Someone mentioned MMM in the chat room, and now here we are, owners of the 9 Nov 170/165 put spread! It cost us 0.33 per and has the potential to go to 2.50 if the stock falls from a current $184 to $165 before the puts expire in two weeks. Forget about standard deviations and all of that gobbledygook when you try to determine whether the bet might pay off. Just look at the chart and let your eyeballs do the determining — tell you, that is, whether a plunge to $170 or lower in the allotted time is possible. Of course it is!  For further details on cutting the already low risk of this trade in half, see my posts in the chat room from around 5:30 p.m.  Another spread that many subscribers evidently bought, the DIA 26 Oct 245.00/242.50 put spread, has tripled in value. I have not covered it in the touts section, but you can find details in the chat room. It was also explicitly recommended in a Facebook video I recorded on October 12.  If you’re interested in these Friday presentations, visit the Rick’s Picks Facebook page and “Like” me so that you will be informed via email when they begin. ______ UPDATE (Oct 20, 9:14 p.m. EDT): It’s time to write off the bear spreads, which cost us $132, since five days of sideways pooch-screwing have all but killed it. I underestimated the tenaciousness of the institutional chimps who own this stock, even though I still regard it as dead meat for ‘fundamental’ reasons that include a strong dollar. Every rally should be regarded as distributive, although, as we’ve just determined, the inevitable slow-death decline over the long-term will not offer any profit opportunities for put-buyers.