Option Block 590: Earnings Straddle Battle - GOOGL, MSFT, SBUX and More

Trading Block: Earnings! Before the bell: Southwest, Caterpillar After the bell: Alphabet, PayPal, E-Trade, Microsoft, Intel GOOGL - $852.70. ATM Straddle: $34, approx. 4% MSFT - $64.05. ATM Straddle: $2.75, approx. 4.3% INTC - $37.6. ATM Straddle: $1.25, approx. 3.3% PAYPAL - $41.52. ATM Straddle: $2.12, approx. 5% SBUX - $58.51. ATM Straddle: $2.20, approx. 3.7% Odd Block: Calls trade in Kate Spade Co. (KATE), calls trade in Technology SPDR (XLK) and puts trade in JPMorgan Alerian MLP index (AMJ) Strategy Block: Uncle Mike Tosaw discusses dollar-cost averaging Mail Block: Questions, comments, polls, and more. Options #QuestionOfTheWeek: Lots of earnings on the horizon. Which company will outperform their earnings straddle by the largest margin? Alphabet - $GOOGL Microsoft - $MSFT Intel - $INTC Starbucks - $SBUX Listener questions: Question from Tim Avery - If I choose an advisor that uses options do they traditionally charge higher fees than straight-up equity advisors? Question from Kddidy - I managed to buy 100 NAK Feb 3.00 Puts at .25 when the stock was trading at $3.30. Do you have any idea how this could happen? I am not sure if I should feel lucky or stupid. Question from Yukoner - Are covered calls still a viable strategy in a 401k these days? Around the Block/This Week in the Market: Jan 26: Jobless Claims, International Trade, New Home Sales Jan 27: Durable Goods, GDP, Consumer Sentiment