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Trading Block: Groupon earnings after the close, up by just a dollar. Red throughout most of the commodities today. Zynga had a little pop on the heels of the Facebook IPO news. Much like GRPN, a lot of legging opportunities. Ford re-tracing some of it lows in the recent months. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in Groupon, Inc. (GRPN), Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (DLTR), and Chico’s FAS, Inc. (CHS). Xpress Block: Tim Navabi takes the OX hot seat and discusses Facebook - options on Facebook will be available about 2-5 days after the IPO. Mail Block: Email question from Todd Dusaign. Around the Block: GRPN rallied a bit up to $13.25. Still keeping an eye on Greece. UN summit on its way to Chicago. Read >

Trading Block: Markets marginally changed. Thoughts on the Bloomberg article comparing it to the Markit CDX North America High Yield Index. The European issues continue. Post-elections reactions. Keeping an eye on EA after hours. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in iStar Financial Inc. (SFI). Xpress Block: John Grigus discusses the grains contracts. There's been quite a hubbub between ICE and the CME. Plus, the Facebook IPO. Listener Mail: Twitter question from Jon Weitzel - What do you think about playing Jun 16 Calls with EA through their earnings? ATM straddle = $1.60. Also, the Facebook IPO coming out soon. Around the Block: Loads of earnings on the horizon: Groupon 5/14, Disney 5/8, Activision & Cisco 5/9, Nvidia 5/11, and Tesla Motors 5/9. Read >

Trading Block: Most of the bleeding in the NASDAQ came from Apple, down again, and having trouble holding its highs. Denny's earning after the bell. Odd Block: Interesting and usual activity in Manitowoc Company, Inc. (MTW), and Warner Chilcott LTD (WCRX). Xpress Block: John Grigus discusses the integration of Charles Schwab and optionsXpress and the new "money move" feature. They're also getting some calls about Facebook, ie., when does the IPO go public? What might its opening price be on its first day of trading? Around the Block: TLT and its reaction to Europe. An update on Denny's. Non-farm payrolls on Friday. OIC in New Orleans this week. Read >

Trading Block: The term structure of the VIX was today's worst enemy. Netflix, the widowmaker, reporting after the bell, and exhibiting its typical bad behavior. Apple seems stuck in the $570 range going into earnings. Revisiting a question from last week, what account size do you need to really trade Apple effectively? Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM), IAC Interactive Corp. (IACI), and Old Fields Ltd (GFI). Xpress Block: Tim Navabi discusses earnings and some of the things you may want to be concerned about when trading options going into earnings. Mail Block: Taking on listener questions. Around the Block: The big news is Apple earnings tomorrow. Will the continued decline in Apple have a continued affect across the broad market? Andrew's favorite, Zenga, reports earnings on 4/26. Also, Amazon 4/26, Ford 4/27, AMZN 4/26, and F 4/27 Read >

Join Mark, Dan and special guest Joe Burgoyne from the OIC as they unravel the mysteries of buying options. They cover the basics of buying options, provide examples of bullish and bearish positions and also discuss some common mistakes made by novice option buyers. In the Roll Segment, the team is joined by Benny Joseph to discuss the many new options features in the Zecco mobile app for iphone and android. Lastly, Mark and Dan answer listener questions from the Zecco community. All that and more on this episode of Options Boot Camp. Read >

Trading Block: VIX popped out of its range -- so much for fading to the downside. Apple, the target of an antitrust suit, was still up 1% yesterday. Commodities rundown -- new 10 year lows reached in the natural gas market. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in Iron Mountain (IRM). Xpress Block: Mike Z from OX sits down for his first Xpress Block and discusses the announcement of ICE launching a cash settled grain futures contracts. Strategy Block: Mike Tosaw goes over the difference between being a degenerate premium seller and just being an idiot -- and how to be the former instead of the latter. Around the Block: Earnings are back baby! Google after the bell today. Intel earnings - 4/17. Thursday is (4/19) the big day with -- CMG, LUV, BAC, AMD, NOK. Keeping an eye on short puts in crude oil. Read >

Trading Block: The markets were aimless today except for Apple carrying the NASDAQ. It's a weekday, so Apple must be up 1%. Vol rundown. The mainstream media finally starts to pick up on what we've been saying about VIX, VXX and the TVIX all along, "Curious Case of VIX and VIX Products." Odd Block: Activity review from March 8: Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL). Unusual activity today in: Wellcare Health Plans Inc. (WCG). Xpress Block: Newcomer Anitra DuPart jumps into the OX hot seat and today's customer activity at optionsXpress. Jobless claims and an Apple rally gave a little bounce to the market. Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBY) came out with earnings today, profits up 32%. Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw sits down and discusses some valuable life lessons. First, you must have trust when working with a business partner, financial planner, etc. - even Bernie Madoff has a clean record. Second, you must understand the important of financial education. Around the Block: Watching the weekend, it hasn't really come out yet. The endless European crisis continues, but switches the Spain. Read >

Trading Block: Lots of upside on the day: Dow, S&P, NASDAQ, and VIX. The many masters of VIX. Andrew and the love of fundamental indicators. Doing stuff - NASDAQ-style. Yes, they're launching ANOTHER options platform. More fragmentation! More issues with spreading! More quotes! The more the merrier? Um, not so much. The gang also discusses myriad ways to improve the market, including regulation, margin, managing risk, and doing stuff. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Gap, Inc. (GPS), Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA), and TJX Compaines, Inc. (TJX). Xpress Block: Groupon restates earnings from last quarter, sparking several calls to the trading desk. Around the Block: Shortened trading week this week, so make sure you price the weekend out accordingly. Andrew is thinking that volatility will come in a little. Webinars are on the calendar for KYO in April and May. Non-farm payrolls are still coming out on Friday, despite the market being closed. Read >

Trading Block: BATS debacle: All IPO trades busted as a matching engine encountered a software bug. The range of symbols, of course, included Apple. If you are executed on a limit order what do you do after your trade is busted? It's analogous to pin risk. CBOE suing ISE over 10x SPY contracts -- the no-brainer news of the week. The crushing of TVIX continues -- it is bound to reverse split. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Red Hat, Inc. (RHT). Xpress Block: After the dust settled on customer fallout from BATS/APPL debacle and recent TVIX drama, Lions Gate Films (LGF) saw an increase in options contracts in front of the new movie release "The Hunger Games." Around the Block: Keeping an eye on crude oil, if and/or when gas hit $5/gallon is when we'll see things grind to a halt. Corporate earning in a few weeks. Looking for something to push to market before the summer doldrums. Read >

Trading Block: VIX on the rebound - the weekend coming back into the VIX, but the futures themselves were down today. A rundown from RMC. A rundown from FIA Boca. OddBlock: Friday review: Lululemon Athletica, Inc. (LU), an activity review from Feb. 27: United Technologies Corp. (UTX) Xpress Block: Holding down the OX desk, John Grigus discusses the increase in volume that's been seen recently. Also JP Morgan dividends, a lot of OTM calls going out to June/July. The interest rate futures got pummeled. Around the Block: Economic Calendar: This week starts with and ends with housing. DG on 3/22 Read >