By Lawrence G. McMillan

Join Larry McMillan as he discusses the current state of the stock market on Monday, January 25th, 2021.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

It may seem as if the market is slowing down, but if it is, it's only in a relative sense. $SPX made new all-time intraday and closing highs on each of the last two days, and $NDX (QQQ) did the same. The Dow ($DJX; DIA) and Russell 2000 (IWM) are only one day removed from all-time closing highs.

All one really needs to know is that the chart of $SPX (and the others) remains strongly positive. The first support level is at 3725-3750. Below there, the next support area is 3630-3650.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 13, No. 5 on March 11, 2004. 

In the last issue, we spelled out the details of the CBOE’s new volatility contracts, which are due to be listed on March 26, 2004. In this issue, we’ll spell out some strategies that every stock portfolio owner should consider – whether or not you currently trade options and/or futures. These new contracts (futures symbol: VX) are dynamic in that they will provide a hedge for you during a declining market, no matter when that decline occurs, and no matter where the market is when the decline begins. This is a vast improvement over, say, buying puts for insurance purposes. We’ll spell out the mechanics of operating such a hedging strategy, and we’ll look at some of the problems that may occur – at least as we can envision them from this vantage point in light of the fact that actual trading has not yet commenced.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

Join Larry McMillan as he discusses the current state of the stock market on Monday, January 19th, 2021.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

The market remains overbought in many areas, and confirmed sell signals are beginning to appear. However, the most important indicator (the chart of $SPX) remains in a positive uptrend. There is support near 3725, more important support at 3630-3650, and then 3550.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 7, No. 2 on January 22, 1998. 

From questions that subscribers have asked, and from conversations with other option professionals, it seems that there is a rather large contingent of stock owners who own stocks that are now at losses, and they want to know if options can help them out at this point. So, this article will discuss a simple strategy that can be used for these purposes – the stock “repair” strategy of placing a call spread on top of a long stock position.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

A couple of years ago, we put together some facts and came up with an “early warning" sell signal, based on historical volatility of $SPX.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

Join Larry McMillan as he discusses the current state of the stock market on Monday, January 11th, 2021.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

On Monday, January 4th, the new year got off to a rocky start as selling built and exploded into a 90+ point selloff in $SPX. However, the decline bottomed at 3662, and the market has been rallying ever since. That brief selloff seems to have rejuvenated the market, and not only are new all-time highs being made, but they have been accompanied once again by rapidly expanding breadth.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 7, No. 11 on June 11, 1998. 

An option strategist is often faced with a difficult choice when it comes to selling (overpriced) options in a neutral manner -- i.e., “selling volatility”. Many traders don’t like to sell naked options – especially naked equity options – yet many forms of spreads designed to limit risk seem to force the strategist into a directional (bullish or bearish) strategy that he doesn’t really want.