Trading Block: Earnings!

• Thursday - (Before the Bell): General Motors Company, Southwest Airlines, Under Armour, Verizon Communications; (After the Bell): Microsoft, Alphabet Inc., E*Trade Financial Company, Starbucks Corporation, Visa Inc.
• MSFT - $56, ATM Straddle $2.37 - approx. 4.2%
• GOOG - $756.40, ATM Straddle $41.50 - approx. 5.5%
• SBUX - $60.77, ATM Straddle $2.25 - approx. 3.7%

Odd Block: Call spread buyers in Marathon Petroleum Corp (MRO), call buying in Tronox Ltd (TROX), and paper buying in Kilroy Realty Corp (KRC)

Mail Block: Listener questions and comments

• Question from Nick C.: Heard any chatter about CME or CBOE leaving Chicago?
• Question from Bob: Is the options market the most transparent financial marketplace?
• Question from Willy: What does the Option Block crew think of the TOS platform? Do you like it for pricing volatility and analyzing the Greeks?

Around the Block: Earnings on Friday - American Airlines, Caterpillar, General Electric Company, Honeywell International, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation.

This Week in the Market:

• Monday - National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index
• Tuesday - Commerce Department releases new figures
• Wednesday - National Association of Realtors existing home sales data
• Thursday - Weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department