The 171.10 rally target we used for this vehicle yesterday caught the intraday high precisely to-the-tick. This allowed subscribers to buy Oct 10 169 puts as suggested for a reported 0.75, the low of the day. Toward the end of the session, with DIA trading significantly lower, I suggested spreading off the risk by offering four October 10 167 puts short for 0.60.  The order went unfilled (although some tightwad put up a 0.59 bid in the closing seconds). Now, I’ll suggest offering the calls short for 0.80, a price that I might suggest raising if it looks like stocks are going to open with a big thud. If the order were to fill at 0.80, our vertical-spread position would produce a gain of at least $20 no matter what, but with upside potential to $880.

My reasoning behind this strategy is that the Ebola scare may already have reached the threshold of “tradable event.”  This I have surmised from the rapt attention the story commanded at my gym, which has TV monitors in all of the workout rooms. Whatever happens, we can only pray that there has been no spread of the disease by the man now under close watch in a Dallas hospital. However, because the possibilities that might arise from this developing story are almost too scary to imagine, we should treat it as an event that could have a significant impact on financial markets. _______ UPDATE (At the opening): Bring the offer down to the original 0.60 for the short puts. _______ UPDATE (9:59 a.m.):  No trades recorded yet, but with the puts now 0.93 bid/1.07 asked, I’ll score this as a short sale at 0.80 unless I hear from someone in the chat room who did worse.