The Options Insider Radio Network

In this episode, hosts Mark Longo from The Options Insider, Mark Sebastian from Option Pit, and Russell Rhoads from the University of Indiana dive deep into the latest developments in the volatility market. The trio discusses bond volatility, VIX options, and the curious behavior of the VIX ahead of a highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting. They also look at VIX-related ETPs and make their weekly predictions for the VIX. Timestamps [0:00] Introduction  [3:20] The volatility review: market performance and VIX analysis. [7:15] Discussion on bond volatility and the surprising calm before the Fed meeting. [12:30] VIX term structure and futures analysis. [16:45] Russell's Weekly Rundown: analysis of specific VIX options trades. [25:00] VIX options paper and trade activity. [29:00] Inverse volatility and VIX ETPs. [32:15] Discussion on a potential Fed surprise and its market impact. [36:00] The Crystal Ball: VIX predictions for the upcoming week. [40:15] Final thoughts and how to follow the hosts.

This episode of the Hot Options Report breaks down the day's most active options markets. While VIX and Qs trading was slow, major indices like SPY, SPX, and IWM saw heavy volume. The show highlights explosive single-stock action, with new names appearing on the leaderboard and a massive rally in meme stock OPEN.  Mark discusses the most popular options contracts in each market and provides insight into the potential trades and risks involved. Timestamps: [00:00] VIX [02:00] SPY [03:00] SPX [03:40] IWM [04:20] QQQ [05:20] (10) WBD [06:30] (9) Micron [07:20] (8) Intel [08:15] (7) AMD [09:00] (6) Baba [09:50] (5) Apple [10:50] (4) Oracle [12:20] (3) Nvidia [13:10] (2) Tesla [14:00] (1) OPEN ----------------------------------------------------------------------- All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors.  Customers must read and understand the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before considering any options strategy.  Options investors can rapidly lose the value of their investment in a short period of time and incur permanent loss by expiration date. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk, including the potential for losses that may exceed the original investment amount, and are only available for qualified customers.  Index options have special features and fees that should be carefully considered, including settlement, exercise, expiration, tax, and cost characteristics.  See Fee Schedule for all options trading fees. There are additional costs associated with option strategies that call for multiple purchases and sales of options, such as spreads, straddles, among others, as compared with a single option trade. Rebate rates vary monthly from $0.06-$0.18 and depend on the particular security, whether the trade was placed via API, as well as your current and prior month’s options trading volume. Review Options Rebate Terms here. Rates are subject to change. Go to public.com/optionsbrief to learn more.

This episode breaks down the week's trading activity in the futures and options markets with Mark Longo and Carley Garner (DeCarley Trading). The show covers the week's biggest movers and shakers, analyzes the latest trends in energy and metals volatility, and dives into specific options flows in Nat Gas, Crude Oil (WTI), and Platinum. Mark also chats with guest Carley about her outlook on energy markets. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro [06:30] Movers and Shakers Report [09:30] CVOL Movers and Shakers [14:15] Energy: Nat Gas [19:00] WTI Crude Oil Options [22:00] Metals: Platinum [25:30] Final Thoughts

On this episode of The Option Block, Mark is joined by Henry Schwartz (Cboe) and Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management) as they cover a day of significant market moves, with the S&P 500 hitting new all-time highs despite mixed economic data. The panel discusses the latest news from the Robinhood Summit, including new trading features. They dive into unusual options activity, particularly the explosive trading in meme stock Open, and analyze other notable trades in names like Vimeo, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, and Teck Resources. The show concludes with a look ahead at what to watch in the markets and a nod to the start of fantasy football season. Timestamps: [00:00] Introduction [05:22] The Trading Block - Market Overview [09:00] The Robinhood Summit [16:45] Hot Option Activity [22:05] The Odd Block - Open (OPEN) [25:50] Odd Block - Vimeo (VMEO) & Recursion Pharma (RXRX) [28:40] Odd Block - Teck Resources (TECK) [31:05] The Mail Block [33:55] Around the Block [36:00] Closing Remarks 

In this one-year anniversary episode of The Futures Rundown, host Mark Longo celebrates a year of exploring the futures markets. He begins with a brief look back at the show's origins and then dives into the "Trading Pit" segment. This week's top five movers include gains in Midwest Steel, Ultra T-Bond, Coffee, FCOJ, and Dry Whey, while Cash Settled Butter, Rough Rice, Platinum, Ethanol, and the VIX saw declines. Mark notes a surprisingly robust trading day with high volume, highlighting the most active contracts in a mixed market. For the special anniversary segment, he reviews the top and bottom performers over the past year, with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum leading the gains, and agricultural and dairy products like OJ and Cash Settled Butter seeing significant losses. The episode concludes with the "Futures Free for All" Q&A, where a listener asks about the "60/40 thing" in futures. Mark explains Section 1256 contracts and their favorable tax treatment, providing an example of how the 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gains rule applies to futures profits, a key advantage for frequent traders.   Timestamps   0:00 - Intro & Reflection on One-Year Anniversary of the Show. 3:00 - Trading Pit: This segment breaks down the week's market activity. 3:00 - Market Overview 5:25 - Top 5 Upward Movers: 7:58 - Top 5 Downward Movers 10:20 - Most Active Contracts by Volume 13:58 - One-Year Movers and Shakers: A special anniversary segment reviewing a full year of futures market performance. 22:50 - Futures Free for All (Q&A): Mark answers a listener's question about the 60/40 rule for futures taxes. 32:32 - Conclusion

On this episode of The Hot Options Report, Mark Longo provides a rundown of the most active options contracts for Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Despite a mixed market day, options volume was surprisingly high. The report covers major indices like VIX, SPY, SPX, IWM, and QQQ, noting significant call and put activity and the prevalence of spreads. The second half of the show is a countdown of the top 10 single-name stocks with the most options volume, featuring a wide range of companies from technology and utilities to a surprise showing from Oracle following a strong earnings report. The report highlights specific strikes, prices, and volumes for the most traded options in each name. Time Stamps 0:00 - Welcome to the show 1:25 - VIX 2:40 - SPY  3:25 - SPX  4:10 - IWM  4:50 - QQQ  5:35 - Single Names - A look at the top 10 single-name stocks with the most options activity. 6:00 - #10 OPEN 6:55 - #9 AVGO 8:10 - #8 AMZN 9:20 - #7 AMD 10:15 - #6 PCG 11:15 - #5 PLTR 12:20 - #4 AAPL 13:20 - #3 ORCL 14:35 - #2 TSLA 15:55 - #1 NVDA 17:00 - Mark wraps up the show and previews the next episode. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors.  Customers must read and understand the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before considering any options strategy.  Options investors can rapidly lose the value of their investment in a short period of time and incur permanent loss by expiration date. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk, including the potential for losses that may exceed the original investment amount, and are only available for qualified customers.  Index options have special features and fees that should be carefully considered, including settlement, exercise, expiration, tax, and cost characteristics.  See Fee Schedule for all options trading fees. There are additional costs associated with option strategies that call for multiple purchases and sales of options, such as spreads, straddles, among others, as compared with a single option trade. Rebate rates vary monthly from $0.06-$0.18 and depend on the particular security, whether the trade was placed via API, as well as your current and prior month’s options trading volume. Review Options Rebate Terms here. Rates are subject to change. Go to public.com/optionsbrief to learn more.  

In this episode, hosts Mark Longo and Dan Passarelli dive into the world of Asian options, a type of exotic option. They explain how these options differ from standard "vanilla" options by basing their payoff on the average price of an underlying asset over a specific period, rather than its price at a single expiration date. The hosts break down the two main types: fixed-strike and average-strike options, providing clear examples of how their payoffs are calculated. They also discuss the historical origins of the name "Asian options" in the Singaporean commodity markets. The episode highlights the primary use case for these options: reducing volatility and hedging against wild price swings, making them particularly useful for industries like commodities, energy, and foreign exchange. The show also includes the popular "Mail Call" segment, where the hosts answer a listener's question about options flow and market volume statistics for August. Time Stamps [0:00] Intro and episode overview [2:50] Introduction to Exotic Options [4:05] What are Asian Options? [7:00] Average-Strike Asian Options [10:15] Fixed-Strike Asian Options [14:00] Use Cases for Asian Options [17:30] Mail Call: The hosts open the mailbag to answer a listener question about options flow and market volume in Q3. [29:00] Final Thoughts and Conclusion

This episode of The Hot Options Report provides an overview of a day of options trading activity on September 9, 2025. Mark Longo first details the activity in major indices, including VIX, SPY, SPX, IWM, and QQQ, before counting down the top 10 most active single-name equity options. The report highlights significant volume in names like Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla, with notable call activity across the board and a rare put-dominated day for Open. 3:15 - VIX 4:00 - SPY 4:50 - SPX 5:45 - IWM 7:00 - NASDAQ (QQQ) 8:00 - 10. JD.com (JD) 9:35 - 9. Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) 10:45 - 8. Open (OPEN) 11:55 - 7. Robinhood (HOOD) 12:55 - 6. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) 14:05 - 5. UnitedHealth Group (UNH) 15:40 - 4. Palantir (PLTR) 16:45 - 3. Tesla (TSLA) 17:50 - 2. Apple (AAPL) 19:10 - 1. Nvidia (NVDA) ---------------------------------------------------------------- All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors.  Customers must read and understand the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before considering any options strategy.  Options investors can rapidly lose the value of their investment in a short period of time and incur permanent loss by expiration date. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk, including the potential for losses that may exceed the original investment amount, and are only available for qualified customers.  Index options have special features and fees that should be carefully considered, including settlement, exercise, expiration, tax, and cost characteristics.  See Fee Schedule for all options trading fees. There are additional costs associated with option strategies that call for multiple purchases and sales of options, such as spreads, straddles, among others, as compared with a single option trade. Rebate rates vary monthly from $0.06-$0.18 and depend on the particular security, whether the trade was placed via API, as well as your current and prior month’s options trading volume. Review Options Rebate Terms here. Rates are subject to change. Go to public.com/optionsbrief to learn more.  

This episode features Mark Longo and Greg Magadini from Amberdata analyzing the latest trends in the crypto derivatives market. The show begins with a discussion on Bitcoin's surprising stability over the past two weeks and how its market behavior is diverging from gold. Greg notes the significant shift to a negative long-term skew, suggesting a new, more mature risk asset mentality among institutional traders. The hosts then dive into the most active crypto-related equities like IBIT, MARA, and MSTU, with a special, humorous segment on the new, highly volatile stock, ETHZilla. They close with a look at the altcoin market and a Crypto Questions segment on the viability of physically-settled vs. cash-settled crypto derivatives, with an overwhelming majority of listeners favoring the latter. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Introduction and Welcome 00:03:00 - The Bitcoin Breakdown (BTC) 00:15:20 - The Altcoin Universe 00:16:30 - Bitcoin-related equities: IBIT 00:18:45 - MARA 00:20:00 - MSTU 00:23:45 - ETH 00:30:20 - BMNR 00:31:30 - CRCL 00:34:00 - ETHZilla 00:39:00 - Solana 00:40:00 - XRP 00:41:00 - Dogecoin 00:41:45 - Litecoin 00:42:00 - Cardano 00:42:15 - Polkadot 00:42:30 - Shiba Inu 00:43:00 - Crypto Questions (Physical vs. Cash Settlement)

This episode provides a rundown of the most active options contracts for Monday, September 8th. The report kicks off with an overview of index options, including VIX, SPY, SPX, IWM, and the QQQ, highlighting the most traded contracts and their relevance to the day's market movements. Mark then proceeds with a countdown of the top ten most active single-name stocks, analyzing the specific options that saw the most significant volume. The discussion provides insights into notable trades and their potential outcomes for the week.  Timestamps 00:01:00: Intro and Welcome 00:01:45: VIX Options 00:02:40: SPY Options 00:03:30: SPX Options 00:04:20: IWM Options 00:05:00: QQQ Options 00:05:40: Single Name Stocks Countdown #10 SMCI (Super Micro Computer Inc.) #9 AVGO (Broadcom) #8 AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) #7 PLTR (Palantir) #6 AMZN (Amazon) #5 AAPL (Apple) #4 HOOD (Robinhood) #3 OPEN (OpenDoor Technologies) #2 TSLA (Tesla) #1 NVDA (Nvidia) 00:10:00: Outro and Closing Statements --------------------------------------------------------------- All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors.  Customers must read and understand the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before considering any options strategy.  Options investors can rapidly lose the value of their investment in a short period of time and incur permanent loss by expiration date. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk, including the potential for losses that may exceed the original investment amount, and are only available for qualified customers.  Index options have special features and fees that should be carefully considered, including settlement, exercise, expiration, tax, and cost characteristics.  See Fee Schedule for all options trading fees. There are additional costs associated with option strategies that call for multiple purchases and sales of options, such as spreads, straddles, among others, as compared with a single option trade. Rebate rates vary monthly from $0.06-$0.18 and depend on the particular security, whether the trade was placed via API, as well as your current and prior month’s options trading volume. Review Options Rebate Terms here. Rates are subject to change. Go to public.com/optionsbrief to learn more.