In my opinion, this is a good point, and I hope we can discuss it further. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and try to consider this factor in my own investments, often simply by not buying the stock. If shares are generously distributed to the executive management through an option program, especially in small companies, it can have a significant dilutive effect on ownership. I understand the importance of motivation and reward, but these should only come from exceptionally good performance. The average tenure of management is a certain number of years, perhaps 5 years. If, during that time, they are rewarded with, say, a 5% share of the company’s stock, and the next set of managers collects their own 5% during their tenure, and so on, then the company’s growth really needs to be substantial for owners to get their fair share. It’s important to remember that management works for us and already receives a salary. In my opinion, there are companies on the stock exchange whose option programs are not positive for investors; instead, I get the impression that investors are being taken advantage of. I don’t know Consti, mentioned here, in depth, but I don’t think their performance has been particularly exemplary. They were brought to the stock exchange, promises were broken, and then they tried to turn things around, but the return hasn’t been very impressive. So, is this the kind of performance that should reward management with several percent of the company? I don’t know the exact figures, but I assume the numbers presented above are accurate. But again, good point 
$5M worth of call options on the VIX index have been bought this week. Someone has a strong view that volatility is going to increase. I think I’ll pick up a couple of VIX tracker calls myself next week or sell a few puts for May.
Discussion about options has been fairly quiet, but these derivatives don’t seem to be traded much in Finland.
HelloFresh puts were attractive today and I pocketed some premiums. In Oslo, the spreads were wide and nothing got filled even at the mid-point.
Today, 100 SBB April puts were sold at a strike price of 16.5. SBB dropped quite sharply today, so it was a favorable moment for some extra income.
I am posting this perspective on the market situation to this site because it doesn’t involve “high-level analysis.”
- The stock market is rallying. How much further can it go?
Barron’s 2/9/2024
The market technicals also give reason for optimism, according to one strategist. Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, wrote:
The new closing high over 5000 bodes well over the intermediate to longer term, with a key technical level being cleared today. We believe that the combination of very strong corporate earnings, strong jobs data, strong GDP data, and declining inflation are an excellent backdrop for equities going forward. We maintain our bullish longer-term view and 5500 year-end price target.
All told, the S&P 500 finished the day up 0.6% to 5026.61. It seems fitting that another rally for tech stocks helped push the large-cap index into 5k territory. Tech led all S&P sectors today, with a 1.4% gain. Energy was the laggard, down 1.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.3% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 55 points, or 0.1%.
The Nasdaq is just 0.4% from its first record close since November 2021.
Another milestone came from tech land today: Microsoft, up 1.6% on the day, became the largest company ever by market value, closing the day with a market capitalization of $3.125 trillion, passing Apple’s previous high of $3.09 trillion.
machine translation
Market technicals [technical analysis] also give reason for optimism, according to one strategist. Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, wrote:
New closing values over 5000 bode well for the intermediate and longer term, and a key technical level was cleared today. We believe that the combination of very strong corporate earnings, strong jobs data, strong GDP data, and slowing inflation is an excellent backdrop for Equities going forward. We maintain our bullish long-term view and our 5500 year-end price target.
Overall, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% on the day to 5026.61. It seems appropriate that another rally in tech stocks helped push the large-cap index into the 5,000 range. Tech led all S&P sectors today with a 1.4 percent gain. Energy lagged behind, down 1.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3% during the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55 points, or 0.1%.
The Nasdaq is only 0.4 percent away from its first record close since November 2021.
Another milestone came from tech today: Microsoft, which grew 1.6% during the day, became the largest company ever by market capitalization. At the end of the day, the market value was $3.125 trillion, surpassing Apple’s previous peak of $3.09 trillion.
The S&P 500 crossed 5000 for the first time in intraday trading Thursday and had another record close, propelled by strong earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Dow industrials also rose. Futures suggest the Nasdaq could continue gaining Friday.
The day is light on data, but economists are keeping an eye on potential revisions to inflation numbers. Such tweaks rarely matter much, but last year they were large enough to raise questions about the inflation path.
Trading in Nvidia options heated up ahead of its earnings, with many betting on a huge swing.
Some of the most actively-traded bets hours before the release were calls tied to the shares jumping to $1,300, around double where the shares were. A lurch higher to $1,300 would peg Nvidia’s market valuation at $3.2 trillion.
Other widely-traded bets included calls tied to the shares jumping to $800 or $700, Cboe Global Markets data show.
It’s a sign of the excitement around artificial intelligence, with traders using options to wager on huge swings for the company. Call options give the right to buy shares at a specific price, by a stated date. Of course, the options can also be used to hedge other parts of an investor’s portfolio.
The stock jumped around 8% in afterhours trading following its earnings report.
Nvidia is an attractive target for options, but I didn’t have the nerve.
Why do you think options are good, what parameters do you follow?
Are you asking in general or regarding Nvidia? As for Nvidia, the volatility is good, which increases the option’s value. When trading Nvidia, I’ve mostly been selling options—puts. Since the stock is highly priced, I haven’t kept many contracts open at once to avoid my collateral evaporating.
The sales have been at very low deltas.
NVDA IVs are usually really high, so I would be very careful with how the price progresses. That’s what I meant. Options are a much harder game than the direct stock.
Below are a couple of links to help you get started with options. If you have some command of Swedish, the Nasdaq course is a very good starting point for the topic. Optionsplay, on the other hand, is a tool where you can test different option strategies in the Swedish and Danish markets.
https://www.nasdaq.com/sv/european-markets/education/options
I haven’t been following NOK option trading lately. There was quite a big rise yesterday, so we might also head back to starting levels if it’s purely traders behind the move.
On Wednesday morning, the CPI report will be released and stock prices will be higher, lower, or flat in reaction. That valuable information is the ultimate price discovery mechanism.
Barrons 15.5.2024
Implied volatility - example
Zacks Equity Research
Mon, Jun 10, 2024 at 5:30 PM GMT+32 min read
In This Article:
Investors in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. HP need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the Jul 19, 2024 $ 20.00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today.
What is Implied Volatility?
Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future.
- Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell-off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy.
What do the Analysts Think?
- Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for Helmerich & Payne shares, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, Helmerich & Payne is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) in the Oil and Gas - Drilling industry that ranks in the Bottom 32% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 60 days, one analyst has increased the earnings estimate for the current quarter, while five have dropped their estimates. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from 87 cents per share to 77 cents in that period.
For Nokia (NOK) on July 18, 2025, the option chain indicates: What indicates?