Trading Block: New 52-week highs (132 new highs today): Amazon Inc. (AMZN + $2.62 to $889.16), Red Hat Inc. (RHT + $0.88 to $87.33), Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV + $0.01 to $51.29), Tesla (TSLA + $11. 11 to $289.41). Tesla Inc is now more valuable than Ford Motor Company, and could very well surpass General Motors Company this week. General Motors Co. (GM - $1.55 to $33.81), Ford Motor Company (F - $0.34 to $11.30).

Odd Block: Calls trade in iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index (EWH), puts trade in Fitbit Inc. (FIT) and calls trade in Carmax, Inc (KMX).

Mail Block: #Options #BrokerMadness finals ARE ON!

• Who will claim the prize of your favorite broker: @OptionsHouse or @LSFinancial?
• The Winner is - Lightspeed
• Question from Game Day Dog - Aww man! My vertical put spread has gone bad. I have +3 options at 61.5 and sold -3 at 62.5 ... Yesterday it gapped down to 50. I now have +200 shares of LULU in my account +3 put options at 61.5 and -1 put option at 62.5. I thought it was a $300 max risk spread. Do I have to do anything? Do I sell the shares? Everything expires in 7 days. Please help. Thanks! So I learned about selling shares and back ratio spreads and even got an $19 credit.

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• Apr 4: International Trade, Factory Orders
• Apr 5: FOMC Minutes
• Apr 6: Jobless Claims
• Apr 7: Unemployment

Trading Block: AAPL records. LULU craps the bed. Stock market climbs after economic data, with banks in lead. Tesla produces more PR noise.

Odd Block: Calls trade in ConocoPhillips (COP), puts trade in Lululemon Atheltica Inc (LULU) and call trade in CIT Group (CIT)

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses Roth IRA vs a traditional IRA

Around the Block/This Week in the Market: Mar 31: Personal Income, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Vol skew gets dumped. Should technical analysis be applied to VIX? Stock-market fear threatens a return, as Dow stares at longest losing streak in 6 years.

Odd Block: Puts trade in SPDR KBW Regional Banking (KRE), puts trade in GoldCorp (GG), puts trade in Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK)

Mail Block: Quizzes, question and more.

Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now. Current #Options #BrokerMadness battle (Monday/Tuesday). @OptionsHouse v. @TradingBlock https://twitter.com/Options/status/846361692544024577

Question from Zanzibar - What is max pain? Does it matter?

Comment from VoiceOfReason1 -Options seems far too complicated - too much thinking involved. I follow the penny stock community - they are usually dead accurate.

Question from Symphox -If you trade options correctly, is it true you will always have the advantage over outright stock purchase/shorting?

Around the Block:

Trading Block: Earnings today - GameStop (GME). Why the bull run will stay in great shape even as the health bill troubles traders.

Odd Block: Calls roll in Fireeye Inc (FEYE), calls trade in Vale SA (VALE) and calls trade in GGP Inc. (GGP).

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses his latest put spread trade.

Mail Block: Quizzes, questions, comments and more.

With $SKEW so high we all need to prepare for the impending #ZombieApocalypse. What's your #Zombie weapon of choice?

• Sword/Axe
• Club/Hammer
• Flame Thrower
• Rifle/Shotgun

Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now. Today's #Options #BrokerMadness battles:

• @LSFinancial v. @TradeKing
• @TradingBlock v. @IBKR

Around the Block:

Earnings this week:

• Tuesday - Nike, FedEx

This Week in the Market:

• Mar 24: Durable Goods

Trading Block: Apple continues to rally. NASDAQ touches fresh intra-day record, but stocks fight for traction. CBOE Skew Index trending higher. It's about time.

Odd Block: Puts trade in GameStop Inc. (GME), call spreads trade in FireEye Inc. (FEYE) and puts trade in Grupo Televisa SAB (TV).

Mail Block: Polls, upsets, questions, and more.

Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now.

• Tough battle today in #options #BrokerMadness as @optionsXpress takes on @IBKR, Who will emerge to take on @TradingBlock?
• @LSFinancial crushing @tradier

Options #QuestionoftheWeek: In #BrokerMadness spirit, lets bring the fight to exchanges. What is your fav? Where do you send your business?

• CBOE/BATS
• NYSE/Arca/AMEX
• NASDAQ/PHLX/ISE
• Other: BOX,MIAX, etc

Listener question:

• Question from JVao - Sell put + buy call = long delta exposure = cheaper than buying the underlying = maximizing skew = why does everyone not do this?

Around the Block: What's coming up this week?

Earnings!

• Tuesday - Nike, FedEx
• Thursday - GameStop

This week in the market:

• Mar 22: Existing Home Sales
• Mar 23: Jobless Claims, New Home Sales
• Mar 24: Durable Goods

Trading Block: The stock market slipped following Fed rate-hike rally, declining in oil prices. The U.S. equity benchmarks slipped Thursday as investors reconsidered the Wednesday rally.

Odd Block: Calls trade in GoPro Inc (GPRO), calls trade in Hecla Mining Co. (HL) and calls trade in Momo Inc (MOMO)

Strategy Block: Andrew Giovinazzi discusses closing trades in his strategy block debut.

Mail Block: Options #QuestionoftheWeek

$VIX = 11.50, $SNAP IV30 =56, $AAPL IV30 = 14, $OIV= 33. If you had to buy #Volatility-which is the best value?

• 22% - $SNAP - aka Tween Vol
• 19% - $AAPL - aka #Iphone Vol
• 35% - $VIX - aka $VIX
• 24% - $OIV -aka #Crude $VIX

Listener questions and comments:

• Question from NanFran - Tomorrow is a triple witching hour. What does that mean for options?
• Question from Goose - What is the difference between weekly options and standard options?

Around the Block/This Week in the Market: Mar 17: Industrial Production, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Are SNAP options set for strong demand on their market debut? Fed kicks off tomorrow.

Odd Block: Puts trade in Encana Corp. (ECA), calls trade in Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) and calls trade in Rio Tinto PLC (RIO)

Mail Block:

Options #QuestionOfTheWeek - $VIX = 11.50, $SNAP IV30 = 56, $AAPL IV30 = 14, $OIV = 33. If you had to buy #Volatility, which is the best value?

• $SNAP - aka Tween Vol
• $AAPL - aka #iPhone Vol
• $VIX - aka $VIX
• $OIV - aka #Crude $VIX

Listener questions and comments:

• Question from Anthony Carter - Snap puts, what the heck!?
• Question from Dr X - I just saw The Big Short, what do you guys think of it? Also, check out Logan if you have not already.

Around the Block: Beware the Ides of Yellen. Earnings: Del Taco and Oracle.

Trading Block: What's going on in the market?

• The BBI explained.
• What would drive the VIX up?
• Interactive Brokers to Stop Options Market-Making Activities.
• Snap options set for strong demand on market debut.
• Crude oil prices fall below $50 as US stockpiles rise.

Odd Block: Puts trade in ILG Inc (ILG), puts trade in SPDR S&P Oil and Gas (XES) and puts call and puts trade in SPDR S&P Oil and Gas (XOP).

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses credit spreads.

Mail Block: Listener questions and comments

• Question from C.J. Magnuson: Is Interactive Brokers basically being squeezed by pay for play?
• Question from Amy: What is the shortest expiration available for plain vanilla options?

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• Mar 10: Unemployment, Export Prices

Trading Block: OCC announced that total cleared contract volume in February was 333,411,251 contracts, 1% from February 2016 volume. Index options volume was up 11% with 39,247,030 contracts in February. An escalating broker price war has begun.

Odd Block: Puts trade in iShares Iboxx $High Yield Corp (HYG), calls trade in NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) and calls trade in Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS).

Mail Block: Options #QuestionOfTheWeek #Oscars Edition.

#WarrenBeatty screwed up Best Picture. What's your biggest #Options screwup?

• 37% - Held onto shorts too long
• 37% - Time Decay killed me
• 11% - Gamma Exploded In My Face
• 15% - Vega Snuck up on My Delta

Listener replies:

• Comment from Matt Benson - Calls in TSLA last week, lol (in response to OQOTW)
• Comment from John Dakota - Too soon to tell. My one mistake was putting an Iron Butterfly on wrong had to lose 20 and a DT for it. Just took off BBY for 200+!

#QuestionOfTheWeek, part deux

SNAP #Options arrive Friday. Assuming $SNAP is still $25 - price the 1-week straddle exp. 3/17 (aka how much movement)

• Between $1 - $2
• Between $2 - $3
• Between $3 - $4
• Over $4

Listener questions and comments:

• Question from Hopgrower - Mark and The meatball, love your shows. My question is as follows: How much heart burn does this thought process give you. I have a directional bias and I buy a slightly in the money call 45 to 60 days out. The stock moves in my favor then stalls or retraces slightly. I then turn it into a vertical. Please fire away. Always learning. Thanks, Hopgrower
• Question from Tom Drake - Whats up with Mike's SLV collar?
• Question from Sean - You have discussed closing positions prior to earnings on past shows. Why would I take an OTM options off the table before the announcement? Is that not exactly when I want to have the option?

Around the Block:/This Week in the Market:

• Mar 6: Factory Orders
• Mar 7: International Trade
• Mar 8: Productivity and Costs
• Mar 9: Jobless Claims
• Mar 10: Unemployment
• Mar 10: Export Prices

Trading Block featuring special guest Ophir Gottlieb, CEO of Capital Market Laboratories, Editor in Chief @CMLviz

SNAP: The first big IPO of the year is off to the races. Supposed to list at $17, opened at $24 and traded up to nearly $26, up over 50% from the listing price.

Earnings earlier in the week:

• Tuesday - Target
• Wednesday - Best Buy
• Earnings today: After the bell - Costco

Odd Block: Puts trade in Shake Shack Inc (SHAK), calls trade in Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) and calls trade in Dollar Tree (DLTR).

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses profit-taking scenarios.

Mail Block: Options #QuestionOfTheWeek #Oscars Edition.

#WarrenBeatty screwed up Best Picture. What's your biggest #Options screwup?

• 37% - Held onto shorts too long
• 37% - Time Decay killed me
• 11% - Gamma Exploded In My Face
• 15% - Vega Snuck up on My Delta

Options Pop Quiz - If $SNAP opens at $17 what price would you give the ATM straddle expiring 3/10? AKA how much movement do you expect?

• Between $1 - $2
• Between $2 - $3
• Between $3 - $4
• Over $4

Around the Block/This Week in the Market: It is a very heavy week as far as economic reports go with a bulk of them coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. Where did February go? Mar 2 - Jobless Claims