$S&P 500(.SPX)$ closed +119 on the day and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ closed at +6.5. SPX tested 7700 a few times but couldnt get through today. Once we see SPX through 7700 and QQQ above 700 the market should be bottomed. Wait for these levels to line up. There was a significant amount of weakness in semiconductor and Datacenter stocks today. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ closed right at 200 and we saw $Dell Technologies Inc.(DELL)$ drop almost 9%, $Micron Technology(MU)$ down 7%,
$Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$ gapping higher after earnings today and its lifting up the semiconductor and AI stocks after hours so far... Mid term elections are TONIGHT. The 12 month performance of the stock market AFTER mid terms has been positive the past 19 elections. That DOESN'T mean go all in on Wednesday. It means find the best companies in each sector and start buying over the next 2-3 weeks and hold for at least 6-9 months. The market has been more sensitive to positive news the past few days. It's looking for a reason to pop higher. Let's see if QQQ close can close above 700 and $SPX above 7620 by Friday. $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ to 170 in play,
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 Wrote this Iron Condor on $Palantir(PLTR)$ to play earnings. If price action holds steady where it is now into the open tomorrow, then will close this position out for profit (assuming IV crush does its thing on both sides). Definitely gonna close the call spread. Will see what the naked 130P and 125/115 PCS show on the premium tomorrow. 2 Writing puts on $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ looks tempting for this week. Nov 6 expiration, put strikes around 115. 3 Gonna write puts to play $Palantir(PLTR)$ for earnings today. Am targeting that gap at 127, so will wr
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! Just wait until after Midterms to go long. Oil dropped massive today but stocks didn't go up. WAIT until the reaction to the mid term elections first and see if the market dumps further. The bottoming process doesn't happen in one day. We need to see if $S&P 500(.SPX)$ breaks 7500 and drops to 7400 and if $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ fails at 676 and tests 661 next. The market is still in hard mode and no signs of strength in Chip/AI/memory stocks. let it all drop π«‘ When the bounce comes we'll be ready for it.
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Trade Idea: Nov 6 410C Trigger: 400 β Targets: 410, 414 π― Stop: 395 π Closed at 399.81 on Friday. TSLA can run to 453 by December if we see the market bottom with in the next 5-7 trading days. It has shown relative strength with AI/Chip stocks selling off. Calls can work above 400 this week. The next big resistance is near 414. 2 $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ Trade Idea: Nov 13 210C Trigger: 206 β Target: 212 π― NVDA dropped from 243 to 200 since October 6th. If NVDA can start to bottom above 200 it can push back to 212 in the next 2 weeks. Calls can work above 206 this week. NVDA under 200 can s
By Lawrence G. McMillan The market as measured by $SPX continues to trade in a narrow range between roughly 7600 and 7800. A clear breakout of that range would generate a momentum trade. Considering that the range is only about 3% of $SPX's value, it's amazing that it has lasted as long as it has. The broad market is presenting a different picture, and we'll get to that in the next article. $SPX rallied earlier this week, but that was mostly a bounce off the latest test of the 7600 support level last Friday. That rally barely brought $SPX back up to its declining 20-day Moving Average. Now, after poor earnings by AMZN and INTC, $SPX is selling off again and is right back in the support range of 7580-7620. Equity-only put-call ratios continue to rise, and that is bearish for stocks. As long
By Lawrence G. McMillan The Cboe (followed by other exchanges) has extended the trading hours for certain stocks and ETFs. This has already taken place, although not every option trading platform has implemented its trading for the new hours. The morning extended session runs from 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time) to 9:25 a.m. Then regular option trading begins at 9:30 a.m. The extended afternoon session runs from 4:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. That isnβt as much of an extension, but does give one the opportunity to trade for a short while after the NYSE closes. At one time in the past, options on most stocks traded until 4:10 p.m., but that was discontinued after large institutions complained that they were sometimes forced to mark their position in a stock with a 4:00 p.m. price (NYSE close), while optio
$VIX$ By Lawrence G. McMillan As time drags on, $SPX continues to trade within the trading range that has lasted since late July. This is marked in figure 1 by the box on the upper right. The current box has support at 7580-7620, which has been tested several times and is being tested again today. There is some resistance at 7750-7760 (the highs of several recent trading days), with more substantial resistance at the all-time highs, 7820-7840. Let's look at the individual indicators. They are still mixed reflecting the trading range environment. Equity-only put-call ratios are both on sell signals. Countering the negativity of the put-call ratios is an improvement in breadth. Breadth was nicely positive on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Put-Write Trades on Bloom Energy Earnings: Nov 20 110β150 Strikes Eyed Amid Market Bloodbath
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 Anyone taking an optionselling trade on $Bloom Energy Corp(BE)$ to play earnings today, amidst this market bloodbath? Was π put-write trades on the Nov 20 expiration, strikes in the 110-150 range. 150 is volume point-of-control, and there looks to be a decent volume support cluster in that range.
Alright we are in the extreme fear category BUT no real panic yet. There's still lots of pressure on Semiconductor and AI related stocks. I think we see one more flush before FOMC next Wednesday before we start to carve out a bottom. The fact that $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ broke under last Friday's lows is not a good sign for tech. $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ under 700 we can see 693,685 next. $SPX to 7500 in play if it breaks under 7620 as well. Tread lightly and make sure you're not going all in BEFORE FOMC. That's how you get cooked. $VanEck Semiconductor ETF(SMH)$ can drop to 500 on the next leg lower, this is most likely where a
Ping pong market.. $S&P 500(.SPX)$ and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ stuck in a 5 month range... We should see a resolve from this AFTER FOMC. As long as $SPX can hold 7700 and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ forms a new base above 716 we should see a push back higher by the 1st week of November. Until then, tread lightly and preserve cash.... We saw negative reactions to $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$$IBM(IBM)$$Lam Research(LRCX)$ earnings today and the Chip/AI stocks are
Gap down today after a gap up into Monday... $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ is already down from 724 to 712.. if 707 breaks.. 700 can come fast.. There's still lots of weakness in Chip and memory stocks.. $Micron Technology(MU)$ down 24, $SanDisk Corp.(SNDK)$ down 43 premarket, AMD down 11... If these 3 continue to show relative weakness, the market will continue to struggle. $SPX to 7620 in play as well, if 7620 fails before FOMC we can see 7500 next. $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ earnings are coming up tomorrow after hours. We can see another sell off in tech if there's a
October Dips and Midterm Years: The 2026 Buy-the-Dip Playbook for the S&P 500
Everyone wants to buy the dip until itβs time to buy the dip π€ October hands traders a dip almost every year. So do midterm years. In 2026 they land on the same calendar, and some of the most valuable companies on Earth are trading well off their highs THE CRASHES 1929: Dow -12.8% on Oct 28, then -11.7% the next day 1987: Dow -22.6% on Black Monday, still its worst day ever 2008: S&P -16.9% for the month as the Lehman fallout spread A speculative bubble, a market-structure meltdown, a credit crisis. Different causes, same month, and every one of them eventually became a buying window THE OCTOBER STATS Typical recovery: about 4 months Midterm Octobers: +3.0% average, green 73.7% of the time Nobody buys the exact low, and nobody needs to. Every rebound $SPX has historically paid the peop
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some option strategies with you! $S&P 500(.SPX)$ and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ faded from the highs today. Most likely we'll see another consolidation day before $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ earnings on Wednesday. I would tread lightly until AFTER FOMC on Oct 28th. $S&P 500(.SPX)$ needs to base above 7700 and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ above 727 to look more bullish this month. If we see another flush in the market, $
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some option strategies with you! 1 $SpaceX(SPCX)$ announces earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday. Am targeting a 105/95 put credit spread trade to play earnings, Nov 20 expiration. Might also write the 105P straight up. For a more aggressive put-write trade, we'll look at the 130P or 135P. 2 $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ announces earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. Expected move is ~7%. Am thinking of writing puts in the $250-300 strike range, and may stagger the expirations between Oct 23 out to Nov 20. 3 $GE Aerospace(GE)$ announces earnings before the opening bell on Tu
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ Trade Idea: October 21 705P Trigger: 711 β Targets: 705, 700 π― Stop: 715 π QQQ dropped 7.2% the past 2 weeks. QQQ dropped from 762 to 707. If We see another pull back this week itβs possible QQQ drops to 685-693. This will be the buy zone assuming we see more weakness in the market. Iβd be careful with any gap up moves or intraday rallies especially if QQQ can get back above 722. 2 $S&P 500(.SPX)$ Trade Ideas Bullish: Oct 21 7750C Trigger: 7700 β Targets: 7750, 7772 π― Stop: 7669 π Bearish: Oct 21 7600P Trigger: 7669 β Target: 7600 π― Stop: 7700 π SPX had a sharp sell off after CPI
$TVIX$ $UVIX$ $DECP$ By Lawrence G. McMillan After a slightly worse-than-expected CPI reading this week, the market finally made a move with some gusto. $SPX fell about 1.1% the day after that, with the Dow ($DJX) doing much better, but tech indices faring far worse. So $SPX is back inside the previous trading range, and the attempted breakout in earlier October is now officially a false breakout (pink circle on the chart in Figure 1). There wasn't any follow-through to the CPI-related selling, though, so now $SPX is back in a dull, trading range environment. There is resistance at 7820-7840, with support at 7580-7620. Equity-only put-call ratios
$S&P 500(.SPX)$ closed +119 on the day and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ closed at +6.5. SPX tested 7700 a few times but couldnt get through today. Once we see SPX through 7700 and QQQ above 700 the market should be bottomed. Wait for these levels to line up. There was a significant amount of weakness in semiconductor and Datacenter stocks today. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ closed right at 200 and we saw $Dell Technologies Inc.(DELL)$ drop almost 9%, $Micron Technology(MU)$ down 7%,
$Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$ gapping higher after earnings today and its lifting up the semiconductor and AI stocks after hours so far... Mid term elections are TONIGHT. The 12 month performance of the stock market AFTER mid terms has been positive the past 19 elections. That DOESN'T mean go all in on Wednesday. It means find the best companies in each sector and start buying over the next 2-3 weeks and hold for at least 6-9 months. The market has been more sensitive to positive news the past few days. It's looking for a reason to pop higher. Let's see if QQQ close can close above 700 and $SPX above 7620 by Friday. $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ to 170 in play,
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Trade Idea: Nov 6 410C Trigger: 400 β Targets: 410, 414 π― Stop: 395 π Closed at 399.81 on Friday. TSLA can run to 453 by December if we see the market bottom with in the next 5-7 trading days. It has shown relative strength with AI/Chip stocks selling off. Calls can work above 400 this week. The next big resistance is near 414. 2 $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ Trade Idea: Nov 13 210C Trigger: 206 β Target: 212 π― NVDA dropped from 243 to 200 since October 6th. If NVDA can start to bottom above 200 it can push back to 212 in the next 2 weeks. Calls can work above 206 this week. NVDA under 200 can s
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 Wrote this Iron Condor on $Palantir(PLTR)$ to play earnings. If price action holds steady where it is now into the open tomorrow, then will close this position out for profit (assuming IV crush does its thing on both sides). Definitely gonna close the call spread. Will see what the naked 130P and 125/115 PCS show on the premium tomorrow. 2 Writing puts on $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ looks tempting for this week. Nov 6 expiration, put strikes around 115. 3 Gonna write puts to play $Palantir(PLTR)$ for earnings today. Am targeting that gap at 127, so will wr
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! Just wait until after Midterms to go long. Oil dropped massive today but stocks didn't go up. WAIT until the reaction to the mid term elections first and see if the market dumps further. The bottoming process doesn't happen in one day. We need to see if $S&P 500(.SPX)$ breaks 7500 and drops to 7400 and if $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ fails at 676 and tests 661 next. The market is still in hard mode and no signs of strength in Chip/AI/memory stocks. let it all drop π«‘ When the bounce comes we'll be ready for it.
By Lawrence G. McMillan The market as measured by $SPX continues to trade in a narrow range between roughly 7600 and 7800. A clear breakout of that range would generate a momentum trade. Considering that the range is only about 3% of $SPX's value, it's amazing that it has lasted as long as it has. The broad market is presenting a different picture, and we'll get to that in the next article. $SPX rallied earlier this week, but that was mostly a bounce off the latest test of the 7600 support level last Friday. That rally barely brought $SPX back up to its declining 20-day Moving Average. Now, after poor earnings by AMZN and INTC, $SPX is selling off again and is right back in the support range of 7580-7620. Equity-only put-call ratios continue to rise, and that is bearish for stocks. As long
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ Trade Idea: October 21 705P Trigger: 711 β Targets: 705, 700 π― Stop: 715 π QQQ dropped 7.2% the past 2 weeks. QQQ dropped from 762 to 707. If We see another pull back this week itβs possible QQQ drops to 685-693. This will be the buy zone assuming we see more weakness in the market. Iβd be careful with any gap up moves or intraday rallies especially if QQQ can get back above 722. 2 $S&P 500(.SPX)$ Trade Ideas Bullish: Oct 21 7750C Trigger: 7700 β Targets: 7750, 7772 π― Stop: 7669 π Bearish: Oct 21 7600P Trigger: 7669 β Target: 7600 π― Stop: 7700 π SPX had a sharp sell off after CPI
By Lawrence G. McMillan The Cboe (followed by other exchanges) has extended the trading hours for certain stocks and ETFs. This has already taken place, although not every option trading platform has implemented its trading for the new hours. The morning extended session runs from 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time) to 9:25 a.m. Then regular option trading begins at 9:30 a.m. The extended afternoon session runs from 4:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. That isnβt as much of an extension, but does give one the opportunity to trade for a short while after the NYSE closes. At one time in the past, options on most stocks traded until 4:10 p.m., but that was discontinued after large institutions complained that they were sometimes forced to mark their position in a stock with a 4:00 p.m. price (NYSE close), while optio
October Dips and Midterm Years: The 2026 Buy-the-Dip Playbook for the S&P 500
Everyone wants to buy the dip until itβs time to buy the dip π€ October hands traders a dip almost every year. So do midterm years. In 2026 they land on the same calendar, and some of the most valuable companies on Earth are trading well off their highs THE CRASHES 1929: Dow -12.8% on Oct 28, then -11.7% the next day 1987: Dow -22.6% on Black Monday, still its worst day ever 2008: S&P -16.9% for the month as the Lehman fallout spread A speculative bubble, a market-structure meltdown, a credit crisis. Different causes, same month, and every one of them eventually became a buying window THE OCTOBER STATS Typical recovery: about 4 months Midterm Octobers: +3.0% average, green 73.7% of the time Nobody buys the exact low, and nobody needs to. Every rebound $SPX has historically paid the peop
$VIX$ By Lawrence G. McMillan As time drags on, $SPX continues to trade within the trading range that has lasted since late July. This is marked in figure 1 by the box on the upper right. The current box has support at 7580-7620, which has been tested several times and is being tested again today. There is some resistance at 7750-7760 (the highs of several recent trading days), with more substantial resistance at the all-time highs, 7820-7840. Let's look at the individual indicators. They are still mixed reflecting the trading range environment. Equity-only put-call ratios are both on sell signals. Countering the negativity of the put-call ratios is an improvement in breadth. Breadth was nicely positive on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
$TVIX$ $UVIX$ $DECP$ By Lawrence G. McMillan After a slightly worse-than-expected CPI reading this week, the market finally made a move with some gusto. $SPX fell about 1.1% the day after that, with the Dow ($DJX) doing much better, but tech indices faring far worse. So $SPX is back inside the previous trading range, and the attempted breakout in earlier October is now officially a false breakout (pink circle on the chart in Figure 1). There wasn't any follow-through to the CPI-related selling, though, so now $SPX is back in a dull, trading range environment. There is resistance at 7820-7840, with support at 7580-7620. Equity-only put-call ratios
Alright we are in the extreme fear category BUT no real panic yet. There's still lots of pressure on Semiconductor and AI related stocks. I think we see one more flush before FOMC next Wednesday before we start to carve out a bottom. The fact that $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ broke under last Friday's lows is not a good sign for tech. $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ under 700 we can see 693,685 next. $SPX to 7500 in play if it breaks under 7620 as well. Tread lightly and make sure you're not going all in BEFORE FOMC. That's how you get cooked. $VanEck Semiconductor ETF(SMH)$ can drop to 500 on the next leg lower, this is most likely where a
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some trading strategies with you! 1 $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Trade Idea: Oct 16 390C Trigger: 383 β Targets: 390, 400 π― Stop: 375 π TSLA is winding up for a move to 400-414 on this next leg higher. As long as we see TSLA start to build a new base above 368, Calls will be in play above 383 this week. If TSLA starts getting more positive news flow we can see 500 again by Q1 2027. TSLA through 500 can run to 700+ 2 $Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$ Trade Idea: Oct 23 215C Trigger: 207 β Targets: 217, 223 π― Stop: 200 π Printed a new all time high at 209 after almost 1 year of consolidation. PLTR to 240 is possible on this next leg higher. As l
Introducing the New Daily Strategist: Redesigned for Active Traders
By Lawrence G. McMillan We're excited to introduce the newly redesigned The Daily Strategist, McMillan Analysis Corp.'s premium options advisory service. We've streamlined the format to make it easier for subscribers to identify trading opportunities, follow our recommendations, and manage open positions. The new Daily Strategist organizes our proprietary research, market commentary, and trading recommendations into three distinct daily communications. What's New? 1. McMillan's Morning SignalsStart the trading day with a systematic overview of market conditions and potential trading opportunities identified by our proprietary indicators, including momentum signals, put-call ratios, volatility analysis, and more. 2. McMillan's Morning Market CommentaryLarry McMillan's daily interpretation o
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some option strategies with you! 1 $SpaceX(SPCX)$ announces earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday. Am targeting a 105/95 put credit spread trade to play earnings, Nov 20 expiration. Might also write the 105P straight up. For a more aggressive put-write trade, we'll look at the 130P or 135P. 2 $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ announces earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. Expected move is ~7%. Am thinking of writing puts in the $250-300 strike range, and may stagger the expirations between Oct 23 out to Nov 20. 3 $GE Aerospace(GE)$ announces earnings before the opening bell on Tu
Ping pong market.. $S&P 500(.SPX)$ and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ stuck in a 5 month range... We should see a resolve from this AFTER FOMC. As long as $SPX can hold 7700 and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ forms a new base above 716 we should see a push back higher by the 1st week of November. Until then, tread lightly and preserve cash.... We saw negative reactions to $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$$IBM(IBM)$$Lam Research(LRCX)$ earnings today and the Chip/AI stocks are
Hello everyone! Today i want to share some option strategies with you! $S&P 500(.SPX)$ and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ faded from the highs today. Most likely we'll see another consolidation day before $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ earnings on Wednesday. I would tread lightly until AFTER FOMC on Oct 28th. $S&P 500(.SPX)$ needs to base above 7700 and $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ above 727 to look more bullish this month. If we see another flush in the market, $
Gap down today after a gap up into Monday... $Invesco QQQ(QQQ)$ is already down from 724 to 712.. if 707 breaks.. 700 can come fast.. There's still lots of weakness in Chip and memory stocks.. $Micron Technology(MU)$ down 24, $SanDisk Corp.(SNDK)$ down 43 premarket, AMD down 11... If these 3 continue to show relative weakness, the market will continue to struggle. $SPX to 7620 in play as well, if 7620 fails before FOMC we can see 7500 next. $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ earnings are coming up tomorrow after hours. We can see another sell off in tech if there's a