All Star Options Articles

In today's Flow Show, I flew solo. But have no fear, I have a great idea to work with that was brought to me by the All Star Options community and endorsed by the analysts here at All Star Charts.

You can watch the full episode here:

Earlier in the day, Steve and I were together on a live twitter/X spaces and we were talking about the strength we're seeing in the payments space. Not just the Visas and Mastercards, but the Paypals, Venmos, and Squares.

Universally, we liked the $SQ chart. And my ASO community likes it too.

So here's the weekly $SQ chart that I shared in the show:

There's a lot of room for price action to go to retrace to all-time highs. But we don't need it to get there to earn a nice profit. If we only get halfway there, we can still win big.

Here's the Play:

I like buying $SQ June 125 calls for an approximately $4.50 net debit. With options volatility relatively cheap in this name, these calls are rather affordable in volatility terms.

During the show, I considered possibly selling some nearer-term calls against this position to lower my cost basis, but I've since decided...

The price of $FXI is going in the wrong direction. And as we know, only price pays. Price is truth.

Due to two previous "covered call" premium sales against our long January 2026 35-strike calls and more than one year until our long calls expire, I'm going to get creative with our position to keep the dream alive. I think we can afford to be patient.

I'm confident in doing so because ending the campaign here would only result in a small loss. So there's no panic.

Here's a visual of where we are now:

The purple circle is where I purchased both my long January 2026 calls and sold Dec 35 calls against it. The green circle shows where I rolled my Dec 35 calls to Feb 35 calls for a credit. At the moment, my net cost (max risk) for these Jan 2026 $35 calls is $2.05. This is derived by subtracting the credits for the two short call sales from the cost of the long calls.

I've still got a lot of time until January 2026, and while the chart of FXI is currently disagreeing with me, I can make time my friend. Time heals all wounds, right? We'll see.

Here's the Play:

I like rolling the...

JC did his mid-monthly conference call this week and offered many ideas, as usual.

But he mentioned one name that stood out to me for three reasons:

1. I'd never heard of it before. 
2. It's in a sector that should do well in a Bull Market. And,
3. It looks like the chart wants to resolve a gap-n-go pattern to higher prices.

We've got Nvidia earnings after the bell this afternoon. The feeling I shared to my analysts today -- and they all agreed -- is that if Nvidia disappoints, the likely result will be a small speedbump for the overall stock market. But if investors cheer the Nvidia earnings results, then gas is going to get poured on this bull market.

The Russell 2000 Small Cap ETF $IWM does not have direct exposure to $NVDA, so our risks feel limited on the downside. However, in a resumption of the bull market, small caps have a good chance of ripping to and through new highs.

That's the bet we're making today.

In today's Flow Show, Steve Strazza said: "Bull Markets give us options."

And he's right.

There is an embarrassment of opportunities right now. And he came to the show with a list of ideas that we reviewed. 

You can watch the full episode here:

There were two trades I wanted to put on that were discussed during the show.

Today, I'm choosing to enter the Gamestop $GME idea.

So here's the $GME chart:

Now, forget everything you ever learned in technical analysis school. And you can certainly throw your fundamental texts in the garbage. None of that will help you with this stock. It doesn't follow the rules or even logic and certainly not common sense.

This is and will likely forever be a story stock. A meme stock. Nothing else.

And right now, $GME is showing signs of waking up again. With options premium in out-of-the-money calls insane, it sets up a nice opportunity for us to leverage that premium to our advantage.

Here's the Play:

I like buying a $GME January 30/40 Bull Call Spread for approximately $1.35 net debit. This means I'll be long the Jan 30 calls and short...

I promise there is a trading lesson here. Stick with me...

Two-point lead. Ball on the opponent's 27-yard line. 4th and 2. Two minutes and 27 seconds left on the clock.

The choices are this:

1. Attempt to kick a make-able, but no gimme 44-yard field goal to go up by 5 points. 

2. Pooch punt to pin the opponents inside their 10-yard line for their next drive.

3. Call a play to attempt to gain the 2 yards needed to earn a fresh set of downs and continue running the clock.

Choose option 1 and there is a very real possibility that the Buffalo Bills' sometimes undependable field goal kicker could miss the 3-point try. This would leave the Kansas City Chiefs, and their future Hall of Fame Quarterback Patrick Mahomes with more than two minutes on the clock to move the ball less than 35 yards to put themselves into position to kick the game-winning field goal.

Even if the Bills' kicker makes the field goal, putting the Bills up by 5, there will still be more than two minutes on the play clock. For the team from Kansas City with countless late comeback wins, there is not a...

A nearly 3-year-long bearish-to-bullish reversal pattern has whetted my appetite for today's trade.

And a follow-through could deliver a nice dash for cash.

Our last trade idea post was titled "European Vacation." Today's trade is in a name that is most definitely in the vacation theme.

And if you've attempted to book a hotel room in the past year, you know that rates are soaring. This might be bad for budget-sensitive travelers, but it can be bullish for investors.

So let's hedge our travel expenses.

Stocks are ripping in the U.S.

Is Europe next?

Looking at a basket of the fifty biggest names in Europe, we've got a clean level to bet against for a rotation higher. And a volatility picture that offers us an edge to play it.

It's easy to over-complicate things. 

I generally try to avoid that. Today's trade might be the simplest thing I do: follow a trend.

When a chart is going from the bottom left to the upper right, who am I to call a top in something like that? What kind of arrogance must I have to think I'm the one who can call the turn?

Let somebody else be the hero. I'm going to follow the trend until it ends.

During our Analyst meeting this morning, I observed the relative "calm" in the Chinese Large Cap ETF $FXI and how, while down for the day, it is still holding in a range it's been in for over three weeks now. 

And we love how it's holding this range as a healthy consolidation from its late September breakout.

There's nothing about this chart that is bearish to me:

When I mentioned the relative bargain in long-dated call options in $FXI, JC said: "If we get rotation into China, this trade could make our year.

I agree.

Here's the Play:

I like buying $FXI January 2026 35-strike calls for approximately $3.00 per contract. This premium I pay today is the most I can lose in this trade and I'll size my position accordingly.

Meanwhile, I'm going to take an active roll in reducing my cost basis in this trade by selling nearer-term calls against it. This might not be for everyone (JC said he's not going to do it, for example).

Today, I'll also sell December 35 calls against this position for an approximately 52-cent credit. And I'll look to roll...

Ok, we're going to head abroad and as far away from election risk as we can.

In fact, we're to head to Sweden for today's trade. Is that far enough away?