Options 101: What is a Straddle?

Options 101: What is a Straddle?

You might think options trading requires you to commit to a decision about a stock up front: will the stock rise, or will it fall? But it is possible trade options even when you don’t know what direction the stock will ultimately move. A straddle is a way for you to you to play both […]

Trade of the Week: PFE

Trade of the Week: PFE

There was a significant amount of unusual options action this past week in Pfizer (PFE). The pharmaceutical giant posted earnings during the week, which resulted in over 12x the numbers of average options traded on the day of the release. More impressively, 94% of the action was in calls, which is generally a very bullish […]

Whistling Past The Graveyard

Whistling Past The Graveyard

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent remarks really infuriated me. He is “Whistling Past The Graveyard”, again trying to deceive the public. Wolf Richter shares some of his recent remarks:   “Inflation has come in above expectations over the past few months.” “The expectation is that high inflation readings will start to abate.” “We don’t in any way […]

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Options Trading Has Become Obscenely Popular

In fact, according to The Economist, in 2020 about 30 million equity options were trading every day—50% higher than 2019. And so far in 2021, notes the Option Clearing Corporation (OCC), options volume is up to 39.2 million a day. While simple call and put buying is popular, traders are also turning to covered calls, […]

What to Buy During the Next Big Down Day in the Market

What to Buy During the Next Big Down Day in the Market

Last Monday, July 19, 2021, the U.S. stock market dropped almost 950 points, or 2.7%, on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. While 2.7% doesn’t sound like a lot, the negative dollar figure was eye-opening when applied to a sizeable brokerage account. I received many subscriber emails asking what to buy, what to sell, what to […]

Options 101: The Importance of the “Greeks”

Options 101: The Importance of the “Greeks”

New options traders ask, “what are option Greeks?” Option Greeks are different factors affecting options contract prices. Option Greeks include: Delta (Δ) tells us how much an option price will move for every $1 gain in stock Gamma (Γ) tells us how much the delta can increase every time the stock moves Theta (Θ) is […]