Cboe Blogs

Other trades of note by Lauren Ravalli: NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXPI) at 110.70, a Calendar Spread traded 2,500 times. The trader sold the Oct 20th 115 Calls and bought the Jan 19th 115 Calls paying 2.20. Intel Corporation (INTC) at 35.97, a Bear Call Spread traded 1,000 times. The trader sold the Aug 4th 35/36.50 spread for a .95 credit. Citigroup Inc. (C) at 69.19, a Bull Call Spread traded 500 times. The trader bought the March 16th 77.50/85 spread paying 1.00. DISH Network (DISH)[...]

Other trades of note: Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) at 17.08, a Bull Put Spread traded 1,000 times. The trader sold the Jul 28th 18/17 spread for a credit of .72. TWTR reported earnings this morning. SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) at 41.25, a Bear Put Spread traded 590 times. The trader bought the Aug 25th 40.50/38.50 spread paying .37. iPath S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN (VXX) at 11.02, a Bull Call Spread traded 2,000 times. The trader bought the Aug 18th 13/15 spread paying .12. Tenet Healthcare Corporation[...]

Other trades of note: iPath S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN (VXX) at 11.03, a Bull Call Spread traded 8,350 times. The trader bought the Aug 18th 13/15 spread paying .12. Nike, Inc. (NKE) at 58.90, a Bear Call Spread traded 1,650 times. The trader sold the Jan 19th 60/65 spread for a credit of 1.68. Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (HLT) at 63.55, a Bull Call Spread traded 2,724 times. The trader bought the Sept 15th 65/70 spread paying 1.20. United States Oil (USO) at 9.86, a Bear Put Spread traded[...]

LiveVol Pro Scanner allows me to find big trades just like this one in DVMT. DVMT has had a nice run since late last year and we got a trader who thinks this uphill climb is going to hit a slippery slope sometime this year. Implied volatility is signaling about a $10 move up or down between now and December expiration and the forecast is choosing down. Time decay is next to nothing right now but he is long .07 vega so an increase in implied volatility would be favorable. There is a significant[...]

Today’s What’s Trading episode was a discussion of a big put buyer in TWTR. A link to the video is below.  Click Here for Today's Video The payoff diagram here shows the outcome of this trade if it is held until September expiration. The maximum loss is limited to the price paid for each put. Profits can be earned below the break-even point of 11.45.

Snapchat is all about sharing who you are in the moment. The Los Angeles based “camera company” (SNAP) went public today at $17 and is now trading around $25 confirming investors like to smile for the camera.  IPO’s can generate as much excitement as a Hollywood movie premier but can sometimes disappoint too. So far today SNAP has proved to be much more than an Adam Sandler movie but over time every stock has a story to tell and SNAP will too. If you have been standing on[...]

A market maker who stood next to me in the pit for 10 years here at CBOE used to always say option trading is the closest thing to professional sports.  With the NFL football season beginning tonight I thought it would be a good time to review option terminology to see if his assessment is really true. Hang Time – Waiting for the market to open. Artificial Turf - Synthetic Ineligible Receiver – Not approved for complex strategies. Down – How you feel after a losing[...]

Con·trar·i·an Noun A person who takes an opposing view. One who rejects the majority opinion as in economic matters. What an emotional business this is. The uneasy market sell-off continued today with option implied volatility climbing higher. Radio and TV experts have no problem pumping fear into the average investor’s head. Fright sells. RIP Wes Craven. New traders make the big mistake of watching and listening for every clue to help them place the perfect trade. Only to fill[...]