The Options Insider Radio Network

OPR 312: Huddling Up About Crude Oil, Straddles, Fig Leaves and More On this episode, Mark and Brian huddle up to answer all of your questions in this wild pandemic market. Mark and Brian discuss: How you manage short calls? Why you would leg in or sell options against the momentum? Do they think USO is going away? What gave them the aha moment in stocks? And much more…(including an appearance by Brian's son). The Options Playbook is available on OptionsPlaybook.com, or on the Amazon Kindle edition. Do you have a question that you want answered on a future episode? Send it to Brian at TheOptionsGuy@Invest.Ally.Com, or to the Options Insider at Questions@TheOptionsInsider.com.

OIR interviews: Exploring The Opaque World of Hard Assets On this episode, Mark is joined by John Vardis - AKA "The Diamond Analyst." Mark and John discuss: Are customers flocking to "hard assets" like diamonds in these troubled times? Do diamond prices correlate well with gold prices? Are there tradeable futures, ETPs or even structured products linked to diamonds? Is this opaque marketplace still dominated by monopolistic players like De Beers? How are lab-grown diamonds impacting the overall diamond market? What are the best points of entry into the diamond market for new traders and investors? and much more... Learn more at http://thediamondanalyst.com/

OBC 85: Your Qs About Options Mistakes, Earnings Volatility and More HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP NASDAQ HOT SEAT: RUSSELL RHOADS, EQ DERIVATIVES MAIL CALL QUESTION FROM Daniel P Kuczero: What are your thoughts on financially engineering an options strategy to get consistent 8% returns? This is listed on Swan's marketing - I wonder if it is pointed toward them??? QUESTION FROM THEGRATE: Does anyone offer a pre-earnings straddle basket that you can buy to trade a large number of events at once? QUESTION FROM Stockpicker320: If the stock market was closed during the expiration date and I owned "In the money" Call options I would assume that there would be a mechanism in place and my broker, TD Ameritrade, would still allow me to execute them before the Expiration Date on their website or by calling them. At the Expiration Date "In the Money" options get exercised automatically by TD Ameritrade as long as they are in the money by 0.01. It could be very dangerous if the Call options were only in the money by a few cents because the stock price could gap down when the stock market finally opened which could result in a big loss if I had a lot of options which controlled many shares of a stock. If my Call options were only in the money by a few cents I would call TD Ameritrade before the expiration date and ask them "Do Not Exercise" the options. Unfortunately this can't be done on their website and must be done by a phone call. RELATED QUESTION FROM Mike Wienick: If the markets are shut down due to The extraordinary circumstances and I have expiring in the money puts that I bought - what happens? Are the expiring options automatically exercised or do they just expire worthless because the market was shut down? RELATED QUESTION FROM NNJ66: What happens if the stock is halted or exchanges are shut down when I own puts? COMMENT FROM Michael Pledgure: Lets see if the S&P 500 will break to new highs and continue this time? COMMENT FROM Malibu Invest: Two words; long tankers. RE: MASSIVE SELLOFF IN CRUDE OIL QUESTION FROM JAY JONES: I generally trade for credit; either vertical spreads or iron condors. My question for you today is: what is the benefit to trading a pure call or put condor, vs an iron condor? The risk/reward profiles at expiration are identical, but it seems like theta decay doesn't help the call condor or the put condor as much as it helps the iron condor. Can you give an example or discuss when the call condor or the put condor makes more sense than the iron condor? Thanks so much, and keep up the great work!

THE CRYPTO RUNDOWN 58: A DEEP DIVE INTO BITCOIN VOLATILITY HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP GUEST: SIMON HO, CEO, T3 INDEX ABOUT TO LAUNCH THE BITVOL INDEX (THE FIRST OF ITS KIND) THE ULTIMATE GOAL BEING TO DELIVER TRADABLE VOL DERIVATIVES ON BTC A VIX FOR BITCOIN BITCOIN BREAKDOWN SEGMENT ANALYSIS OF CURRENT BITCOIN TRADES, TRENDS, VOLUME, VOLATILITY, SKEW AND MORE DEBATING THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT OF BITCOIN'S STRONG CORRELATION WITH EQUITY MARKETS OVER THE RECENT CRISIS IS VOLATILITY WHAT IS DRIVING PEOPLE TO BITCOIN THE ALTCOIN UNIVERSE SEGMENT ANALYSIS OF CURRENT ALTCOIN TRADES, TRENDS, VOLUME, VOLATILITY, SKEW AND MORE FOCUSING ON ETHEREUM CRYPTO QUESTIONS SEGMENT QUESTION FROM THE ZILLIQA SURFER: ANY THOUGHTS ON THE DANGERS OF TRADING ON DERIBIT AS A US CITIZEN? USE A VPN, PICK AN ADDRESS AND YOU CAN TRADE... COULDN'T THEY LOCK UP MY BTC? QUESTION FROM TELSIE33: PLEASE ASK SIMON HO IF THERE ARE ANY LESSONS THAT HE LEARNED FROM CREATING AND LAUNCHING SPIKES THAT HE CAN SHARE WITH OTHER ASPIRING PRODUCT CREATORS? ALSO - CAN I REQUEST AN UPDATE TO THE MILKSHAKE INDEX THAT INCLUDES CLASS 3 MILK FROM CME? QUESTION FROM MAX: CAN WE SAY THE HALVING IS DRIVING A LOT OF THE VOLATILITY AT THIS POINT QUESTION FROM EL4T: DO YOU THINK BIG PLAYERS ARE SPOOKED BY THE LEVEL OF VOLATILITY WE'RE SEEING IN BTC RIGHT NOW?

Option Block 898: Let's Talk Activity in SPY, VIX, X, IWM, DIS, ROKU, ATVI and More HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI, THE OPTION PIT CO-HOST: MIKE TOSAW, ST. CHARLES WEALTH MANAGEMENT TRADESTATION CO-HOST: ANDREW ROCCO, MANAGER, EDUCATIONAL CONTENT STRATEGY TRADING BLOCK SEGMENT VIX: 37.55 - UP 2.35 FROM LAST SHOW VVIX: 122 - UP NEARLY 4 FROM LAST SHOW VXX: 41 - UP 2.5 FROM LAST SHOW EXPLORING OPTIONS ACTIVITY IN GE, AMD, AAPL, SPY APRIL WAS A GOOD MONTH FOR OPTIONS EARNINGS REVIEW OF DIS, ATVI, ROKU ODD BLOCK SIZABLE UPSIDE CALL ROLL IN IWM SOMEONE LOOKING FOR A BULLISH POP IN X AN IN THE MONEY CALL IN ZM MAIL BLOCK QUESTION FROM TRADESTATION CLIENT: WHAT ARE YOU SEEING IN THE OIL MARKET AT THIS POINT? QUESTION FROM AMATEUR TWIN MOM: WHERE'S THE BEST PLACE TO GET STARTED IF YOU'VE ONLY BEEN TRADING FOR A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME (LIKE 1-2YRS)? AROUND THE BLOCK WHAT'S ON OUR RADAR FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK

VOLATILITY VIEWS 397: HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: MARK SEBASTIAN, THE OPTION PIT MIAX HOT SEAT: DAVID LINCOLN, VIX CRUSH VOLATILITY REVIEW SEGMENT APRIL WAS A GOOD MONTH FOR STOCKS MARKET RALLIED EARLIER IN THE WEEK OFF HOPE FOR GILLEAD'S CORONAVIRUS TREATMENT. NOW THAT RALLY IS FADING IN THE WAKE OF RENEWED TRADE HOSTILITIES WITH CHINA. ECONOMY STRUGGLING SPIKES: 38.5 - UP 1 FROM LAST SHOW VIX CASH: 38 - UP .75 FROM LAST SHOW VVIX: 121 - UP 4 FROM LAST SHOW CBOE PLANS REOPENING OPTIONS FLOORS JUNE 1 OCC APRIL VOLUME: FUTURES DOWN 52.1 FROM APRIL 2019 LOOKING AT EARNINGS VOLATILITY THIS WEEK PARTICULARLY IN TESLA (AND MUSK'S FOLLOW UP RANT), AMZN, AAPL AND MORE. VOLATILITY VOICEMAIL QUESTION FROM EDSON: WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY FIRMS ARE UNDERPRICING VOLATILITY THIS EARNINGS SEASON? CRYSTAL BALL WHERE WILL VIX/SPIKES BE NEXT WEEK?

TWIFO 197: Maelstrom of Small Caps, Hogs and Crude HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: SEAN SMITH, FTSE RUSSELL FTSE HOT SEAT GUEST: RICK ROSENTHAL, CBOE ON TODAY'S EPISODE, MARK, SEAN AND RICK DISCUSS: EQUITIES: FTSE RUSSELL EXTENDS INDEX DERIVATIVES AGREEMENT WITH CBOE SMALL CAPS HAD A HUGE RALLY YESTERDAY DISCUSSION OF THE VOLATILITY ANOMALIES DRIVING TRADING IN SMALL CAPS EXPLORING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SMALL CAP VOL AND LARGE CAP VOL CRUDE CRUDE BACK IN BUSINESS? CONFLICTS IN THE NEAR-TERM AND LONGER-TERM OUTLOOKS LEAN HOGS US HOG FUTURES SURGE AS MEAT PLANTS WARN OF PORK SHORTAGES FUTURES OPTIONS FEEDBACK QUESTION FROM NICODEMUS: HOW ARE WE STANDING AT THE CURRENT VIX/RVX RATIO VS. HISTORY? QUESTION FROM THOMAS: CAN SEAN CONFIRM THAT THE TRADITIONAL RUSSELL RECONSTITUTION STILL PLANS TO UNFOLD AS SCHEDULED AND THAT THERE WILL BE NO IMPACT FROM THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC? THANK YOU AND I ENJOY THE PROGRAM. QUESTION FROM TONY WEBER: HAS THE SHUTDOWN OF PORK FACTORIES MADE THE FUTURES OPTIONS SQUEAL? QUESTION FROM RONALD MÜLLER: IS THERE ANYTHING LIKE A P/C RATIO FOR SILVER AND GOLD?...KIND OF SENTIMENT INDICATORS TO EVALUATE GOLD AND SILVER. QUESTION FROM THEBLAZE: AM I CRAZY TO ACTUALLY THINK SOME OF THESE CHANGES TO USO ARE LONG OVERDUE AND ACTUALLY MAKE IT A STRONG PRODUCT GOING FORWARD? GREAT BREAKDOWN OF ALL THINGS CRUDE LAST WEEK BY THE WAY.

OPTION BLOCK 897: A TALE OF TWO MARKETS HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI, THE OPTION PIT CO-HOST: MIKE TOSAW, ST. CHARLES WEALTH MANAGEMENT TRADESTATION CO-HOST: ANDREW ROCCO, MANAGER, EDUCATIONAL CONTENT STRATEGY TRADING BLOCK SEGMENT VIX: 35.25 - UP 2.5 FROM LAST SHOW VVIX: 118.3 - DOWN 1.2 FROM LAST SHOW VXX: 38.5 - UP .5 FROM LAST SHOW IT'S A WEEK OF CONFLICTING DATA. YESTERDAY WE WERE IN RALLY MODE. TODAY WE HAVE MORE BAD NEWS ON THE EMPLOYMENT FRONT. ANYTIME AN ETF DOES A REVERSE SPLIT LIKE USO THAT'S A BIG CAUTION FLAG FOR US. EARNINGS RESULTS FOR TSLA, FB, MSFT & TWTR ODD BLOCK INTERESTING PLAY IN $BYND TODAY SOMEONE LOOKING FOR A MASSIVE 50% JUMP IN $GILD REVIEWING BBBY IN THE MONEY CALLS MAIL BLOCK QUESTION FROM TRADESTATION CLIENTS: I WANT TO IMPROVE AS AN OPTIONS TRADER, WHAT IS THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION TO TAKE? QUESTION FROM TRADESTATION CLIENTS: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VIX AT THESE LEVELS? QUESTION FROM JELZE: ARE YOU MORE OR LESS UPBEAT ABOUT USO AT THESE LEVELS? AROUND THE BLOCK WHAT'S ON OUR RADAR FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK

OPR 311: Playing FAANG Earnings With A Google Skip Strike Fly It's FAANG time! On this episode, Brian explores using a skip strike butterfly to make a post-earnings trade in Google (aka Alphabet). You can find more in The Options Playbook, which is always available on OptionsPlaybook.com, and on the Amazon Kindle edition. Do you have a question that you want answered on a future episode? Send them to Brian at theoptionsguy@invest.ally.com, or to the Options Insider at questions@theoptionsinsider.com.

OBC 84: CRUDE OIL MYTHBUSTING, RATIO PUT SPREADS AND MORE HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: DAN PASSARELLI, MARKET TAKER MENTORING. NASDAQ HOT SEAT: RUSSELL RHOADS, EQ DERIVATIVES TOPICS: THOUGHTS ON THE INSANITY IN THE CRUDE OIL MARKET? SHORT PUTS/PUT SPREADS VS. RATIO PUT SPREADS MAIL CALL QUESTION FROM BUCKEYE: WHAT IS THE ONE MISTAKE THAT YOU SEE THE MOST OFTEN WITH NEW OPTIONS TRADERS?