[image]() [image] This Week in the Market Stocks struggled all week as buyers were overrun by sellers pushing the market lower once again. At this point, the S&P 500 is still trading above its 50-day moving average but is the closest it has been to the moving average since May. Until that level is broken, which could happen this week, traders and investors should maintain a non-bearish bias. Rallies have followed sell-offs, but that streak may be in jeopardy soon. That said, give support a chance to hold. As you might imagine, implied volatility and option prices have increased with the pullback. It is a pretty heavy week as far as economic reports go. Not only are the latest retail sales figure and several housing reports due out this week, the notes from the last Federal Reserve meeting are expected Wednesday afternoon as well. Quarterly earnings continue to slow, but a few big-name stocks have yet to report. This Friday brings the August serial monthly expiration to a close. Hope you have had a healthy, safe and prosperous weekend! Aug 15: Retail Sales
Aug 15: Import Price Index
Aug 15: Business Inventories
Aug 16: Housing Starts
Aug 16: Industrial Production
Aug 16: FOMC Minutes
Aug 17: Jobless Claims
Aug 17: Leading Economic Indicators [Read Our Blog](=) Bull Calls Are Bull Puts Here is a brief lesson on why, synthetically, vertical debits are equal to vertical credits. What I mean is that a bull call is the same as a bull put and a bear put is the same as a bear call. This is a lesson I teach all my one-on-one students because it is an important one. Here we will focus on the bull call and bull put. Bullish Bias With bull in the name for both bull calls and bull puts, it goes without saying there is a bullish bias to the option trade. Generally, option traders use bull calls for a directional move and bull puts for an expected non-move lower. But what if you substituted puts for calls when modeling out a bull call spread? The risk/reward would essentially be the same (bid/ask spreads may skew this a tad), max profit, max loss and break-evens too. [Continue Reading ...]( MTM Watchlist Here are a few trade ideas we will most likely look at in group coaching class this coming week: SPY â Double calendars have been doing well for us, so why would we stop? New strike prices and expirations will be explored again this week. FDX â The stock has been trading sideways for several weeks and has pretty decisive potential support and resistance levels. A longer-term calendar to take advantage of selling multiple premiums against the long options will be examined. BA â The $240 level continues to act as resistance for the stock despite the move higher. Additional bear call spreads will be pondered yet again. [image]() The strategies in this newsletter are for educational and informative purposes only. All information disclosed in this newsletter should not be considered complete in its entirety. Market Taker Mentoring, Inc. will not be held responsible for changes, oversights, errors or omissions. Dates, prices, news and other information may not be accurate. Please verify all information before trading. You alone are responsible for your own investment decisions. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Before trading options, please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Option (ODD), which can be obtained from your broker; by emailing investorservices@theocc .com; or from The Options Clearing Corp., 125 S. Franklin St., Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60606. No statement in this newsletter is intended to be a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security or to provide investment or trading advice. Traders and investors considering options should consult a professional tax advisor as to how taxes may affect the outcome of contemplated options transactions. Copyright Market Taker Mentoring, Inc. 2008 - 2023. All rights reserved. Reproducing or redistributing this content is a violation of federal law. [image] If you do not wish to be contacted via email, you can unsubscribe using this link: [Unsubscribe]( Unsubscribing from email notifications DOES NOT cancel your class, subscription or recurring payments. We recommend that current students do not unsubscribe from email notifications. If you unsubscribe from email notifications, you will not be notified on how to access the classes or subscriptions in which you are enrolled. Market Taker Mentoring, Inc. PO Box 117 Frankfort, Illinois 60423 United States