The Option Block

300th Episode Spectacular!

Hooray for our 300th episode!

Mark Sebastian, Mike Tosaw, Andrew Giovinanzzi, Alex Jacobson, Mike Cavanaugh and John Grigus join Mark "The Voice of Options" Longo, to reminisce about the all their favorite moment and shows of the past three years.

Comment from Phil M. - Great show guys! Fun times listening to the Option Block. Keep up with what you guys love to do.

Comment from Jay Thomas - Congrats to "The Voice of Options" on 300 episodes of The Option Block! Keep them coming as this show makes my Tuesdays and Fridays much more bearable.

Comment from Ian Getz - Congratulations in advance on the 300th episode of The Option Block. Mike Tosaws BBI and successful Apple saga were my favorite 2013 moments!

Comment from Jim Jam - Love the show! Whats with all the nicknames? Why does Mark L not have a nickname? How about "The Leader", "The General", "Host Master" or "Barry White of Options"?

Comment from Mr Ill - Thanks Mark for bringing us so much great content over the years, and congrats to the whole all-star panel on Option Block 300. I enjoy the whole network, but OB is far and away my favorite. There is nothing else like it on the air.

Comment from Tim Meads, Montana - I just discovered this show and I am looking forward to perusing the other 299 episodes in the archive. Heres to episode 600! P.S. Where can I get a jaunty, viceroy cap?

Comment from Dave S., Burbank, CA - My favorite OB show title is "Netflix Strangles Children" from episode 261! Wishing you continued success.

Option Block 299: Band-Aid for a Severed Jugular

Trading Block: A broad rally across the street on the backs of strong manufacturing data. Fed meeting coming up. Herbal Life halted today. SEC promising to crackdown on insider trading. What exactly is HFT? Stock buybacks accounting for substantial percentages of ADV.

Odd Block: Puts buyers trade in Royal Bank of Canada (RY), puts trade in ZION Bancorp (ZION), calls trade in Noble Corp. (NE), and calls buyers trade in KBR, Inc. (KBR).

Xpress Block: Herbal Life, Oracle, Lululemon all popular names on the desk today.

Strategy Block: A shout out to the bears.

Around the Block: Fed on Wednesday? Will they taper?

Option Block 298: Only Getting 80%

Trading Block: A mixed day on the street. Post non-farms, what is left to give us some vol? Where does one look for premium writers in this environment? Tosaw Update. OX Update.

Odd Block: Calls buyers trade in CYTRX Corp. (CYTR), calls buyers trade in Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU), and call buyers in Bean Inc. (BEAM)

Xpress Block: Twitter and Facebook was where the action was on the OX desk.

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw breaks down the recent adjustment to his position in GLD.

Around the Block: Is there anything to look forward to in this environment?

Option Block 297: Talk of Tesla & Twitter

Trading Block: Not a lot to drive the market today. Futures are trading a discount to the cash. Non-farm payrolls.

Xpress Block: Tesla and Twitter were lighting up the OX desk today. Also, the United/American Airlines merger - What happens to those investors?

Around the Block: Keeping an eye on the 10-year and Home Builders earnings.

Option Block 296: Apple Fire Sale

Trading Block: A mild selloff on the street. Some vol has been creeping back into the market ahead of Non-Farms. The Apple zealots are back. Pressure continues on the metals.

Odd Block: Calls trade in Arris Group Inc. (ARRS), calls trade in CME Group (CME)

REVIEW FROM 10/24 - Calls trade in Jive Software Inc. (JIVE)

Xpress Block: Rumors that Fords CEO may be coming to Microsoft? Gold and energies were the hot products today.

Mail Block: Facbook Question comes in under the wire

Question from Dylan Harris - I have a point I would like discussed on the Option Block. Can you guys discuss locking in gains for long premium trades? Do you gamma scalp with stock or sell options against the position? Or is it best to just close the position and save the commission costs? Love the shows, thanks!

Around the Block: Non-Farms tomorrow. But then what? Not much on the horizon for the rest of the year.

Option Block 295: Saving Yourself Some Headaches

Trading Block: Is there any vol on the horizon? Amazon drones - watch your head! Black Friday a resounding meh, Cyber Monday still a question mark. The Tosaw update: GLD, SLV, APPL, etc.

Odd Block: IB Options Brief: Best Buy Co. (BBY), calls trade in Intel Inc. (INTC), combos trade in Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (SFM), calls trade in Forest Labs Inc. (FRX), rolling puts in Avon Products, Inc. (AVP).

Mail Block:

• Question from Mountain Man Tim - This question is for Uncle Mike. How do you typically determine the put level that you purchase on a stock? For example, you have mentioned being long the 460 put in Apple. How do you determine the put level that you/your client uses as a hedge?
• Question from Jon Jones - What is the ASPs take on Twitter? Long calls? Long puts? Other?

Around the Block: What could possibly bring back activity to the market? Non-farms coming up. Farewell Bernanke!

Option Block 294: You’re Soaking in It

Trading Block: Positioning going into the short weekend. Where are the long premiums? Where is the free juice? Are OX clients still trading or are they already on vacation?

ZNGA love - time for Andrew to gloat. TWTR giving up some of the gains.

Odd Block: Hail Mary call buying in The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), calls trade in Ziopharm Oncology Inc. (ZIOP), and in Titan International Inc. (TWI)

Xpress Block: The Warren Buffet put in Exxon? The success of OX mobile trading.

Mail Block: We’re taking your questions

• Question from Allan Schwartz - Why is open interest still only updated daily? Do we not have enough information now to update that more frequently, if not instantly? If I buy to close 30 calls, that should be reflected in the OI instantly, not the following morning.
• Question from Biz Man - Does OX offer any systems to automate trading? Example - Automatically write a 5% OTM call on XYZ underlying every month/week, etc. It would save some hassle for busy clients.

Around the Block: The holiday approaches. Markets closed Thursday, and half-day on Friday.

Option Block 293: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Trading Block: A strong rally on the street with VIX futures getting utterly destroyed. Twitter has not been the big vol mover as expected. Tesla continues to take it on the chin. Zynga: the stocky hat keeps on giving.

Odd Block: Yesterday review - Calls trade in Star Scientific, Inc. (STSI), risk reversal trades in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), calls buyers in China Life Insurance Company (LFC)

Xpress Block: New technology coming soon to the OX website.

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike discusses the importance of having a variety of different strategies in your trading.

Around the Block: Russell Index is coming back. It will be a race to see who can take down option premiums. S&P taking out 1,800.

Option Block 292: TWTR Is No FB

Trading Block: The first day of trading for Twitter options was very interesting, but yet not the day everyone was hoping for. With these numbers, Twitter will not set a first-day options trading record as Facebook did on its debut. Alex said Dec 50 calls were popular at OX today. CBOE now disseminating VXST every 15 seconds instead of once per day. Interesting article on Barron’s today slamming VXX and other VIX ETPs.

Odd Block: Review from last show - Calls trade in Tile Shop Holdings (TTS), put spread trades in Darling International Inc. (DAR), calls trade in Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (KND)

Mail Block: Question from BROB

What do you guys think of put/call ratios? I never hear you mention them on the show. Useful tool or overhyped indicator?

Around the Block: Home Depot earnings before the open tomorrow.

Option Block 291: Twas the Night before Twitter

Trading Block: A mild rally on the street today. A tepid outlook from Walmart, doesn't bode well for the economy. Cisco taking in on the chin post-earnings. Happy Twitter Options Eve! Any client interest in trading twitter options?

Odd Block: Crazy call buyer in The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), calls trade in Tile Shop Holdings (TTS).

Xpress Block: No Alex today. So it’s time for the Trading Patterns Guessing Game - Special Twitter Edition.

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses when to roll up a call on a diagonal call debit spread.

Mail Block: Whacha wanna know?

Question from Ham Shack - I have read some articles that say Twitter options, particularly the put options, will be very wide and expensive on launch day. I can wrap my head around wider spreads for a new issue, but why would the puts cost more? Is it just a question of bears bidding up the volatility?

Around the Block: Will the SPX break 1,800? Could we see the highs of the year next week?