Articles from the Experts
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 Option Block 263: The Wasted Year Trading Block: A mild selloff across the board. GLD sells off fractionally on the day. ISE Gemini set to launch Aug 5. CBOE announces new VIX trading hours. Odd Block: Pre-earnings run in Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), stock replacement in Alcatel Lucent SA (ALU), interesting pre-earnings play in American Eagle (AEO), and was there a hedge in iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ)? Odd Block Review: Looking back to 6/27: Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (GDP) - stock trading $12.90, buying 6,000 Aug 15 calls for $.45. Stock now trading $17.50, calls worth $2.96 - a $2.50 profit = $1.5M. Still 10K open on strike - looks like he hasn't closed these yet. Xpress Block: "Big data week." It’s a wait and see situation. Nothing can derail the Tesla train. Around the Block: A full calendar of economics this week. Non-farms Friday. |
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Option Block 262: Cramer Loves It Trading Block: Zynga earnings after the close. Someone paid 17% for a one-month straddle! Amazon earnings are also after the close. Facebook! Facebook! Facebook! Commodity rundown - An overview of recent action in futures/futures options. Options "insiders" come forward. Odd Block: Put spreads trade in Crocs, Inc (CROX), and calls trade in Denderon Corp. (DNDN). Xpress Block: Questions, anyone? Question from Tom P. Are we ever going to see Walk-Limit on single leg trades? I'm a teacher so I can't always be there to close out my trades on the open. This is particularly difficult around earnings season. I may miss the only chance to sell my option for a decent price on the open because I'm away from my screens. I would love to be able to enter a target sale price for my options (long call, etc.) and then have OX walk the price down automatically until it hits the actual trading price. This would save busy people like me a lot of time, and potentially a lot of lost profits. Around the Block: An update on AMZN and ZNGA. TTWO coming up on 7/30. |
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Option Block 261: NFLX Strangles Children Trading Block: Netflix earnings are after the bell. Could it be the return of the widow-maker? McDonald's down 3%. It’s never a good sign for the economy when McD can't make money. A follow-up on our good discussion on after-hours options trading from our last show. Is 3pm still reasonable? Odd Block: Call ratios trade in Skechers USA Inc. (SKX), calls trade in Verisign Inc. (VRSN), puts sold on the World Acceptance Corp. (WRLD), and call sellers in General Growth Properties (GGP). Xpress Block: Metals and oil predominately featured on the desk today. Mail Block: The all stars channel their inner therapists, and Obi Wan
Around the Block: Earnings, Earnings, Earnings! Ford 7/24 before, Facebook 7/24 after, Electronic Arts 7/23 after, Amazon 7/25 after, Apple - 7/23, United Airlines 7/25 before, Zynga 7/24 after. |
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Option Block 260: Doing the Earnings Straddle Dance Trading Block: Earnings-Palooza: Google, Microsoft and more after the bell. Odd Block: Combos trade in Rite Aid Corp (RAD), paper buying calls in Covanta Holding Corp. (CVA), and puts trade in YY Inc. (YY) Xpress Block: This should be a very interesting expiration coming up. A little bit of everything is coming across the desk. Google and Microsoft both missed. Strategy Block: Mr. Tosaw discusses straddles as this week's strategy. Around the Block: One last check-in on Google and Microsoft. Upcoming earnings: Apple – 7/23, Zynga - 7/24, and Amazon - 7/25. |
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Option Block 259: Reverse Splits & Twinkies The all-stars are joined by guest co-host Henry Schwartz, the Founder of Trade Alert. Trading Block: A modest, broad rally on the street. Earnings season is in full swing. Pre-deal call in LEAP from Friday. Earnings action in Goldman-Sachs. CITI earnings before the open. Bloomberg beating the drum on VIX puts. Retail sales sluggish, up less than expected in June. Odd Block: Combos trade in United Online, Inc. (UNTD) Xpress Block: The Twinkie is back. A slow day as everyone is keeping their powder dry for the big earnings later this week. Around the Block: Earnings: IBM, Intel and Bank of America - 7/17; Microsoft, Nokia, Google and Chipotle - 7/18. |
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Option Block 258: Highly Accommodative Policy Trading Block: Uncle Ben's comments about "highly accommodative policy" spark yet another rally. It's going to be all about the earnings next week. It has been "rally ho" in the metals. Odd Block: Calls trade in Colfax Corp (CFX), puts trade in Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (APL), calls trade in WisdomTree Investments Inc (WETF), and calls trade in Whiting USA Trust (WHX). Xpress Block: It's a race to 1,000 between Priceline and Google. Green lights all over the screen today. Listener Mail: Gamma effect Question from Neal Rivers - You guys have discussed the "gamma effect" before on this program. My question is - how far before an earnings announcement does this typically kick in? Can I buy some gamma two or three weeks before the announcement and expect to pay no decay? Or is it more like two or three days? Around the Block: JP Morgan and Wells Fargo & Co. both have earnings on Friday. Goldman Sachs - 7/16; Microsoft, Nokia, Google, Chipotle - 7/18; and IBM, Intel, Bank of America 7/17. |
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Option Block 257: Deep Dive into Gold, Silver and Oil Interview Block: Today's guest is Matthew Bradbard, futures broker from RCM Asset Management. Hel discusses recent trends in metals and energies with the Option Block gang. Trading Block: Another broad, but mild rally on the street. Zynga rallies hard on the news of new CEO: snatching a dubious hire from Microsoft. INTC down 4% off analyst downgrades. Odd Block: Calls trade in Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) and call spreads trade in Elan Corp. (ELN). Around the Block: Alcoa earnings, which means this is the start of earnings season! |
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Option Block 256: The Great AAPL and GLD Rebound: Trading Block Another broad rally - a "doing stuff" kind of day. Gold spikes. Blackberry annihilated post-earnings. Corzine finally charged in MF Global debacle. The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 361,180,257 total options contracts traded in June, up 10.86 percent compared to last year. Odd Block Calls Rolled in Sina Corp (SINA) Legging into a Butterfly in Tempurpedic (TPX) Puts Trading Air Products and Chemical (APD) Xpress Block Metals, Tesla and Apple were lighting up the tape. Alex gives us a good lesson about margin. Strategy Block Tosaw walks us through his recent strategy involving moving to cash after some rumbling in SPY Around the Block Earnings looming on the horizon. Remember the Independence Day holiday is this Thursday - be aware to the effect of theta. |
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Option Block 255: Balloon is Over-squeezed Trading Block: Rally Ho! Again. Vol crushed, but not as aggressively as expected. Are the pronouncements of the death of Apple's vol premature? Prosecutors finally get around to charging Corzine in MF Global debacle. 30-year mortgage rate at 4.46%. Odd Block: Calls trade in Statoil ASA (STO), Goodrich Petroleum Corp (GDP), and New York Community Bancorp (NYCB). Xpress Block: Alex discusses GDX, Newmont Mining (NEM), and other trade ideas from the Idea Hub. Around the Block: Blackberry earnings before the open. |
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Option Block 254: Unlearn What Does Not Work Trading Block: Futures, interest rates, bonds and the 10-year dominated trading today. It was an otherwise slow day for volatility. Interview Block: This week's guest is Nate Bluestein from Pivotal Trading Concepts. He discusses how Pivotal Trading Concepts was created and helps educate traders. Odd Block: Calls trade in Web MD (WBMD), and puts Trade in Gerdau S.A. (GGB). Xpress Block: It was a pretty quiet day at OX. Alex discusses VIX, CBOE and the 10-year. Around the Block: The 10-year could continue to determine what's happening in the market. Which way will China play out? |