Option Block 164: Independence Day Slowdown

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 volume in June 2012, almost 15% of PHLX's options volume came from dividend trades, about 7% for NYSE ARCA. New exchanges in the mix - NASDAQ launched OMX BX options. ISE files for second exchange license. Floor traders suing CME. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in Material Select Spider (XLB) and McMoran Exploration Co. (MMR). Xpress Block: John Grigus holds down the OX seat and talks about this slow week. Watching the move in crude oil. Tomorrow starts the website release training courses. A walking limit and other new features to the site coming out soon. Around the Block: A slow holiday week. Be careful on the short gamma in the next four days. Chinese internet stock is very cheap. Non-farm payroll on the horizon