aapl

Can the VXX hold 26?

Posted by atg on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 5:29pm
Getting to a number in stocks and indexes is important: AAPL at $500 (oh sorry, not yet there, but are there doubts?), the Dow when it first crossed 10,000 (the second and third time not as fun), and the VIX below $20.  When the VIX is below 20, the market is entering a lower volatility environment, and fund managers get to rejoice again as they try to beat the S&P 500 up.  That is a far cry from the opportunities in the 4th quarter of 2011.  The step sister of the VIX is the VXX ETN, which is made up of the front two VIX future months.  We watch it pretty closely at Option Pit in Option Pit Live.  It is a nice trading product.  What I am waiting for is a close and drop below $26.  Why you ask?

Will AAPL declare a dividend?

Posted by atg on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 3:37pm
 We get questions at Option Pit on a wide range of topics related to options.  After all, that is part of what we are here for.  After the giant earnings release in AAPL last week, I thought it fitting to ponder if AAPL will payout some of that largesse they have squirreled away.  Maybe before looking at what the actual markets think, let’s examine the rule for dividends. First- Call values do not like dividends and put values do.  A dividend increase will decrease call values and increase put values.

AAPL Options Implied Volatility in the Toilet

Posted by msebastian on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 4:13pm
It is somewhat common knowledge that I continue to be a seller of option premiums right now.  However, that doesn’t mean that traders should be selling all option premiums.  There are a few tech names where the implied volatilities have been crushed to levels that we have not seen in some time.  Take AAPL for instance:  30 day option implied volatility is at two year lows: LiveVol (R) www.livevol.com

Option Pit's Research on AAPL as Seen on Mad Money

Posted by msebastian on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 11:07am
There has been a bit of confusion as to what exactly what the reserach Jim Cramer quoted Mark Sebastian on last night meant (watch the Video here).  Here is the research that was used along with a slightly more indepth description.  It should clear up any confusion.  As a follow up,  you can catch our live webinar on using options to trade stock earnings on Feb 15th.  Register here.

NASDAQ Market Site Interviews Option Pit COO

Posted by aparis on Mon, 12/05/2011 - 11:59am
Mark Sebastian is interviewed by TheStreet.com's Jill Malandrino at the NASDAQ world headquarters in New York, NY.

Are AAPL options cheap enough to buy?

Posted by atg on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 8:10pm
Are AAPL options cheap enough to buy?

Hedge Products Pointing Toward Rough Waters

Posted by msebastian on Mon, 11/07/2011 - 5:12pm
As I was looking at the stock market today, I have to admit that I am somewhat mystified at how resilient the SPX has been over the last few weeks.

AAPL Iron Butterfly Might Be Interesting

Posted by msebastian on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 10:35pm
As I looked at AAPL on LiveVolPro today, I noticed something interesting.  It was a possible split strike butterfly play.

VIX down, Volatility Up, AAPL Down

Posted by msebastian on Tue, 10/18/2011 - 7:57pm
I spoke about how the magnitude of yesterday's VIX rally was bigger than the selloff in the SPX.  Today, we are seeing a continuation of that effect on a rally.

Market Expecting VIX to be Significantly Higher Tomorrow, AAPL Primer

Posted by msebastian on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 4:07pm
Looking at the way the SPX Implied volatility was up on the open, it was almost immediately clear that today was going to be ugly.