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A Random Walk In The Park On A Monday Morning. A Caution. Monday Mornings Are Often Not An Option Players Best Friend

Let's start with this. It's now 10:26 a.m. A bet on Caterpillar rebounding by the end of the week. There are no takers. Why have to watch the screen for the next four days in agony waiting for a rebound which if happens is just a "break even trade"? But Wait. I made a mistake. The market is actually now down 668 points. What else can we look at? Interactive Brokers. These kind of stocks always do poorly on days with the threat of margin calls. Yet there is something interesting about the printout I am about to show. It is that these options are "one-month-out" Calls. These longer term options trade differently than short term options. (these options trade in one month intervals). If the stock we are following stops it's freefall the value of the options will nudge up ten, fifteen or twenty percent. A seven dollar option Call might creep back up to $8.00 or $9.00 at which time it could be sold. In contrast with a five day option a slight reversal in ...
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Caterpillar Earnings. Ford Earnings

Here is the spin put on Caterpillar's earning report.
A heathy demand and the abilility to raise prices. No mentioning of the word covid. A referencing to 9% inflation. How management phases each little morsel is so ever important. The stock tanked on the news - on the takeaway that the company was running at full speed in a world of floods, wars and and of infrastructure building. It stock was punished. Strange. Ford had a wild and colorful story. It got punished for reasons which soon become apparent. A company still making millions of dollars in an environment amuck with change. Fourth quarter net income fell.
Tomorrow I will fill you in on why the Friday Call holders wished they had Puts. Here is what happened.
The 12 series of Calls opened up down over 90%. What a wabble. Now here is it's year to date chart.
The story of what is going to happen next with Ford never ends.

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