…My $0.02, with respect to market timing right now.  Despite the 4% move higher, we saw today.
Since there are more people who own stocks, than short stocks, panic tends to only set in when stocks are falling…thus pushing up the price of puts. Due to put-call parity, the  VIX soars. Everybody talks about it when it happens, [...]

Duration (and I’m not talking bonds) might be up there with discipline when it comes to trading as one of the most important concepts to master.  I had never given any conscious thought to it, until recently.
Whether your a nickle and dime scalper, a swing trader, a derivative seller, a catalyst investor, or buy-and-hold is [...]

I wrote a post two weeks ago, which made an example out of Potash (POT), and explained how a buy-write would work to put on a “kinda bullish” position.  Rewind the tape, POT closed at $89.10, and I hypothesized to buy the stock and sell the front month $90’s for $4.10.  To be clear, I didn’t put this [...]

There is a difference between being really bullish, kind-of bullish, sort-of bearish, and roubini-bearish.  When you’re in between, or, you’re not exactly sure…but you have cash you want to put to work…enter, the option tool-bet!
In the last week, we’ve seen some great strength, in some great names as good friend Jason Raznick points out.  Now, [...]

Apparently, in a report, Goldman Sachs told clients to buy the March 825 puts and sell the 745 puts on the S&P.  Yielding, an upside of $1.85 for every $1 invested.  As, they predict, the S&P will hit “745.44″ before March.
The following is my recommendation for a leveraged directional trade with derivatives.  Of course, some [...]

2 years out, where is USO?  Below or above $40?
Well, that depends how steep the contango gets, and how much more demand falls off a cliff. Either way, I don’t mind betting that USO will be above $40 by Jan 2011, a full 2 years from now.
You can triple your money, if that happends.  Such [...]

Ever wonder who takes the opposite side, of those bets with 10-to-1 odds?  The lame side, with seemingly more to lose than to gain?
It’s the bookies.  The house. The academics.
Hi, I’m Jeff McLarty.  Every trader has needs a method, and for those who don’t know me, I continually risk ~50% of my portfolio, on outlier events [...]