Podcasts about pcln

Let's review the skip-strike butterfly in PCLN from last week. You can find more on page 108 of The Options Playbook, which is always available on OptionsPlaybook.com, in on the Amazon Kindle edition. The long butterfly (used on the Costco paper trade) is on page 102. Specifically: A review of last week A change of name Did you adjust? Was time on your side? Who is up next? Costco Holdings! What are we looking for? Putting on an at-the-money butterfly Selecting strikes What is the break even? Avoiding the "stupid award" Do you have a question that you want answered on a future episode? Send them to Brian at theoptionsguy@invest.ally.com, or to the Options Insider at questions@theoptionsinsider.com.

Let's review the skip-strike butterfly in PCLN from last week. You can find more on page 108 of The Options Playbook, which is always available on OptionsPlaybook.com, in on the Amazon Kindle edition. The long butterfly (used on the Costco paper trade) is on page 102. Specifically: A review of last week A change of name Did you adjust? Was time on your side? Who is up next? Costco Holdings! What are we looking for? Putting on an at-the-money butterfly Selecting strikes What is the break even? Avoiding the "stupid award" Do you have a question that you want answered on a future episode? Send them to Brian at theoptionsguy@invest.ally.com, or to the Options Insider at questions@theoptionsinsider.com.

As we enter the end of earnings season, there are still a few big names left to report, including Priceline, PCLN. This is an interesting opportunity for a skip-strike butterfly. You can find more on page 108 of The Options Playbook, which is always available on OptionsPlaybook.com, in on the Amazon Kindle edition. Specifically: Earnings + expiration + implied volatility = interesting situation Goal: do the trade for a net credit PLCN announces earnings on 2/27 What is the expected move? What is the implied volatility? Selecting the strikes Remember commissions! What's the risk? Reward? When to get out? Do you have a question that you want answered on a future episode? Send them to Brian at theoptionsguy@invest.ally.com, or to the Options Insider at questions@theoptionsinsider.com.

As we enter the end of earnings season, there are still a few big names left to report, including Priceline, PCLN. This is an interesting opportunity for a skip-strike butterfly. You can find more on page 108 of The Options Playbook, which is always available on OptionsPlaybook.com, in on the Amazon Kindle edition. Specifically: Earnings + expiration + implied volatility = interesting situation Goal: do the trade for a net credit PLCN announces earnings on 2/27 What is the expected move? What is the implied volatility? Selecting the strikes Remember commissions! What's the risk? Reward? When to get out? Do you have a question that you want answered on a future episode? Send them to Brian at theoptionsguy@invest.ally.com, or to the Options Insider at questions@theoptionsinsider.com.

Two very popular options to trade are in the SPX S&P500 cash settled index and the SPY S&P500 ETF. Each offers unique benefits for options traders. Listen to this week's podcast to hear about the key differences between the SPX and SPY and some strategies for trading each. Podcast Transcript Sarah: Hi everybody, this is Sarah Potter welcome to the SCT podcast. We are in episode 36 and while I completely understand that when we do podcasts everybody is listening to podcasts at different times. TJ and I definitely wanted to highlight and have a discussion about something that's very relevant for this week. Now certainly our topic is going to be good for any of the weeks that are trading but it's especially important this week. So this week if you look at the market there's a lot going on. We have a lot of news, a lot of earnings, we have FOMC does a lot. So if you are even if you're not even an options trader, if you just trade stock, if you're just investing in the market this is a big week and we want to expect or anticipate that we will have relative moves to that. So what that means then is we're going to have many perhaps many of the stocks or trading instruments that you look at might look a little different. So what we decided to do is talk about some different opportunities to trade or different instruments to look at. So we're going to talk today about the differences between a cash-settled index versus ETFs. Now you guys know that we both like to trade those and certainly those are different instruments and they have different characteristics so we thought let's get into that so that people understand what they are like to trade and perhaps those are things you might want to go look at when you have a week on deck that has a lot of different news. So hi TJ. TJ: Good afternoon. Sarah: You like to trade the SPX a lot and I know that that's something that you do in the trading room and I would definitely say that you're really good at that. So could you start us off by explaining a little bit about what is a cash settle index and its characteristics? TJ: Okay, sure. I guess let's compare how to trade indexes. So the two basic ways our cash settle index like the SPX and any TF like the SPY so the major difference between the two is the SPX is cash settled. So that means you will never be assigned shares of the SPX, there are no shares to be assign. The SPX you can only trade options on the index. So at settlement if you are in the money, you either have money put in your cash, put in your account or cash taken out of your trading account instead of a typical option where you would have shares assigned to you. The SPY is an ETF so you can buy shares in the SPY so if an expiration day you are assigned you actually get the shares so that is the main difference between the two. The other differences is just the size of the contract the SPX is about ten times the value of the SPY so that comes into position sizing as well and we can talk a little bit more about that maybe later in the podcast. And the other major difference is how they expire and we'll about that a little bit I guess later or we can get into that right now, what do you think Sarah? Sarah: Sure, I mean I think expiry is a really important piece because that's something that when we get questions about when we're trading these instruments people don't sometimes realize that things can expire at different times especially in the SPX. So let's get to that. So this is a week that has a lot of earnings and new so especially Wednesday's FOMC and then SPX has expired on Wednesday. So in particular you like to trade SPX. Would you ever trade an SPX trade and have it expire on the same day that you have an FOMC announcement? TJ: You could, that would be a lot like an earnings trade you know the market has expectations and obviously you're expecting a big move so you can definitely set it up. Is that my strategy? No, that's typically not my strategy. The two strategies I really like are overnight trade in the SPX so basically holding it, buying at the day before expiration, setting up the trade holding it overnight and letting it expire the next day. The other trade that I really like is also today trade. So to look for you know potential credit spreads on a Friday. However we do have to look at and we can talk about this as well that those two trades primarily work best when there's higher implied volatility in the market and right now if anyone's paying attention to the SPX, I mean we know that I mean IV was you know a couple weeks ago even if the last week was 8, 9 which is extremely-extremely low. So the credit is just not necessarily there for those types of trades but definitely those are the two setups that I prefer when I do trade it. Sarah: But when the implied volatility be going up this week like perhaps this is a week that you want to pay attention to SPX because of all the news? TJ: Yeah, you would you would think that that FOMC would actually you know really make a difference in it, but it's actually it's not, it's not changing implied volatility, we're just even if we look at the VIX it's just pegged it right at the lows I mean we were talking about it in the trading room a couple weeks ago how you know we were down in the low 9s on the VIX and you know we had to look back 11 years, we had to look back you know almost 11 years back to 2007 before we really saw levels below 9 and I think it was a VIX with eight and a half, 8.5 I think was approximately the number that we saw and that was back in 2007 and we know what happened. You know I have you know six months to a year later we had the big crash of 2008 and no I'm not saying that what we're seeing now is it all the same, I'm just trying to say that you know we're at really-really low levels and you know the VIX doesn't really want to go lower but it doesn't want to go higher either because the market does keep going up. So you know it's kind of stuck in a range and Daphne you know events that we would typically see an increase in volatility a little bit but not enough to really make a difference in trading. Sarah: Okay. So those kind of change gears and start talking about ETF. So I know that in the trading room I get asked about SPY a lot it seems to be very popular instrument to trade and I want to specifically talk about it, obviously you guys all know that we both look at the ES which is the futures contract but they all represent the same thing, right? So this is the SNP and SPY in particular it is ETF so it's cheaper. So I think a lot of people really like to trade it because it doesn't cost as much to trade but I don't know about you but sometimes I find if I place trades or if I even look for trades and SPY it can be actually difficult to be able to actually get filled on a tray that you really like the charts can look really nice but when we move into the options chain sometimes to just things don't really line up. So a lot of times I'm not actually going to follow through on that trade because we can't see stuff except for weeks like this when you now have more news, more events that might potentially move the market if you are fearful of placing a trade, a futures trade in the ES or the SPX business setting up SPY can actually be a really good instrument right now. TJ: Yeah, I mean absolutely. I think that we have to keep in mind too what you brought up is absolutely right. So I mean we think about if we're getting say we're doing a credit spread in SPX and we're getting 30 cents you know we're potentially looking at 3 cents of credit in the SPY so it really doesn't make sense to almost trade for that 3 cents. So I think you know we may differ in that opinion is, I really rarely look at the SPY and I don't I don't really see the advantage to it. Sarah: Really? I can buy a call and SPY and have so much less risk because I don't have to put up as much in the trade and still be able to take advantage of the moves that can happen in the broader markets obviously the ETF is a representation of that. So I don't know, I like that, so to me looking out it this week and seeing, oh yeah, I expect the market to move quite a bit I think SPY is actually a really great trading instrument that I do want to be involved in because I don't have to put the risk up. Now you're probably talking about spreads, right? And trying to place a spread trade in SPYs almost impossible sometimes. TJ: Exactly and I think too that. Yeah, I guess if you're looking to buy puts and calls I do agree that we’re, yeah so it's a little bit cost prohibitive in the SPX. I mean you can be 20 points out on a put or a call you know risking two thousand dollars on per contract whereas you could do that risk two hundred dollars per contract in the SPX which is probably more in alignment. So I guess if you think about it that way, yeah I guess they're useful for different reasons. Sarah: Yeah, so a piece about SPY that I definitely want to mention is that, just because those are cheaper calls and puts to buy again they don't necessarily mean that they're going to turn into crazy profits, right? So if you're buying something and you see risked a dollar and you make thirty to fifty dollars on that trade that is a huge return on investment and so I think where people get wrong, go down the wrong way there with SPY is they start saying well I'm not risking that much but I still want to make a huge amount so I'm just going to let that run, run and run and you need to keep that all relative to how that instrument likes to move. So remember that SPY is cheaper than the other ones for a reason and that also is going to mean at that range that you're looking for needs to all be aligned with what is realistic. So realistic set realistic profit targets in SPY and I think that can be a really great trading instrument especially for just buying straight calls and puts. But you don't ever do SPY you do SPX so if we were to ask you like of the ES the SPX and SPY, which one is your favorite and why? TJ: That’s a really good question. I think I'm tied between the S&P, the ES contract, the options on futures, and the SPX depending on how I feel in terms of position sizing on that day, the ES contract is about half the size of the SPX give or take. So you can kind of fine-tune position sizing that way as well. So I'm kind of tied between the kind of between the two of them. One thing I do want to mention as well is that the cash settle index is like the SPX you have to remember that on monthly expiration, you have to trade a different contract. So every third week is a month if you want the contract that expires on Friday, you do need to trade the SPX p.m. contract because the SPX contract expires Thursday at the close but the pricing is based on Friday's open. So there's been quite a few traders who have been locked in, stuck in positions on you know overnight Thursday as the market gaps up Friday morning and a max profit goes into a loss and because the option stops trading on Thursday at the close but is still pricing Friday so you still see it in your account, the price is changing but you can't trade it. So it's really an odd situation if anyone's ever traded the SPX the third week and not realized that it expired the Thursday. Well that it stops trading the Thursday but again it's still pricing based on Friday's open and it's not even the open, it's the open of all 500 stocks in the S&P 500. So that doesn't even give you satisfaction when the market opens, it could be 5 or 10 minutes before they or 15 minutes before they figure out an actual settlement price. So just a little wrinkle there. Sarah: A little wrinkle. I think that's why a lot of people are afraid to trade SPX because of the expire reason and all the rules and trying to keep that in mind. So I mean if it was what you just heard TJ described was too stressful for you just to keep that in mind I mean remember you can still trade SPY or you can do the ES and sometimes even though with the size of the ES if you're doing a futures contract you might think, oh gosh, remember it's still an auction too, right? You're still doing an option on the futures contract, it does the same thing as the options and everything else it's just a different underlying a different trading instrument. So you know if SPX and understanding all of its different expiries is not something you're interested in then don't forget that you can also do options on futures on the ES. However I also want to mention with the SPX because it does have the different expiry, there's times during the week where the Friday expiry doesn't look good on the options chain but the Wednesdays do. So it really just depends of that week, what actually looks to be setting up and don't forget that I went like, it’s almost like double the trade opportunities there so you can be pickier about the ones that you really want and when they do setup definitely pick the one that's tailored for you. TJ: Exactly and one other thing too is I think that you know if we draw a line and we've got premium on one end and no premium on the other, you've got a stock like PCLN where there's ton of premium, there's a ton of people with different ideas, the index is like the SPX used by a lot of institutions for various reasons and they're priced pretty fairly in the market, there's not a lot of arbitrage, there's not a lot of you know a lot of profits, you know the sneaky profits if you want to call that to be had, it's pretty well traded, there's a lot of volume, a lot of institutions, a lot of big trading in the SPX, so if you see a lot of premium at a strike that you think is way out of the money and it'll never ever get there by Friday you know chances are there may be a good chance that it does, you know you don't get a lot of those opportunities to get that bonus premium like you might in a in a PCLN Sarah: Yeah, I mean I think that's good. Remember, they all have different characteristics but there's always going to be times when each of those are good to trade. So if you're afraid of the market swinging too much then adjust to the contract size that you like but make sure you remember that within each of those contracts that your profit targets need to be relative to how those individual stocks move. I think that's a good discussion this week. Don't be afraid this week if the market don't be afraid of news just make sure you're tailoring your trades to make to remember that we do have news and that volatility will change things. So happy trading everybody.  

Sarah: Hi Everybody and welcome to the SCT podcast, this is episode 33 and we are going to have a nice little conversation today about what to do with the stocks that are trading around $1000 and TJ and I are each going to explain a little bit about how, what are approaches and how to get the most out of these very expensive stocks, so I have TJ here. TJ: Good afternoon. Sarah: Now TJ, as we all know especially if you follow in the trading room he is very good at a particular stock and that name is PCLN and he has been doing day trade in this PCLN stock for years, so I think we should kick it off there with your perspective and this stock has actually been sitting around $1,000 for a long time too. Can you tell us a little bit about why you like to trade PCLN which is so expensive and why you like to trade it as a day trade? TJ: Yeah absolutely, you are absolutely right, I mean PCLN is almost $2,000 now and we have been day trading it since it was under $1000, it was $800 or $900. The reason I really like PCLN as a day trade and that's I guess we should be needing backup and talk about a little bit of how we do it. So, the setup is a Friday trade looking to cash in on the tremendous amount of premium that is still left in NPCLN because it's a really expensive stock on Friday. So the day of expiration placing the trade either in the morning or early afternoon and holding the trade a couple of hours into the close. Primarily, what I will do it either a call credit spread or a put credit spread. Just looking to capitalize on the available premium on Fridays and the reason it works is because the stock is so expensive Sarah: You have really been trading PCLN since it was below $1,000 and now it is up to $2,000, my gosh time flies. TJ: It's been a long time. Well the PCLN over the last little bit, it’s really, really ramped out it's been on fire lately. Sarah: Ok so just curious then, if you think back when you just started day trading the PCLN and today, do you do it any differently like is something changed now that it's almost $2,000? TJ: No, not at all spreads very expensive anything over $1,000, it just needs to get expensive enough that the time value of that remains on Friday is 20 to 40 cents. Obviously a stock that’s trading at $100 like IBM or Apple. On Friday, we will not have 30 cents or 40 cents of time value in a credit spread, that’s way out of the money, so obviously you need that high price and the higher it goes actually the easier it is to get more and more premium in it. Sarah: Ok, so I think this is, to me it’s an obvious question but I want to articulate it anyways, is there reason why you are only day trading this as opposed to doing this further out, because it is so expensive and there is a bit of a sweet spot in that day trade. TJ: There is, the reason we don’t tend to trade PCLN early in the week is that, it doesn’t trend necessarily all that well during the week, it will trend on expiration nicely but what we found is that, you kind of get website in and out of trades during the week, it will be up one day, down the next, up the next, down the next. It’s not a very consistent stock and with it being so expensive, it has really large dollar moves, so we have just found that for efficiency and profitability sake, it’s better to focus on it as a day trade. Sarah: so, I find that quite interesting because I think what’s also relevant in the market today is we have Google and Amazon that have also crept up close to this $1000 mark and let’s just kind of focus on Amazon here for a second, what’s interesting about it is, it’s characteristics about how price moves in this stock, I think is changed as it has moved up to a $1000 and I find it interesting that you are mentioning that in PCLN, it can rip around quite a bit during the week, it doesn’t trend as much. If we look at how Amazon has been moving and we think about it really over the last, at least couple of months it hasn’t been trending as well either. And do you think, that’s a result of it getting up to about $1000? TJ: I do think so, I think that $1000 mark is a big number. I think it does have some, I don’t want to necessarily use the word psychological but I think it does weigh on investor’s minds when it gets that expensive and I think that most investors buy stocks are foolishly concerned about the price of the stock, obviously investing you need to be concerned about the relative price of the stock compared to its financials obviously with, looking at it to be a value, compared to itself. Most traders will look at those $1000 stocks and say that they are too expensive and that they are way overpriced, when based on fundamental ratios, at $1000, it may not be overpriced, so I think there is a policy that we can kind of explore but I do think the $1000 mark does keep price, does keep traders and investors away from it and I think because of that, prices have hard time getting through it and stocks have a hard time through that hurdle. Sarah: Yeah, Looking at Amazon for Call credit spreads now is a great idea and it will be interesting to start up applying your trades that I have seen PCLN to Amazon and Google, now that they are moving into that, that category and I would want to mention something here, I think you brought up something which is important to highlight and that is just because price in Amazon has come up to $1000, I don’t think you want to assume that, that’s just going to go and continue to move higher without any kind of resistance, that is a big marker and not a lot of stocks get up here in terms of price, so absolutely, I think to expect some resistance there is important. Now, the other piece I think also changes for the average traders is when the stock price is getting up to about $1000, that is certainly changing their risk profile for that trade, which means that because it’s going to move back and forth, you obviously have opportunities for gains and record, but there is going to be risk involved there too, because you can get really whipped out of that trade quite quickly. Do you think there is still a case for Calls and Puts in stocks like Amazon, Google or PCLN? TJ: For me not as much, I would like to trade in the money, Puts and Calls and if I am looking at any in the money Put or Call in Amazon, I mean we could be looking at it being worth $20, $30, $40 per contract, so per contract you are looking dollar risk, anywhere between $2000-$4000, so it becomes a big trade and it does become one of those kind of limiting factors where you really have to think about, is your capital best used for that risk reward profile or is it better utilized in may be trading in two or three moderately priced stocks. Sarah: Ok, so I kind of have to disagree a little bit because I do think that there is some opportunities in these larger stocks to still trade directionally but yeah, I agree just buying the Call and Put, it becomes too expensive and I would rather be able to spread some of that risk out, but what I can do is do a debit spread, so we can basically look at those stocks, have the assumption that it’s going to move, trade with the same strategy but have far less risk and of course the reward is cap 2 in debit spreads and certainly there is an argument there for debit spreads but it’s a great way for me to be able to take advantage of some of that volatility and still wait for those opportunities to pop, so I can buy debit spreads may be with a little bit larger or longer term expiry date and still have some nice money in debit spreads. TJ: yeah absolutely, I think debit spreads are a great way of looking at the higher price stock and as well, you have got to think about that too is people look at debit spreads and don’t want to trade them because their profits are limited but honestly, if you look at the last protocol that you bought, did you make $2 or $3 or $4 or $5 on that per contract? Probably not, so if you limit yourself to say $2 $2.50 max profit in a debit spread, you are not even really looking for that anyway but people just tend to seem, oh I can only make $2, so they decide not to do the debit spread, hoping to buy the Put or a Call and making two or three times of that, but how often do they actually make that money, I don’t know, what do you think about that? Sarah: Well, that’s why, like I said, I like debit spread, it’s because you still have the opportunity. I don’t understand why people will give away the idea of saying well $2 isn’t enough in this trade but if you traded at smaller or cheaper stock or call, you would be ecstatic with that amount of money, so debit spreads provide you a lot of risk and they do think that it gives you also the opportunity to hold a trade a little bit longer as well, right. So, I can still take a debit spread out a few months or weeks, whichever time line you want and still be able to make money, so I actually prefer these days, I have been doing more debit spreads in these larger stocks as opposed to anything else because I just think it has a really nice risk free profile. TJ: Yeah, opposite there, I don’t do very many debit spreads, I am more of a quick in and out credit spread, overnight Thursday and a Friday or day trade Friday, and we were talking about Amazon and actually Amazon, we have done the last couple of weeks in the trading room on Friday and those trades have actually worked out really well for us, we managed to get 25, 30 cents of credit day of and that expiring for max profit being able to keep that for trade that last in may be 5 or 6 hours at the most. I do still like the credit spreads, credit spreads out of the money definitely, if you look at the chart of the Amazon right now, do you want to be in that stock for a long time, do you want to hold that for 2 weeks in a credit spread, probably not. I mean, it makes highs, it makes drops down, it makes comes back up all-time highs, drops right back down again, one day it’s an uptrend, one day it’s a down trend. So again really changed my focus in shorter time frame with the expensive stocks, so that’s how I trade them, it seems like we kind of approach it in a different way. Sarah: yeah and I would say that, yeah, with the debit spread because you have protected yourself with the amount of risk, you can hold it through a day that it is moving down because the next day can pop right back again and ask me to take tradeoff for profit and we can end up with the same results, so I mean that’s interesting that we both are approaching these $1000 stock a little differently, both have good success rates in them and I think that’s also a really great reminder to everybody when we are trading, is there isn’t just one way to do it, there’s a lot of different ways to look at the market and it’s all about collecting the evidence and the reasons as to why you want to trade one versus another. Every trade is going to be a little different and it should be tailored based on what you like and so, you and I can look at these stocks and think, ok, yeah, it’s going up, it’s going down. But our approach, our strategy to be involved in the market is different. TJ: Absolutely and I think that there’s many strategies, whether it’s debit spreads or credit spreads, day trades, long term trades, there is ways, definitely ways to effect the trade that mark expensive stocks with options and that’s the beauty of trading options is, you have choice and you are able to trade a $1000 stock and limit your risk and really make it still a stock that can stay on your watch list. Sarah: Awesome, great stuff everybody, this was a great talk today about how to be involved in these more expensive stocks and remember that is, the best thing about auctions is we can still trade these regardless of how expensive the underlying gets, there’s still lots of ways to really take advantage of the trade, the movement in auctions even if you do it differently. So I appreciate all of your time coming to the podcast today. I would really appreciate it if you can post a review and honest reviews are the best reviews and it really does help the podcast moving forward and also please share it with your friends. This is something that TJ and I, both enjoy doing and spreading the word about trading. So we will see you in Amazon, Google and PCLN this week, right TJ? TJ: Absolutely. Sarah: Happy trading.  

How to Build and Maintain Your Options Trading Watchlist Sarah: Hi everybody this is Sarah Potter. Welcome to the SCT podcast. We are on episode 30 and I have TJ here and this is episode 30 I mean when you turn 30 years old it's kind of a big deal and I feel like you're in a new age bracket, a new category, a new box when you have to check off. I don't know, does that mean you're in a new level here for podcasts? TJ: Yeah absolutely. I think we should have a big party for the SCT podcast, what do you think? Sarah: Yeah way to go. Okay, so today's theme is going to be something that we kind of thought was related to being 30 and really what that has to do with is a watch list. So we're going to talk all about how to build a watch list and how to make sure you are modifying your watch list to make sure you're getting the best rates possible out there from the market. So this is kind of something that I think that maybe some people overlook. You talk about treat entries you're all people are always asking about the best strategy, what are the best stocks to trade, how do I find trades from the market but really the root of a lot of the trading and good trading comes from having a good watch list and having a watch list that you can actually find trades from and that's a big key there. You want to have a good watch list but that watch list I have to be able to produce trades for you. So it doesn't really matter how long your watch list is, you want to make sure that you can actually get some decent trades from it on a regular basis. So TJ I'm just curious, if your watch list if you're looking at some stocks, how often would you say you trade the stocks from your watch list? TJ: Fairly often I would say that if I'm not trading a stock it probably comes off the watch list within three to six months. Sarah: Three to six months? Okay, so how did you come up with three to six months? TJ: I just found that if I'm not trading it and I haven't traded it, I probably won't trade it. There's a reason that something hasn't set up. I still may go back to it, may add it back you know further down the road but yeah it just comes off, I try to keep the watch list as uncluttered as possible and just that's just so you know nightly when I'm looking for trades, I can scan through in fine trades really efficiently and not spend two or three hours looking for trades but really narrow it down 15 minutes, half an hour being able to get through quickly of you. How do you build your watch list? What are your criteria? Sarah: You know I watch this is something that I think you that gets better over time. Hence why are talking about that today, just like a good bottle of wine I think once you've been in the market for a little bit and you've kind of gone through different stocks and decided which ones you like and not, you can really start building a better and better watch list the longer you are in the market and I think you get much better at evaluating a stock to decide whether it's worthwhile. So for me the general rules are things like a high data stock. I love weekly option so you'll notice on my watch list I have basically the majority of those being stocks that have the opportunity to trade weekly options in. But really I want, we need to kind of be alive the stock so we need to be able to find trades in them. So for me if a stock doesn't work that means that's easy as well so if I place a trade in a stock an options trade and it hasn't worked out for me then it's done that a couple times and I'll get rid of it and I don't really want to look at it anymore. So for me that's something like Twitter. Twitter and I just don't get along, we just never have for some reason. I don't know why I'm very good at finding direction in a lot of different stocks but there's just some I'm not good at and one of them is Twitter, so why keep going back to a stock that I'm not that great in when I can go focus on some other stock. So stock like that, like if I don't do well in it I'm going to look to take that off my watch list and then it also has to produce trades. So if something's been sitting around on my watches for a long time and I can't really seem to ever find a good trade in it then I don't think there's really any point to reviewing that stock all the time. So for me, for some reason I have Whole Foods on my list and it's something I've had on my watch list forever and I do like to pay attention to everyone's well but I can't remember the last time I place a trade in Whole Foods, I mean I think it's been months but for some reason is still on my watch list and I still every couple of months go and check it out. So I guess that is breaking my rule a little bit but in general all the stocks are on my watch list are ones that I am going to be paying attention to and looking for opportunities. Now I also do a watch list and a short list, so every Monday I do spend some time trying to put together a bit of a stock list that I'm hoping to trade that week and we basically build that also on Tuesday in the trading room too and then generally I either scratch those off the list if they're no good or have placed a trade in them by Friday but they really need to produce and there's no point, there's opportunity cost in trading. And time is valuable, if you are trading part-time and you want the worked really hard so you can go do something else so say you're retired, if you want to have the opportunity to go do all those great things and you don't want to be sitting in front of the market. So you want to be able to have a watch list that can really produce for you so definitely ones that I will kind of go to very quickly on my watch list would be something like four spreads, like CMG, Amazon those are fantastic. I mean Amazon and Google right now they’re so high, that's a whole other podcast on their own. How to trade stocks over $1,000 now that we've got a few of them. Anyways I digress. Yeah, What are some tips you have for your watch list? TJ: I think what you've said I think you've covered a lot of what the same thing that I look at. I have my watch list but I also have I would say I probably have 10 to 12 stocks that are my go-to stock every week and I don't see if a stock is working why I need to why I need variety. The only reason I really want to add variety is if that stock, if it doesn't trade the same anymore or if I can't you know if I can't read the stock anymore, if something changes that's when I want to remove the stock but I'm happy trading the same five, six, seven, eight stocks every week. It's not, you know I like variety in my restaurants I like variety in my wine but for stocks I mean if Google and Amazon are making you money every week, why look for something else stick with it till it stops working. I also have different categories on my watch list, obviously I'll have my watch list for credit spreads, I'll have my watch list for selling puts, covered calls, my watch list for buying and selling puts and obviously that all builds together. There's of a lot of kind of stocks that I you know that I have on there I also just kind of keeping an eye on, but traditionally every week I said it's the same 5 to 10 stocks that work, that I like and I have no issue trading the same stock over and over again. The other thing that I really like to do on my watch list is, I really focus on what I'm trading. So for me weekly you have the stocks have a weekly option, generally I'm looking for stocks that are at least a hundred dollars and more the higher the volatility, the higher the beta, the better I'm looking for stocks that that move. I'd like to make a suggestion to somebody about what to do is, is not to get caught up in suggestions that people are making or hey have you heard of this stock you know you should watch it, you can't watch all 3,000 stocks on the NYSC. You really need to break it down into a list a short list that works for you and I know what works for me might not work for somebody else. For example Apple, a lot of people love Apple, for me I kind of tend to steer clear of it. Are there any tips there that Sarah you would? Sarah: okay, I love Apple. So Apple is something that I think if you're a beginner and I used to talk a lot about that about how I don't think apples the stock you want to get into, when you're first starting trading but it's you don't mind price fluctuating a little bit, Apple can be a really great stock to trade. So yeah I like to trade Apple. Okay, so I have to push back here a little bit because I'm a little shocked that you're saying that you only ever trade five to ten stocks and you do the same thing every week. I probably say I think you get into a pattern, so you might do those same five to 10 stocks a couple weeks and you definitely take advantage of that, you cash out of those trades you get in them again but at some point like the trend ends or the highs are hit and then you kind of have to shift gears to something else. So do you really think you only trade out of five to ten stocks? TJ: I think it narrows down the problem to around that, I mean give or take. I'm not necessarily trading them. Yeah, absolutely they come in and out of favor every couple weeks but there's definitely my go-to stocks that I love, that I like, that over the years have just really done well and worked for me. It's like PCLN, I love PCLN, I've done really well with PCLN over the years, made a lot of great trades. Other people just don't want to go near PCLN because it is a big mover, it's a $1,900 stock, it moves a lot but if you can find some key strategies that work for you and that you know pay off, hey why not. Sarah: Yeah you've been doing that PCLN trade quite successfully every Friday forever and that's a pretty good record. Anyhow so that's a good trade but I mean seems like MasterCard, so if you think about it a few years ago, I mean that stock was fantastic to trade spreads and we were selling that all the time and then it split us a lot cheaper now so we've had to change the strategy and so certainly MasterCard would have been something that you would have seen probably both of us trade quite a bit I know that was something we talk about all the time and really over the last couple years it's no longer that, I mean MasterCard is still fantastic to trade directionally in but it's not really something you can get credit in, right? So we does change. TJ: It absolutely does and I think that goes to it as well as your strategies have to evolve as well as your watch list. I think you make a good point, I mean think of some really big stocks MasterCard, Apple, Netflix, those have all split and now our stocks where you really can't get any premium. I mean MasterCard was a $700 stock so with Apple and now they're trading in the hundreds. So you know you have to evolve we can't go back and keep trading if that set up or that scenario doesn't tell you isn't there anymore. Sarah: Okay, so let's then move into like building your watch list. So for me when it's time to start if I want to add a few more stocks to the list and I'm interested in things, the things that I do that I find quite helpful is when I look on tradingview.com just to see what kind of news headlines there are, I really like to use net news headlines I know you guys have heard me talk about that before. I don't care so much about what's in the content to the article but the news headlines on market watch or any kind of website you look for, for your news, if the companies are being mentioned a lot it generally means that I want to write that stock down and I might go take a look at it. I'm never going to trade it today when there's a ton of headlines but it is something that I might add to the watch list or look to trade a week or two out. So that's something kind of how I will add the watch list and then certainly post earnings I find those are times to really refine your watch list and look to see whether there's anything you want to add or take off and that's because at earning so many sauce will have such a large move, like you said the characteristics can change. So again we take it back to that opportunity cost it doesn't really make sense to be reviewing stocks that no longer look like there's something that's going to have a trade setup in. So post earnings can be just a good time to basically look through those stocks and say alright or any of these I want to call off my watch list or you know did anything have a really big move so if you go on like the Nasdaq website or Yahoo whatever you want to use for your earnings the track when those are and you can see some of the really big ones, I mean granted that usually means there's headlines in the media as well that'll say you know whatever snap at all-time lows or whatever that happens to be and then I might just go take a look at that stock too so anytime after earning something kind of big move I will go take a look and see if there's anything I need to add to my watch list. TJ: Yeah that's great. So I guess another question and a question I have for you too is once the stock is on your watch list, you monitor it for a while before you start trading it with real money or if there's a setup will you will you just start trading it right away? Sarah: I would like to say that I always follow my rules and my rules would be that no. I need to wash it for a little bit and get a feel for how the stock moves especially a weekly auction, especially how that moves on Friday but if the stock has a lot of history then sometimes I will place it right now, that is not the norm so I certainly don't want everybody thinking that I just kind of go crazy on whatever stock I see. I do like to get to know stock but I mean today for example in the trading room there was sell jean I mean I haven't looked at sell jean a long time and a member brought it up and I was like, oh yeah I thought I haven't traded that in a long time and we pulled that up today and I definitely want to add that to my watch list because it does look really good right now and looks like some opportunities to trade. So sometimes you can kind of get ideas from different places and also because you've been trading for a long time and something like that is kind of gone off the cycle off the watch lists at one point or another and maybe it's time to bring it back so over the years over the long term, you basically do get to know a lot of the bigger stocks but they'll just be time so they will be on your watch list and times they won't and don't be afraid to take stocks off your list. Just because your buddy might be trading something and doing really well doesn't mean you need to do it, like I'm happy to come out and say look I don't trade Twitter, I know TJ you trade Twitter I don't trade Twitter if this is okay and I'm fine with saying you know there are some big-name stocks and stocks that people are very familiar with that I'm just not going to touch and I'm okay with that do you have any that you don't trade at all? TJ: There's lots that I don't trade at all where do we start with popular ones or one so popular? I would say the biggest category that I stay away from financials, I think with the exception of MasterCard and Visa on occasion so financials and biotechs, I have learned that a lot of surprises in the biotech industry and you can see those 5, 10% moves happen overnight for really no reason, the other industries a lot of a lot of construction industries, mining, for example I'll avoid CAT and I'll also avoid a lot of the oil producers, refiners, drillers, I will however trade USO although, I like USO. We actually have a trade placed in USO right now. So yeah there's a lot that I have that I avoided, it's just been observation over the years that I just, how they move doesn't fit with how I trade. Sarah: Okay, last question for this podcast. What are maybe your top five stocks that you like to trade and why that's sitting on your watch list right now? TJ: On my watch list right now, USO, I like USO, Amazon, PCLN, Google, TSLA was a perennial favorite, it's always up there, it's always doing something, those are kind of my go to and then other than that there's a few others that that kind of creep in every once in a while but those are the main ones that I look at. Sarah: okay, so for me Facebook has been awesome the last few months, so I've been all over Facebook. Apple, just all recently now starting to look really good. Netflix, and then yeah I mean I love Amazon and Google to for spreads those are pretty fantastic. Some stocks that I think, one sock in particular that has really changed characteristics over the last few months and if we talk about something that's on your watch list and you're treating a strategy and then it's shifted is Expedia. So Expedia has really exploded over the last few months, it's gone up in terms of price but also I think there's more people trading Expedia than ever and so before I was looking to trade I was doing credit spreads in those and trying to get into them like Monday and Tuesday because by Wednesday the premium had expired in them but over the last like two months I think it's a better candidate for and to do a whole whack load of more strategies in it I think there's more people trading it, I think it's moving really nicely, trending really well so that one is on my watch list but the way I approached that stock has shifted over the last few months too. It's been a good stock but it's definitely changed so I mean I think watch list are always evolving it's a living document and it's all it's never going to be just right you want to always be tweaking it. So I think that's probably a good tip to leave on. TJ: yeah and if I could I guess leave a tip too is that you can get really scattered in the market because there's so many stocks and I think the traders that end up doing the best at the end of the month, at the end of the year are traders who have found stocks that they can consistently make money in and if you're constantly jumping back and forth from stocks to stock, you really aren't necessarily you know really learning how that stock moves and I think that you can add a lot to your trading by just narrowing your focus and focusing on a couple quality names especially when you first start trading. Sarah: Those are great advice. Alright guys, happy trading. We will see you at the next podcast or of course you can always come see us trade live at www.shecantrade.com. Happy trading.

Welcome to Episode #73 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast. (0:45) - Mexico Vacations: Tourism Declines (6:55) - United States Tourism (9:20) - Should you invest in travel stocks? (12:00) *Investing Ideas* (15:00) - Airline Stocks (17:10) - Timeshare Stocks (19:00) - Episode Round up: Ticker Summary Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. In this episode, Tracey is joined by John Blank, Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Editor of Zacks Large Cap Trader, for a discussion about the travel industry under the Trump Administration. Trump’s Impact on Mexico Tourism Both Tracey and John recently took vacations to Mexico, with John traveling by car down the Baja and Tracey flying into Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan peninsula. John traveled to see the gray whales and was surprised to see that many of the boats that should have been full with nature-loving tourists, mostly from Europe, were empty. Tracey talked to a restauranteur in town who said that business plunged in January after Trump’s initial executive order restricting travel from 7 countries and after the Trump Administration’s comments about free trade and building the wall. US Tourism Could Lose Too Back in the United States, New York City has already said it could lose 300,000 tourists a year thanks to negative sentiment about traveling to the United States. Additionally, some economists estimate that between $50 billion and $70 billion could be lost due to tourists deciding not to visit America. That could impact thousands of jobs. With all of this uncertainty, is now a good, or a bad, time to be investing in the travel stocks? Tracey and John look at the online travel agents as well as a few of the airlines. Investment Ideas in the Travel Industry 1. Priceline (PCLN) is the king of online travel. Shares have been hitting new all-time highs and trade with a forward P/E of 23, but it still has double digit earnings growth. Is it still a buy? 2. Expedia (EXPE) is more expensive, at 30x, but its earnings growth is also stronger than Priceline’s. Earnings are expected to rise 22.6% in 2017 and another 37.5% in 2018. Watch for an upward revision in earnings estimates as it’s a Zacks #5 (Strong Sell) right now. 3. Southwest (LUV) has blamed bad weather in California for a slowing this quarter. When does that ever happen? 4. American Airlines (AAL) is one of the cheaper domestic carriers with a forward P/E of 9. But should you be buying domestic or international airlines, or neither, right now? 5. International Airlines Group (ICAGY) might not be familiar to you, but you would know its brands. It flies about 550 aircraft under the British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling logos. Europe’s economy is heating up. When the economy is stronger, people travel more. Another area to look for ideas in are the timeshare companies. Yes, timeshare companies are again seeing record revenue. In spite of a challenge from Airbnb, consumers are still buying timeshares. There are other travel areas investors should consider including the cruise ship companies and hotel chains. What else do Tracey and John think about the travel industry and investing in 2017? Find out the answer to this and more on this week’s podcast. Pricline: https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/PCLN?cid=cs-soundcloud-ft-pod Expedia: https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/EXPE?cid=cs-soundcloud-ft-pod Southwest Airlines: https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/LUV?cid=cs-soundcloud-ft-pod American Airlines: https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/AAL?cid=cs-soundcloud-ft-pod International Airlines Group: https://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ICAGY?cid=cs-soundcloud-ft-pod Follow us on StockTwits: stocktwits.com/ZacksResearch Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ZacksResearch Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch

Trading Block: Dow sets sights on 12th straight record close. PCLN - $1631.25, ATM straddle approx. $69, approx. 4.2%. Odd Block: Calls trade in CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE), calls trade in SPDR Euro Stoxx 50 (FEZ) and calls trade in Square Inc. (SQ). Mail Block: Questions, polls, and more. Options #QuestionOfTheWeek - #Oscars Edition. #WarrenBeatty screwed up Best Picture. What is your biggest #Options screwup? Held onto shorts too long Time decay killed me Gamma exploded in my face Vega snuck up on my delta Listener questions and comments Question from Gabe Rich - Hi guys. Do you know of any instance where automatic assignment/exercise by the OCC failed? I am selling a lot of put spreads lately and I have this nightmare that if the stock drops (market crush) and my spread ends up big time in the money. It will be assigned the short leg but not exercised the long leg. Thus creating a huge stock position that might be fatal. I just wonder if that ever happened, something along the lines of flash crush but for options. I am assuming this automatic assignment/exercise process is computerized, and it could be subject to failures. This could be an interesting discussion with your panel of experts, with decades of experience! Thanks, and looking forward for some thoughts. Comment from Game Daydog -Just had a successful vertical spread and wanted to thank you for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and try different option strategies. That Iron Condor is next, even though it sounds like a move from an old kung-fu movie! Around the Block: This Week in the Market: Feb 28 - GDP, International Trade, Consumer Confidence Mar 1 - Construction Spending, Beige Book Mar 2 - Jobless Claims Earnings this week: Tuesday - Target Wednesday - Best Buy Thursday - Costco

Trading Block: Dow sets sights on 12th straight record close. PCLN - $1631.25, ATM straddle approx. $69, approx. 4.2%. Odd Block: Calls trade in CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE), calls trade in SPDR Euro Stoxx 50 (FEZ) and calls trade in Square Inc. (SQ). Mail Block: Questions, polls, and more. Options #QuestionOfTheWeek - #Oscars Edition. #WarrenBeatty screwed up Best Picture. What is your biggest #Options screwup? Held onto shorts too long Time decay killed me Gamma exploded in my face Vega snuck up on my delta Listener questions and comments Question from Gabe Rich - Hi guys. Do you know of any instance where automatic assignment/exercise by the OCC failed? I am selling a lot of put spreads lately and I have this nightmare that if the stock drops (market crush) and my spread ends up big time in the money. It will be assigned the short leg but not exercised the long leg. Thus creating a huge stock position that might be fatal. I just wonder if that ever happened, something along the lines of flash crush but for options. I am assuming this automatic assignment/exercise process is computerized, and it could be subject to failures. This could be an interesting discussion with your panel of experts, with decades of experience! Thanks, and looking forward for some thoughts. Comment from Game Daydog -Just had a successful vertical spread and wanted to thank you for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and try different option strategies. That Iron Condor is next, even though it sounds like a move from an old kung-fu movie! Around the Block: This Week in the Market: Feb 28 - GDP, International Trade, Consumer Confidence Mar 1 - Construction Spending, Beige Book Mar 2 - Jobless Claims Earnings this week: Tuesday - Target Wednesday - Best Buy Thursday - Costco

Big crowds at election booths. Rally in stocks. Hillary vs Trump in the stock market. Celebrities planning on leaving if Trump wins. Big stock moves today...And more! #Election2016,#MAGA,#stock ,$PCLN,$CVS

This week Brian takes a look back at his previous earnings trade on PCLN. What went right? What went wrong? Tune in to this episode of Options Playbook Radio to find out. Have a question for Brian? He's happy to answer them directly via the TradeKing Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/tradeking.

We're still in earnings season, so let's take a look at Priceline. Sticking with butterflies, this week we are looking at put butterflies. You can find this on page 104 in The Options Playbook, but you can always find this online at OptionsPlaybook.com. This week we cover: Review of last week's GOOG butterfly What a difference choosing expirations can make Upcoming Priceline earnings (before the open on Aug. 4) What is the at-the-money long straddle? What is the outlook? Setting up the butterfly What kind of move is the market expecting? What is our maximum risk? Reward? And more

We're still in earnings season, so let's take a look at Priceline. Sticking with butterflies, this week we are looking at put butterflies. You can find this on page 104 in The Options Playbook, but you can always find this online at OptionsPlaybook.com. This week we cover: Review of last week's GOOG butterfly What a difference choosing expirations can make Upcoming Priceline earnings (before the open on Aug. 4) What is the at-the-money long straddle? What is the outlook? Setting up the butterfly What kind of move is the market expecting? What is our maximum risk? Reward? And more

Happy Monday, folks! This is a special edition of the Investing Happy Hour in which Andrew Hall and Intern Joseph Bell analyze today's biggest winners and losers in the brand-new segment: "Wow! Didn't Realize How Funny That Guy Is!!"Featured Topics: Market Gains, Tusk Media Contest, Clever Jokes Featured Stocks: MRO, S, EBAY, CHK, HOG, GPS, PCLN, BA, FSLR, MMM, HUM, FITB, BEN, AFL, GRMN, MO, UA, BLL, RIG, WYNN, NRG, LB, ADS, DO, OFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TuskMediaLLCPlease see disclosures.

Option Block 409: Talking PCLN, Crude and Pairs Trading Trading Block: There is still no real agreement among Fed officials on rate hike timing. Oil cuts loss as supply hike not as large as anticipated. Earnings today: before the bell: Wal-Mart, Priceline Group Inc., T-Mobile; after the bell: Intuit   Odd Block: Calls roll in (BWP), calls and puts trading in Microsoft Corp (MSFT), and calls trade in Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP)     Xpress Block: Alex discusses OX and Schwab mobile trading   Mail Block: Listener questions and comments. Comment from Martin - Thank you that you share this precious information on your show for free. A great job. Well done. Martin from Germany. Comment from Kevin Duggan - Hi Mark, Love your shows! Not to be an ingrate for all the great, free info and entertainment but, could you put out your podcast the same day you record it? It is always strange hearing you talk about Thursday's market after Fridays close. It is not a big deal, more of a first-world problem really, but posting sooner would significantly bump up your cool factor. Thanks. Question from John D. - Hi, Love your show. You guys do a great job. Keep up the good work. My question...If I am looking at a pair trade (e.g. long Facebook, short Twitter), obviously I can do it by buying/shorting the stocks. I was trying to figure out if there is any way to effective do the same thing with options what the advantages might be, if any. I thought of doing a synthetic long/short, but did not see any advantage since I will be naked short an option for both names... but maybe margin treatment is different? Long call on one and log put on the other does not seem to make sense since I am pretty much guaranteed to lose the premium on both those positions. Is there another or better way to structure this type of trade using options? Thanks, John D     Around the Block: Earnings coming up down the road.

Option Block 409: Talking PCLN, Crude and Pairs Trading Trading Block: There is still no real agreement among Fed officials on rate hike timing. Oil cuts loss as supply hike not as large as anticipated. Earnings today: before the bell: Wal-Mart, Priceline Group Inc., T-Mobile; after the bell: Intuit   Odd Block: Calls roll in (BWP), calls and puts trading in Microsoft Corp (MSFT), and calls trade in Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP)     Xpress Block: Alex discusses OX and Schwab mobile trading   Mail Block: Listener questions and comments. Comment from Martin - Thank you that you share this precious information on your show for free. A great job. Well done. Martin from Germany. Comment from Kevin Duggan - Hi Mark, Love your shows! Not to be an ingrate for all the great, free info and entertainment but, could you put out your podcast the same day you record it? It is always strange hearing you talk about Thursday's market after Fridays close. It is not a big deal, more of a first-world problem really, but posting sooner would significantly bump up your cool factor. Thanks. Question from John D. - Hi, Love your show. You guys do a great job. Keep up the good work. My question...If I am looking at a pair trade (e.g. long Facebook, short Twitter), obviously I can do it by buying/shorting the stocks. I was trying to figure out if there is any way to effective do the same thing with options what the advantages might be, if any. I thought of doing a synthetic long/short, but did not see any advantage since I will be naked short an option for both names... but maybe margin treatment is different? Long call on one and log put on the other does not seem to make sense since I am pretty much guaranteed to lose the premium on both those positions. Is there another or better way to structure this type of trade using options? Thanks, John D     Around the Block: Earnings coming up down the road.

Option Block 400th Episode Spectacular Our favorite episodes, listener questions and memories from 400 episodes of the Option Block.   Listener Mail Palooza: Question from Charles B - Great show guys. Congrats on your continued success. I recently stopped trading options on Google and PCLN because the spreads were just too wide. Why do the market makers do this? Is it not in their best interest to provide an incentive for traders like me to actually trade the product? If I cannot afford the spread then everyone loses. Question from S Davis - Love all your UA shows on the network including Oddities and the Odd Block on The Option Block. I find this stuff endlessly fascinating. I wonder if you could clear up an issue for me. I do not really understand the rules about insiders and options. I know that an “insider” cannot just sell his stock before a non-public event without a great deal of disclosure. But what are the rules regarding options? Is buying a put considered analogous to selling the stock from a disclosure perspective? Is it illegal for an insider to buy puts ahead of a material non-public event? Thanks for clearing up this very basic question and for creating such great programs. Question from Alan Pinkman - Hello Mark along with the Viceroy, Uncle, Lobster and Meatball. I know many of you came from a market making background. But I also note that all of you are “former” market makers. What was it that prompted your exit from the business? Do you think it is even worth exploring that as a career path any longer or is options market making pretty much done as a career these days?    Looking ahead to future episodes: What would you guys like to see on the show in future episode?

Option Block 400th Episode Spectacular Our favorite episodes, listener questions and memories from 400 episodes of the Option Block.   Listener Mail Palooza: Question from Charles B - Great show guys. Congrats on your continued success. I recently stopped trading options on Google and PCLN because the spreads were just too wide. Why do the market makers do this? Is it not in their best interest to provide an incentive for traders like me to actually trade the product? If I cannot afford the spread then everyone loses. Question from S Davis - Love all your UA shows on the network including Oddities and the Odd Block on The Option Block. I find this stuff endlessly fascinating. I wonder if you could clear up an issue for me. I do not really understand the rules about insiders and options. I know that an “insider” cannot just sell his stock before a non-public event without a great deal of disclosure. But what are the rules regarding options? Is buying a put considered analogous to selling the stock from a disclosure perspective? Is it illegal for an insider to buy puts ahead of a material non-public event? Thanks for clearing up this very basic question and for creating such great programs. Question from Alan Pinkman - Hello Mark along with the Viceroy, Uncle, Lobster and Meatball. I know many of you came from a market making background. But I also note that all of you are “former” market makers. What was it that prompted your exit from the business? Do you think it is even worth exploring that as a career path any longer or is options market making pretty much done as a career these days?   Looking ahead to future episodes: What would you guys like to see on the show in future episode?

Option Block 384: BABA Preview and Ratio Spread Breakdown Trading Block: A mild day on the street. The bloodbath in crude continues - closing down on the day. Alibaba now worth more than Wal-Mart. Apple iWatch to be delayed - not affecting AAPL on the day.     Odd Block: Calls trade in CBS Corp. (CBS), puts trade in Gerdau SA (GGB), and giant call buyer in Autodesk (ADSK).   Xpress Block: Amazon, declining oil and other conversation topics from OX social.   Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the ratio spread strategy in combination with stock.     Around the Block: Non-Farms on Friday. BABA before the bell. ATVI - 11/4, DIS - 11/6 after, PCLN - 11/4 before, TSLA - 11/5 after.

Option Block 384: BABA Preview and Ratio Spread Breakdown Trading Block: A mild day on the street. The bloodbath in crude continues - closing down on the day. Alibaba now worth more than Wal-Mart. Apple iWatch to be delayed - not affecting AAPL on the day.     Odd Block: Calls trade in CBS Corp. (CBS), puts trade in Gerdau SA (GGB), and giant call buyer in Autodesk (ADSK).   Xpress Block: Amazon, declining oil and other conversation topics from OX social.   Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the ratio spread strategy in combination with stock.     Around the Block: Non-Farms on Friday. BABA before the bell. ATVI - 11/4, DIS - 11/6 after, PCLN - 11/4 before, TSLA - 11/5 after.

Option Block 336: Earnings and the Death of Minis Trading Block: A mild day on the street. Apple catching a bid. Tuesday's computer error at NYSE ACRA and NYSE AMEX options markets resulted in almost 20,000 erroneous trades.   Odd Block: Call buyers trade in Nike Inc. (NKE), call sellers trade in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), put spreads trade in iShares Barclays 7-10 year Treasury ETF (IEF) - closing roll, and closing put buyers trade in NQ Mobile Inc. (NQ).   Xpress Block: Late May/Early June is the target date for enhancements to OX mobile, which will include single-leg walk limits, as well as OSO and OTO orders.   Mail Block: In which Option Pit steals the show. Website comment from Kaiserdog76: Loved todays Option Block. Especially the focus on Mini Options and their total failure. Mark Sebastian said it best when he talked about the people that really need a break in the Market getting "Bo Didley Squat" when the dust settles. I have all ways hated Minis. Talk about a getting "Stupid" on an option trade. One tenth the size but %100 the commission. Spreads wider than Honey Boo Boo. This product is a total joke and in my humble opinion never really lived. This was dead on takeoff. Website comment from Meatball-in-training:  Great show. The question from one of your listeners about the trade scanner that keeps popping up two standard deviation ITM debit spreads was very interesting. Is it perhaps the case that the scanner is ignoring the cost of carry on the premium itself when looking at prospective trades? That is the sort of thing I can imagine someone overlooking when programming a trade scanner and for wide verticals with lots of time to expiration, it might be enough to make expensive debit spreads look superior to their synthetically equivalent credit spreads. I am one of Mark and Andrews's students, so if this is all wrong, feel free to blame them. Tweet from OtC bOuNcEr$ @stevesokol21 - Is there a way to run a scan anywhere to find more stocks with that pattern? Thanks a lot for the help      Around the Block: Still some more earning left out there: ATVI - 5/6, CBOE - 5/6, DIS - 5/6, EA - 5/6, GRPN - 5/6, TSLA - 5/7 & PCLN - 5/8

Option Block 336: Earnings and the Death of Minis Trading Block: A mild day on the street. Apple catching a bid. Tuesday's computer error at NYSE ACRA and NYSE AMEX options markets resulted in almost 20,000 erroneous trades.   Odd Block: Call buyers trade in Nike Inc. (NKE), call sellers trade in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), put spreads trade in iShares Barclays 7-10 year Treasury ETF (IEF) - closing roll, and closing put buyers trade in NQ Mobile Inc. (NQ).   Xpress Block: Late May/Early June is the target date for enhancements to OX mobile, which will include single-leg walk limits, as well as OSO and OTO orders.   Mail Block: In which Option Pit steals the show. Website comment from Kaiserdog76: Loved todays Option Block. Especially the focus on Mini Options and their total failure. Mark Sebastian said it best when he talked about the people that really need a break in the Market getting "Bo Didley Squat" when the dust settles. I have all ways hated Minis. Talk about a getting "Stupid" on an option trade. One tenth the size but %100 the commission. Spreads wider than Honey Boo Boo. This product is a total joke and in my humble opinion never really lived. This was dead on takeoff. Website comment from Meatball-in-training:  Great show. The question from one of your listeners about the trade scanner that keeps popping up two standard deviation ITM debit spreads was very interesting. Is it perhaps the case that the scanner is ignoring the cost of carry on the premium itself when looking at prospective trades? That is the sort of thing I can imagine someone overlooking when programming a trade scanner and for wide verticals with lots of time to expiration, it might be enough to make expensive debit spreads look superior to their synthetically equivalent credit spreads. I am one of Mark and Andrews's students, so if this is all wrong, feel free to blame them. Tweet from OtC bOuNcEr$ @stevesokol21 - Is there a way to run a scan anywhere to find more stocks with that pattern? Thanks a lot for the help     Around the Block: Still some more earning left out there: ATVI - 5/6, CBOE - 5/6, DIS - 5/6, EA - 5/6, GRPN - 5/6, TSLA - 5/7 & PCLN - 5/8

Option Block 314: Late-Night Gamma Scalping Trading Block: Catching an updraft on the street today. A decent slate of earnings helped bolster the market.  New Fed Chief didn't completely destroy the market with her first remarks. WSJ writing about someone purchasing 3200 Feb $15 calls in Magic Jack before big newsletter mention. Big day for Apple. Odd Block: Put sellers finance call buyers in Mechel OAO (MTL), and calls trade in E Commerce China Dangdang (DANG). Xpress Block: The classic names were lighting up the OX desk today: Apple, Solar City, Facebook, Tesla, and Priceline. Plus the return of the Ideas Hub game! Mail Block: Mark's favorite segment. Question from Anath3ma - How are options stops triggered? Bid? Ask? Mid? If ask, am I then filled on the bid costing me the spread? Seems like it could be costly. Question from Snowbird - My friend and I like to by straddles going into earnings, but we often miss a great deal of the move that occurs after the market close. I know you have discussed this in the past by referring to the process known as "gamma scalping." I think I understand how it works - basically trading stock against your options to lock in profits - but I am cloudy on the mechanics. (FYI I am an OX customer). Let's say I buy a straddle in my account with zero delta (50 delta call and put). Then let's say the underlying rallies after the close and my straddle now has a 50 delta. I would then need to sell stock against that straddle to lock in my gains, but as far as the OX system is concerned, my straddle closed for the day with a zero delta. Will the system update with after-hours data to reflect the fact that my straddle now has a 50 delta, and if I sell short stock, I am essentially "locking in a profit" as opposed to naked shorting the stock? I suppose the alternative is to simply keep a large amount of free capital in your account on the off chance that you need to trade some stock against your positions in the after-hours, but that seems needlessly wasteful. Perhaps this is why you say "gamma scalping" is not viable for retail? Around the Block: More earnings.   Marriott on 2/19; GRPN, HPQ, and PCLN on 2/20. 

Option Block 314: Late-Night Gamma Scalping Trading Block: Catching an updraft on the street today. A decent slate of earnings helped bolster the market.  New Fed Chief didn't completely destroy the market with her first remarks. WSJ writing about someone purchasing 3200 Feb $15 calls in Magic Jack before big newsletter mention. Big day for Apple. Odd Block: Put sellers finance call buyers in Mechel OAO (MTL), and calls trade in E Commerce China Dangdang (DANG). Xpress Block: The classic names were lighting up the OX desk today: Apple, Solar City, Facebook, Tesla, and Priceline. Plus the return of the Ideas Hub game! Mail Block: Mark's favorite segment. Question from Anath3ma - How are options stops triggered? Bid? Ask? Mid? If ask, am I then filled on the bid costing me the spread? Seems like it could be costly. Question from Snowbird - My friend and I like to by straddles going into earnings, but we often miss a great deal of the move that occurs after the market close. I know you have discussed this in the past by referring to the process known as "gamma scalping." I think I understand how it works - basically trading stock against your options to lock in profits - but I am cloudy on the mechanics. (FYI I am an OX customer). Let's say I buy a straddle in my account with zero delta (50 delta call and put). Then let's say the underlying rallies after the close and my straddle now has a 50 delta. I would then need to sell stock against that straddle to lock in my gains, but as far as the OX system is concerned, my straddle closed for the day with a zero delta. Will the system update with after-hours data to reflect the fact that my straddle now has a 50 delta, and if I sell short stock, I am essentially "locking in a profit" as opposed to naked shorting the stock? I suppose the alternative is to simply keep a large amount of free capital in your account on the off chance that you need to trade some stock against your positions in the after-hours, but that seems needlessly wasteful. Perhaps this is why you say "gamma scalping" is not viable for retail? Around the Block: More earnings.   Marriott on 2/19; GRPN, HPQ, and PCLN on 2/20.