tastylive: Fast Market

Hosts Nick and Tony conducted an intense What's Your Assumption session focused on managing extreme intraday volatility ahead of NVIDIA earnings, with Nick executing multiple rapid NASDAQ futures scalps. The session opened with Nick demonstrating TastyFX platform features showing his painful Euro-JPY position but emphasizing small sizing discipline to withstand 500-buck moves. The QQQ trade featured a dynamic iron condor with 20-point wide put spread versus 10-point wide call spread at $4.75, with Nick getting filled as NASDAQ rallied 15 handles opposite his needed direction due to expanding volatility. The NASDAQ futures scalping showcased extreme conditions - Nick bought at 111, sold at 99 (20-handle gain in seconds), then bought back at 70 capturing another leg as markets whipsawed. Multiple passes included MSTR iron condor (Nick advocating directional spreads over neutral in volatile stocks), Chipotle 27-35 strangle (too cheap for Tony's underwater position), Dash (December markets $1.50 wide deemed untradeable), and EEM where Nick opted for 100 shares of stock at $52 rather than selling $1 January puts for minimal premium.

Hosts Nick and Tony conducted a selective Fast Market session with six executions out of ten submissions, passing on several due to wide markets and existing positions. The standout trades included Nike 60-72.5 strangle at $3.74 with slight long delta given stock at 52-week lows, Costco 870-850 put spread at $4.05 (adjusting from viewer's 50-point wide preference due to existing long delta), QQQ December 570-645 skewed strangle at $11.45 capitalizing on 21 VIX levels, Oracle 220-230 call diagonal at $4.35, DraftKings 27-32 1x2 put ratio to work with Nick's underwater long stock position at $40, and Rivian 16 puts at $1.45. The session opened with praise for Reddit user Zophias whose gold-silver ratio trade captured a perfect 2% move, while passes included INQ straddle (50-60 cent wide markets), Coinbase iron condor (Nick already heavily positioned with short puts and call diagonal), and Zero-Day SPX put spread deemed "too late" after markets bounced. Nick emphasized the importance of big-name tech stocks finding support (Microsoft up $1.30, Apple flat, NVIDIA up $5 from open) as necessary for market bottoming process.

Hosts Nick and Mike conducted a highly successful Fast Market session executing eight viewer trades while navigating challenging market conditions and wide bid-ask spreads. The standout trades included IBM 285-280 put spread at $1.40 (Mike adjusting from viewer's $2.95 naked put preference), Marvell January-December 91-100 diagonal at $5.04 playing for the 100-strike print ahead of earnings, Roblox 95 put/110-115 call Jade Lizard creating no upside risk, Lululemon 140 puts by Nick (versus viewer's 155-145 put spread or covered call choices), Oracle 220-230 December-January diagonal at $4.35 capitalizing on support levels, and VRT 140 puts at $3 after the stock's pullback from $200. The session featured impressive execution discipline with Nick scalping multiple micro NASDAQ futures positions for $2,500-$25,000 gains while managing zero-day SPX positions. Passes included Dash due to $3-wide bid-ask spreads on individual options creating $5-wide iron condor spreads deemed "impossible fills," emphasizing the importance of market quality over setup attractiveness.

Hosts Tony and Jamal conducted a selective Fast Market session executing four trades while closing several profitable positions including Coin puts (sold $5, bought $3.45) and Amazon short puts ($2 to $0.36). The CRM trade featured the newly-renamed "Super Bowl" structure selling 240 November puts and buying 255-260 weekly call spread for net $2.65 credit, playing into potential ServiceNow earnings spillover. The Microsoft December 510-525 call spread at exactly $5 provided 50-50 directional exposure with Tony patiently waiting for the $6 downtick to improve his fill. The SPX zero-day 20-delta iron condor with $20-wide wings at $5.10 was quickly scalped at $4.60 (10% profit) given market uncertainty. Multiple passes included ARM due to 30-cent wide markets making the 190 calls untradeable, Rivian where Tony suggested buying stock outright rather than paying wide option spreads on a $13 product, Spotify with prohibitive $4-wide markets, and Japanese Yen call spread as Tony identified himself as "world's worst commodity trader" avoiding currency positions.

Stocks fell, looking past big tech earnings and easing US-China tensions, after a forceful Fed Chair Powell shocked the markets. Has speculative appetite finally broken? tastylive's Head of Global Macro Ilya Spivak explores how Wall Street found a way to look past big-name tech earnings reports to focus on the Fed, and what the markets may do next.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates despite inflation being at a 16-month high, sparking debate about the timing and impact of this decision. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank maintained current rates at 2%, compared to the Fed's 4% level, creating a notable divergence among central banks. Market watchers noted an unusual strengthening of the dollar following the rate cut, contrary to typical currency behavior during easing cycles. This divergence in monetary policy could drive currency volatility in coming months. Big tech earnings continue with Amazon and Apple reporting tonight. Previous results from the "Magnificent Seven" have been mostly disappointing, with Google being the only standout performer. Market breadth remains weak with only 44% of S&P 500 stocks trading above their 50-day moving average and just 43 stocks at 52-week highs.

In this episode of Options Trading Concepts Live, the team discusses key earnings reports impacting major tech stocks like Meta (META), Google (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT). They analyze Amazon's (AMZN) upcoming earnings, considering a diagonal call strategy to leverage its revenue potential. Jermal shares an options play on Fiserv (FI) expecting a bounce-back post-earnings. Other trade ideas include a synthetic play in crude oil and a diagonal spread on Boeing (BA). The team emphasizes managing risk and monitoring implied volatility as earnings season unfolds.

Looking for opportunities in the current market? Join Liz and Jenny as they analyze key trading strategies, including forex pairs and earnings trades in stocks like Amazon (AMZN) and Starbucks (SBUX). Discover how to manage risks effectively with diagonal spreads and put spreads while navigating market volatility. Tune in to see how they leverage historical trends and price levels to inform their trading choices!