Unbeknownst to most retail rats a fight is taking place in the equities market, and it revolves around an exotic concept only known to a select few in the options trading world. I’m speaking of course about the weekly expected move, and what makes it so important is the fact that much of what drives stock markets these days is driven by the options market. How so? Let me explain.

This is a quick update on my Tuesday post in which I strongly suggested everyone to detach yourself from trading direction and instead focus on much more predictable parameters such as 1) time and 2) volatility. To that end I introduced you to the concept of selling calendar spreads which is one of several strategies Tony and I have been experimenting with over the recent past. Now let’s see how we fared!

The only thing that retail traders love more than earnings season is to endlessly debate the direction of how each issue may resolve. Now if you intent to BUY stock at a discount then waiting for a negative announcement and purchasing shares before the rebound can – on average – work out famously during bull markets. However when it  comes to profiting from earnings via speculation the name of the game is not to pick a direction, rather it’s to profit from a large stock price move no matter the direction.

I feel really undecided today, and no I’m not talking about the two candidates as I already mailed my absentee ballot three weeks ago. Rather it’s those damn setups I found which look exceedingly delicious and which I’m hesitant to take in anticipation of some wild swings later tonight. But maybe just a teeny weeny position, e.g. 0.1% would be permissible? Let’s take a look and then we’ll decide