment. Going from a diagonal spread into a put spread. Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Options question of the week: Let's have some fun. These "entertainment" stocks are pricing in big moves. Gun to your head: Which July ATM straddle would you rather own in your portfolio? WWE? DIS? WYNN? SEAS? #DegeneratePremiumBuyers #PalmsIn #FearNoTheta WWE July ATM Strad: $7 WYNN July ATM Strad: $12 SEAS July ATM Strad: $2 DIS July ATM Strad: $5 @PatrickSnoke: Just pull the trigger so I don't have to choose the least worst option. Listener questions: Question from Running Roger: Forgive me for asking but I need some help and have done something I didn't mean to. I bought ETSY puts at 40.00 strike and then wanted to sell to close. I accidentally sold a put contract, same strike price and same expiration date. Do they wash out? At this point I'm not even worried about the couple of hundred bucks I lost on the spread. I'm worried about selling the put contract. I used Robinhood on this one (instead of TOS) and I can't find a way to sell to close. Some help would be appreciated. Question from nowledg3ispower: I think I understand most things about calls. But I can't figure out and no one is able to give me an estimate if I have an option in the money. And I want to sell the option as opposed to letting the contract expire and buying the shares. What's my ballpark profit? I've been looking at this option for Twitter. If you have to provide an example. Around the Block: What are we watching for the near future? Watching VIX. Andrew doubles down on a big move in the S&P.

Trading Block: Earnings! Monday - Dell, PaloAlto, CSMC, Orion Tuesday - HD Supply, Duluth Trading, Navistar Wednesday - Signet, Knot, SecureWorks, Thursday - Smuckers, Broadcom, At Home Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon join forces to convince CEOs to end quarterly profit forecasts Odd Block: Size opening puts in Banco Bradesco (BBD), Size opening call sale in Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). Mail Block: Options question of the week Google Trends is full of interesting, and surprising, data. When you analyze the "options" search data you uncover some surprising results. Which brings us to this week's question: Which "subregion" is currently ranked one for overall "options" interest by Google? Illinois California New York Maine Flash Poll: Let's stick with our Volatility theme to round out the week. Quite simply - which product do you think has the highest 30-day implied Volatility? No cheating (or checking with your broker)! What does your gut tell you? VIX? Bitcoin? TSLA? RUSSELL2000? RUT? IWM? Tesla, TSLA VIX Bitcoin Russell 2000: Emini, RUT Listener questions and comments: Comment from Till - I'm looking forward to the rock lobster's ongoing webinar series on Asian options. Question from DollClub - How do you price ratio spreads. If it's a long 1x2 do you just multiply the cost of the second leg by 2 and then subtract it from the long leg? Is it just that simple? Question from Division1 - Why has there never been a cool trading video game? Options or stocks I don't care. Maybe Insider should do it? Around the Block: What's on the radar for next week?

Trading Block: Last week in review Is the trade war back on the table? The May number are in: OCC cleared contract volume increased 8% in May. Credit Suisse announces 1-to-10 reverse split for $TVIX and $TVIZ effective June 8th. Odd Block: Ratio call spread in Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO), put apocalypse in Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), and put roll in iShares MSCI Turkey Index Fund (TUR). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses how to trade skew. Around the Block: What are we looking at for the upcoming week?

Trading Block: Trade wars are back on the table. Credit Suisse announces 1-to-10 reverse split for TVIX and TVIZ effective June 8th. Odd Block: Put palooza in Deutsche Bank AG (DB). Opening size call sale in Exeton Corporation (EXC). Calls and puts trade in PagSeguro Digital Ltd (PAGS) Mail Block: Options question of the week Holiday Weekends are notoriously tough for VIX traders. The markets love to crush Volatility going into these events. So we thought we'd poll the savvy VIX traders in our audience - where do you think VIX will OPEN on Tues 5/29? 39% - Here: 12-14 30% - Higher: 14-16 18% - Lower: 10.5-12 13% - Much Higher: >16 Options Flash Poll: Let's stick with our Volatility theme to round out the week. Which product do you think has the highest 30-day implied Volatility? No cheating (or checking with your broker)! What does your gut tell you? VIX? Bitcoin? TSLA? RUSSELL2000/RUT? IWM? Tesla, TSLA VIX Bitcoin Russell 2000: Emini, RUT Listener questions and comments: Comment from Charlie Tunsen - I would like to add my vote for after hours options trading. It's ridiculous that the underlyings keep trading while the derivatives of those products are locked in an artificial deep freeze. I don't care if it's entirely illiquid or just a resting order book. Some liquidity is better than none when everything is melting down. Question from Mads Melken - Why don't you guys talk about Asian options? Around the Block: What is on our radar?

Trading Block: Featuring special guest host Greg Stevens, VP of Product Development for Options at Fidelity. Earnings! Tuesday - Home Depot Wednesday - Cisco, Macy's Thursday - Walmart, Applied Materials, JC Penney, Nordstrom Friday - John Deere AMAT - 54.30, ATM straddle: 2.25, approx. 4% Odd Block: Line in the sand puts in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA). Call love in General Electric Company (GE). Roll/stupid in Mylan NV (MYL). Mail Block: Options question of the week. CME Group just announced a new Ether index this week - expanding the universe of Crypto indices. But, at the end of the day, we all want more tradeable products. Which derivatives product would you like to see next in the Crypto space? Bitcoin Ether Ripple LightCoin Bitcoin Options Ether Futures Ripple Futures LightCoin Futures Listener questions and comments: Question from Litnic - What is the best "secret" options indicator that you use that isn't widely known or followed? Question from Brian P. - What's your favorite underlying to trade options on? Question from Alexi K. - How large do you think the universe of readily tradeable options is for the investing public? Question from QZ98 -Do you trade options on stocks below 5? What's the cutoff? 1 Around the Block: What are the all-stars keeping their eyes on?

Trading Block: Earnings: AMZN - 1460, ATM straddle 90, approx. 6% MSFT - 92, ATM straddle 4, approx. 4% INTC - 51.38, ATM straddle 2.40, approx. 5% GOOGL - ATM straddle 54, approx. 5% Odd Block: More Jan 2019 50 "catastrophe" puts in Tesla Motors (TSLA). Apr 12.5 Puts in CNH Industrial NV (CNHI). Line in the sand puts in L Brands Inc. (LB). Line in the sand puts in Dicks Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS). Mail Block: Options question of the week We dig up many strange options positions at the Options Insider. Some seem credible while others are just head scratching. Which of the following open options positions do you think has the best chance of actually becoming a winner? 49K TSLA Jan 2019 50 P 197K VXX Jan 2019 10 P 65K GLD Jan 2019 200 C 146K SPY Dec 2019 150P Listener questions and comments: Question from BTavares -Hey great show. I'm looking at this chart from FT and it makes me wonder if I should concentrate my trading in the last 30 minutes of the day to increase the liquidity for my options trades. I wonder if this also applies to less-liquid options names. Question from Yancy - I heard Tom Sosnoff say on your interview show that there are 20 active names and 75 tradeable names in the options market for retail and that's about it. Do you concur? Around the Block: What's on the radar for the all-stars?

Trading Block: OCC Cleared contract volume up 15% in March. Highest first quarter volume and highest first quarter for equity options on record. Cleared futures average daily volume for quarter up six percent from Q1 2017. Odd Block: More Jan 2019 50 "Catastrophe" puts in Tesla Motors (TSLA); put-palooza in SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI), call-palooza in GameStop Corp. (GME), and rolling puts in The Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG). Mail Block: It's the finals! TastyWorks vs Lightspeed! Comment from MarkClydeBrant1 -Got free options from Robin Hood and very impressed! Super-fast but only cash secured trades for now. Ideal for newbies because everything is explained simply at every step. Pros will love the speed! App trading is the best! Remember SS futures? Ha-ha Comment from KToddMorgan - WNSSS, while a cool new name, haven't fared much better lately. I'm betting that changes, but as of yet, they're getting whacked too. Around the Block: What are we looking at for the rest of the week?

Trading Block: Discovering the plight of liquidity providers at CBOE RMC today. It's ironic timing since Spot Trading just shut down. Potentially changing tick sizes in VIX futures and options. VIX options breakdown is 90/10 standard vs weekly volume. Odd Block: Line in the sand puts in Dick's Sporting Goods Inc (DKS). Buying more Tim in Johnson Controls International (JCI). Size put/call kickers in The Western Union Co (WU) Mail Block: It's madness! The Options Insider: It's time for our annual Options Broker Madness Tournament! Reply/DM to nominate your broker to compete in this year's BrokerBattle. 16 firms can enter....but in the end there can be only one. Get your nominations in now & prepare to battle. Broker Madness starts 3/12. Question from Scott Somer -VolView The $VIX Apr 29-35 call spread is going for about 40 cents, are you more willing to buy or sell it to open? Comment from Oscar Stanko:Hi Mark. I am an avid listener to your options podcasts and wanted to sincerely thank you for your time and energy you've put into creating this valuable (and often humorous) content! Question from BigBlanc -I'm liking the VXX erosion play. Question though - Why does everyone talk puts on this trade? Why not selling calls or call spreads? Or maybe the combo - buying puts and selling calls or call spreads? Any back tests on that? Around the Block: What's coming up this week?

Trading Block: Half-time report for earnings: INTU - $173, ATM straddle - $10.50, approx. 6% GDDY - $55.45, ATM straddle - $4.30, approx. 7.8% Odd Block: More Jan 2019 50 "Catastrophe" puts in Tesla Motors Inc. Puts roll in iShares S&P 500 Index Fund (XSP) Size 1x2s in ILG Inc. (ILG) Strategy Block:Mike Tosaw discusses the 1x2 ratio call spread Around the Block: What are we looking at for the upcoming week?

Trading Block: Earnings! Tuesday - McDonalds, GM, Chipotle, AT&T. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), ATM straddle - $20, approx. 6.25% Wednesday - VISA Thursday - Twitter, Amazon, Google, Microsoft Friday - ExxonMobil, Merck Odd Block: Calls trade in Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (FSM). Combo/straddle trade in iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ). Size buy/write in West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.(WFT) Mail Block: Options question of the week It looks like you all REALLY want after-hours #Options trading. The question now - what is the best way to make it happen? Pilot For Earnings Season Top Names Only -$AMZN,etc. Basic Limit Order Book Other Listener Questions and Comments: What's on your mind? Question from John Hopkins - Hi I was inquiring if Al Sherbin's spreadsheets from his book, how to price and trade options is still available, it is not on the Wiley website anymore. And I can not get it from my O'Reilly subscription service either. I have developed my own kelly spreadsheet, but I would like an experts to see if I am right, mine works ok, it has increased my winning trades greatly. Thanks I realize this is not part of your usual discussion, many apologies. Around the Block: What are we looking at for the rest of the week? Earnings!

Recorded on March 20, 2017, this Best of Option block looks back on when the SKEW index finally popped. Posted March 21st, 2017 Trading Block: Apple continues to rally. NASDAQ touches fresh intra-day record, but stocks fight for traction. CBOE Skew Index trending higher. It's about time. Odd Block: Puts trade in GameStop Inc. (GME), call spreads trade in FireEye Inc. (FEYE) and puts trade in Grupo Televisa SAB (TV). Mail Block: Polls, upsets, questions, and more. Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now. Tough battle today in #options #BrokerMadness as @optionsXpress takes on @IBKR, Who will emerge to take on @TradingBlock? @LSFinancial crushing @tradier Options #QuestionoftheWeek: In #BrokerMadness spirit, lets bring the fight to exchanges. What is your fav? Where do you send your business? CBOE/BATS NYSE/Arca/AMEX NASDAQ/PHLX/ISE Other: BOX,MIAX, etc Listener question: Question from JVao - Sell put + buy call = long delta exposure = cheaper than buying the underlying = maximizing skew = why does everyone not do this? Around the Block: What's coming up this week? Earnings! Tuesday - Nike, FedEx Thursday- GameStop This week in the market: Mar 22: Existing Home Sales Mar 23: Jobless Claims, New Home Sales Mar 24: Durable Goods

Trading Block: UPS and FedEx stocks fall as Amazon moves further into delivery space. CBOE Holdings plans listing of Roku (ROKU) options with an expected start date of October 6. Odd Block: More TSLA “Catastrophe" puts. 8/28 - Ratio risk reversal in Dollar General (DG). 8/28 - Nickel put palooza in (PSTG). 8/17 - Call frenzy in (XLU). Strategy Block: Tosaw discusses interest rates and a new fund through RCM. Mail Block: Listeners have their say Options question of the week: Everyone's got electric cars on the brain. How are you playing the shift to electric in your #Options trading? $TSLA $GM Sell $TSLA Puts/Buy Calls Sell $GM Puts/Buy Calls Electric Cars Are A Fad! Other - Reply/DM w/Choice Listener qusetions and comments: What's on your mind? Question from Yieldhawk - @Options is it true that MM's give each other signals tough pre specified order size? Question from Nelly2 - Just so I'm clear on the spread assignment thing. If I'm in SPX then I just get cash if the index closes inside my spread. But if I'm in a stock then I get the stock? Around the Block: What might happen to move the market?

Trading Block: The eclipse hits the U.S. market. Steve Bannon gone from the White House. Elon Musk urges the UN against the use of AI in warfare. Odd Block: 105 More $TSLA Jan 2019 50 "Catastrophe" puts hit the tape today. Put spreads trade in Starbucks Corporation (SBUX). Size put spreads in Utilities SPDR ETF (XLU). Mail Block: Poll review Question of theWeek: Taking a break from #FireandFury & $VIX to talk #Earnings. Which #Options are you looking forward to trading this week? 18% - CSCO 57% - BABA 18% - HD 7% - WMT FlashPoll: Which major index has experienced the largest % change in 30-day ATM #Volatility year-to-date? 15% - S&P 500 38% - Nasdaq 100 8% - Dow 39% - Russell 2000 Listener Questions: What is on the minds of our listeners? Question from For Profits: What do you mean by TSLA catastrphe puts? Question from Privateer - Hi guys, love the show. I have recently been learning about an exciting strategy called writing call options with CFDs. The claim by the teacher is that CFDs can leverage the return on premium selling by ten times, and reduce your break even significantly. I am very invested in how this could apply in selling both legs i.e covered strangles or straddles. Can you discuss the downsides, upsides and hedging strategies used in this scenario, and how to mitigate risk especially on the put leg? Sirs yes sir! Question from LJC6V - Is gold looking good for a collar here? Maybe 2-3 months out? Question from Tanzier - Who is left in broker world that has not been bought up? Any recs? Question from Vic - What is Tosaw up to in AAPL now? Question from Farimax - What options strategies do you use the most? Around the Block: What is lurking in the misty ether of the future?

Trading Block: VIX getting some life again thanks to "fire and fury." Earnings after the bell: NVDA - ATM straddle: $15, approx. 9% SNAP - ATM straddle: $2.25, approx.16.5% Odd Block: Put spreads trade in iShares MCSI South Korea Index (EWY) , put rolls in SPDR Retail ETF (XRT) and puts sell and call in Urban Outfitters (URBN). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses what happens when low volatility gets higher in the course of just one day. Mail Block/Flash Poll: BOX Options is opening a new trading floor. Do we need another floor to compete with Philly, NYSE, CBOE and all the rest? Yes, for complex orders No, there are too many exchanges N/A, I only trade electronically I am dusting off my trading jacket Around the Block: What's coming up? Earnings this week: Thursday - Macys, Kohl's, Nordstrom, Blue Apron, Snap Inc., Coca-Cola, Nvidia Friday - JCPenney Big numbers: Aug 11: Consumer Price Index Get in the Middle of the Trading Action at the Professional Traders Summit

Trading Block: Apple earnings after the bell on Tuesday. ATM straddle $6, approx. 4% Options Earnings Poll - $AAPL earnings on Tuesday. The market is pricing a 4% move - approx. $6. Do you think $AAPL can do it? 32% - $6 is Cheap, Buy Straddle 25% - $6 is Rich, Sell Straddle 30% - $6 Seems Fair 13% - Can't Stand $AAPL Tesla earnings on Wed - $322.87. ATM straddle - $22.50, approx. 7% Odd Block: Puts trade in Flotek Industries Inc (FTK), calls trade in Mitek Systems, Inc. (MITK), risk reversal in InterActiveCorp (IAC). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses recent trades within his SPY portfolio. Around the Block: What's coming up this week? Earnings: Aug. 4: CBOE Aug 4: Unemployment, International Trade

Trading Block: Today we welcome guest co-host Matt Amberson from ORATS. AMZN finally hits $1000. Who is next? Google? Do we need to bring back mini options with all of these high-priced stocks? The crude rally continues. Odd Block: TSLA Options Tracker: Guess what the number one position in Tesla is right now? Calls trade in Taubman Centers (TCO). Strategy Block: Mike discusses his SPY diagonal spread trade put on last week. Mail Block/Options Question of the Week: AMZN just hit $1000. Will GOOGL do it next? The GOOGL $1000 call expiring Friday = $4, $1000 Put = $8. How would you trade? Sell $1000 Call for $4 Buy $1000 Call for $4 Sell $1000 Straddle: $12 Sell $1000 Put for $8 Listener Question: What's on your mind? Question from GuruHawk -How do you know the shares were purchased as well? I see the volume on the option... But to know workings of intent? Around the Block: What is going on in the June 16 SPY contract? Market reaction to the decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Non-farm payrolls. How low can VIX go? What else will hit the $1000 mark?

Trading Block featuring guest co-host Jill Malandrino, Global Markets Reporter NASDAQ. The brand spanking new PHLX trading floor. SPX and the VIX North Korea and Trump meeting Italian PM Odd Block: Call rolls trade in Walmart (WMT), puts trade in Bank of America (BAC) and ratio call spreads trade in Starbucks (SBUX) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the importance of gamma. Around the Block: What are we looking at that might move the markets next week?

Trading Block: VIX preparing for the French election. Earnings today (after the bell): United Airlines - $UAL - 70.37USD, Price increase 1.29 (1.87%), ATM Straddle - $2.50, approx. 3.5% Netflix - $NFLX, 146.56USD Price increase 3.64 (2.55%), ATM Straddle - $12, approx. 8% Odd Block: Call spread selling in Thor Industries Inc. (THO), call buying in Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), and put spread buying in SPDR Euro STOXX 50 ETF (FEZ). Mail Block/Options #QuestionOfTheWeek With $TSLA threatening $315 how are you leaning in your #Options trades this month? Would you rather: Buy 1-month $300 put Buy 1-month $330 call Sell 1-month $300 put Staying far away from it Listener questions and comments concerning Game Day Dog question: Question from Elio - Confused. How did that guy end up with only two of his short puts getting assigned to him? If he was short 3 should not all of them have been assigned? Question from AddJack - You answered a question from Gamedaydog on Tuesday's episode about a put spread gone bad. Is this a reason not to trade spreads if these sort of complications can pop up? Think I would rather stick with stock thank you. Question from Tony Rather - Fun show. Thanks to you and Rock Lobster and Uncle Mike for educating, informing and educating us each week. I have a follow up to the listener mail question from last show in which the listener and Uncle Mike said he was long stock against his put spread. They both said his stock would expire after seven days. But stock does not have an expiration date. Please clarify as I am obviously missing something. Around the Block: What's on our trading screens for the rest of the week? Earnings! Bank of America Charles Schwab This week in the market: Apr 18: Housing Starts, Industrial Production Apr 19: Beige Book Apr 20: Jobless Claims Apr 21: Existing home Sales

Trading Block: Tesla is now more valuable than GM. Odd Block: Calls trade in MOMO Inc. (MOMO), calls trade in SunPower Corp. SPWR and calls trade in First Solar, Inc. FSLR. Mail Block/Options QuestionOfTheWeek With $TSLA threatening $315 how are you leaning in your #Options trades this month? Would you rather: Buy 1-month $300 put Buy 1-month $300 call Sell 1-month $300 put Staying far away from it Around the Block: What is lighting up our trading screens for the coming week?

Trading Block: Vol skew gets dumped. Should technical analysis be applied to VIX? Stock-market fear threatens a return, as Dow stares at longest losing streak in 6 years. Odd Block: Puts trade in SPDR KBW Regional Banking (KRE), puts trade in GoldCorp (GG), puts trade in Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK) Mail Block: Quizzes, question and more. Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now. Current #Options #BrokerMadness battle (Monday/Tuesday).@OptionsHouse v. @TradingBlock https://twitter.com/Options/status/846361692544024577 Question from Zanzibar - What is max pain? Does it matter? Comment from VoiceOfReason1 -Options seems far too complicated - too much thinking involved. I follow the penny stock community - they are usually dead accurate. Question from Symphox - If you trade options correctly, is it true you will always have the advantage over outright stock purchase/shorting? Around the Block: What's on our trading screens for the week to come?

Trading Block: Apple continues to rally. NASDAQ touches fresh intra-day record, but stocks fight for traction. CBOE Skew Index trending higher. It's about time. Odd Block: Puts trade in GameStop Inc. (GME), call spreads trade in FireEye Inc. (FEYE) and puts trade in Grupo Televisa SAB (TV). Mail Block: Polls, upsets, questions, and more. Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now. Tough battle today in #options #BrokerMadness as @optionsXpress takes on @IBKR, Who will emerge to take on @TradingBlock? @LSFinancial crushing @tradier Options #QuestionoftheWeek: In #BrokerMadness spirit, lets bring the fight to exchanges. What is your fav? Where do you send your business? CBOE/BATS NYSE/Arca/AMEX NASDAQ/PHLX/ISE Other: BOX,MIAX, etc Listener question: Question from JVao - Sell put + buy call = long delta exposure = cheaper than buying the underlying = maximizing skew = why does everyone not do this? Around the Block: What's coming up this week? Earnings! Tuesday - Nike, FedEx Thursday - GameStop This week in the market: Mar 22: Existing Home Sales Mar 23: Jobless Claims, New Home Sales Mar 24: Durable Goods

Trading Block: Earnings! Apple did not reach all time highs, but its close price is an all time highs. All time highs happened on April 28, 2015 @ 134.54. MIAX launches 15th options exchange with MIAX-Pearl. ICE Cool on Options: Speaking at the Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum in Miami Beach, Fla., Jeff Sprecher, founder, CEO, and chairman of ICE, painted a less than rosy picture of the options market. Odd Block: Calls trade in True Car Inc (TRUE), calls trade in Union Pacific Corp (UNP) and puts trade in Amgen, Inc (AMGN) Mail Block: Questions, comments, quizzes. Options #QuestionOfTheWeek - Trading single #Calls and #Puts is fine, but smart #Options traders use spreads. What is your go-to spread? Vertical/Ratio Vertical Calendar/Diagonal Butterfly/ Iron Butterfly Iron Condor Listener question: Question from Game Day Dog - Hi. I have done well buying calls & puts, but have been practicing with credit & debit vertical spreads - see the DPZ trade picture. I am worried about max risk. How is this different than selling a naked option if my 195 protection is OTM at expiration? Can you discuss the "surprises" or things to watch for with vertical spreads? Thanks & great show. Around the Block: What is on the radar for the rest of this week? Earnings this Week: Tuesday: Potbelly, T-Mobile Wednesday: PepsiCo, Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., Groupon, Marriott International Thursday: Time Inc., Waste Management This Week in the Market Feb 14: Producer Price Index Feb 15: Consumer Price Index, Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Business Inventories Feb 16: Jobless Claims, Housing Starts

Trading Block: Today we have a special guest co-host: Steve Claussen, Chief Investment Strategist, OptionsHouse. What's going on: VIX/VVIX surging ahead of FOMC - VIX Cash over 20, VVIX: 117. Suspicious options activity in LNKD/MSFT ahead of deal A group from Silicon Valley has a serious plan for creating a totally new US stock exchange. Options Question of the Week Results: How are you prepping your portfolio for #BREXIT: 23% Buying S&P / Index Puts 27% Buying Vol -VIX, VXX, etc 15% Moving to Cash 35% BREXIT will not happen was the winner, but down from 50% earlier in the week. Odd Block: Calls trade in JPMorgan Alerian MLP (AMJ), calls trade in SunPower Corp. (SPWR), calls trade in Barclays PLC (BCS) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses being a bull ahead to the FOMC and Brexit. Around the Block: What are the all-stars thinking about? Earnings This Week: The Kroger Co, Rite Aid Corporation, Oracle Corporation. Federal Reserve Meeting on Wednesday.

Trading Block Featuring guest co-host Nick Howard, Bantix Soybean rundown: Is the collar skew still favorable? Gold rundown: GLD vs Futures options. The SEC has obtained a court order to freeze the profits of a trader who allegedly manipulated a technology stock through a false regulatory filing traced to a computer in Pakistan. Odd Block: Calls trade in WisdomTree India Earnings (EPI); calls trade in CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE); puts trade in Royal Bank of Canada (RY) Mail Block Question of the Week: How many US options exchanges will there be at the end of 2016? 1.) 14 2.) 15 3.) More than 15 4.) Less than 14 Question from Ms Fidious: What the heck is a stupid? Question from MDavis82: Just started listening to the show. In one of the first few shows it was mentioned that you can use selling of options to in essence create a dividend on a non dividend stock. Is there more information about this laid out somewhere (puts, calls, how far out, what strike price, what if underlying goes up or down). Thank you and love the show! Around the Block: What's coming up from the Fed? Holiday weekend. What's happening with the ag markets? Brexit and pound skew. Should we sell in May and go away?  

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 – earnings announced yesterday and stock looks good, trading up about 10% post-earnings. Odd Block: Calls and puts trade in Dynavax Technologies Corp. (DVAX), calls trade in SPDR Homebuilders ETF (XHB), and calls and puts trade in Pure Storage, Inc. (PSTG). Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from Gabe Rich: Mark, this is weird; huge buys for $INTC Apr 33 calls and the IV goes down?! I thought the market makers will push the price up when more buyers are around demand/supply. Thanks, I thought you might explain this since you are a former $INTC market maker. Question from 777 - with commodity based ETF options - anyway to trade roll risk? Question from Flyguy - If I sold a put $1 on Jan 16 with a current trading price of $.50 and stock goes to $5 -what happens and what is my risk? Around the Block: What's coming up in the week ahead? Thursday - The USDA Prospective Plantings report will provide the official estimate on what farmers across the United States are planting this year. Friday, April 1 - The biggest economic release of the month, the Employment Situation Report, will hit newswires before the market opens on Friday. Earnings: Blackberry

Trading Block: Oil was down, but energy stocks seemed to drive the market upward. Natural gas down around $2 level today. Odd Block: Call buyers in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), call buyers in Whole Food Market (WFM), and calls trade in Mens Warehouse (MW) Around the Block: What will the Fed do?

Trading Block: What is happening right now? Earnings! Before the bell today: Xerox Corporation. Wall Streets next test: Profits, data, and the Fed. The S&P 500 rallied 2.1% last week - its fourth consecutive week of gains. Once again, Apple is expected to fuel earnings. Gold rally brings out options bulls. Odd Block: Calls and puts trade in Diageo PLC (DEO), calls trade in the Coca-Cola Co. (KO), and calls trade in Mens Wearhouse Inc. (MW). Strategy Block: St. Charles awakens, andTosaw discusses his latest trading strategies. Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from Veg - I do not know much about options - apologize for my noobness. In August, during the mini crash, were traders selling premium in the equity options? If so, how does that work? Is the spread wide? Around the Block: What are we watching? Earnings! This week will be one of the busiest of the third-quarter earnings reporting season. Tuesday - Alibaba (before bell), Apple (after bell), Gilead Sciences (after bell), Jet Blue (before bell).

Trading Block: In which we feature special guest co-host: Fred Ruffy from Trade Alert   Earnings Today: Before the Bell: Morgan Stanley, Haliburton, Hasbro; After the Bell: IBM. Tech names blowing through their straddles: NFLX: 8%, GOOG: 3.5%. Stocks slightly higher as NASDAQ hits new record. Odd Block: Puts trade in Ford Motor Company (F), puts trade in Windstream Holdings Inc. (WIN), and calls trade in ONEOK, Inc. (OKE). Mail Block: Listener questions and comments: Question from Adam Sam - ‏How come no one saw GOOG jump coming. Do you ever share where you get your info from? I would love to know. Thanks. Question from big George: Hola options amigos. Fun program. Just found it on Stitcher and now it's on the top of my business playlist. You guys make options fun. I would like to know if there's any way that I can enter after hours orders for options. I can access afterhours books for my stocks but I don't see that choice for options. Do I need to use a special broker or platform? This would really help me with my earnings season trading. Thanks, George.   Around the Block: What to watch for in Apple earnings. Also watching GM, Boeing, Coke, Amazon, Microsoft & others.

Option Block 398: Getting Burned By Deltas Trading Block: A selloff of the market today. Facebook options turning bearish on 2015 after 195% rally. Crude oil falls below $50 a barrel for the first time in 5 1/2 years. OCC announces cleared contract volume up 4% in 2014 and a record year for cleared futures volume.   Odd Block: Calls trade in iShares MSCI Italy Index (EWI), opening call buyers in Lifelock Inc. (LOCK), and puts roll in Lumber Liquidators Holdings (LL)   Strategy Block: Mike Tosaw discusses his current strategies with the S&P 500 and SPY.       Around the Block: What can we expect for 2015?

Option Block 377: Covering The Cost of Your Put Trading Block: A mild day on the street. The dollar weakened the most in six months, dropping from a four-year high. U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreating after touching its average price for the past 50 days, as small-cap shares resumed a selloff following a fifth weekly decline. Beginning Monday, October 6, 2014, CBOE will calculate the spot value of the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) using S&P 500 Index (SPX) options with weekly and standard 3rd Friday expirations that more closely bracket the 30-day target timeframe. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) is splitting into two companies, using a breakup to become nimbler after failing to keep up with the shift away from the printing and personal-computing businesses it pioneered. Odd Block: Calls trade in Earthlink Holding Corp (ELNK), call stupids trade in Spansion Inc. (CODE), and put sellers in FedEx Corp (FDX) Strategy Block: Mike Tosaw revisits buying a longer term call option and then sell calls against it.  Mail Block: Listener Questions and comments Question from Allen Manning, Las Vegas - Hello everyone, I just started listening to the podcast, and I'm really enjoying it!  I have a question about a strategy you've discussed in the past. As a covered call alternative, I was interested in possibly buying a LEAP with a 1 or 2 year expiration and selling monthly calls against it.  When I looked up a few stocks and ran some preliminary numbers, I noticed that the cost to purchase a deep in the money LEAP (about 80 Delta) option was usually higher than the total money I would make selling monthly calls for the duration of the LEAPS. What I did to get these rough numbers was to take the money earned from selling the initial 1-month call (after commission cost) and multiplying it by 12 or 24.  I'm assuming one or more of these possibilities: 1. The method I used to get these figures is wrong, even as a rough estimate. 2. This strategy will only work with certain stocks/underlying that have optimal greek numbers. 3. This method only works when assuming the underlying LEAP also appreciates in value to offset its own cost. 4. Commission costs make this strategy less successful. Any information you can provide about this strategy is greatly appreciated. Thank you, and keep up the good work on a great program!   Around the Block: What is going to happen in Hong Kong?

Option Block 364: Dollar General Madness Continues Trading Block: Rally ho on the street today! German 10-year realized vol was 100%! The social media trio - FB, LKDN and TWTR mixed today.   Odd Block: Unusual options activity in DG, AMSC, EGHT, and TASR.   Xpress Block: Schwab tools: The 4-legged trade ticket is coming to Schwab the first-second week of September.   Mail Block: Question from Ted Schwartz Hi, I'm working my way through the Options Boot Camp and Option Block, learning lots of good stuff.  I was wondering what kind of options strategies exist to hedge my 401K mutual funds gains?  Would it be practical to use protective puts on some indexes, etc. to offset my risk of fund losses? Thanks!     Around the Block: What can we expect from Yellen and the Fed?

Option Block 361: The Happy Bottom Trading Block: A little bit of a down day on the street, but nothing like last week. Zynga and Groupon after the bell. ZNGA closing south of the 3 handle. VIX futures trading below the VIX cash. Grains and wheat options and the Russia embargo.   Odd Block: Combos trade in Flotek Industries Inc. (FTK), puts trade in Gerdau SA (GGB) wheel trade.   Xpress Block: LULU has been running hot, but cooled down during the day. Three-to-four leg tickets coming in September. IdeaHub adding 8 names into premium harvesting. What is we see of a Whaley product?   Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from Reuben Brooks - A few months back, on one of your shows, I think option block, Uncle Mike from RCM was talking about some kind of special offer for individuals in the "wealth accumulation" phase. You jumped in and pointed out that we listeners would be "stupid" to not take advantage of this. So, I am trying to not be stupid. I was not able to follow up right away on that (and in fact I have fallen behind on my podcasts), but I would like to find out more. Can put me in touch with Mike? If you have any other resources for me, i would love to hear it. I am 25, an engineer, I am intrigued by active trading but a bit dubious of technical analysis, and trying to find more edge, and use options to exploit that (either long-term or short-term). Have been trading options in 1 lots to learn. Your podcasts have been a HUGE help in blasting through the steep initial learning curve. Question from Christian C Caropolo - If you buy an option on a company that ends up merging or being bought out with another. What happens to the option you own? Comment/Question from Kaiserdog76: Thanks for the Option Block update today. Missed Longo's presence but Sebastian did a decent job. Worlds shortest Odd block, but after looking on the web page I found the "Juicy" unusual activity I crave!! That VNDA trade is intriguing. There are some heavy OTM open interest in VNDA all over the strikes and going well out into the future. I do love me some Bio-Tech!  So today I have two stories for you. One of failure and one of success. Let's start with the failure. Back when PBYI was around $49-50ish I had bought 100 shares in small chunks. When the stock popped to $70 I thought how smart I was and sold every last share. For a decent profit. I know you are thinking well how is that failure? That 4-5 thousand dollar investment would be worth over $20,000 now, so yeah. It can be hard to sleep at night FML for real. My second tale is a much happier one. I own shares on WIN and love the dividend and super well defined uptrend the stock has been in for quite some time. I wanted leverage though. So I took the proceeds from my dividend on WIN and financed some OTM call options on WIN. Well on Tuesday when WIN announced the IRS had "Okayed" them spinning some of their assets into a REIT. WIN popped and I realized over a %1,200 percent gain that day. Now I was able to sell those calls and lock in some fantastic profit all while not selling a single share. So you win some and you lose some I guess. Thanks for everything you guys do! Love the underground radio!! Mark- Kudos again for covering Barclay's and the HFT shakedown that has been going on. It is the biggest thing no one seems to be talking about. Please keep it coming! OX Question - Maker / Taker goes away in the UK. Are we next?     Around the Block: What will the US do, and how will it affect the markets?

Option Block 329: The Great SPY vs. SPX Iron Condor Debate Trading Block: A sea of red on the street today. A lot of directional paper going through OX today. Terrible data coming out of China. CBOE Short-Term VIX product (VXST) launches.   Odd Block: Getting the RDA of RDA puts (RDA), big put blocks trade in Bill Barrett Corp. (BBG), and IV jumping in Tower Group International Ltd. (TWGP).   Xpress Block: A mass exodus from momentum stocks. What exactly caused this?   Mail Block: Commissions and Buy/Writes Question from Brian Collamer - Mark mentioned he thought U.S. retail accounts should be trading SPY rather than SPX options in a recent Options Block episode. I 'm selling Iron condors in SPX {2 contracts, just learning...} When I looked at the same size trades in SPY {20 contracts}. The commissions were killer. I like the idea of better fills in SPY and no open outcry trading, but seems like the commissions/fees really make them untenable at my levels. Am I missing something? Thanks for the great podcasts!! Brian Question from AJ - I was listening to The Option Block #266 Juice & Paper and you guys mentioned how you saw unusual activity in FCX which looked like a Buy/Write trade. My question: How can you tell when an option trade is a Buy/Write or options paired with shares trade? Thanks.   Around the Block: What will pick up the market?

Option Block 318: The Putin Puts Trading Block: Putin's show of force in Crimea spooks the street. VIX cash sails back above the 16 handle. Ukraine and Nat Gas craziness. Alex has a story: Trading firm Jump Trading LLC gives $25 million to medical research project. Odd Block: Puts sellers trade in Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX), calls trade in The Fresh Market Inc. (TFM), cpreads trade in EXACT Sciences Corp. (EXAS), and put buyers trade in JC Penney (JCP)     Xpress Block: The dominate trading at OX today was in metals, crude oil, and nat gas - coffee hit a record high.   Strategy Block: Tosaw reaches out to all the eternal bulls, such as himself     Around the Block: What will Putin do? Is Argentina on the back burner for now? Goldman's big analyst meeting is tomorrow (3/4). Jobless claims on Thursday, and non-farms on Friday.

Option Block 303: Wither Single Name VIX? Trading Block: Most of the major indexes selling off about 1%. A lot of put activity on the street. The numbers are out for 2013! Odd Block: Puts trade in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), puts trade in Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), review from 11/25: Ziopharm Oncology Inc. (ZIOP), also Titan International Inc. (TWI), review from 10/24: Jive Software Inc. (JAIV), also Covanta Holding Corp. (CVA), review from 06/27: New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB), also Goodrich Petroleum Corporation (GDP), and review from 10/03: YPF SA (ADR) Strategy Block: We have a special guest for today's strategy block, featuring Andrew Giovinazzi. He discusses some vol structure and strategies ahead of the Bernanke announcement. Around the Block: What to watch post-Fed? Alcoa 1/9.

Option Block 295: Saving Yourself Some Headaches Trading Block: Is there any vol on the horizon? Amazon drones - watch your head! Black Friday a resounding meh, Cyber Monday still a question mark. The Tosaw update: GLD, SLV, APPL, etc. Odd Block: IB Options Brief: Best Buy Co. (BBY), calls trade in Intel Inc. (INTC), combos trade in Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (SFM), calls trade in Forest Labs Inc. (FRX), rolling puts in Avon Products, Inc. (AVP). Mail Block: Question from Mountain Man Tim - This question is for Uncle Mike. How do you typically determine the put level that you purchase on a stock? For example, you have mentioned being long the 460 put in Apple. How do you determine the put level that you/your client uses as a hedge? Question from Jon Jones - What is the ASPs take on Twitter? Long calls? Long puts? Other? Around the Block: What could possibly bring back activity to the market? Non-farms coming up. Farewell Bernanke!