Articles from the Experts

Trading Block: Brexit, Brexit, Brexit! Results due late Thursday night. Tesla owner Elon Musk wants to acquire SolarCity, another company he owns. Gold. Oil.

Odd Block: Bull call spreads trade in RiteAid Corp. (RAD), bull call spreads trade in Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK)

Mail Block: Listener questions and comments

• Question from Robert K.: I would like to use strategy regarding naked puts. If the naked put is far out of money what strategy could I use to protect myself. Could I use some type of order in case it was getting close to naked put strike price. Thanks
• Question from Tor: Hello. I am (restarting) my options trading on a shoestring; any thoughts on mini-options? Thanks.
• Question from Cristoff: Do you guys only trade options, or do you trade futures too? How do you decide when to use which?
• Question from 777: Are you aware of any specific gold arb between Chinese gold derivatives and their U.S. equivalents?

Around the Block: Brexit, Brexit, Brexit!

Trading Block: Fed keeps rates unchanged, lowering odds for future hikes. Weak Nonfarms number derailed any Fed plans to raise in June. Earnings today: (before the bell) Oracle Corporation; (after the bell) the Kroger Co, Rite Aid Corporation.

CME Fedwatch tool:

• July probability: 7%
• Sep: 29%
• Nov: 31%
• Dec: 47%

Options Question of the Week: $VIX surging ahead of FOMC, but for how long? Where will $VIX cash close Friday 6/17?

• 19% - 18-20 range
• 47% - 15-17.99 range (Winner)
• 25% - Above 20
• 09% - Below 15

Odd Block: Calls trade in Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), calls trade in iShares Barclays 20+ year Treasury ETF (TLT) and calls roll in Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC).

Mail Block: Listener questions and comments

• Question from Vegan: For an options newbie, how would I construct a trade with most possibilities to win? I understand that the potential profit might be small. What time frame is good as well?
• Question from Jim Duggan: FOMC and Brexit are approaching. What are some good ways to use options to play Brexit or FOMC?
• Question from John Doe: Do you have any specific strategies near or on expiration to profit from theta decay.

Around the Block: Brexit coming up on 6/23. Fade it? Buy into it? Much ado about nothing?

Trading Block: VIX remains somewhat muted heading into FOMC new week as well as Brexit the following week. Billionaire George Soros returns as a Brexit bear. He's also loading up on gold and GLD options, SPY puts.

Odd Block: Calls trade in Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (OIH), calls trade in AT&T (T), and calls trade in Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC).

Mail Block: Listener questions and comments

• Question from JMFarrare: Do you guys have a service that alerts on unusual options activity in the mornings on a daily basis? If not can you direct me to someone that does? Thanks, your website is great!
• Question from 777: What adjustments should I make when trading options on expensive stocks vs. regular priced stocks vs. cheap stocks.
• Question from Eric: The last few days I have traded October OIX calls. I made money, but felt like I left a lot of money on the table due to the bid ask spread. How could I have improved on this?

Around the Block: Triple witching plus FOMC equals wild week ahead.

Trading Block featuring guest co-host Todd Rich, President of OM Media (an affiliate of OptionsHouse).

• Crude oil and energy stocks
• It is that time of the month - volume time.
• OCC announced that cleared contract volume in May reached 319,533,636 contracts, a four percent increase from the May 2015 volume of 308,639,215 contracts.
• YTD average daily cleared contract volume is also up four percent from 2015 with 16,734,689 contracts.

Odd Block: Calls trade in Xilinx Inc. (XLNX), calls trade in iShares MSCI UK (EWU), calls and puts trade in Macys Inc. (M), and calls trade in Marriott International Inc. (MAR).

Mail Block: Listener questions and comments

• Question from Niles - Are there any triple witching levels coming soon? If so, how do they influence the options market and expiration?
• Question from Fred - I kind of hit a wall in my options development. Maybe my focus was too split between learning about futures and learning about options. Are you familiar with the books by Jim Dalton? He wrote a book about options trading but he does not like the greeks and he does not like many conventional options trading strategies. He only uses them when necessary. I guess this is a long way to asking when I should use options vs. futures
• Question from Jack - Have you ever used the PREM indicator? It is for arbitrage traders. If so, how does it play out in the options market?

Around the Block: Non-Farms on Friday (to be released at 7:30 a.m. CDT Friday)