Let's Trade Options

"Support" for EWZ around $34.00, knife through butter if the old Fed hike fears start to throb. Brazil the dog of the em's, but could get some relief if perhaps Dilma is sacked. Not bloody likely and would not happen overnight even if it was, maybe better just to look for short plays on EWZ?

Thanks, SDog - I will check that in a few when I go to lunch. (I got my ToS running at work now, just another reason for them to can me.)

nothing filled, nothing new, a sideways week, have a good weekend all....

I'm shopping a GLD double diagonal, maybe not this wide...

BAC up $0.52 today - banks share traders dreaming of a Fed rate hike - BAC not been able to hold ground above $18, $19 Mar/Apr call calendar debits $0.05, makes money if BAC trades above $18 by Mar expiry

Other bank stocks stand to gain? Don't forget XLF....cheap May/Jun $27 call calendar debits $0.03, 30 lot risks $145 to make $1,000

So, CB divergence conundrum No. 31: ECB's QE will stimulate risky equity investment - em equities may be supported...BUT...Fed incipient tightening cycle has the opposite effect. The result? Ranging PA? EWZ lt $34.50 m/l...

Jun/Jul $35 call calendar still debit $0.07, 20-lot risks $180 to make $1,800.

If you want to play the downside, do it with (much cheaper) deep itm call spreads. Jun/July $30 calendar is the same trade, whether you do it with puts or calls, but debits $0.05 w/ calls, $0.35 w/ puts.

From the '08 crash, EWZ dropped $102 to $27 from June to November '08 .... lowest weekly close was $29.36.

EWZ Fri T&S, I see somebody did 4,800 of this bear put vertical spread - b/e at 3/20 expiry is $32.30, risks $340,000 to make $1.1mio max....sure looks like a risky trade to me...but maybe this player knows something I don't?

better, jun/jul $32/$41 all call DC b/e's at $27.95 and $45.25 - no loss between the b/e's

ok, let's go nuts. All call triple Jun/Jul calendars, $30/$36/$42, b/e's $26.50 and $45.65, debits $0.19 to get on, no other margin tied up, dips are at $0.30, peaks are at $0.75+.

Eventually I will find a trade that can not possibly be fucked up, even by me....

http://seekingalpha.com/article/4390...options?page=2

when I look at these "neutral calendar" (these are calendars placed on stocks that are non-volatile, the idea is to trade inside an established range) the entries are too expensive, and on the weeklies, the returns are too low...

http://ir.cboe.com/press-releases/2015/feb-06-2015.aspx

February 6, 2015
CHICAGO, IL – February 6, 2015 – The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced today that it will expand trading hours for both CBOE Volatility Index (VIX Index) options and S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, adding more than six hours of additional trading five days a week. The extended hours for VIX options are set to begin Monday, March 2, while the extended hours for SPX options are expected to start on Monday, March 9.
The expanded trading hours for VIX and SPX options at CBOE will run Monday through Friday, beginning each day at 2:00 a.m. CT and ending at 8:15 a.m. CT. The 2:00 a.m. CT start in Chicago syncs with the 8:00 a.m. open of trading in London.
“Following the successful rollout of extended trading hours for VIX futures, we look forward to expanding trading for both SPX and VIX options by more than six hours a day,” CBOE Holdings CEO Edward T. Tilly said. “Overseas investors continue to embrace SPX and VIX options as a means to efficiently gain exposure to the U.S. market and equity market volatility, respectively. We’re pleased to provide a growing worldwide customer base with greater access for trading these key products.”

SDog, I wanted to ask you a few questions about the SPX BrkWB's Tony does. Does he usually do these like <10 dte? Is the nearest strike itm, atm, or otm? He always puts them on for a credit, and the typical management step, if he can, is to....what?

Playing w/ Feb SPY call BrkWB's and diagonals, for comparison --- at first glance, the P/L looks the same. I'm not drawing any definitive conclusions here, just scribbling.

Two SPY call spread trades for 2/20 expiry: BrkWB $206/208/212 goes on for $0.01 debit, has a $2,050 bp impact, an upside b/e of $209.85, and a maxP of $888; SPY $208.5/210 calls gets on for $0.08 credit, has upside b/e at $210.00, has a $2,880 bp effect, and a maxP of $959. (MaxP and b/e's for the two trades are within $0.10 of each other...)

Both trades involve 40 contracts, the BrkWB appears to be a more efficient user of margin. Is that true, generally, for this comparison?

Is the BrkWB easier to manage? If it uses margin more efficiently, is easier to manage, but otherwise offers m/l the same maxP and b/e as the diagonal, well, of course....maybe I should be trading BrkWB's...?

not so sure about that..,

http://www.nasdaq.com/investing/fore...x-options.aspx

never knew these existed, learn something new every day, I guess....no volume, though

http://www.saxobank.com/forex-options/

I'd look into this if I could open an account there.

http://www.marctomarket.com/2015/02/...whip-hand.html
"The rise in US interest rates will lend the dollar support and allow the appreciating trend to continue after a consolidating over the last few weeks. Equity investors need to adjust to the rise in interest rates. High dividend payers and utilities are vulnerable."

- this is in line with the idea to short the home builders Sosnoff mentioned last week....

looking at CSCO DC, ER's Wednesday - a Feb2/Feb $28 call x $26 put will make money pre-ER if share price sticks around $27.00