The Option Block

Trading Block featuring guest co-host Jill Malandrino, Global Markets Reporter NASDAQ.

• The brand spanking new PHLX trading floor.
• SPX and the VIX
• North Korea and Trump meeting Italian PM

Odd Block: Call rolls trade in Walmart (WMT), puts trade in Bank of America (BAC) and ratio call spreads trade in Starbucks (SBUX)

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses the importance of gamma.

Around the Block: What are we looking at that might move the markets next week?

Trading Block: VIX preparing for the French election.

Earnings today (after the bell):

• United Airlines - $UAL - 70.37USD, Price increase 1.29 (1.87%), ATM Straddle - $2.50, approx. 3.5%
• Netflix - $NFLX, 146.56USD Price increase 3.64 (2.55%), ATM Straddle - $12, approx. 8%

Odd Block: Call spread selling in Thor Industries Inc. (THO), call buying in Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), and put spread buying in SPDR Euro STOXX 50 ETF (FEZ).

Mail Block/Options #QuestionOfTheWeek

With $TSLA threatening $315 how are you leaning in your #Options trades this month? Would you rather:

• Buy 1-month $300 put
• Buy 1-month $330 call
• Sell 1-month $300 put
• Staying far away from it

Listener questions and comments concerning Game Day Dog question:

• Question from Elio - Confused. How did that guy end up with only two of his short puts getting assigned to him? If he was short 3 should not all of them have been assigned?
• Question from AddJack - You answered a question from Gamedaydog on Tuesday's episode about a put spread gone bad. Is this a reason not to trade spreads if these sort of complications can pop up? Think I would rather stick with stock thank you.
• Question from Tony Rather - Fun show. Thanks to you and Rock Lobster and Uncle Mike for educating, informing and educating us each week. I have a follow up to the listener mail question from last show in which the listener and Uncle Mike said he was long stock against his put spread. They both said his stock would expire after seven days. But stock does not have an expiration date. Please clarify as I am obviously missing something.

Around the Block: What's on our trading screens for the rest of the week?

Earnings!

• Bank of America
• Charles Schwab

This week in the market:

• Apr 18: Housing Starts, Industrial Production
• Apr 19: Beige Book
• Apr 20: Jobless Claims
• Apr 21: Existing home Sales

Trading Block: Today we have very special guest co-hosts: Nick Howard, QuickStirke. Ophir Gottlieb, CMLVIZ.com

• VIX blowing out the down side
• MOAB bomb drops
• Commodity update
• Uncle Mike's silver collar

Odd Block: Puts trade in iShares Barclays 7-10 year bond ETF (IEF), puts trade in Hanesbrands Inc (HBI), calls trade in Whiting Petroleum Corp (WLL).

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses trading over a long weekend.

Mail Block/Options #QuestionOfTheWeek

With $TSLA threatening $315 how are you leaning in your #Options trades this month? Would you rather:

• Buy 1-month $300 put
• Buy 1-month $330 call
• Sell 1-month $300 put
• Staying far away from it

Listener Question:

Question from AndersonInvesting - New to options. I use TD Ameritrade but currently I do not like it for options. I was looking at Charles Schwab. Any recommendations for an options newbie? Also looking at AMD puts to protect gains (averaged in at 13.23. Earnings date has been announced for May 1st.) Any suggestions there?

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• April 14: Consumer Price Index, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment

Trading Block: Tesla is now more valuable than GM.

Odd Block: Calls trade in MOMO Inc. (MOMO), calls trade in SunPower Corp. SPWR and calls trade in First Solar, Inc. FSLR.

Mail Block/Options QuestionOfTheWeek

With $TSLA threatening $315 how are you leaning in your #Options trades this month? Would you rather:

• Buy 1-month $300 put
• Buy 1-month $300 call
• Sell 1-month $300 put
• Staying far away from it

Around the Block: What is lighting up our trading screens for the coming week?

Trading Block: The 100-year anniversary of the vote to join WWI. VIX pops after Syrian attack. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, VRX + $0.16 to $9.66.

Odd Block: Puts trade in iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Future ETN (VXX), puts trade in Ford Motor Co. (F) and calls trade in JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU).

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses his most recent trade in SPY.

Mail Block: #Options #BrokerMadness

• WINNER IS - Lightspeed

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• Apr 7: Unemployment

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