The Options Insider Radio Network

TWIFO 183: Bitcoin Options Are Finally Here HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: SEAN SMITH, MD OF DERIVATIVES LICENSING, FTSE RUSSELL GUEST: NICK HOWARD, BANTIX TECHNOLOGIES CRYPTO CME BTC FUTURES CRAZY WEEK LEADING UP TO OPTIONS LAUNCH FRIDAY - 13,522 THURSDAY - 10,500 WEDS: 17K TUES: 12K MON: 6,600 OI HIT 7 MONTH HIGH OPTIONS - 54 CONTRACTS OPENING DAY EQUITIES VIX: 12.2 - DOWN .75 FROM LAST SHOW VVIX:89.25 - DOWN .25 FROM LAST SHOW RVX: 14 - DOWN 1 FROM LAST SHOW VIX/RVX SPREAD - APPROX. 1.8 - SLIGHTLY TIGHTER THAN LAST SHOW SOYBEANS -2,15% THIS WEEK SOYBEAN OIL DOWN NEARLY 5% VOL CRUSHED THIS WEEK AFTER TRADE DEAL SIGNING LOOKING AT AG VOLATILITY RATES INSANE STUFF GOING ON IN EURODOLLARS DOWNSIDE RIGHT NOW. BREAKING DOWN SOME FUNKY EURODOLLAR PUT SPREADS FUTURES OPTIONS FEEDBACK QUESTION FROM TAMISH: THE FTSE REP ON THE PROGRAM MENTIONED THE STRONG INTERNATIONAL DEMAND FOR RUT OPTIONS AND FUTURES. THIS SURPRISED ME BECAUSE THE INDEX IS PRIMARILY DOMESTIC. WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL MARKETS FOR THE RUSSELL 2000? QUESTION FROM ZAKI: ANY IDEA WHEN WE WILL HAVE SOME REGULATORY CLARITY ON CRYPTO? QUESTION FROM NEAL: ANY THOUGHTS ON EARLY CME BTC OPT VOLUME? SEEMED SOMEWHAT LIGHT TO ME? QUESTION FROM JACK: WHY DOES EVERYONE QUOTE CRYPTO IN NOTIONAL? EVEN CME IS DOING IT NOW? QUESTION FROM 5ROUND: ARE COVERED CALLS AS POPULAR IN RUT AS IN S&P?

Option Block 870: Crazy Calls and Even Crazier Dividends HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI, OPTION PIT CO-HOST: MIKE TOSAW, ST. CHARLES WEALTH MANAGEMENT TRADING BLOCK SEGMENT VIX: 12.25 - DOWN .25 VVIX: 90.3 - UP 1.4 FROM LAST SHOW VXX: 13.4 - UP .5 FROM LAST SHOW FEATURED DISCUSSION OF VIX AND SPIKES ODD BLOCK UNIT PUT LOVE MRNA CALL SALE MDT CALL LOVE MAIL BLOCK QUESTION FROM BILL: HOPEFULLY YOU CAN GO OVER THIS NEXT WEEK BEFORE JAN 23. NLOK (AKA OLD SYMC ) IS PAYING A 12 SPECIAL DIVIDEND WITH EX DATE OF FEB 3RD, SO WHY ARE THE PUTS SO CHEAP? IF THE STOCK IS AROUND 26 BUCKS, WOULDN'T THE 25 OR 26 PUT BE SELLING FOR MORE THAN A BUCK IF WE ASSUME THE STOCK WILL DROP BY 12 BUCKS AFTER THE EX DATE? THANKS QUESTION FROM PAUL M. PAULINO: HELLO, WHAT IS THE OPTION STRATEGY I CAN TAKE IF THE CALL OPTION I BOUGHT DOES NOT GO AS PROJECTED, THAT IS, THE STOCK PRICE GOES DOWN INSTEAD OF GOING UP. OTHER THAN SELLING TO CLOSE THE CALL OPTION, IS THERE ANOTHER ACTION I CAN TAKE TO AVOID THE LOSS. WHEN CAN I HEAR YOUR ANSWER? AROUND THE BLOCK WHAT'S ON OUR RADAR FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK?

OPR 295: Delicious McDonalds Butterflies On this episode, Brian breaks down some delicious butterfly spreads in McDonalds. The Options Playbook is available on www.OptionsPlaybook.com, or 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.

OIR Interviews: The Hidden Options ATS Market Guest: Stino Milito, Co-COO - Dash Financial Technologies Mark and Stino discuss: The hidden world of an options ATS. How does an options ATS work? How much options volume actually trades through the Dash ATS? Why do we need an ATS in the options market? What about transparency and latency? Why haven't more firms launched ATS's in the options market? And much more

TCR 44: New Year, New Options and New Trading Platforms HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CRYPTO HOT SEAT INTERVIEW WITH ZAC PRINCE, FOUNDER - BLOCKFI AS ZAC WAS LAST ON OUR PROGRAM ON FEBRUARY 4, 2019, HE GAVE US A REFRESHER ON WHAT IS BLOCKFI. WE ALSO DISCUSSED ALL OF THEIR NEW INITIATIVES OVER THE PAST YEAR. THEIR NEW FUNDING THEIR LOANS SECURED BY CRYPTO THEIR NEW INTEREST BEARING ACCOUNTS THEIR NEW TRADING PLATFORM THEIR NEW CREDIT CARD BITCOIN BREAKDOWN SEGMENT ANALYSIS OF CURRENT BITCOIN TRADES, TRENDS, VOLUME, VOLATILITY, SKEW AND MORE CRYPTO UP TO START THE NEW YEAR - UP APPROX. $575 FROM LAST SHOW CME BITCOIN OPTIONS BAKKT FUTURES THE ALTCOIN UNIVERSE SEGMENT ANALYSIS OF CURRENT ALTCOIN TRADES, TRENDS, VOLUME, VOLATILITY, YEAR END DATA AND MORE SHAKE UP IN THE TOP 10 MARKET CAP CRYPTO QUESTIONS SEGMENT QUESTION FROM LEGDOC: WHAT'S UP WITH CME BITCOIN OPTIONS? NO VOLUME? QUESTION FROM JACK: DO YOU THINK CME OPTIONS WILL BE A HIT?

OPTION BLOCK 869: The TICKS IN VIX HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI, OPTION PIT CO-HOST: MIKE TOSAW, ST. CHARLES WEALTH MANAGEMENT TRADING BLOCK SEGMENT MARKETS RALLY AS MIDEAST TENSIONS EASE VIX: 12.5 - DOWN .35 VVIX: 88.9 - DOWN .5 FROM LAST SHOW VXX: 13.9 - DOWN .5 FROM LAST SHOW FEATURED DISCUSSION OF TSLA AS IT WAS THE MOST ACTIVE EQUITY OPTION IN THE MORNING. ALSO COVERED AAPL, BYND, BABA, AMD, ROKU and FB. ODD BLOCK REVIEW - KSS PUT LOVE REVIEW - MNK PUT LOVE FHN CALL LOVE STRATEGY BLOCK ASSET ALLOCATION USING OPTIONS AROUND THE BLOCK WHAT'S ON OUR RADAR FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK?

Volatility Views 383: Dubious 1x2 VXX Spreads Plus Your VIX Picks HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI, THE OPTION PIT VOLATILITY REVIEW SEGMENT MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS CAN'T STOP THE BULL: MARKETS HIT NEW HIGHS AGAIN TODAY SPIKES: 12.5 - DOWN 1 FROM LAST SHOW VIX CASH: 12.35 - DOWN .9 FROM LAST SHOW VVIX: 87.25 - DOWN NEARLY 4 PTS FROM LAST SHOW HOT VOLATILITY POSITIONS AND TRADES SPIKES VIX OPTIONS VXX VOLATILITY VOICEMAIL QUESTION FROM DAVID LINCOLN: @OPTIONS $VXX 21FEB 13/14 1BY2 PUTSPEAD TRADES 16,000X32,000 TRADES EVEN MONEY CUSTOMER BUYS THE 14 PUT... THOUGHTS? @OPTIONVOL @PAT_HENNESSY @OPTIONPIT THIS TRADED ON THE OPEN THIS MORNING. ALSO 21FEB 12/13 PUT 1X2 TRADE LIKE 2 HOURS LATER 5000X1000 CRYSTAL BALL TIME TO PLAY ALONG W/ #VOLATILITYVIEWS AND DUST OFF YOUR #CRYSTALBALL. QUITE SIMPLY – WHERE DO YOU THINK $VIX WILL CLOSE FOR 2020? BONUS POINTS: REPLY/DM/EMAIL W/ YOUR SPECIFIC PICK. CLOSEST (MUST BE WITHIN 1PT TO QUALIFY) WILL WIN #FABULOUSPRIZES. WHERE WILL VIX/SPIKES BE NEXT WEEK? MARK: 12.15? ROCKLOBSTER: 11.37?

TWIFO 182: Kicking Off A New Decade of Futures Options HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER MEDIA GROUP CO-HOST: SEAN SMITH, MD OF DERIVATIVES LICENSING, FTSE RUSSELL CME Group Reports 2019 Annual Volume and Monthly Market Statistics - https://www.cmegroup.com/media-room/press-releases/2020/1/03/cme_group_reports2019annualvolumeandmonthlymarketstatistics.html average daily volume (ADV) of 19.2 million contracts during the year and 15.5 million contracts during the month of December. Open interest at the end of December was 113 million contracts. Market statistics are available online in greater detail at https://cmegroupinc.gcs-web.com/monthly-volume. Annual highlights across asset classes include: Record 40 trading days with volume over 25 million contracts, up 29% from 35 days in 2018 Record Interest Rate ADV of 10.3 million contracts per day, up 4% from 2018 Record Metals ADV of 668,000 contracts per day, up 5% from 2018 Record Options ADV of 4 million contracts per day, up 2% from 2018 EQUITIES VIX: 12.95 - UP .45 ROM LAST SHOW VVIX:89.5 - DOWN 9.25 FROM LAST SHOW RVX: 15 - UP .75 FROM LAST SHOW VIX/RVX SPREAD - APPROX. 2 - AROUND THE SAME AS LAST SHOW RUSSELL 2000 2019 PERFORMANCE UP NEARLY 24% IN 2019 OPENED THE YEAR AT 1346 ENDED THE YEAR OVER 1600 - CLOSED AT 1668 In 2020, Equities Are Partying Like It's 1999 By Erik Norland - https://www.cmegroup.com/education/featured-reports/in-2020-equities-are-partying-like-its-1999.html At the beginning of the 1990s, the US economy was heading into a recession, plagued by a crisis of small banks (saving and loans) and bad real estate loans. The Federal Reserve (Fed) was slashing rates, from 9.75% to 3%. At the beginning of the 2010s, the US unemployment rate was nearly 10%. The banking system was just beginning to recover from its most severe crisis since the 1930s. Housing prices had collapsed nationwide. The Fed was experimenting with zero rates and quantitative easing. Superficially, the beginning of the 2020s looks a great deal more like the state of the world in 2000 than in 1990 or 2010. Unemployment is below 4%. There are no obvious problems with the banking system. Real estate prices are on a modest upward trend but don't appear to be in bubble territory (at least not in most of the US). Energy and materials prices are far from historical highs. METALS 2019 In Review: A Record Year for CME Metals Products - https://www.cmegroup.com/education/metals-update/2020-q1-metals-update.html Combined Futures and Options Average Daily Volume (ADV) was 668,327 contracts in 2019, a new record. Metals F&O have now set annual volume records in 4 consecutive years. Metals ADV increased 20% from December 2018, driven by 22% growth in precious metals futures and options and 15% growth in base metals futures and options Average combined Metals Open Interest of 3,662,788 contracts also set a record in 2019, showing consistent growth as volume increased. Gold Futures Open Interest set a record on December 31 of 786,166 contracts. GOLD Gold Prices Rise Above $1,600 on Simmering U.S.-Iran Tensions Shanghai Gold Futures Contracts Debut with Deep Liquidity and Robust Volume Since their debut on October 14, a combined 42,719 contracts have traded in the SGU (USD Denominated) and SGC (CNH) contracts. Use COMEX Copper Options to Manage Copper Price Risk Copper options average daily volume in 2019 was 2,812 contracts, up 101% YoY. COMEX Aluminum Suite Continues to Grow CME's physically deliverable Aluminum Futures contract continues to gain traction, with Q4 average daily volume reaching 139 contracts (3,475 metric tons), 2019 Average Daily Volume across CME's suite of Aluminum Futures contracts was 671 contracts, up 9% vs 2018 (Q4 1,057 up 82% vs Q4 2018). CRUDE Oil prices jumped 5 per cent after Iran launched strikes against US military bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of commander Qassem Soleimani. But by Wednesday afternoon gains in crude had reversed, with prices trading lower than before the Iranian general's assassination. BRENT CRUDE: Having jumped when markets opened to as high as $71.75 a barrel, crude later dropped to below $66 a barrel, a near 9 per cent peak-to-trough swing in the course of a day. WTI: TOPPED OUT AT $63.27 - BEFORE DROPPING BACK BELOW $60 AGAIN. Oil tanker groups are taking a wait-and-see approach - Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter and a key US ally, has temporarily suspended shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating the Gulf from Iran where 20 per cent of global oil supplies pass daily. However, Frontline, the world's largest oil tanker operator, said that while it was "monitoring the situation closely" it had not "suspended trading in the area". Opec and allies can ALWAYS increase supplies - "Not a single drop of oil supply has been lost due to the recent incidents and this is why the oil price has fallen back down again so quickly," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Norwegian bank SEB. CRYPTO Options on Bitcoin Futures. Coming January 13, 2020 - https://www.cmegroup.com/cme-group-futures-exchange/options-bitcoin-futures.html?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bitcoin_options_launch&utm_content=email4_prelaunch FUTURES OPTIONS FEEDBACK QUESTION FROM ABHISHEK JAIN: dear sir, can you share a fee source of U.S. commodity option chain preferably gold and crude oil QUESTION FROM STEVE WIM: What was a weird trend that came on your radar in 2019? QUESTION FROM BKL61: What is the proper time frame for trading futures options? In case you can't tell i'm pretty new to trading. Just discovered the program and I'm loving it and learning a ton. Thank you so much!. QUESTION FROM DEMOCAT: Are there any plans for mini (micro) russell options?

Option Block 868: Back in Rally Mode HOST: MARK LONGO, THE OPTIONS INSIDER CO-HOST: ANDREW GIOVINAZZI, OPTION PIT CO-HOST: MIKE TOSAW, ST. CHARLES WEALTH MANAGEMENT TRADING BLOCK SEGMENT MARKETS RALLY AS MIDEAST TENSIONS EASE: VIX: 12.85 - DOWN 1.65 VVIX: 89.4 - DOWN OVER 4 FROM LAST SHOW VXX: 14.4 - DOWN .9 FROM LAST SHOW MOST ACTIVE EQUITY OPTIONS OF MORNING - AAPL ODD BLOCK REVIEW - PUMP LINE IN THE SAND PUTS REVIEW - ADI OUT-OF-SEQUENCE RATIO RISK REVERSAL/STRANGLE REVIEW - BAKER HUGHES CALL OVERWRITE MAIL BLOCK COMMENT FROM SHELDON JORDAN: @ETRADE I DIDN'T GET THE MEMO WHERE YOU DISABLE REAL TIME QUOTES IF MY ACCOUNT DROPS UNDER $1000. AT LEAST GIVE US AN OPTION TO PAY FOR REAL TIME STREAMING QUOTES IF OUR ACCOUNTS ARE LESS THAN $1000. CAN'T TRADE OPTIONS WITHE THE DELAYED QUOTES. Y'ALL DON'T WANT ME TO WIN! @OPTIONS. I'VE BEEN A CUSTOMER FOR YEARS. I GUESS THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GO TO THE FREE FORMAT. SORRY I JUST DIDN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE TO ME. I FIGURE IF I MAKE MONEY IT'S GOOD FOR YOU GUYS. SO WHY WOULD YOU GIVE ME DELAYED QUOTES TO IMPEDED THE PROCESS. @OPTIONS. QUESTION FROM DMITRY: HELLO GUYS, HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO YOU FOR YEARS. YOU ARE UNIQUE IN THE UPBEAT TONE AND AMOUNT OF DETAIL YOU ARE GOING INTO. UNTIL RECENTLY I WAS CONVINCED THAT WITH OPTIONS I COULD SYNTHESIZE ANY STOCK POSITION, HENCE THE QUESTION. I AM SETTING UP A VARIATION OF DOGS OF THE DOW STRATEGY WITH CALLS IN A REGISTERED ACCOUNT. ALL DOGS HAVE DIVIDENDS, WHICH I AM NOT GONNA GET AS I AM USING OPTIONS INSTEAD OF STOCK. IN A REGULAR ACCOUNT I WOULD HAVE JUST GONE WITH SELLING SOME SHORT TERM OTM CREDIT SPREADS TO SIMULATE THE DIVIDEND INCOME, BUT IN A REGISTERED ACCOUNT (IN CANADA) I CANNOT WRITE OPTIONS. THE ONLY WAY TO WRITE AN OPTION IN A REGISTERED ACCOUNT IN CANADA IS VIA A COVERED CALL, WHICH IS A WHOLE WHACK OF OTHER PROBLEMS IMHO, BUT THIS MEANS I NEED TO HAVE STOCK IN MY ACCOUNT. WHICH I EXPLICITLY DO NOT WANT TO. SO, WITHOUT MUCH UMBRAGE, CAN YOU PLEASE DISPENSE SOME LAST 2019'S WIT AND WISDOM UPON UNSUSPECTING OPTIONS AFICIONADOS UP NORTH WHERE TEMPERATURES NEVER RISE ABOVE FREEZING AND POLAR BEARS ARE COMMON PETS. ANYWAY I CAN SIMULATE THE DIVIDEND INCOME ALONG WITH MY LONG CALL POSITION? THANK YOU. QUESTION FROM CAMILLA: ANY OPTIONS PREDICTIONS FOR 2020? AROUND THE BLOCK WHAT'S ON YOUR RADAR FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK?

OPR 294: Kicking Off A New Decade With Apple Backspreads On this episode, Brian kicks off the decade with an options trade in everyone's favorite stock - Apple!. The Options Playbook is available on www.OptionsPlaybook.com, or 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.