Options Boot Camp

Why is ETF options volume climbing while individual stock options volume is falling? On Options Boot Camp 416: Giveaways, Goodies and Levered Inverse ETF Options, Mark Longo and Dan Passarelli dig into the October volume numbers and ask how much of the shift could come from 0DTE trading, hedging, and the growing lineup of leveraged and inverse single-stock ETFs tied to names like NVIDIA and Tesla. In Mail Call, the hosts tackle listener questions about buying straddles before earnings, what happens to a short put spread when the stock rallies and implied volatility drops, and whether theta or gamma matters more when you're in and out of an options trade in minutes. Plus, why are there 20 U.S. options exchanges, will NVIDIA finish the year in the red, and who wins this week's Options Insider Pro giveaway? Dan also shares a free trial of his earnings options modeling tool.

Are we creating a generation of options traders—or gamblers? Mark Longo and Dan Passarelli tackle that question on Options Boot Camp as they explore zero-day options (0DTE), prediction markets, and the difference between a tested trading strategy and a speculative bet. Then they examine the ETF options boom. Why is ETF options volume growing while individual stock options volume has declined? What role do leveraged and inverse ETFs play, and should brokerage firms update their options approval levels to reflect today's trading landscape? Plus: trading options around earnings, implied moves versus actual stock moves, why aggregate earnings statistics can be misleading, and Dan's preference for selective calendar spreads.

How do you pick stocks for the options wheel strategy—and what happens when you set that wheel on fire? On Options Boot Camp 414, Mark Longo and Dan Passarelli explore fundamental analysis for wheel traders, from choosing stocks you're comfortable owning to evaluating companies for long-term covered call and cash-secured put strategies. Dan breaks down P/E ratios, forward earnings, price-to-book, debt-to-equity, dividend yields and discounted cash flow models. The conversation also takes a surprising turn when Apple and NVIDIA come under the valuation microscope. Meanwhile, Mark introduces the "Fire Wheel"—an aggressive, short-duration approach to wheeling that sparks a debate about premium, stock selection and getting burned. Topics include: • Fundamental vs. technical analysis: How your trading time horizon changes the approach. • Choosing underlying stocks for cash-secured puts and covered calls. • Using financial ratios and discounted cash flow models—and understanding their limitations. • Apple vs. NVIDIA: A surprising valuation comparison. • Insider buying and selling as another stock selection input. • The birth of the Fire Wheel and the risks of chasing premium. Get your options trading education with a little extra heat.

Can AI identify the biggest problems facing the U.S. options market—or do experienced traders see risks the bots are missing? Mark Longo and Dan Passarelli put ChatGPT and Google Gemini to the test, challenging both to rank the options market's five most pressing concerns. Then they debate the results, separating persistent industry headaches from emerging challenges that could change how you trade. On this episode, we explore: 0DTE options: Does the explosion in same-day expiration trading amplify volatility or help traders manage intraday risk? 24-hour trading: What could extended hours mean for options liquidity, retail traders and overnight position management? Exchange fragmentation: Do more options exchanges improve competition or add costs and complexity? Payment for order flow: How should traders weigh routing conflicts and execution quality? Clearing and infrastructure: Are the bots identifying legitimate vulnerabilities or recycling outdated concerns? Plus, Mark and Dan discuss competition from prediction markets, crypto perpetuals and tokenized derivatives. Dan also introduces his automated earnings time spread platform. Do the bots earn a passing grade? Mark and Dan don't exactly agree—and listeners spot one risk AI conveniently leaves off its own list.

Could VIX perpetual futures change how traders access volatility? On this episode, Mark Longo and Dan Passarelli tackle your questions about VIX perps, individual stock volatility and what options prices really tell us ahead of earnings—with a little "bah, humbug" along the way. The discussion includes: • The buzz surrounding VIX perpetual futures and why the hosts distinguish speculation from an official product announcement. • Cash VIX versus VIX futures—and why that difference matters when trading VIX options. • Whatever happened to the single-stock volatility indexes for Apple, Amazon, Google, IBM and Goldman Sachs? • How to use implied volatility to assess uncertainty in stocks like Nvidia and Tesla. • Why Dan challenges the usefulness of earnings implied moves, plus how historical earnings data can inform the discussion. • The looming retirement of Trade Alert and a look at QuikOptions for options analytics and idea generation. Plus, the hosts debate another round of VIX upside speculation, discuss Mark's exit from SVIX and weigh listener picks among Portillo's, Archer Aviation, Fermi and Lucid.