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What Can Happen With One Day Options On A Friday when the "DJIA " Jumps 600 Points

When I sit with my friends on the weekend do I tell them about how Walmart call options traded on the previous day? If I am riding the subway do I talk to the guy next to me about this? Do I tell my boss? My point is, no one cares. People have soceer games to go, cars in getting fixed and all kinds of stresses to deal with. Who wants to watch their computer screens all day trying to outsmart the markets. I get it. Yet if you were good at it, wouldn't this be a fun hobby to have? Now this. A recap of what happened this past Friday. Now a look at one series of Call options with a focus on the high of the day and low on the day contract price. Look at the jump. Now a look at it's one day trading chart. The markets don't usually rally this much on a Friday afternoon. In a way it's a game of being in the right place at the right time. Yet there more to it than that. Knowing what to look for is equally as important. I note that seldom do one day Call options turn out th...
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Trying to Outguess The Markets

A few years back the markets crashed when Russia invaded Ukraine. The front pages of newspapers around the world at that time showed people trying to escape cities which were heavily shelled. Our heart's sank. How could such atrocities be happening? Why were schools and hospitals targeted? War is evil. Guess what? With Trump acting as a new dictator the world once again has gone awry. It's scary that one old man with so much power can abuse the system. What does all of this mean for option traders? It means time to sit it out on the sidelines. Yes you can jump in playing rebounds and catch some nice short term directional moves. You are basically trading against computers. Why not just sit it out and chill? Everything is amuck. Why be trying to make hero trades? Ironically enough some traders are being drawn into this action. Look at this chart.
While its difficult to see because of a "pop-up" on the screen "Netflix rebounded over ten dollars a share after rebounding from a previous low two days ago. Making a trade to catch the upside would have been a "hero" trade, meaning one that took guts to execute. Get in and get out and catch a ten dollar bounce based apon a techical bounce off a previous low. Cool stuff right? Not really. The markets are crashing and these are Call options that expire in one day on a stock that is a freefall. Now this, an hour or so later. A $27.00 drop has turned into a $53.00 drop.
A further drop later on in the day with the stock down $84.36.
This series of Puts shown above went up over 400%. To what was this sell off attributable to? It doesn't really matter. Here is one explanation.
My point is to let the markets reset themselves. Now this, a look at how another series of "out-of-the money" Puts, the 950 series traded on the day.
Some traders did catch the action. Small fish stay away. Happy trading days will return.

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