Option Block 580: Bringing Sexy Back to Box Spreads

Trading Block: Stocks mixed as Dow hits another new record high, flirting with 20,000. Crude and XLE up too. Wealthy investors show a Trump bump in confidence, UBS Wealth Management Americas reported Thursday.

Odd Block: Puts trade in Transocean ltd (RIG), calls and puts trade in SPDR S&P 500 trust (SPY) and calls trade in Hain Celestial Group (HAIN).

Mail Block: Question of the week and listener questions

#QuestionOfTheWeek: Financial advisors represent the last options frontier. What level of options knowledge do you expect from your advisor?

• None: I will do it myself
• Level 1: Buy Puts/Calls
• Level 2: Income & Vol
• Level 3: Option Specialist
• Question from Adam Sam - Hello again... I figured out a way to predict the direction of the market for the day with 75% accuracy. I am wondering what would be the smartest way to trade this info? Should i sell the opposite options OTM with 45 days? And buy them back at the end of the day? Or buy OTM in the direction it will move? I cannot predict the after hours so i want to get out at the end of the day. How would you hedge such trade? Thank you
• Question from BGT - What happens to options if the fed raises rates in December?

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• Dec 12 - Treasury Budget
• Dec 13 - Import and Export
• Dec 14 - PPI, Retail Sales, FOMC
• Dec 15 - Jobless Claims, CPI
• Dec 16 - Housing Starts

Earning Highlights:

• Thursday - Adobe, Oracle