From a directional standpoint, there currently aren't any stock ideas on the board that are getting me excited to get involved in either direction. Bear markets can do that.

However, from an options premium selling point of view, there are some good opportunities out there. But best to stick with instruments that are showing signs of at least some near-term support and resistance.

One such instrument is in the interest rates space.

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

The team at All Star Charts lately has been talking about how a lot of stocks are displaying declining moving averages and share prices continue to trade below these downward-sloping moving averages. There is nothing bullish about that.

What it means is there is likely an avalanche of overhead supply in most areas of the stock market right now and therefore many rallies will be met with more and more people trying to unload their positions. This is a tough environment to be a bull in.

There is always money to be made in bear markets, but it requires a different skillset, steel nerves, and quick decisions. And whereas in bull markets, we love to put on bullish positions that have 6-9 months to play out so that we can let the underlying trends grind their way higher, in bear markets we like to take more shorter-termed positions because we need to take profits quicker. Bear market rallies are notorious for stopping out even the best of short positions.

With all this in mind, today's trade is in one of those names that have been in a persistent downtrend, and is trading below significant moving averages.

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

We had a resting GTC order filled at our profit target in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

We had a resting GTC order filled at our profit target in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

It's no secret that markets are dicey.  We're not revealing anything surprising here.

When markets are all over the place, it's good to have diversity -- not just diversity in instruments traded, but diversity in direction and strategy.

With this in mind, we're going to add another bearish position to our portfolio to help offer some balance to some of our long energy names.

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

Welcome to Paid to Play -- a unique window into a live trading account we manage for the express purposes of generating cash flow and adding diversification to our portfolio of trading strategies.

There are specific questions we seem to get regularly, so I thought I'd compile this FAQ ("frequently asked questions") doc to serve as an ongoing resource to all P2P subscribers.

In no particular order:

Ok, so the market is bouncing and its offering a nice reprieve to those who've been caught on the wrong side of the recent slide. Does this mean the bottom is in?

It's far too early to tell. And that's not the bet we're making just yet. In fact, today's trade is to take advantage of a nice bounce in a name we're bearish in to position for a retest of recent lows.

So let's get right to it.