Option Block 117: 2011 Year in Review Trading Trends

• Rocky year for volatility
• The ups and downs of AAPL
• NFLX: aka the Widowmaker
• Weeklys
• Metals
• Migration into other products

Headlines:

• SPXpm
• OX + Schwab
• Deutsche Borse + NYSE
• MF Global fallout
• Social media IPOs

The Year Ahead:

• Andrew puts it all on the line re: VIX
• Mark makes an over/under prediction on SPX
• What you can expect to see from KYO, OX, Option Pit, and The Options Insider in 2012

Option Block 116: Holiday Volatility Sale

Trading Block: A weak rally going into the holiday -- not too much going down on the street except for the continued annihilation of volatility. GLD and GVX ended the year down. Not much movement otherwise given the time of year.

Odd Block: A look back at some usual activity from the past, including GLD and Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI).

Xpress Block: Rob K talks about straddles and strangles given the fact that volatility has been crushed lately.

Around the Block: The bulk of the holiday weekend has already come out. Have a happy holiday!

Option Block 115: Scooping Cheap Volatility Trading Block: A volatility/VIX rundown -- it's up, it's down, it's in lockstep with the market, it does its own thing. It's VIX madness. Zenga, a new tech name to hit the market -- can it follow in the footsteps of Linkedin, Groupon, Angie's List or the other 2011 tech bubble names? A Metals/commodity rundown. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), St. Jude Medical, Inc. (STJ), and an Odd Block review from 10/27 on Hecla Mining Co. (HL).Xpress Block: Tim Navabi discusses the busy Friday expiration, taking calls from customers about deep in-the-money spreads and other goings on at OX.Around the Block: What are we watching this holiday week? Buffalo Wild Wing (BWLB) joins the Wheel of Fun, also game developer Take 2. It’s a holiday week, so plan accordingly if you are long premium.

Option Block 114: No Straddles Without Gamma Scalping Trading Block: SPY and other expirations on ETFs--close out your shorts! More put buyers are rolling into VIX - even the Journal is starting to pick up on it. Given this erratic movement, how risky is hedging the VIX? GLD put options, a relatively inexpensive option if you still need to hedge you're GLD downside. A Reuters article debating and discussing the sideways movements of the market, which gained popularity of the site recently, recommended straddles as a way to play with market. Should it even be allowed to recommend straddles without following it up with the appropriate discussion on gamma scalping? RIMM earnings after the close – at-the-money straddle trading $1.75 with one day to go. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Walgreens Co. (WAG), Credit Suisse Group (CS), and an activity review from November 17Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (LPX). Xpress Block: John Grigus from OX discusses the Van Eck ETFs and Sears (SHLD), which came out with a re-org. The December futures contracts will go off and stop trading at 8:30 CST. Strategy Block: Mike Tosaw talks about diagonal spreads and the diagonal butterfly given the weekly options being the great fascination of the retail world and gives us his two cents. Around the Block: An update on RIMM - that straddle still not paying the bills, trading about a dollar lower. Will VIX continue to decline? Will the market head north from here?

Option Block 113: The Great VIX Implosion

Trading Block: It's been quite the roller coaster ride for VIX as of late, a lot of people picked up their insurance and are sitting fully hedged, just riding out the storm. Over at KYO, Dollar General and GNC stocks continue an upward climb. Gold down today, as well as crude oil, bonds may be next. Plus, Netflix, aka the widow-maker, makes a return cameo. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI), Targacept, Inc. (TRGT), and revisiting an 11/28 activity review on MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG).Xpress Block: Tim Navabi discusses corporate restructuring and how once they announce some news it can affect the stock and options. Around the Block: Retail sales tomorrow, crude inventories Wednesday. Best Buy could be interesting to watch along with other names in the Wheel of Fun.

Option Block 112: VIX Resistance Trading Block: VIX cash back above 30, how long can it last? MF Global disaster continues to get worse, with no clue as to where customer money is. Customers are making additional margin payments because their funds at MF Global are frozen. This disaster may have ramifications for years to come. Metals/commodity rundown -- volatile gold and silver. Ford brought their dividend back after five years. Odd Block: Three-legged spreads. Unusual activity in Yahoo!, Inc. – (YHOO) andLiz Claiborne, Inc. – (LIZ). Plus, an update on last week's activity review: RIMM and Darden Restaurants (DRI). Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the simulated index concept and how to relate it to higher income and higher net worth individuals. How to use a life insurance policy if you exceed your retirement plan contribution level. Around the Block: The ongoing turmoil in the Eurozone is continuing to keep the VIX in limbo. RIMM earnings next week. Walgreens producing very high vol levels.

Option Block 111: The Waffle and Egg Indicator Trading Block: VIX was all over the map today. Stocks opened strong but rumors of an S&P downgrade warning to Germany killed some of the optimism. The ups and downs of trading Groupon. Trading the wheel of fun: keeping an eye on Dollar General and GNC. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Angie’s List - (ANGI), Darden Restaurants, Inc. - (DRI), and American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. - (AEO). Plus an update from last week on RIMM. Xpress Block: John Grigus from OX discusses the Van Eck ETFs and the news concerning ETFs and options. Around the Block: Jobless claims on 12/08. Michigan Sentiment later this week. The ongoing kurfuffle in the Euro zone. RIMM earnings on 12/15.

Option Block 110: Worthless December Lottery Tickets

Trading Block: A massive explosion to the upside, what was the impetus for the 400 point rally? The S&P 500 has climbed 3% or more in a day 36 times in the past three years compared with 27 times for the nine years before, according to Bloomberg. EU battling to hold itself together. The first of the month means “Options Numbers Day.”Odd Block: Unusual activity in Research in Motion, Ltd. (RIMM) and Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) Xpress Block: Tim Navabi shares the news from Direxion Shares that their 2x bull and bear ETFs will now be converted to 3x. Also, how did OX handle the frenzied rally in the past days? Around the Block: Non-farms tomorrow, but almost a back-burner issue compared to the wild and irrational exuberance in the market recently. VIX finally takes a turn below 30, a long awaited event.

Option Block 109: Danger is in the Air

Trading Block: A strong move to the upside after the holiday weekend. VIX at 30 yet again – is this becoming the new norm? Strong Black Friday sales compelling market. Metals/commodity rundown. Odd Block: Unusual activity in MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG); BlackRock, Inc. (BLK), and Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW). Plus, an update on Guiled (GLID) from last week. Xpress Block: Rob discusses the extreme polarity last week from doom and gloom to consumer uplift on Black Friday. Has there been an uptick of people looking at SPXpm at OX? Around the Block: The afterglow of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still driving all the major indices up. Dark clouds looming on the horizon in Europe. Groupon playing the mini-widowmaker down 9%. Unemployment, housing numbers, and non-farms later this week.

Option Block 108: Super Committee VIX Spreads

Trading Block: Dow back in the red for the year. Debt cutting debate concerns hit the market -- reminiscent of the debt debate from August, only you don't see everyone loading up on VIX puts this time. Did they learn their lesson? Could more DC gridlock trigger another debt downgrade?

Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in: Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) NII Holdings, Inc. (NIHD)

Strategy Block: Andrew Giovanazzi from Option Pit discusses getting short the VIX without overloading on risk.

Around The Block: Super committee debate dominates the outlook for this week -- how do you position for this? Apple below the 375 handle for the first time in a while -- maybe the best is behind Apple?