Unprofitable: This trade is unprofitable if BIDU Closes under $128.50 or above $151.50 by February 17, 2012. The most I can lose on this trade is the amount the spread can be worth, $5.00 minus the amount I sold the spread for $1.50 for a total of $3.50.

Reason I like this Trade: I looked at the amount of movement that Bidu has had over the last 4 quarters and it has been very tight. The stock is implying a 7.1% move and it has only moved at most 5% on any earnings. I want to sell movement, but always define my risk vs reward. I am risking $350 per 1 lot to make $150, but I think it is great risk vs reward.

UPDATE 2.17.2012 With BIDU selling off, but staying above $130 this trade will be worthless after today.  No trade is profitable until it is closed, so I will have to monitor it but looks like a BIG winner at #KOTM.  This spread is worthless in an hour and a half, taking profits and moving to the next trade.   

UPDATE 2.21.2012 This spread expired worthless, so it is on to the next trade, another winner at KOTM.

UNUSUAL OPTION ACTIVITY:
We have seen unusual option activity in stock MTG. A customer bought 338,189 Mar 4.5 Calls at $.42 while the stock was trading at $4.49. I think the size of the play was too big and therefore, we are not playing the MTG options. Today, we have seen a customer sell 1,850 ASIA Apr 10 Puts at $1.05. ASIA seems to be trading in a tight range and therefore I am staying away from those options as well. Baidu reports numbers after the bell. The average estimate of analysts is for net income of $.90 cents per share. Baidu has beat EPS estimates each quarter over the past three years. After reporting earnings, Baidu has risen the next session seven of eight quarters. General Motors posted its highest profit ever last year, though fourth-quarter revenue and earnings fell short of expectations. GM is currently trading higher by 7% or at $26.43 a share. Cloud Peak Energy, Ultra Petroleum Corp, and Barrick Gold set to report earnings after the close.

By Greg Zimny

In US equity market we finally saw an increase in ES volume. The question is will the volume be here to stay? It felt like the whole market traded around AAPL on Wed. AAPL made fresh all time highs and then suddenly sells off 5% towards the end of the trading day as rumors come out of an Iphone ban in China. With a lack of US data on Thursday, look for traders to focus on headline risk coming out of Europe. However, we will get housing start numbers, jobless claims, PPI, and the Philly Fed. Transportation average was the last 3 of last 4 trading days putting pressure on the overall indexes. Zynga reported Wed numbers that weren’t too far away from what the street expected but the stock sold off considerably in the after hour session. We will get a better idea of what Zynga is really worth when Facebooks IPO comes out. Maybe Zynga will offer a poker game one day rather then games that require no skill. JP Morgan, CLD, GM, and VF corp all report earnings on Thursday.
By: Greg Zimny

By AlexKOTM
Why I think the market is going to turn down from here. Gartley Pattern Formation and Technical Indicators that support my claim.
I intend on stopping out fast in case I am wrong! 

It closed on the lows of the day to $497.57 and printed a huge bearish engulfing candle. The reversals in the market today were due to the fact that markets worldwide are worried about an impending Greece default. This should not be a surprise to anyone. One of the hardest things to do when trading or investing is to determine what information the market has priced in and what information it hasn’t realized yet. The SPY closed down 0.47% to $134.56 and the uptrend is still very much intact. Crude Oil rocketed today and closed up 1.22% to $101.97 a barrel. This was due to a report stating that Iran cut oil shipments to six countries. Spot Gold closed at $1728.28 while its crazy cousin silver closed slightly down at $33.40. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) finally caught a bid today and jumped 8% as the company stated that it expects profit margins to stabilize. ANF closed at $48.30.

Written by Cameron Patrick
@Cam_Patrick