The Option Block: Holiday Havoc, iRobot Reversals, and Year-End RMDs

The All-Star Panel is back to wrap up the year! Host Mark Longo, Uncle Mike Tosaw, and The Rock Lobster Andrew Giovinazzi dive into a festive but frantic market to break down the latest unusual activity and essential year-end strategies.

The Trading Block:

• Market Sentiment: How the holiday season is warping typical market movements and what to expect from the "Santa Claus Rally."

• Unusual Activity in iRobot ($IRBT): Breaking down the latest heavy flow in the robotics space.

• Gap ($GPS) Check-in: Analyzing the recent retail trades as the year comes to a close.

The Strategy Block:

• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Uncle Mike breaks down the critical deadlines and pitfalls for traditional IRAs. Don't let the IRS take a bigger cut than necessary.

• Holiday Trading Hours: Insights on the best (and worst) times to put on trades when liquidity is thin.

Around the Block:

• Favorite Christmas Movies: The team debates the holiday greats. Is A Christmas Story still the king, or does Elf take the crown? Plus, thoughts on the stop-motion nostalgia of Rudolph.

Check out more from The Options Insider: TheOptionsInsider.com

• Follow us on Twitter: @Options

The All-Star Panel convenes for the final Thursday of 2025! Host Mark Longo is joined by Henry "The Flowmaster" Schwartz (Cboe) and "Uncle" Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management) to break down a wild year-end session.

• The 15 Billion Milestone: Henry Schwartz predicts when the 15,000,000,000th options contract of 2025 will trade.

• Silver's Historic Run: Mike Tosaw discusses the "thief in the night" move in SLV as it hits new highs, and why he's finally fading the metal.

• Market Rotation: A look at the aggressive move back into tech (XLK, Micron, Palantir) following cooler CPI data.

• DJT "Skullduggery": We analyze suspicious call buying in DJT (Trump Media) immediately preceding a 40% jump on fusion merger news.

• Leslie's Inc (LESL): Why is someone grabbing thousands of calls in a stock that has dropped 95% this year?

• Ticker Autopsy: A look back at the failed $210k bet on IPA (now HYFT).

Mark Longo, Uncle Mike Tosaw (St. Charles Wealth Management), and Andrew 'The Rock Lobster' Giovinazzi (The Option Pit) break down the final full trading week of 2025. This high-stakes episode covers the shocking conclusion to the '80s Trivia Challenge, explosive VIX and index flow, and a crucial year-end Tax Strategy discussion.

The dramatic conclusion of the year-long contest: Uncle Mike vs. The Rock Lobster. The hosts sweat it out in a high-pressure round of Sports & Leisure trivia. Find out who claims the point and if the "Chicago Politics" conspiracy theories hold up!

The VIX Cash index is rallying off recent lows. Is this December different from years past? The Rock Lobster confesses his VIX Puts strategy was his "worst product" of the year due to being a "Greedy Pig" and not monetizing the downside swings. The panel also looks at key single-name movers like Apple (AAPL), Broadcom (AVGO), and a roaring Tesla (TSLA).

Detailed analysis of today's hottest option: The dirt-cheap Dec 15th VIX Puts for $0.04. Plus, a look at the massive flow in SPY (SPY) and SPX (SPX) index options, confirming the zero-day trend, alongside surprising upside action in the QQQ (QQQ) Calls.

Uncle Mike provides essential guidance on year-end tax strategies. He details how to use Tax Loss Harvesting to offset gains and reminds traders about the Wash Sale rules. A must-listen segment covers the Mark-to-Market rule for 1256 Contracts (like SPX options) before the December 31st deadline.

The team forecasts whether Silver (SLV) can continue its historic run into 2026. Plus, predictions on if the SPX can hit new All-Time Highs before the new year.