TRADING BLOCK Co-Host: Trey Jarrell, Fidelity Trading Strategy Desk Most active indices: VIX - 224k, SPY - 1.06M, SPX: 432k Most active equity options: LLY, AAPL, BA, FB, ELAN, GE, NIO, AMD, NVDA, TSLA Boeing shares tumble 9% after deadly crash of popular 737 jet.         ODD BLOCK Call activity in QuinStreet Inc (QNST) - from Feb 7 Harvesting risk premium in Plains GP Holdings LP(PAGP) - from Feb 4 More risk premium harvesting in Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP) - from Feb 4       STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the cover call strategy.       MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: Everyone in our audience thought 2019's #options volume would eclipse 2018's record volume. But, through February, ADV is down nearly 19% from last year. 2019 is still young so we thought we'd take your pulse again  - will 2019 beat 2018's record  5.1B #options contracts? 69% - Yes 31% - No Question from Fidelity Client - As an options seller, is it better to close out of my options positions early or let them expire worthless?         AROUND THE BLOCK This Week in the Market: Mar 11 - Retail Sales Mar 12 - CPI Mar 13 - Durable Goods, PPI Mar 14 - Jobless Claims, Import and Export Prices Mar 15 - Industrial Production, Consumer Sentiment

TRADING BLOCK Most active indices: VIX - 352k, SPY - 1.65M, SPX - 567k Most active equity options: LLY, NIO, AAPL, FB, GE, BAC, TSLA, AMD, BAB, MSFT OCC February volume down 25.9% after strong 2018     ODD BLOCK Put selling in Kraft Heinz Co (KHC) Puts trading in General Electric Company (GE) More puts trading in Kroger Co (KR)       MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: Everyone in our audience thought 2019's #options volume would eclipse 2018's record volume. But, through February, ADV is down nearly 19% from last year. 2019 is still young so we thought we'd take your pulse again  - will 2019 beat 2018's record  5.1B #options contracts? - Yes - No Question from Tosaw Client - I have a client and listener who asked me an interesting question we can talk about on the show. Why is a call calendar (both above the price of the underlying) more expensive than a put calendar on GOOGL and CRM? This could be a really good discussion.       AROUND THE BLOCK This Week in the Market: Mar 8 - Unemployment

TRADING BLOCK Most active indices: VIX - 599k, SPY - 1.67M, SPX - 708k Uber/Lyft drivers may be able to participate in IPO       ODD BLOCK Call love in (BUD) Call overwrite in Workday Inc (WDAY) Call love in SandRidge Energy Inc. (SD)       STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discuses how trading based on a breakout can be beneficial to risk management.         MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: We'll keep it simple to wind down the week. What is your go-to #options strategy right now? Don't see your fav on the list? Reply/DM with your suggestions. 49% - Long Call/Put/Vertical 14% - Short Call/Put/Vertical 20% - Fly/Iron Fly/Condor 17% - Calendar/Diagonal Question from Holscreen - Is it safe to say that a large amount of the options business is devoted to paying for puts? Question from Dana Mac - I’ve heard a lot of talk about contract numbers but how much dollar value is actually transacted in the options market?     AROUND THE BLOCK This Week in the Market Mar 4: Construction Spending Mar 5: New Home Sales, Treasury Budget Mar 6: International Trade Mar 7: Jobless Claims, Productivity and Costs Mar 8: Unemployment

TRADING BLOCK Most active indices: VIX - 138k, SPY - 800k, SPX:477k Most active active equity options: GE, JD, SQ, AAPL, TSLA, CELG, NIO, LLY, BAC, BMY Earnings: Monday - Etsy, Shake Shack Tuesday - Home Depot, Macy’s Wednesday - Lowe’s, Best Buy, Square, Hewlett Packard, Box, Fitbit Thursday - Nordstrom, JcPenney, Gap, Dell, Crocs Friday - Foot Locker       ODD BLOCK Call love in Dell Technologies Inc (DELL) Call overwrite in Fitbit Inc (FIT) Call overwrite plus puts in General Electric Company (GE)       MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: We'll keep it simple to wind down the week. What is your go-to #options strategy right now? Don't see your fav on the list? Reply/DM with your suggestions. - Long Call/Put/Vertical - Short Call/Put/Vertical - Fly/Iron Fly/Condor - Calendar/Diagonal Question from Ben K. - You guys were talking about getting your short spy calls called away on a recent episode. Is that something that occurs often and I should be concerned about it?       AROUND THE BLOCK

TRADING BLOCK Most active indices: VIX - 968k, SPY - 1.8M, SPX - 670k Most active equity options: GE, AAPL, AMD, BAB, NIO, JD, TSLA, BAC, FB, NFLX Earnings this week Monday - (after the bell) Etsy, Shake Shack Tuesday - Home Depot, Macy’s Wednesday - Lowe’s, Best Buy, Square, Hewlett Packard, Box, Fitbit Thursday - Nordstrom, JcPenney, Gap, Dell, Crocs Friday - Foot Locker       ODD BLOCK Call review from 2/7 in Mohawk Industries, Inc. (MHK) Call palooza from 2/4 in Mattel Inc (MAT)       STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses using options with an IRA       MAIL BLOCK 5-Star Review from Jake Luttrell - Great content. Thank you Question from Leg77 - MIAX making it official with 16 exchanges. What do you guys think about more players entering the options game?       AROUND THE BLOCK

TRADING BLOCK More red on the street today. VIX 14.75 - UP .75 Trader are focusing on FANG through Nasdaq futures - http://openmarkets.cmegroup.com/14669/traders-are-focusing-on-fang-through-futures         ODD BLOCK Put review from 2/7 in (KAR) Calls trade in (AGI) Call sale in (PGR)       STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses his experience defending a client using the law.       MAIL BLOCK Comment from Optionsgame: Translated from French: You should follow @Options. It's a good podcasts that will give you ideas. Comment from Chris Imming: Maybe it is time to question the assumption about the accuracy of analysts estimates. Let's Make Analysts Great Again Comment from Neil Wales - You should have another choice. Have no idea how to trader these things yet.       AROUND THE BLOCK

Best Of The Option Block: Back To The Beginning The markets are closed for President's day so the All-Star Panel gets a day off. But that doesn't mean you don't get a show! Join us for a trip down memory lane to the very first "sneak preview" episode of The Option Block from September 2010. Enjoy!

TRADING BLOCK Another mixed day of the street. EA bouncing back after Fortnite crash and Apex rally. Earning Highlights this Week: Monday - Aurora Cannabis (ACB) Tuesday - Activision Blizzard Wednesday - Cisco Thursday - Nvidia, The Coca-Cola Company, CME Group, Cannabis Growth (CGC), Applied Materials Friday - PepsiCo       ODD BLOCK Near-term ITM call love in Electronic Arts Inc (EA) Call love in CBS Corporation Common Stock (CBS) More paper trading in Centurylink Inc (CTL)       MAIL BLOCK #QOTW - $VXX is dead! Long Live $VXXB! There's a (somewhat) new kid on the #Volatility trading block. Are you trading $VXXB #options yet? If not, how are you getting your #Volatility fix these days? $VIX $TVIX $SVXY - Yes: Jumped into $VXXB - No: Spreads are too wide - No: Prefer $TVIX, etc - No: Prefer $VIX #options Question from Dave B. - Hi, I have a question about what is the best strategy to use for my trading system. I typically am only right on about three or four trades out of every 10 with long stock. The trades that I am wrong on, I take a small loss - somewhere between 5 to 10% but only 1-2% of the total capital as I typically take 10% positions. The trades that I am right on, I typically make 50% up to 200% over a 3 to 12 month period. I want to find an options strategy to increase returns via leverage, but keep total portfolio risk per trade about the same. Would DITM calls or spreads make sense to you?  Or is there another strategy I could (should) consider. Thank you! Dave B. Sent from my iPhone Question from LLAZ - What do you think of call verticals in $USO here? Maybe 3-month 5 or 10% otm? Worth financing with a put? Question from DaQuinta - I've been lured in by the ongoing selloff in crude oil and I'm thinking about setting up a longer-term stock replacement strategy in the USO ETF. I have a couple of questions: A.) With $USO dropping below $11 is it even worth doing or should I just buy the shares instead? Is there a certain threshold where stock replacement stops making sense? B.) My proposed construction is an almost six-month strategy with July 8 Calls for $3.10. So my outlay for 100 shares is $3100 versus $10,800. C. Is it even worth selling a Jan 11.5 call and limiting all of my upside just to collect $.15 or should I keep it open from here?       AROUND THE BLOCK This Week’s Economic Reports Feb 15: Import and Export Prices, Industrial Production, Business Inventories, Consumer Sentiment

TRADING BLOCK Earnings Highlights this Week: Monday - Aurora Cannabis (ACB) Tuesday - Activision Blizzard Wednesday - Cisco Thursday - Nvidia, The Coca-Cola Company, CME Group, Cannabis Growth (CGC), Applied Materials Friday - PepsiCo Pot, soda and videogame earnings are on Wall Street’s to-do list - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/weed-soda-and-videogames-are-on-wall-streets-to-do-list-2019-02-09     ODD BLOCK Size paper trading in SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Explore & Prod. (XOP) Put palooza in Centurylink Inc (CTL) Call palooza in Sangamo Therapeutics Inc (SGMO)     STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the dangers of over trading.     MAIL BLOCK #QOTW - $VXX is dead! Long Live $VXXB! There's a (somewhat) new kid on the #Volatility trading block. Are you trading $VXXB #options yet? If not, how are you getting your #Volatility fix these days? $VIX $TVIX $SVXY - Yes. Jumped into $VXXB - No. Spreads are too wide - No. Prefer $TVIX, etc - No. Prefer $VIX #options Question from JVacx - Whatever happened to the $TSLA 50 put holders? Did they close out? Did they roll? Are they still slinging puts?     AROUND THE BLOCK This Week’s Economic Reports Feb 12: JOLTS Feb 13: CPI Feb 14: PPI, Jobless Claims Feb 15: Retail Sales, Import and Export Prices, Industrial Production, Business Inventories, Consumer Sentiment

TRADING BLOCK More Earnings Highlights This Week: Monday - Clorox, Sysco Tuesday - Walt Disney Company, Snap Inc., BP, TakeTwo, Electronic Arts, Viacom, Wednesday - GM, Lilly, Spotify Thursday - Twitter, WWE, Mattel, Grubhub Friday - Cboe, Exelon, Hasbro     ODD BLOCK Upside calls in Mohawk Industries, Inc. (MHK) Calls trade in QuinStreet Inc (QNST) Puts trade in KAR Auction Services Inc (KAR)     MAIL BLOCK #QOTW - With everyone still shaking off #SuperBowl haze, let's start the week by applying your trading mindset to next season. If you had to buy a call on one team to make it into next year's big game - which team are you buying? Feeling another team - let us know below. - Patriots - Rams - Bears (legally obligated) - Saints Question from T Mal - Thoughts on the best options trading platform if most don’t do it right?     AROUND THE BLOCK

TRADING BLOCK Are we out of correction? You betcha!  OCC January volume down 11.9% after record-breaking 2018 Earnings Highlights this week: Monday - Clorox, Sysco Tuesday - Walt Disney Company, Snap Inc., BP, ADM, Electronic Arts, Viacom, Wednesday - GM, Lilly, Spotify Thursday - Twitter, WWE, Mattel Friday - Cboe, Exelon, Hasbro       ODD BLOCK Harvesting the risk premium in Plains GP Holdings LP (PAGP) Call palooza in Mattel, Inc. (MAT) Harvesting more risk premium in Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP)         STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses adjustments to a bullish butterfly and “line-in-the-sand” trades.     MAIL BLOCK #QOTW - With everyone still shaking off #SuperBowl haze, let's start the week by applying your trading mindset to next season. If you had to buy a call on one team to make it into next year's big game - which team are you buying? Feeling another team - let us know below. - Patriots - Rams - Bears (legally obligated) - Saints     AROUND THE BLOCK

TRADING BLOCK Apple earnings: Did they do the right thing by pre-announcing the bad earnings? Earnings Highlights: Monday - Caterpillar (before bell), Whirlpool (after bell) Tuesday - AMD, Apple, eBay, Harley-Davidson, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Verizon, 3M Wednesday - Alibaba, AT&T, Boeing, Facebook, McDonalds, Microsoft, PayPal, Tesla, Visa Thursday - Amazon, GE, MasterCard, Sprint, UPS Friday - Chevron, ExxonMobil, Honeywell, Sony     ODD BLOCK Opening call love in Dropbox Inc (DBX) Opening line-in-the-sand puts in General Electric Company (GE) Below bid puts in Tallgrass Energy LP (TGE)     MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: It's that time again - #EarningsSeason! This week is a hot one! Which of the big #Tech names reporting are you most excited to trade in your #options account? Did we leave out your favorite? Let us know below. - $AMZN - $FB - $AAPL - $MSFT Question from Jarryd Smith - I have a question for the podcast that, as a long-suffering Bills fan, I hope a long-suffering Bill can answer. I wouldn't turn down the greasy meatball, though. What is meant by 'the tent'? For example, stop the trade when it exits 'the tent'. Let's use an ATM Butterfly. Is it the ending 'tent', when at the end of the trade it would a max-loss? Or the end of the trade that would still be a profit? Or something else? For example, if I had a 100/150/200 ATM Butterfly on for $25, would I exit if it hit 100 or 200? Or 125/175? Or something else? Thanks! Comment from David Lincoln - $NVDA and although it is not a tech stock I am still on that $TLRY kick.... Comment from FContangotrader - Check out $AAPL OI 215 and 210 put strikes Comment from J3dingle - I'm going to leave a bad review for your pronunciation (Vale)! Question from AllOrNothingRookieJan - $FB bought 2700 shares yesterday before ER......do I hold or lock in some profit guys?????...I’m thinking of moving it all over to amazon and seeing if I’m still lucky….I wish I could do Options but I don’t know enough and heard I can lose all my money?     AROUND THE BLOCK Economic Reports This Week - Feb 1: Unemployment, Construction Spending, Consumer Sentiment  

TRADING BLOCK Caterpillar missed its market expectations NVDA off 15% VALE S.A. estimated to report earnings on Feb 26 Earnings Highlights: Tuesday - AMD, Apple, eBay, Harley-Davidson, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Verizon, 3M Wednesday - Alibaba, AT&T, Boeing, Facebook, McDonalds, Microsoft, PayPal, Tesla, Visa Thursday - Amazon, GE, MasterCard, Sprint, UPS Friday - Chevron, ExxonMobil, Honeywell, Sony     ODD BLOCK Put love in Digital RLTY (DLR) Harvesting premium in Yum China Holdings Inc (YUMC) Harvesting 1-year premium in Iron Mountain Inc (IRM)       STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses options buying power     MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: It's that time again - #EarningsSeason! This week is a hot one! Which of the big #Tech names reporting are you most excited to trade in your #options account? Did we leave out your favorite? Let us know below. $AMZN $FB $AAPL $MSFT - $AMZN - $FB - $AAPL - $MSFT     AROUND THE BLOCK This Week’s Economic Reports Jan 29: International Trade, Consumer Confidence Jan 30: GDP, FOMC Meeting Jan 31: Jobless Claims Feb 1: Unemployment, Construction Spending, Consumer Sentiment

In this episode, Mark, Uncle Mike and the Rock Lobster discuss: Trading Block LUV, JBLU, XLNX, INTC Earnings VIX AAPL Today's most active options and more.. Odd Block Unusual options activity in PAH AVP SPWR Strategy Block Uncle Mike talks stock replacement strategies.  Mail Block Your 5,4 and 1 star Itunes reviews.  Around the Block Anything but macro...

  The Option Block 774: Time to Dance Once again HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI/MARK SEBASTIAN, OPTION PIT CO-HOST: MIKE TOSAW, ST. CHARLES WEALTH MANAGEMENT Trading Block We discuss AAPL, VIX, SPY and more Odd Block Today's tickers: TRU SIG KEY Strategy Block How to manage a covered call portfolio. Mail Block You guys have puts and stocks on the brain this week. Around the Block Looking ahead to earnings in GS, BAC, BNY, JPM, NFLX and more...  

The Option Block 773: Getting Gossipy Live With The Rock Lobster In this episode Mark is joined live in the studio by the Greasy Meatball AND the Rock Lobster (along with Uncle Mike beaming in from St. Charles). Gossipy madness ensues...

The Option Block 772 - Still A Market For Crazy People TSLA, AAPL, AMZN all in the news. VIX still eerily flat. What were the Top 10 OB Episodes of 2018? Tune in to find out. Odd Block Today we review the following unusual activity: DAN call love EXEL call love CSOD call love Strategy Block Uncle Mike's advice - in a nutshell Stay Vertical Mail Block Gauging your thoughts about AAPL at these levels Answering your questions about the mystery window after the close to exercise options on expiration.

TRADING BLOCK VIX: 207k, SPY: 1.7M, SPX: 694k, QQQ: 476k MVP of the Year: We've got quite the horse race now to see who will be crowned the most valuable company by the end of the year. Amazon was briefly number one today, but closed in the second spot. Now we have: $MSFT at 860.43 billion market cap. - 779.2B on 12/31 $AAPL at 877.04 billion market cap. -  Now 748.5B on 12/31 $AMZN at 866.63 billion market cap. - 734B on 12/31     ODD BLOCK Put love in Avis Budget Group Inc. (CAR) Call love in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY) Opening call sale in Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) - from 11/26     STRATEGY BLOCK Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses selling call spreads.     MAIL BLOCK #QOTW: Those $AAPL Jan 150 puts that everyone sold in our last poll for $2 are now ITM. So our question is - what do you do now? Do you keep the stock around $148? Sell covered calls to “wheel out?” Roll or close the position? Let us know here - Happily buy $AAPL at $148 - Wheel out w/ Covered Call - Roll Put down - Close position Question from NN56 - Have you used Robinhood for options? What’s your impression? The impressions of your listeners?     AROUND THE BLOCK  

Originally published January 30, 2018 Trading Block: VIX is back into the 13 handle. Earnings this week: Wednesday - FB, Microsoft Thursday - Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Alibaba The ORATS earnings report for 1/29/2018 Odd Block: More Jan 2019 50 "Catastrophe" puts in Tesla Motors (TSLA). Size call diagonal in Anheuser Busch Inbev NV (BUD). Near-term call paper in Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL). Mail Block: Options question of the week Earnings Season is upon us once again! It's time for #Tech to put its best foot forward. Which big #tech names are you looking to sling some #options on this week? Amazon ($AMZN) Microsoft ($MSFT) Alphabet ($GOOGL) Facebook ($FB) Listener questions and comments: Question from Michael Smith - Any recommendations on where I can find help on calculating implied move into earnings? Around the Block/Economic Reports this Week: Jan 30: Consumer Confidence Jan 31: Chicago PMI, FOMC Meeting Feb 1: Jobless Claims Feb 2: Unemployment, Consumer Sentiment, Factory Orders

Trading Block: A look back at the year in trading The worst holiday week ever? Dow rallies 1,000 points, logging its biggest single-day point gain ever 2018 YEAR END REVIEW MVP of the Year: Now we've got quite the horse race to see who will be crowned the most valuable company by the end of the year. Amazon was briefly number one today, but closed in the second spot. Now we have: MSFT at 860.43 billion market cap. - NOW 753B AAPL at 877.04 billion market cap. -  NOW 721B AMZN at 866.63 billion market cap. - NOW 693B Mail Block: Options question of the week. The final #QOTW for 2018 is a big one! Time to play along w/ #VolatilityViews and dust off your #CrystalBall. Quite simply - where do you think $VIX will close for 2019? Bonus points: Reply/DM/Email w/ your specific pick. Closest (within 1pt) will win Fabulous Prizes. Low: 8-11.99 Normal: 12 -16.99 Elevated: 17- 23 Very Elevated: > 23 Around the Block: What to look forward to in 2019?

TRADING BLOCK Fed raises rates again - hints at slower raises to come, but not enough for the markets. Chair Powell pretty much says the Fed doesn’t need to respond to Trump or the market. Most active: SPY - 3.54M (ADV 3.72M) VIX -  177k (584K ADV) Earnings Highlights: Thursday - Conagra, Nike Friday - Carmax     ODD BLOCK Tesla put summary Call love in (PG) Call love in (EXEL) Put love in (GNW)       MAIL BLOCK #Options #QOTW - Which upcoming #Volatility product are you most excited about trading in 2019? Or are you content to stay with the original despite lingering issues? - #SPIKES - #Realday/ #RealVol - #Voldex/ #Skewdex - I’ll stick with $VIX   Comment from StockCats - 6 trading days left in the year… Comment from TinSoldier - RE: Disney - Stock buybacks are not happening, but you have to be blind not to see future growth in every business segment(media, parks, studio) Comment from Danny_Desert - RE: Disney - I can give a couple trillion why it won’t. Comment from Koopus - Recent market jolts is when fake & bloated stocks like TSLA will race to the bottom! Comment from PaulDrew2006 - Uncle Mike’s comment that this is a market for crazy people - Not really, smart people will be buying a sale Comment from Scott Somer: 10,000 Jan 18th $XLF 22 puts have traded….$SPY STILL has 5 dollar expected move in Dec 21 cycle.     AROUND THE BLOCK  

Trading Block: Looming government shutdown spooks the market. Most active today: SPY - 2.1M (ADV 3.44M) VIX - 326k (603K ADV) Earnings Highlights: Monday - Oracle (after bell) Tuesday - Darden, Navistar, FedEx Wednesday - Rite Aid, General Mills Thursday - Conagra, Nike Friday - Carmax Odd Block: Tesla put summary, opening call sale in (ONB), opening call love in (CG) and put love in Macy's (M) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses 1256 contracts and wash sales. Mail Block: Options qusetion of the week Which upcoming volatility product are you most excited about trading in 2019? Or are you content to stay with the original despite lingering issues? SPIKES Realday/RealVol Voldex/Skewdex I'll stick with VIX Listener question: Question from CodeLife10 - What is your thought on JPM tomorrow? Around the Block: What's on the radar for the pre-holiday week?

Trading Block: A mixed day today after a crazy week. Most active today: SPY - 1.62M (ADV 3.44M) VIX - 332k (603k ADV) Earnings Highlights: Monday - Stitch Fix Tuesday - Dave & Busters, American Eagle Outfitters Wednesday - Vera Bradley, Peak Resorts Thursday - Costco, Adobe And, Apple falls after Chinese court bans sale of most iPhones Odd Block: Tesla put summary, put breakdown in General Electric Company (GE), call sale in Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC), and call love in Liveramp Holdings Inc (RAMP) Mail Block: Options question of the week Everyone loves trading $AAPL #Options. So the #OpenInterest is always very high. But a few interesting #Options dominate the rest. What do you think is the largest open position in $AAPL right now? No cheating - try to use your #SpideySense. Jan 2020 200 Call Jan 250 Call Dec 180 Put Jan 100 Put Listener questions and comments: Comment from Austyn41: Good shows today. The experienced and animated host makes it very entertaining and interesting to listen to. Question from Bjorn L. - You still liking apple 150 puts here? Comment from Mark Brant - Bought AAPL 8d/15d Calendar Straddle for $1.40! On a nice streak with this strategy. Multi bagger profit potential if you get lucky. I have come to favor +EV plays that have big upside but uncertainty per trade. Question from Max Lee - What do you think about stock replacement in SPY here? How far out would you go? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Dec 14 - Retail Sales, Industrial Production

Options news you can use for Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Trading Block: Another day, another selloff Most active today: SPY - 2.71M (ADV 3.44M) VIX - 299k (603K ADV) Earnings Highlights: Monday - Stitch Fix Tuesday - Dave & Busters, American Eagle Outfitters Wednesday - Vera Bradley, Peak Resorts Thursday - Costco, Adobe MVP of the Year: Now we've got quite the horse race to see who will be crowned the most valuable company by the end of the year. Amazon was briefly number one today, but closed in the second spot. Now we have: AAPL at 877.04 billion market cap. AMZN at 866.63 billion market cap. MSFT at 860.43 billion market cap. Odd Block: Tesla put summary; March put love in Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (SKT); puts lighting up in HD Supply Holdings Inc (HDS), and; call love in Hydrogenics Corporation (HYGS) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses cash as a position. Mail Block: Options question of the week. Everyone loves trading $AAPL #Options. So the #OpenInterest is always very high. But a few interesting #Options dominate the rest. What do you think is the largest open position in $AAPL right now? No cheating - try to use your #SpideySense. Jan 2020 200 Call Jan 250 Call Dec 180 Put Jan 100 Put Listener questions and comments: Comment by Austyn41 - You've been nuggeted! Question from RTS3 - Mark said he used to trade Activision a lot. Outside of trading it, do you also play their games? If so what's on your playlist these days? Also the Rock Lobster is a cool nickname. B52s? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Dec 11 - PPI Dec 12 - CPI, Treasury Budget Dec 13 - Jobless Claims Dec 14 - Retail Sales, Industrial Production

Trading Block: A look back at the week in trading Tariff Man spooks the market…again. Exchanges were closed on Wednesday, December 5 in observance of a National Day of Mourning for the late George HW Bush. Netflix blew $100M on Friends reruns for one year! Most active this week: SPY - 3.01M (ADV 1.43M) VIX - 476K Earnings Highlights: Tuesday - Dollar General, HP Wednesday - Five Below Thursday - The Kroger Co., Broadcom, Michaels, Ulta Friday - Big Lots Odd Block: Tesla put summary, opening Dec put love in Signet Jewelers Ltd. (SIG), opening Jan put love in Teradyne, Inc. (TER), and opening Feb call love in Lennar Corporation (LEN) Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from Daleon - Hey! I'm something of an options noob but I'm learning from listening to you guys. Still haven't pulled the trigger on my first trade. My question - what's the best and easiest starting point for noobs? I mostly have SPY in my portfolio right now. Is it selling calls on SPY? Am I correct that those calls would be considered covered? Fun show. Also liking the playbook program. Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Dec 7 - Unemployment, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Exchanges closed on Wednesday, December 5 in observance of a National Day of Mourning for the late George HW Bush. Earnings Highlights: Tuesday - Dollar General, HP Wednesday - Five Below Thursday - The Kroger Co., Broadcom, Michaels, Ulta Friday - Big Lots Also: Oil selling off - WTI Crude back in the $40 handle. Bitcoin crushed - BTC threatening 4000. Odd Block: Tesla put summary, possible opening call sale in (GPOR), put love in (PVG), and put love in (BEL). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses purchasing long delta in options. Mail Block: Options question of the week AAPL continues to take a beating - recently dropping below $175. We know many of you LOVE to trade $AAPL and this selloff creates opportunities. Looking ahead to Jan 2019 expiration- which trade would you prefer to make in AAPL right now? Sell Jan 150P for $1.65 Buy Jan 150P for $1.65 Sell Jan 200C for $1 Buy Jan 200C for $1 Listener questions and comments: Comment from Mark Brant: Bot a million DOGE because it was cheaper than BTC. Spikes off lows take about 60 days to show up. For free on Robinhood! Short put spreads USO OIH came in nicely! Andrew and Mark miss a lot of VIX trades because their bias is down. My bias is up. Always looking at the 16 delta Calls! NG RR is on fire! Eurodollar HV much lower than IV as per usual. Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Dec 3: Construction Spending Dec 5: Productivity and Costs, Beige Book Dec 6: Jobless Claims, Factory Orders Dec 7: Unemployment, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block/Earnings highlights from the week: Tuesday - Salesforce Wednesday - Box Thursday - TD, GameStop, HP Clothing Retailers: Burlington, Chico's, J Jill, Guess, Express, Abercrombie & Fitch Plus, Oil sells off - WTI Crude back in the $40 handle. Bitcoin getting crushed - BTC threatening 4000 Odd Block: Tesla put summary, Dec lifts puts in (VOD), opening put love in (AEO), and opening call love in (IQV) Mail Block/Options question of the week AAPL continues to take a beating - recently dropping below $175. We know many of you LOVE to trade AAPL and this selloff creates opportunities. Looking ahead to Jan 2019 expiration- which trade would you prefer to make in AAPL right now? Sell Jan 150P for $1.65 Buy Jan 150P for $1.65 Sell Jan 200C for $1 Buy Jan 200C for $1 Listener questions and comments Question from Leot - Is Apple a good candidate for stock substitution here? If so how would you set it up? Question from Burns - Is buying a call actually the best way to get long stock in this market? Around The Block/This Week in the Markets Nov 29: Jobless Claims, Personal Income and Outlays

Trading Block: Earnings! Tuesday – Salesforce Wednesday – box Thursday - TD, GameStop, HP Clothing Retailers: Burlington, Chico's, J Jill, Guess, Express, Abercrombie & Fitch Also, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to its lowest level since October 2017 on Monday, as losses are seen across the broader crypto market. Odd Block: Tesla put summary, opening call sale in (ADI), opening put love in (CRC), and Jan call sale in (PAA) Strategy Block: Tosaw discusses what a risk reversal is and how to use it. Mail Block: listener questions and comments Question from Khabib - What do you think is the best use for unusual activity? Is it the best for trading or for an indicator? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Nov 27: Consumer Confidence Nov 28: GDP

Trading Block: Review of the last trading day of the year. VIX barely holding on to double digits. Big meh into the end of the year. Silver is on a tear. The highs and lows of Bitcoin. Cboe announces six Bitcoin ETFs. Uncle Mike creates a new product...Fitcoin. 2017 Year-in Review: The good, the bad, and the unexplicable. Final Options Question of the Week for 2017: What is your enduring market memory/event/trend/etc of 2017? Have a suggestion of your own? We encourage you to choose "Other" and send in your thoughts. Death of Volatility/VIX Rise of Bitcoin The Unstoppable Bull Other: Reply/DM w/ ideas Comment from OptionsAlliance: The surprise resurgence of #options volume in 2017. Comment from OliveWanaBroker: The oats bull market. Very important. Uncle Mike's silver collar was not, in fact, the second coming of AAPL. All smoke, no fire Crypto fever Odd Block: Crazy paper from the year TSLA options tracker: The explosion of interest in TSLA catastrophe puts. OI exploded in 2017. Interest also expanded to Jan 2020 50 puts. The 250,000 contract VIX three-way, rolled thrice Extended Stay America - giving up the ghost The way-out-of-the-money gold trade with a further out-of-the-money kicker. Strategy Block: Uncle Mike waxes poetic about his trading strategy from 2017 Around the Block: Will the outlier trends continue? Andrew brings us down with debt talk. What would it take for volatility to return to normal?

Trading Block: Apple woes hitting the market again., Plus earnings. Target Best Buy Lowe's Kohl's And growth in US corporate earnings expectations remains strong. Odd Block: Tesla put summary; call love in JD.Com Inc. (JD); line in the sand puts in Mattel, Inc. (MAT); put love in ENSCO PLC (ESV). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses premium selling Mail Block: Options question of the week You guys did great on last week's crystal ball so we've upped the ante. Where will VIX be at the end of Volatility Views in TWO WEEKS - aka Fri 11/30? Closest (within 1 pt) wins signed book from Option Pit Good Luck! Here: 18.5-20.99 Higher: 21-23.5 Lower: 16-18.49 Crazy: Above 23.5 Listener questions and comments: Question from Steve Giannakopoulos - Seems right that you can write 1 put option when you already own 100 shares of the underlying stock. Brokerage can lock and keep the 100 shares as collateral instead of holding cash as collateral. It doesn't happen though. Why? You could have your long 100 shares forced sell at the put option strike price if it's ITM and you get assigned. I read you said I just don't understand it. Thank you. Question from Matthew Grabarczyk - First of all thank you for the programming and knowledge! Coming from the technical side of equities trading I need some help and I could not really find a direct answer in the archives. A trade I'm in went long at 149.05 with a target of 152.75. At 150.90 (midway) I legged into a diagonal spread long the Jan 151 calls, short the weekly 152.50 trying to optimize skew. It is currently at 152.20 and gamma is kicking my ass. If I wanted to be out completely by 152.75, how would you suggest adjusting this trade? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Nov 20: Housing Starts Nov 21: Jobless Claims, Durable Goods, Consumer Sentiment, Existing Home Sales Nov 23: Fed Balance Sheet

Trading Block: Vol creeping back in as Brexit woes. Bad numbers and Walmart spooking the market. Buffett likes financials. WMT, NVDA earnings. Odd Block: TSLA Flash Poll The top 10 TSLA options positions are DOMINATED by OTM puts. Only one Call position makes the list. Which one is it? No cheating - what does your gut tell you? Feb 450 Call Dec 365 Call Jan 2020 465 Call Jan 600 Call Mail Block: It's crystal ball time! Where will $VIX bet at 1pm central - aka the end of the show - next Friday? See if you can beat the Volatility Views crew. Here: 17-18.50 Higher: 18.51 – 20 Even Higher: >20 Lower: 15.50-16.99 Question from J3dingle - Hi Mark, Thought you might like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQa-sx39Ltw. I wonder how he'd vote in March Madness! Joseph Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Nov 16 - Industrial Production, Treasury International Capital

Trading Block: A look at the week in trading (so far). Selloff mode is back - somewhat. Apple iPhone XR slack demand spooking markets. GE continues to decline on power weakness. Vol creeping back in. Equities: Growth in US corporate earnings expectations remains strong. Odd Block: Tesla put summary Opening call love in (ZNGA) - from 11/5. Opening call love in (ETM) - from 11/1. Put love in (BCS). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses adjusting a short call and short put. Around the Block: What do we think will shake the market this week?

Trading Block: A look back at the week in options trading Goodbye backwardation! Earnings Highlights for the Week Monday - Sysco, Mylan, Marriott Tuesday - Eli Lilly, CVS Health, Gogo, Etsy, Match, Papa John's Wednesday - Groupon, Roku, Square Thursday - Dropbox, Walt Disney Equities: Growth in US corporate earnings expectations remains strong. Odd Block: TSLA put summary, calls trading in Ctrip.com Internation Ltd (CTRP), and call love in Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (CSOD) Mail Block: Option block flash poll All of these downgrades are crushing AAPL. It's back below $1T. Heresy! Are you part of the AAPL faithful or do you have your bear claws out? Quite simply - do you think AAPL will be above $200 one year from now? 72% - Yes: $Above $200 15% - No: Below $200 13% - I'm sick of $AAPL Options question of the week - We always like to take the pulse of our audience. This week we're checking in on your favorite strategies. What is your go-to #options strategy? Butterflies Covered Call/Short Put Verticals, call or put Calendars/Diagonals Listener questions and comments: Question from NVD2 - Are we now out of the danger zone? Where does the danger zone officially start? Question from Helio - Uncle Mike back in full bull mode? What's his biggest holding? Question from Ilya - Why is iron condor the iron fly for cowards? Don't get it. Question from Mark Brant - Sold SNAP 45d ATM Puts when it had the highest ATM IV of any stock! ATM IB is the one to watch for premium selling IMO. Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Nov 9: PPI, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Earnings Highlights for the Week Monday - Sysco, Mylan, Marriott Tuesday - Eli Lilly, CVS Health, Gogo, Etsy, Match, Papa John's Wednesday - Groupon, Roku, Square, Thursday - Dropbox, Walt Disney Apple screwed the pooch: Apple tumbles 7% after earnings on light guidance. Market cap back below $1T Plus, OCC Sets All Time Monthly Volume Record - OCC Clears Record Monthly Volume in October: Over 567 million contracts cleared in October, up 48.9 percent compared to 2017 Odd Block: Put summary in Tesla Inc (TSLA), line in the sand puts in (TRU), opening call love in (ZNGA) and call love in (ETM). Strategy Block: Tosaw discusses the knockout collar strategy Mail Block: Options question of the week We always like to take the pulse of our audience. This week we're checking in on your favorite strategies. What is your go-to options strategy? Butterflies Covered Call/Short Put Verticals -call or put Calendars/Diagonals Around the Block: Midterms elections 2018 tomorrow!

Trading Block: Earnings Highlights for the Week Tuesday - GE, Sony, BP, FB, ebay, Pfizer, Coca-Cola Wednesday - GM Thursday - Apple, Starbucks, Weight Watchers, Spotify, Cigna, Dow/DuPont Friday - ExxonMobil, Cboe, Alibaba, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway Equities: Growth in US corporate earnings expectations remains strong. Odd Block: More puts in Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) and "Line in the sand" puts in Yelp Inc (YELP) Mail Block: Options question of the week Volatility is all over the place these days. Some say it's too cheap, others say it's too expensive. Either way they want to trade it. What's your weapon of choice when trading the wacky world of volatility? VIX options/futures VXX options/ shares TVIX shares SPX / $SPY options Listener questions and comments: Question from Mark Davis: Hello, I have written in previously and got some great feedback on my question, so hoping you can help me out again.I am still playing (paper trading) with options while in my real account I purchase shares outright. After having quite a few good years, with the increase in volatility lately I have taken some pretty rough hits, so far for the YTD I lost about 16% of my portfolio. I should also mention I currently only deal with Index funds (S&P, International, & Small cap). I go in and out of these stocks based on various parameters that may have me holding a certain stock for less than a month to a little more than a month. Is your stock replacement strategy a good use for this or maybe not since time horizon is generally not long. Example. Tomorrow I may buy 100 Shares of SPY @ 25 each, likely selling the shares in about 20 days. I am trying to figure a way to get the same (or close to same) movement as if I owned the shares outright while limiting the downside of at least setting a li e in the sand. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the right strategy or if what I want to do is even possible. So in the example above my portfolio had I bought outright and the stock is at 30 in 20 days I'm at $500 but what do I do to get close to this using Options. On the flip side if SPY was at 20, I am thinking there is a way that I would can protect myself from losing some of that $500. Another thing I'm not sure of when doing this should I only be buying enough Contracts that I could afford it were I to exercise the options, i.e. if I have $200 in my account and the underlying is $1/share would I only want to buy 2 calls even though I would ideally have enough money to buy more contracts? Thanks for your feedback. Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Nov 2 - Unemployment, International Trade, Factory Orders

Trading Block: And we're back up! Earnings highlights for the week: Tuesday - GE, Sony, BP, FB, eBay Wednesday - GM Thursday - Apple Friday - ExxonMobil, Cboe, Alibaba, Chevron IBM buys Red Hat for $34B Odd Block: Put summary in Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), calls going up in Proctor & Gamble Co (PG), call love in Exelixis (EXEL) and put love in Ford Motor Company (F). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike discusses butterflies for buying the dip Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Oct 29: Personal Income Oct 30: Consumer Confidence Nov 1: Jobless Claims, Construction Spending Nov 2: Unemployment, International Trade, Factory Orders

Trading Block: Holy crap and holy crap! Earnings: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE): Earnings topped views but revenue missed as ticket sales to live events fell, and the company plans to go ahead with an event in Saudi Arabia. Twitter (TWTR): The stock shot up 16%, near 32, during morning trading on the stock market today. Amazon (AMZN): ATM straddle: $102, approx. 6% Alphabet (GOOGL): ATM straddle: $57, approx. 5% AND Chinese operatives were able to infiltrate motherboards made by a US company that sold to Apple and Amazon: Bloomberg Odd Block: Put summary in Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), call sale in Plains All American Pipeline (PAA), and call sale in Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP) Mail Block: Options question of the week Earnings are back with big tech names on the docket. Which of the following will be lighting up your #Options trading this week? Bonus points for your preferred strategies - e.g. call vertical, straddle, etc. Microsoft $MSFT Amazon $AMZN Alphabet $GOOGL Twitter $TWTR Listener questions and comments Question from RonS6 - What's your suggested minimum account size to start trading options? Question from Tony - Is $HMNY the most option-like stock on the planet? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Oct 26: GDP, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Economic Calendar - Top 5 Things to Watch This Week and U.S. midterms a mere blip on equity options traders' radar. Odd Block: Call sale in EnLink Midstream Partners LP (ENLK), puts trade in Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (MLNX), and risk reversal/collar in Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG) Mail Block: Options question of the week Earnings are back with big tech names on the docket. Which of the following will be lighting up your options trading this week? Bonus points for your preferred strategies - e.g. call vertical, straddle, etc. Microsoft MSFT Amazon AMZN Alphabet GOOGL Twitter TWTR Listener questions and comments: Comment from Kelly Lef - Thought the user tip to exercise deep ITM calls to save on the spread was a good one. So I checked a few of my stock replacement positions that had gone ITM. Turned out the spreads were fairly similar to the spread on the underlying stock index so the any savings were pretty small. Not really worth the hassle to go through the exercise process. Maybe I'm just trading a more liquid index than that listener or am I missing something? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Oct 24 - New Home Sales, Beige Book Oct 25 - Durable Goods, International Trade, Jobless Claims Oct 26 - GDP, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: What a week - volatility is coming back down, and the crystal ball is looking nice! Dow tumbles 350 points as technology and communication-services stocks tank in midday trading. Odd Block: Tesla put summary, funky put palooza in General Electric Company (GE), put sale in Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) and call palooza in KeyCorp (KEY). Mail Block: Options question of the week Time to break out your crystal balls. Volatility is on everyone's mind these days. Will earnings season add to the growing storm? Or will cooler heads prevail this week? Quite simply - Where will $VIX close this Friday 10/19? Here: 19-22 Higher: > 22 Lower: 17-18.99 Even Lower: Listener questions and comments: Question from N45 - When is it not worth closing out losing long options positions and just keep them on as lottery ticket flyers? Is it a nickel? Comment from Mark Brant - SPX -4d/-6d/+8d Calendar Ratio Straddle div +35% PREMIUM! Easily getting filled at the mid-point. Also sold SNAP 41d $7 Puts 0.81! Just get the crash over with. Why drag it out for years? Also bought June 2020 TSLA $10 puts for a buck! Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Oct 19: Existing Home Sales

Trading Block: What a week! Uncle Mike leaves and the market falls apart. Earnings move reports available now. Chinese operatives were able to infiltrate motherboards made by a US company that sold to Apple and Amazon: Bloomberg Odd Block: TSLA 50 mystery put update. Plus, TSLA put palooza. Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses how to get bullish in a market like this. 20,360 RRC Jan20 13.0 puts traded for $1.19. 3599 HBAN Nov 15.0 calls trade for $0.24. 2000 LPI Nov 7.0 calls traded for $0.21. Mail Block: Options Flash Poll Time to break out your crystal balls. Volatility is on everyone's mind these days. Will #EarningsSeason add to the growing storm? Or will cooler heads prevail this week? Quite simply - Where will $VIX close this Friday 10/19? Here: 19-22 Higher: > 22 Lower: 17 - 18.99 Even Lower: Around The Block/ This Week In the Markets Oct 15: Retail Sales Oct 16: Industrial Production, JOLTS Oct 17: Housing Starts, FOMC Minutes Oct 18: Jobless Claims Oct 19: Existing Home Sales

Trading Block: OCC cleared contract volume up 8.7% in September. Total cleared volume up 18.6% year-to-date. Equity options volume up 14.3% in September and up 21.7 percent year-to-date. Odd Block: Call sale in Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU), Puts trade in AMETEK, Inc. (AME), and Call-palooza in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) Mail Block: Volatility flash poll, plus live questions from Duke University VIX has soared to 18.50 & $VVIX hit 120. Is this the new normal or a quick blip? Let's put that to the test starting with this week. Quite simply - Where do you think VIX will close this Friday? Here: 18-19.5 Higher: > 19.5 Lower: 16 - 17.99 Lowest: Around the Block: What's on the radar going into the weekend?

Trading Block: An overview of STA 2018: Stocks, stocks and more stocks. Google searches for hedges is ticking up. VIX searches anemic compared to Feb. Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses 1x2 ratio spreads Mail Block: Listener questions and comments Question from David Kotlyar - Hey mark, Could you discuss the Jun 2019 400 SPY calls? Very cheap and getting some love (5000+ contracts OI) Question from JL Smith - How important is OI when you're trading options? Are there other indicators that you focus on instead? Question from One0761 - Are we in the midst of a major correction. Question from JustinCredible18 - Any thoughts on BBD Nov calls? Nice Brazil stock rally going on. Question from KBX32 - What is the cheapest way to hedge my portfolio with options? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Oct 5: Unemployment, Consumer Credit

Trading Block: The Trump trade deal: Bringing Canada and Mexico back to the table. The Tesla investigation was a farce: seems like the SEC just wanted some headlines. Odd Block: A summary of Tesla (TSLA) puts, options palooza in New Age Beverages Corp (NBEV), put love & call stupid in WisdomTree TR/Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ) and opening put palooza in AVEO Pharmaceuticals (AVEO) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses investing 101. Mail Block: Volatility Flash Poll The CBOE Skew Index alarmed many when it soared above 150. Of course, every index tells its own skew story. Which index do you think has the steepest skew right now (aka 25D put vol vs. 25D Call vol)? 41% - Russell 2000 26% - S&P 500 30% - Nasdaq 3% - Other Listner questions and comments: Question from Oytrate - What is a reason that someone would write ITM covered calls? Seems like a waste of time to me since you're capping all of your upside. Comment from J3dingle - Thanks Mark, I really enjoyed that segment. There was so much going on at that time, I actually forgot all about the short selling ban. I remember seeing Morgan Stanley at sub-$10. Bear Stearns bought for $2, then up-ed to $10. Citi trading for less than a $1? (Pre-reverse split) Question from UpwardMomentum - Approximately what percentage of your unusual option activity trades are winners? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Oct 1 - Construction Spending Oct 4 - Jobless Claims, Factory Orders Oct 5 - Unemployment, Consumer Credit

Trading Block: Earnings! Disney Blackberry Plus, Google searches for hedges are ticking up. Odd Block: Puts trade in Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY), call love in Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY) and call love in Virtu Financial Inc. (VIRT). Mail Block: Volatility Flash Poll The CBOE Skew Index alarmed many when it soared above 150. Of course, every index tells its own skew story. Which index do you think has the steepest skew right now (aka 25D put vol vs. 25D Call vol)? Russell 2000 S&P 500 Nasdaq Other Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Sep 28: Personal Income, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Snap stock rises after company announces new Amazon partnership; Earnings: Walt Disney Co (DIS) Odd Block: Aggressive call sale in TransUnion (TRU), call sale in Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) and puts/calls deal in Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses both trading in a low Vol market and how to pay for puts. Mail Block: Is it just me? Question from Niny3 - Is it me? I seem to only get filled on my limit option order when the stock moves aggressively against me. At that point I’m almost better off canceling the order. What am I doing wrong? Should I just go to market? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets: Sep 25 - Consumer Confidence Sep 26 - New Home Sales, FOMC Meeting Sep 27 - Jobless Claims, GDP, Durable Goods Sep 28 - Personal Income, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Earnings and major moves Oracle Corporation (ORCL) after the bell - $49.25, ATM straddle: $2.75, approx. 5.5% FedEx Corporation (FDX) after the bell - $255.25, ATM straddle: $8.50, approx. 3.3% Reefer madness hits the options markets as cannabis shares continue to climb. $TLRY $CORE $MJ Odd Block: Tesla Inc. (TSLA) put summary, call love in KKR & Co Inc. (KKR), put love in Meet Group Inc. (MEET) and call love in Delek US Holdings Inc. (DK). Mail Block: Options question of the week Some people look to analysts for their market outlook. We prefer to analyze actual #options positions. This week we're looking at $SPY. In a nutshell - what do you think is the largest #options position in $SPY right now? No cheating - what does your gut tell you? SPY Mar 255.0 P SPY Oct 272.0 P SPY Dec 31st 320.0 C SPY Sep 300.0 C Listener questions and comments: Question from Gallion - I need an income trade that produces about 7-8% per year, what should I be looking at? Question from Salsot - Pennies! Did they help or hurt options? Around the Block/This Week in the Markets Sep 20: Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales, Fed Balance Sheet