The Option Block

TRADING BLOCK

VIX - 16.5, up 3-points from last show

Earnings:

Monday - Winnebago Industries, Redhat

Tuesday - Cronos Group (marijuana stock)

Wednesday - Lennar, Lululemon

Wall Street set for lower open. Apple's 'Show Time' event.

ODD BLOCK

Call love in PagSeguro Digital Ltd (PAGS)

Call overwrite in Viacom, Inc. Class B(VIAB)

Lits puts in Newmark Group Inc (NMRK)

STRATEGY BLOCK

Trey Jarrell discusses credit spreads.

MAIL BLOCK

It's Broker Madness time!!! Round One continues.

AROUND THE BLOCK

This Week in the Market

Mar 26: Housing Starts, Consumer Confidence

Mar 27: International Trade

Mar 28: Jobless Claims, GDP

Mar 29: Personal Income, New Home Sales, Consumer Sentiment

TRADING BLOCK

Most active indices: VIX - 110k, SPY - 1.3M, SPX - 363k

Most active equity options: AAPL, MU, AMD, BAC, NVDA, FB, NFLX, AMZN, COTY, DIS

Earnings:

Monday - Tilray (TLRY), Lumber Liquidators (LL), Overstock.com (OSTK)

Tuesday - Michaels (MIK), China Telecom (CHA), FedEx (FDX)

Wednesday - General Mills (GIS), Guess (GES), Micron Technology (MU), Williams-Sonoma (WSM)

Thursday - Nike (NKE)

Friday - Hibbett Sports (HIBB), Tiffany & Co. (TIF)

ODD BLOCK

Put love in Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN)

Lits puts in Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Put love in Barclays PLC (BCS)

MAIL BLOCK

It's Broker Madness time!!! Vote for your favorite at theoptionsinsider.com

Match-ups this round: TD Ameritrade vs. SogoTrade, Schwab vs. LightSpeed Trading, Fidelity Investments vs. Merrill Edge, TradeStation vs. Trading Block, Ally Invest vs. Firstrade, Interactive Brokers vs. TradeHawk by Tradier, E*Trade vs. Robin Hood, eOptions vs. Tastyworks

Question from JDog - Why don't you guys talk about unusual index activity?

Question from Bob Lasy - What would you say is the #1 go-to options strategy? Is it just buying a call or is it something more elaborate?

AROUND THE BLOCK

This Week in the Market

Mar 22: Existing Home Sales, Treasury Budget

TRADING BLOCK

A fairly quiet day in the market.

Most active indices - VIX: 329k, SPY: 1.2M, SPX: 500k

Most active equity options - AAPL, COTY, FB, BAC, TSLA, GE, BA, AMZN, NFLX, ACB

Earnings:

Monday - Tilray (TLRY), Lumber Liquidators (LL), Overstock.com (OSTK)

Tuesday - Michaels (MIK), China Telecom (CHA), FedEx (FDX)

Wednesday - General Mills (GIS), Guess (GES), Micron Technology (MU), Williams-Sonoma (WSM)

Thursday - Nike (NKE)

Friday - Hibbett Sports (HIBB), Tiffany & Co. (TIF)

ODD BLOCK

Call overwrite in Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX)

More call overwriting in USA Technologies, Inc (USAT)

Call love in Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS)

STRATEGY BLOCK

This week Trey Jarrell discusses portfolio hedging.

MAIL BLOCK

March Madness is back! Vote for your favorite options firm today!

AROUND THE BLOCK

This Week in the Market:

Mar 18 - Housing Market Index

Mar 19 - Factory Orders

Mar 20 - FOMC Meeting

Mar 21 - Jobless Claims, Fed Balance Sheet

Mar 22 - Existing Home Sales, Treasury Budget

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