• HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP
• CO-HOST: MATT AMBERSON, PRINCIPAL, OPTION RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
• CO-HOST: CHRIS HAUSMAN, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF RISK, SWAN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS

THE BUZZ

• THOUGHTS ON CURRENT MARKET/VOLATILITY CONDITIONS
• EARNINGS VOLATILITY: EARNINGS SEASON IS BACK
• MATT’S RECENT APPEARANCE AT THE DALLAS ALTS CONFERENCE
• FREE TRADING SHAKES UP THE BROKERAGE/OPTIONS WORLD
• ZERO COMMISSIONS AND ADVISORS

OPTIONS 101:  EXPENSIVE COMMISSION TRADES

 

• INSPIRED BY THIS QUESTION FROM ROBERT: Now that commissions are gone are there any trades that are back on the table that would have previously been just too expensive
  • BUTTERFLY
  • IRON BUTTERFLY
  • IRON CONDOR

 

OFFICE HOURS 

• QUESTION FROM Erik Norstedt: Hi Mark, Great show! With some of the major brokers offering no trading fees do you think this will lead to an increase in volatility since traders can trade more?
• QUESTION FROM PICODEGAULLO: Has matt from orats ever thought about putting out some sort of tradeable earnings vol product? I for one would use it.
• QUESTION FROM MALLE: Are the swan crew planning to expand drs to crypto when the options list in Q1?

• HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP
• CO-HOST: MATT AMBERSON, PRINCIPAL, OPTION RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
• CO-HOST: CHRIS HAUSMAN, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF RISK, SWAN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS

THE BUZZ

• CHRIS: OVERVIEW OF YOUR PRESENTATION FROM RMC AND INTERESTING TAKEAWAYS FROM RMC OVERALL.
• MATT: 

 

OPTIONS 101: BOOSTING INCOME FROM YOUR PORTFOLIO

• THE GOLD STANDARD - AKA THE COVERED CALL
• SHORT PUTS 
• COVERED COMBO
• COLLAR

OFFICE HOURS 

• QUESTION FROM PLC4: Is there such a thing as too much hedging? How many puts or how much of my portfolio should I allocate toward this strategy?
• QUESTION FROM ELIWAVE: What are your opinions of binary options as a viable hedging or speculative vehicle against client long equity portfolios?

• HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP
• CO-HOST: MATT AMBERSON, PRINCIPAL, OPTION RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
• CO-HOST: CHRIS HAUSMAN, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF RISK, SWAN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS

THE BUZZ

•  THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT MARKET/VOLATILITY ENVIRONMENT
• CATCH US UP ON EARNINGS SEASON - ANY SURPRISES THIS CYCLE?

 OPTIONS 101: PREPPING FOR THE RETURN OF VOLATILITY?

• THIS IS NORMALLY THE SEASON WHEN VOLATILITY RETURNS TO THE MARKET AFTER THE SLEEPY DOG DAYS OF SUMMER. 
• HOWEVER, THE ESCALATING TRADE WAR HAS THROWN A WRENCH INTO THE WORKS BY ELEVATING VOLATILITY ACROSS THE BOARD. 
• THIS IS STILL A GOOD SEASONAL TIME TO DO AN OVERVIEW OF THE OFFERINGS AVAILABLE IN THE VOLATILITY COMPLEX
• “STRAIGHT VOLATILITY”
• SPX VOLATILITY PRODUCTS - AKA VIX
• SPY VOLATILITY PRODUCTS - AKA SPIKE OPTIONS
• VOLATILITY ETPS -  VXX, SVXY AND TVIX
• HUGE ISSUES WITH BUYING AND HOLDING ALL OF THESE DUE TO THE NEGATIVE ROLL YIELD IMPACTING MOST OF THEM. 
• OTHER THOUGHTS/SUGGESTIONS ON WAYS THAT ADVISORS CAN TRADE/HEDGE VOLATILITY FOR THEIR CLIENTS?

SUMMERTIME MAIL BAG PALOOZA SEGMENT PART 2

• QUESTION FROM SERGEI: Hello! Thoughts please on this article from bloomberg on the options volatility. Thank you again. Nomura Says ‘50 Cent’ Has Banks Scrambling for VIX Hedges - https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/nomura-says-50-cent-wall-123747682.html
• COMMENT FROM JOE V: This might be the best indicator of all time! 
• QUESTION FROM ALLEN SIDMUND: What is a realistic number of SMAs on which I can expect to actively manage options positions using covered calls and short put spreads before I’ve spread myself too thin and can no longer devote my time to client development and management. 
• QUESTION FROM 34DLD: Should I limit my options activity to the top 5-10% of my clients with larger equity portfolios and more sophistication to understand the strategies? Will that save me hassle in the long run?
• QUESTION FROM NOBETA: Thank you very much for producing such a fine program. I would like to know more about calendar spreads in particular short calendars where the customer sells the longer term contract and buys the shorter term contract. It seems like everyone talks about calendars from the other perspective? Why is that? Do you every use the short calendar in your arsenal. Thanks again and please thank Mark for creating this network. 
• QUESTION FROM NELSON: Is it realistic to always have a long put against an equity portfolio or is that just too much drag on returns? I've approached this with a few clients and had some embrace it and others push back against the cost.

• HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP
• CO-HOST: MATT AMBERSON, PRINCIPAL, OPTION RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
• CO-HOST: CHRIS HAUSMAN, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF RISK, SWAN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS

 THE BUZZ

• THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT MARKET/VOLATILITY ENVIRONMENT
• CATCH US UP ON EARNINGS VOLATILITY - ANY SURPRISES SO FAR?

• TELL US ABOUT THIS AMAZING NEW BOOK “INVESTING REDEFINED” - Particularly this fun radio program mentioned on the dust jacket!

SUMMERTIME MAIL BAG PALOOZA SEGMENT

• QUESTION FROM RAYBACK: Director of risk? How do I get a cool title like that?
• QUESTION FROM KANELLI: 1. Gun to his head - what earnings trade would matt make? 2. What happened to the earnings reports? No more straddle values or move results reports?
• QUESTION FROM HFL9: Would you rather see options on bitcoin futures or more futures listed on more crypto products first?
• QUESTION FROM LLN: What products would you like to see on the bitcoin- crypto front?
• QUESTION FROM JLSMITH: How important is OI when you’re trading options? Are there other indicators that you focus on instead?
• QUESTION FROM GERRILA: What are the AO crew’s thoughts on commodity volatility here? Thinking of using options to expand my client’s exposure to alternatives. What are your preferred starting points? Is it as simple as buying calls or do you prefer futures or call verticals?
• QUESTION FROM TIM: I know you’ve expressed concerns about other commodity and volatility etfs like vxx and uso. What your thoughts on using gld and slv instead - my use case would be using bullish risk reversals 1-3 months out to maintain roughly 50 deltas of bullish exposure?
• QUESTION FROM LEONGE: Are skew premiums and discounts in gold options also reflected in options on etps that track the products like gld? Very informative program. 
• QUESTION FROM BOBTON: Where do you think I can make the most meaningful impact to my overall portfolio with options -  through income generation, option selling, hedging or speculative buying?
• QUESTION FROM MARK GREGG:  Hello. I’ve discovered this program recently and found it to be a tremendous resource for myself and my clients. I’m interested in using short call options as a way to generate additional income from a portfolio of high dividend yield equities. Is this a viable approach or are there risks I should consider when adding an income stream to an equity where an income stream already exists. Thank you very much for this fine program. 
• QUESTION FROM TOMMASSO ANDRETTI: Why don’t they teach this sh$t on the CFA or Series 7? WTH?! This is actually useful unlike 99% of those exams. 

THE BUZZ SEGMENT 

EARNINGS VOLATILITY BREAKDOWN

 ANY INTERESTING TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS SEASON?

• THE QUESTION EVERYONE ASKS: WHAT WAS THE WINNER FOR THIS SEASON - LONG OR SHORT PREMIUM?

 

OPTIONS 101

When to roll covered calls?

What do you do when the stock moves toward your strike?

Do you close? Do you roll? If you roll, when do you do it?

Thoughts on best practices when the stock approaches your short call strike?

 

 

THE BUZZ

Takeaways from this year’s OIC conference:

From Eric - Mark did awesome job with Hall of Fame awards, my entrepreneur panel. OCC May volume up 13.1%

OIC’S new certification program just recently launched. What is it? What types of courses are offered?

 

 

OFFICE HOURS

Question from DLVC - Does the SWAN team ever use spy options in their overlays instead of SPX? In general -what are the crew's thoughts on the advantages of smaller contracts like spy or even the new CME micro futures when trading indexes? It certainly seems like there is a growing audience for these products even among larger institutions?

Question from TLRV$4 - I’ve heard you guys discuss collars in the past. Has Matt from ORATS ever tested the optimal construction of a collar? Can he share the secrets with the unwashed masses?

Question from LLN93 - Is there a license or program that certifies someone as a licensed options professional? They could even have different variations like a certified income trader, certified portfolio hedger, etc. 

THE BUZZ

Recent market recap: The rise & fall & rise again of volatility.

We’ve seen volatility make a resurgence followed by a fairly dramatic retreat since our last episode. Thoughts on the current market conditions? Thoughts on volatility at these current levels? Is the Fed done for the foreseeable future?

Earnings volatility breakdown - the question everyone is asks: What was the winning for this season - Long or short premium?

Any interesting takeaways from this year’s OIC Conference?

Bernie Sanders revives plan to tax stock, bond and derivatives trades - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-22/sanders-revives-plan-to-tax-stock-bond-and-derivatives-trades?utm_campaign=pol&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews

 

 

OFFICE HOURS

Question from Brandon JT - Do you think the rash of share buybacks these past few years could be contributing to the volatility in the marketplace?

Question from Alex G. - Have you guys ever done a show about strategies and positions to utilize with ESOPS? If not any recommendations? Thanks.

Question from Melt Zone - Seems like the Morningstar options-based funds category has been pretty static since it was launched. Have you seen any updates or changes worthy of note? Can we expect any?

OPTIONS 101

Iron Flys vs. Iron Condors

What is an iron butterfly? What is an iron condor? Why/when would you use each? Why/when would you not use each?

 

 

THE BUZZ

Recent market recap: The rise & fall of volatility

Earnings volatility breakdown.

Alternative strategies to capture alpha in volatile markets.

 

 

 

OFFICE HOURS

Question from Andrew Dodson - Let me see if I have this straight re: delta hedging or “gamma scalping” - even though I’m not sure why it’s scalping gamma and not delta. Let’s say you buy a straddle with a long 10 delta. Then the underlying rallies 1 point so you sell 10 shares to make yourself flat again? Then you wait to see if the underlying drops again so you can buy back those 10 shares at a point lower? Is that the gist of it? What do you do if the stock continues to rally and you continue to get long deltas? And why the heck isn’t it delta scalping?If it was gamma scalping you’d be hedging the rate of change of your delta over that 1 point swing in the underlying? Question from Keving - Why doesn't anyone put out the earnings straddle analysis similar to the analysis from the so called analysts? Then we can all fixate on whether a name outperforms its straddle as opposed to beating the whisper number. I think that's more valuable. Why don't more people know about this stuff.

OPTIONS 101

The Straddle:

• What is it?
• What is it useful for?
• What is it NOT useful for?
• How do you avoid scams involving straddles?
• How do you upgrade a straddle to make it more useful?

 

THE BUZZ

January numbers are in: Second highest volume January in history

 

OFFICE HOURS

Question from Euro 2 Zero - How do you play earnings that has a lower IV rank (30 day) than IV Percentile (52 Week) Ex. $OKE

Question from Bantam Tom - Do most advisors out there primarily trade options in IRAs?

The Buzz - What did we learn from the STAC options panel - Analyzing a volatile start to 2019 -  Earnings season straddle analysis - Hedged equity vs. Markowitz Portfolio Theory - People would rather discuss race and politics over retirement savings - Barrons Top Advisors list completely ignores options - again - Advisors don't need to fear Amazon Office Hours - Backtesting leap puts in retail accounts - Should you write calls on dividend-paying stocks - Options are still the silver bullet to kill robo advisors