Options Broker Madness

And the winners are....

Congratulations to Lightspeed Trading for their hard-fought victory in the Options Broker Madness finals. Out of 16 options brokers, you were number one in the hearts of our listeners and readers.  

Here's the whole field, and how it went down:

But Lightspeed isn't the only winner. We had a random drawing for Fabulous Prizes, and the winners are.....

This week's Options Insider Trader Newsletter Is Sponsored By

March Market Share

Options Volume Up 8% Year-over-Year

On April 3, The OCC announced that overall exchange-listed options volume reached 374,481,795 contracts in March, up eight percent from March 2016. Equity options volume reached a total of 329,657,794 contracts, a seven percent increase from March 2016. This includes cleared ETF options volume of 157,358,886 contracts last month, an 11 percent increase over March 2016 volume of 142,234,845 contracts. Index options volume was up 18 percent with 44,824,001 contracts in March.

Here are the details (Source: OCC)

 

Upcoming Economic Reports

A preview of what may move the market this week

 

 

Options Insider Radio Network 

Episodes you may have missed from Options Insider Radio last week

Options Insider Radio Interviews: Talking Broker Tech with Sterling Trading Tech

Posted April 7th, 2017

In this episode, Mark is joined by Sterling Trading Tech's President Jim Nevotti and Ravi Jain, Director of Risk & Derivatives.

They discuss:

• What is Sterling Trading Tech?
• The Sterling Trading Tech platform
• The delineation of Lightspeed and Sterling Trading Tech
• The LiveVol acquisition, and what remained at CBOE
• What are future plans for the platform?
• Who is the target audience?
• Sterling Trader and Sterling Trader Elite
• Exchange fragmentation
• Options BrokerMadness

Option Block 609: VRX, Salvaging Good Trades, Umbrage and More

Posted April 7th, 2017

Trading Block: The 100-year anniversary of the vote to join WWI. VIX pops after Syrian attack. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, VRX + $0.16 to $9.66.

Odd Block: Puts trade in iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Future ETN (VXX) puts trade in Ford Motor Co. (F) and calls trade in JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU).

Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses his most recent trade in SPY.

Mail Block: #Options #BrokerMadness

• WINNER IS - Lightspeed

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• Apr 7: Unemployment

Options Playbook Radio 153: SNAP Backspread with Puts

Posted April 6th, 2017

SNAP's recent IPO has had the name in the news quite a bit these days, so let's take a look at SNAP backspread with puts, which is on page 84 (calls) and page 87 (puts) of The Options Playbook, on OptionsPlaybook.com, or on the Amazon Kindle edition.

In this episode, Brian reviews:

• The SNAP backspread with calls from last time
• What has SNAP done since last time?
• Where are the SNAP options now?
• What about implied volatility?
• When will earnings be announced?
• Taking a bearish view this week
• Setting up the trade
• What is the expected move on the May 19 contracts?
• What is the cost?

Do you have questions that you would like answered on the show? Send them to Brian at theoptionsguy@tradeking.com.

The Housing Market: The Business Show Episode 14

Posted April 5th, 2017

In this special St. Patrick's Day episode, the Business Crew is sippin' on 40s as they talk about Little Mark, green beer, and the housing market. They introduce a new game called Prank Call Rodeo, and a new segment called "Losin' it with Luke" featuring Dylan's roommate.

Option Block 608: TSLA, FIT and BrokerMadness Champion

Posted April 4th, 2017

Trading Block: New 52-week highs (132 new highs today): Amazon Inc. (AMZN + $2.62 to $889.16), Red Hat Inc. (RHT + $0.88 to $87.33), Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV + $0.01 to $51.29), Tesla (TSLA + $11. 11 to $289.41). Tesla Inc. is now more valuable than Ford Motor Company, and could very well surpass General Motors Company this week. General Motors Co. (GM - $1.55 to $33.81), Ford Motor Company (F - $0.34 to $11.30).

Odd Block: Calls trade in iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index (EWH) puts trade in Fitbit Inc. (FIT) and calls trade in CarMax, Inc. (KMX).

Mail Block: #Options #BrokerMadness finals ARE ON!

• Who will claim the prize of your favorite broker: @OptionsHouse or @LSFinancial?
• The Winner is - Lightspeed
• Question from Game Day Dog - Aww man! My vertical put spread has gone bad. I have +3 options at 61.5 and sold -3 at 62.5 ... Yesterday it gapped down to 50. I now have +200 shares of LULU in my account +3 put options at 61.5 and -1 put option at 62.5. I thought it was a $300 max risk spread. Do I have to do anything? Do I sell the shares? Everything expires in 7 days. Please help. Thanks! So I learned about selling shares and back ratio spreads and even got a $19 credit.

Around the Block/This Week in the Market:

• Apr 4: International Trade, Factory Orders
• Apr 5: FOMC Minutes
• Apr 6: Jobless Claims
• Apr 7: Unemployment

This Week in Futures Options 47: Breaking New Ground in Index Options

Posted April 3rd, 2017

Topics this week include:

• QuikSkew
• Index Options
• Crude Oil/WTI

Futures Options Feedback: Listener questions and comments

• Question from A Joban - When are we gonna have weekly options expiring on every day of the trading week? So affectively I am asking when are we gonna have daily options?
• Question from StockAce - Does the CME Futures Institute offer options education as well? If not, can you recommend any good outlets that do futures options education?
• Question from AM85 - How can you guys tell, when you are looking at the reports, if a trade is opening or not? Thanks and love the show - wish it were daily.

Volatility Views 249: The Final Word on Skew

Posted April 3rd, 2017

Volatility Review: A look back at the week from a volatility perspective.

• VIX Cash - 11.54
• VVIX - 77.5
• CBOE Skew Index - 139

Russell's Weekly Rundown:

• How is the April 26 fly looking?
• VIX Options: Mon - 635k, Tues - 740k, Wed - 601k, Thurs - 498k, ADV - 648k
• VIX Call/Put: 2.4/ 1. Total 8.91m (6.30m Calls, 2.62m Puts)
• OIV/OVX - 28
• GVZ - 12.06
• TYVIX - 4.68

Volatility Voicemail: Options #BrokerMadness tournament going on now.

• Finals matchup! We have @Lightspeed v. @OptionsHouse
• Question from CheckersKing - I see a lot of folks talking about moving averages and support and resistance levels in $VIX. Is this kind of TA useful with $VIX or is it apples to oranges?
• Question from MoustacheGod - I think I am too late but I pick axe/sword for the zombie apocalypse. What do I win? Jk. But if I am looking at an end times indicator is there one that is better than the rest or is it all about context and grouping multiple indicators together.

Crystal Ball: Wild prognostication

Last Week:

• Mark L - 12.50
• Mark S. - 12
• Russell - 12.80
• Ricardo - 13.5

This Week:

• Mark L. - 12.50
• Mark S. - 12
• Russell - 12.80

Where to Find Options Insider Radio?

Do you know all the ways you can access Options Insider Radio

            

Options Insider Radio Network Live Recordings

Do you want to be a part of the fun?

This is when you can access the LIVE shows this week:

Monday:
Option Block LIVE at 3pm Central

Thursday:
Option Block LIVE at 3pm Central

Friday:
Volatility Views LIVE at 12pm Central
This Week in Futures Options LIVE at 1:30 Central