Mark sits with Christopher Nagy, former Managing Director at TD Ameritrade and now the founder of King of Retail (KOR) Trading.
Option Block 176: Groupon Garbage
Trading Block: A mild rally across the Street. S&P vol getting squeezed of all its juice. Cisco knocks it out of the park post-earnings. Groupon garbage post-earnings. Cosi trading at a depressed level. Facebook south of the 20-handle.Odd Block: Protection swapped on Novartis (NVS); large blocks of calls rolled on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the (DJX) and (DIA) options; Wednesday review: Huntsman International LLC Jumps; calls active (HUN).Xpress Block: Tim Navabi returns to the OX driver’s seat, and talks about his new position as a New Trader Consultant.Around the Block: Waiting to VIX to come back in. Earnings winding down, Europe winding up?
Option Block 175: Groupon Volatility Bonanza
Trading Block: Groupon rallies into earnings, an absolute roller coaster today. No weekend back for VIX cash, toying with the 14 level.Odd Block: General Electric (GE) sees massive call activity. From black to red: Traders buy puts on The Blackstone Group (BX). The winners and losers in Focus Media's (FMCN) buyout offer.Xpress Block: John Grigus takes today's OX hot seat and discusses corn crops and the USDA report, as well as the website, idea hub and new products. Around the Block: Cisco earnings on 8/15 and retail sales tomorrow.
Option Block 174: Doing Whatever It Takes
Trading Block: Another mixed day on the street: a stale, unchanged market today. Keeping our eye on Nvidia. Zynga making more headlines by firing their COO. ETrade ousts its CEO.Odd Block: Calls active after E*TRADE ousts CEO.Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald runs through a couple of use question for the OX crew: Why are Groupon options at a 100% margin commitment at OX? Why is OX showing my estimated commissions for closing out a short position for $.01 at full price? Also, unusual activity in Logitech.Listener Mail: Puts Deep in the Money & Confused About Bid PriceAround the Block: Cisco earnings 8/15, Groupon earning 8/13.
Advisors Option Episode 6: Luring Advisors To The Dark Side
Mark and Mike are joined by Randy Swan, President of Swan Wealth Advisors.
Best of Volatility Views: Busting Skew Myths
Busting Skew Myths! Does the Lottery Effect actually exist? Do flaws in the Black-Scholes model create skew? Were options traders prior to 1987 completely insane? Also, an exploration of the fundamental and psychological causes of Equity/Investment skew.
Option Block 173: Economists Do Not Have a Clue
Trading Block: A mild rally on the day, VIX cash moving in lockstep with the market again. EA lawsuit pounds Zynga – THQ came out with earnings. Knight getting "rescue" bid from a bunch of customers including TD Ameritrade, and the stock has been a roller coaster ever since. Bernanke says economists don't have a clue about individual well-being. Oil up slightly. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in Tumi Holdings, Inc. (TUMI) andChimera Investment Corp. (CIM).Xpress Block: Alex Jacobson gets the OX hot seat today, and discusses the secret project, Idea Hub, which he and his team have been working on recently, deep within the super-secret labs at Option Xpress.Around the Block: Disney earnings tomorrow, Nvidia 8/9, Priceline 8/10.
Option Block 172: Mini Crash Crush
Trading Block: VIX essentially unchanged on the day. Discussing its underperformance again as traders again showed a willingness to unload vol going into the weekend. Mini-crash crushes a number of stocks (Citi, Bank of America, etc.) and annihilates KCG. CBOE earnings this morning – net income up from 2011 despite weak options volume across the board. Facebook breaks a significant floor at the $20 handle. Trading after Apple earnings.Odd Block: Bears Pouncing on Hewlett-Packard Options (HPQ); opening call buyer in E*Trade (ETFC), and LeapFrog Call Volume at 1,713% of average; currently $10.22.Xpress Block: Sean Fitzgerald takes the OX hot seat, and discusses a recent VIX vertical spread, and trading options.Around the Block: Activision (ATVI) after the close, also watching EA. LinkedIn (LNKD) after the close. Web 2.0 is really looking like a bust all around, where's Web 3.0?
Option Block 171: Another Raucous Live Show
Live and unscripted, this episode doesn't follow the normal Option Block layout, but it's spectacular nevertheless.
Option Block 170: Options for Earnings
Trading Block: A broad rally in most names, yet Ford, EA and others getting clobbered. Where's the love? Facebook after the bell, hovering down a bit. Zynga disappoints again. Apple knocks it out of the park, but it' not good enough. This is the way to "miss" earnings. Amazon after the bell. Netflix striking again. Chipotle has been clipped well over 30%. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity today in Facebook (FB) and Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI).Xpress Block: John Grigus is back in the OX hot seat and discusses raising margin requirements in grains. OX has decided to no longer offer the products of the Hong Kong Futures, Montreal, and the London Metals Exchanges after August 31. Close your contracts. Around the Block: One last look at Facebook, Amazon. The Eurozone coming in again for the weekend. GDP tomorrow. More earnings next week.
Volatility Views 59: A Deep Dive into Variance Swaps
Volatility Review: VIX has certainly declined since the last show, with a pop happening only recently. NASDAQ vol rundown since last show. Apple's impact on the NASDAQ wasn't as big as expected. Volatility Viewpoint: Don goes over some of the math of variance swaps, including how they differ from vol swaps, variance and vega notional, convexity, and vol of vol.Listener Mail: Addressing Listener QuestionsCrystal Ball: Looking ahead at the next month for VIX and NASDAQ Vol.
The Long and Short of Futures Options, Episode 7: Interest Rates and FX
In this episode, Mark is joined by Derek Sammann, Senior Managing Director of Interest Rates and FX at CME Group.

