Option Block 188: Diversify. Diversify. Diversify Trading Block: The market's reaction to Wednesday night's Presidential debate. Review from the Morning Star conference. (Spoiler: Options exposure and education is still significantly lacking.) HPQ, SLV & GLD, ACT. Odd Block: Upside purchased in Sachs (SKS); calls active as Dell pushes to new lows (DELL) Xpress Block: New-comer Dave Vitamonis gets the OX hot seat today and discusses interesting trades and size orders that came across the desk...
Oct 05, 2012•1 hr
Option Block 187: It’s That Time of the Month Trading Block: VIX cash getting some weekend love back. Monthly volume numbers are in, and according to ISE, dividend trades made up 8.8% of industry volume in September 2012. Apple closing down 1%. Will Uncle Mike ever get out? Groupon = garbage? Premium selling candidate? Risk reversals? Is Activision lining up for more bullish risk reversals? Ford is hovering at the 10-handle. How do you position RIMM from here? Odd Block: Is FLIR Systems (FLIR) r...
Oct 02, 2012•57 min
Option Block 186: RIMM Time Spreads and SPY Dividends Trading Block: A broad rally, thanks to Spain's spending cuts. RIMM earnings after the bell. It closed today at $7.14. Mark ponders the weekly/Oct 6-7-8 iron fly. Jobless claims hit a two-month low. Odd Block: Implied volatility mover in Regions Financial (RF); volume signals in Deckers Outdoors (DECK), and; Coca Cola Enterprises (CCE). Love piling in for some size in Yahoo!, Inc. (YHOO), and a lot of call love in Medtronic, Inc. (MDT). Strat...
Sep 28, 2012•1 hr
Option Block 185: Dividend Trade Blowup Trading Block: VIX getting some of the weekend back courtesy of some selloff love. It's been a while since we've have a 1% down day. A big whoops with dividend trades for Merrill Lynch occurred Friday. Facebook taking it on the chin - down about 9%. Apple closing today down about 1.5%. Odd Block: Some significant size going up in XLF; Oct 100 puts going up before earnings in Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS), and; it’s off to the upside races in Proctor ...
Sep 25, 2012•56 min
Option Block 184: BNNY vs. FB vs. GRPNTrading Block: A mild selloff and a mild VIX rally, yet another 0.0% day! Groupon the only green on the screen. At last, Grigus is rolling in dough! BNNY blows FB out of the water.Odd Block: Calls active as Dollar Tree pops (DLTR); J.C. Penney craters resulting in unusual puts activity (JCP), and; a quick review on Jefferies Group, Inc. (JEF). Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald gets the OX hot seat today, and rolls through his list of interesting activity and not...
Sep 21, 2012•1 hr 10 min
Option Block 183: Bernanke PutsTrading Block: Most of the major indices giving back some of the QE3 love, after an abnormally odd Friday. QE3: good, bad or ugly? A rundown from the options conference last week. Is Grigus still on the Groupon love train?Option Block: Shares of Linn Energy (LINE) are trading low; traders look for increased vol on Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS), and; LEAPS calls active on IAMGOLD (IAG).Xpress Block: John Grigus gets in OX hot seat to talk about what's been coming...
Sep 18, 2012•1 hr
Option Block 182: Setting Low Expectations for EmploymentTrading Block: The bulls were definitely in charged today, the market seemed to like what Big Ben had to say this week. Vol rundown, volatility has come in. What happened with Apple after their product announcement? The initial claims and jobless report numbers, again today we had more claims and fewer jobs than expected. Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald gets in the OX hot seat today to discuss the day at Options Xpress. The phones were blowi...
Sep 14, 2012•45 min
Option Block 181: Apple OverlordTrading Block: A mild down day on the Street. VIX off to the races. Positioning after the jobs number. Apple pullback ahead of Wednesday event. Intel lowers guidance and is promptly down 3%. Odd Block: Calls active as Talisman Energy appoints new president and CEO (TLM); block trade fever in Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF); and Leap Frog puts flying out the door (LPF). Xpress Block: John Grigus takes the reins of the Xpress Block today and discusses the bu...
Sep 11, 2012•51 min
Option Block 180: A Whimper Not A Scream Trading Block: Finally a strong rally across the board. Vol and VIX rundown. CBOE announced at RMC Europe that they are hoping to trade VIX futures around the clock next year. Amazon announces new Kindle devices today, including Kindle Fire HD and new Kindle Fire for $159. Apple poised for a big announcement next week, looking for the new iPhone and perhaps the Mini-iPad. Ford on an upwind today, up about 3.5%. Odd Block: Calls active as BMC Software pops...
Sep 07, 2012•1 hr 1 min
TRADING BLOCK Finally a day of action after an unchanged last couple of weeks. Apple destroys Samsung in jury verdict - $1B Verdict - Samsung won basically no judgements - Interesting that the judge disallowed a samsung media player from 2006, that looks just like the iPhone! Groupon can't catch a bid. ODD BLOCK Huge Blocks of Calls Trade on EMC - Chasing Deltas Puts Active on Seagate Technology (STX). Shield, which has been included since the S&P was created in 1957, has been booted and wil...
Aug 31, 2012•1 hr 3 min
Option Block 178: Apple: Cheap? Expensive? Cheap Expensive? Trading Block: A slow Friday. Looking at the spread between VIX cash and the VIX futures. What is causing the build-up in premium? Looking at the November elections. Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald gets the OX hot seat today and discusses the lack of volume this last month and the interesting orders from today on Salesforce.com. The Fed and QE3. Strategy Block: Today's strategy block is hosted by Mark Sebastian, who, using Apple as an exa...
Aug 27, 2012•31 min
Option Block 177: Moving 0.0%, or Wait and See Trading Block: Today the market was literally unched across the board, sitting at 0.0, playing the "wait and see" game. Apple hitting new milestones, now the most, now the most valuable company on the planet. Corn rundown, quiet recently. Odd Block: Put Volume Spikes on Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), and options traders sell volatility on the VIX. Xpress Block: John Grigus takes the OX hot seat, and talks about what been going on at t...
Aug 21, 2012•47 min
Option Block 176: Groupon Garbage Trading Block: A mild rally across the Street. S&P vol getting squeezed of all its juice. Cisco knocks it out of the park post-earnings. Groupon garbage post-earnings. Cosi trading at a depressed level. Facebook south of the 20-handle. Odd Block: Protection swapped on Novartis (NVS); large blocks of calls rolled on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the (DJX) and (DIA) options; Wednesday review: Huntsman International LLC Jumps; calls active (HUN). Xpress B...
Aug 17, 2012•55 min
Option Block 175: Groupon Volatility Bonanza Trading Block: Groupon rallies into earnings, an absolute roller coaster today. No weekend back for VIX cash, toying with the 14 level. Odd Block: General Electric (GE) sees massive call activity. From black to red: Traders buy puts on The Blackstone Group (BX). The winners and losers in Focus Media's (FMCN) buyout offer. Xpress Block: John Grigus takes today's OX hot seat and discusses corn crops and the USDA report, as well as the website, idea hub ...
Aug 14, 2012•53 min
Option Block 174: Doing Whatever It Takes Trading Block: Another mixed day on the street: a stale, unchanged market today. Keeping our eye on Nvidia. Zynga making more headlines by firing their COO. ETrade ousts its CEO. Odd Block: Calls active after E*TRADE ousts CEO. Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald runs through a couple of use question for the OX crew: Why are Groupon options at a 100% margin commitment at OX? Why is OX showing my estimated commissions for closing out a short position for $.01 a...
Aug 10, 2012•55 min
Option Block 173: Economists Do Not Have a Clue Trading Block: A mild rally on the day, VIX cash moving in lockstep with the market again. EA lawsuit pounds Zynga - THQ came out with earnings. Knight getting "rescue" bid from a bunch of customers including TD Ameritrade, and the stock has been a roller coaster ever since. Bernanke says economists don't have a clue about individual well-being. Oil up slightly. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in Tumi Holdings, Inc. (TUMI) andChimera In...
Aug 07, 2012•58 min
Option Block 172: Mini Crash Crush Trading Block: VIX essentially unchanged on the day. Discussing its underperformance again as traders again showed a willingness to unload vol going into the weekend. Mini-crash crushes a number of stocks (Citi, Bank of America, etc.) and annihilates KCG. CBOE earnings this morning - net income up from 2011 despite weak options volume across the board. Facebook breaks a significant floor at the $20 handle. Trading after Apple earnings. Odd Block: Bears Pouncing...
Aug 03, 2012•1 hr
Option Block 171: Another Raucous Live Show Live and unscripted, this episode doesn’t follow the normal Option Block layout, but it’s spectacular nevertheless. Most major indices closed relatively unchanged on the day. Despite that, it was still a pretty busy day on the desk. Crop report. Unusual put buying in Home Depot…could it be in preparation for August earnings? Apple testing $600 again. Mini contracts. VIX of Apple and Google. Regulators dropping the ball. SpongeBob Square Pants (seriousl...
Jul 31, 2012•1 hr 21 min
Option Block 170: Options for Earnings Trading Block: A broad rally in most names, yet Ford, EA and others getting clobbered. Where's the love? Facebook after the bell, hovering down a bit. Zynga disappoints again. Apple knocks it out of the park, but it’s not good enough. This is the way to "miss" earnings. Amazon after the bell. Netflix striking again. Chipotle has been clipped well over 30%. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity today in Facebook (FB) and Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI). Xpres...
Jul 27, 2012•1 hr 3 min
Option Block 169: Synthetic Puts and the Fudge Factor Trading Block: A selloff across the major indices today, amid concerns about financing in Spain. IMF is about to stop payments to Greece, thus increasing the odds of insolvency by September. VIX gets weekend back and then some. Even McDonald's can't make money in this environment - down about 3% after recent earnings. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity today in BCE Inc. (BCE) a Canadian telecommunications company, Logitech Internatio...
Jul 24, 2012•57 min
Option Block 168: Scalping GOOG Time Spreads Trading Block: Lots of earnings after the bell - Google up, Microsoft meh, and Chipotle earnings down. Is this the rise of Qdoba? A mild rally across the board, accompanied by a mild vol sell-off. A bit of a rally in Ford. Odd Block: A straddle swap in USL, plus upside calls in Anglogold AU.Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald discusses Google and Chipotle, which were both very active on the OX desk today. A lot of rumor and speculation at Amazon. Oil toppin...
Jul 20, 2012•54 min
Option Block 167: TVIX Apocalypse Trading Block: VIX failed to do much today. TVIX still lighting up the tape, a surprise to all of us. Some activity going on in the Facebook Aug calls and puts. Retail sales down 5% in June. JPM “Hedge Loss” now $5.8B -- always the same old story. PFG Best still spiraling into the toilet, the story seems to have taken Chicago by storm. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in Intersil Corp. (ISIL) and PPL Corp. (PPL). Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald discusse...
Jul 17, 2012•59 min
Option Block 166: Calendar Strangle Swap Trading Block: PFG Best madness; the Chicago based options brokerage firm reeling after their CEO, Russ Wasendorf, attempted suicide after charges of fraud and a missing $200M+ in customer funds. How did the NFA miss this? Another day, another mild selloff that weakens toward the close. The Apple pre-pre earnings. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity: A size calendar strangle in VIX options. Strategy Block: Mike Tosaw leads the Strategy Block this ...
Jul 13, 2012•56 min
Option Block 165: I Make Liquidity Trading Block: Another day, another mild selloff. VIX getting the weekend/holiday back, plus a little more. Oil/Commodity rundown - the hot, dry weather has had a big impact of the ags, especially corn. Activision on the block. Odd Block: An unusual activity review for Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), Research in Motion, Ltd. (RIMM), and Horizon Pharma, Inc. HZNP (HZNP). Xpress Block: John Grigus gets the floor over at the OX desk and discuss the recent grai...
Jul 10, 2012•56 min
Option Block 164: Independence Day Slowdown Trading Block: Apple lurking near $600 again before earnings. RIMM in the toilet and ended up blowing past weekly ATM straddle after all. Ford also taking a beating. June numbers are out and options volume down 13% overall from last year. Avg. daily volume down 8.47%, equity option volume down 13%, and overall equity options ADV down 9%. OCC announced that cleared contract volume reached 329,891,797 in June, dividend trades made up 3.8% of industry vol...
Jul 03, 2012•55 min
Option Block 163: Supreme Court Takes the Vol Out Trading Block: Supreme Court decision roils the market. Are we taking the weekend out of the VIX already? 30 year mort. at 3.66%. JP Morgan hedge loss expected to be $5B, perhaps up to $9B. RIMM, Nike, and Family Dollar reporting numbers after the bell. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in Universal Health Services (UHS) and O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY). Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald discusses some of the activity at OX today that w...
Jun 29, 2012•1 hr 1 min
Option Block 162: Risk Reversal Hour Trading Block: Midday selloff continues following post-weekend/selloff vol pop. EU summit concerns with Spain requesting EU aid for their banks, and Cyprus requesting an EU bailout. Last week most active ever for VIX futures. New home sales hit a two-year high last month - 369,000 new homes vs, 346,000 expected. Oil continues to fall, right into the teeth of summer driving season. Everyone waiting on Supreme Court healthcare vote. Odd Block: Unusual and inter...
Jun 26, 2012•58 min
Option Block 161: Now With 75% More Ranting Trading Block: A bit of a blood bath today after Goldman recommended shorting the S&P. A lack of VIX movement compared to a big 30-handle selloff. Moody's to downgrade up to 15 banks after the close just piled on the bad news for today. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IDIX). Xpress Block: Returning panelist Alex Jacobson takes the OX hot seat and discusses the "non-reaction" to today's down market. Strat...
Jun 22, 2012•57 min
Option Block 160: Blue Horeshoe Loves Option Block Trading Block: Greek pro-bailout ruling was not exactly the boon the markets expected. Spanish load concerns still weighing on the market. Almost like a post-earnings throughout the market with vol coming in across the board. NAHB housing index of homebuilder sentiment highest in five years, but still below 50. The Supreme Court may rule whether Congress has the power to require people to buy health insurance. According to the bets, there’s a 68...
Jun 19, 2012•55 min
Option Block 159: The 1-3.5-6 Ratio Condor Swap Trading Block: News is out that the central banks are trying to make a coordinated effort to help out Greece after the elections. Commodity rundown - open quota unchanged. Fallout for Apple after WWDC. Nokia down 15% on news of slashing 10,000 more jobs - down 50% since April. Is this the beginning of the end for Nokia? Will Microsoft buy them? Is this another Motorola? Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) and...
Jun 15, 2012•56 min
