XLF

TheInkDon1

**YES**, a man after my own heart! Simple often works better than complicated. You're finding things that are going up. You're getting long with LEAPS Calls as *share substitutes.* "Finding things that are going up," I may've taken a liberty there, because you might be thinking, "This thing *should* go up, based on what it's been through recently." Plus you add the Value tilt, which puts them in your favor. May I make a suggestion? Actually two: **ETFs** Find ones that are going up **right now**. ETFs over stocks because they're less volatile. Say **BA** goes bankrupt overnight. The ETF **XLF** loses about 5%. Say its CEO is found in the Epstein files and the stock drops by 25%. **XLF** loses 1.2%. Ho hum. (**XLF** isn't going up right now, so don't buy it; I'm just saying.) ***Momentum persists.*** Find it and buy it. It sounds like you're a shorter-term trader than most. I am too: 3 months or so is my investing horizon. **EWY** is my current favorite ETF. Here I compare it with MRVL and BA that you mentioned: [EWY vs. MRVL & BA, 3-month](https://imgur.com/a/94b1Qvc) I wish I'd found EWY earlier, but I only got into it on 1/28. But it's done 39% over that 3-month view, and 20% over the past month. And you realize you're getting leverage when buying LEAPS Calls, right? Let me know if you want to chat more about this, but you're definitely on the right track. To give you an idea of how much so, I started a 3-ETF LEAPS Call portfolio with my sister's IRA on 10/22. To date it's up 96%. Almost a doubling in less than 4 months. Take care.

Got_Engineers

You acknowledge the fact that you can’t make money trading paying a fee on option contracts but you also bought puts on a dead option chain. Stick to XLF it has volume

daninsatx

no kidding haha.. index funds the way i really go. this kind of experiment shows that is the way i should go. got lucky with nvidia.. GM, XLF, Fed X and a few more were positive but lost my shirt on Enphase, Paypal, and Square.

Portfoliana

Instead of chasing "hot" sectors, consider looking at where valuations are actually reasonable right now. Healthcare (XLV) and financials (XLF) are trading at much more attractive P/E ratios compared to tech, and both have solid fundamentals for 2026. European defense (like EUAD) has also gotten a lot of attention post-Ukraine, but it's already run up significantly so you'd want to check if valuations still make sense. One thing I'd suggest: rather than just buying sector ETFs and forgetting, track the underlying fundamentals quarterly - revenue growth, margins, P/E trends. It helps you know when a sector is getting overheated vs when it's actually a value opportunity. The difference between "safe" and "actually safe" often comes down to understanding what you own beyond just the sector label.

johns2289

XLF, fuck you too

Locke_____Lamora

Keep these on your watch list. XLI, XLP, XLE, XLK, XLB, XLV. XLF, XLC, XLU. Seems to be going mostly into energy materials healthcare and financials

d33p7r0ubl3

Yeah they’re not really considered a financial. More high beta like you said. I’m surprised they’re even in the XLF. It seems like they’re getting blasted by the drop in crypto. Who knows what effect that will have on earnings. Vlad is a good CEO though so it’s hard to bet against him.

Got_Engineers

My personal theory is that companies that join the S&P 500 get dumped. That’s one aspect. They also were a very strong momentum stock last year. Momentum doesn’t last forever so I think this is just the fallout of that. I have no idea about the axle financials or the company itself. Just technical details like momentum. XLF and financials look to be in a decent spot right now, but Robin Hood isn’t even in the top 10 of XLF. I didn’t look past that so I don’t even know if they’re considered a financial stock. Which means that they are getting dragged down with this blowout of expensive debt ridden tech companies, which is basically Robin Hood still.

mhughes2595

Wow this is scary. You're main problem is that you're all in on several otm options. I would wait for a green day and restructure the entire portfolio. I would Sell everything and start over. I would pick a theme and invest around that. My theme is ai. So I choose a core position like smh and buy a deep itm call leaps and sell a far otm call on the same ticket. Do the same for spy iwm and qqq. The sell side will pay you for chaos while the buy side is your money maker. Do this with all options contracts. Then after you have built your core portfolio of 1 contract each. Pick some other etfs. I like the etf ura. It is a power based etf that will benefit from the ai build out. Then grab one leaps of a metals etf. Metals are needed in ai. I chose xme but gdx is good as well. Now we choose our financers. I don't know much about finances so I went with XLF. After that you have a good portfolio with a nice theme. Now take 150k and put it in sgov. You can use this to buy dips. My choices today were nvidia spreads.

johnb111111

Am I stupid for thinking of doing this? So I’m sure we all know that a lot of etfs are heavy into the big 7 and well the crazy growth that can’t be sustained has me thinking of moving away. I’d rather play it safer for long term growth and spread out to etfs like XLI, XLF, XLE, XLV, VBR, VXUS, and RSP. My goal is long term growth for retirement. Thoughts on this? I’d rather not get fucked when this shit bursts by keeping most of my money in VT or something.

welland_good

Monday and Wednesday option expirations being added for following: GOOG, GOOGL, AMZN, AAPL, META, MSFT, NVDA, TSLA, AVGO, and XLF We’re so fucked

Ok_Cry7572

SEC approved Monday and Wednesday option expiries Starting January 26th, there will be Monday and Wednesday option expiries for the following tickers: GOOG, GOOGL, AMZN, AAPL, META, MSFT, NVDA, TSLA, AVGO, and XLF

LaconicB

Interesting because many sources list all Mag7 tickers with the two additions. When I look at thinkorswim option chains, I don’t see them on GOOG or XLF but do see them for IBIT. 

Duncan810

I do not see new expiries for GOOG and XLF. NasdaqTrader shows IBIT. [https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/MicroNews.aspx?id=OTA2026-3](https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/MicroNews.aspx?id=OTA2026-3)

utsnik

The Vix crush point is solid. That Wednesday snap-back was pure mechanical squeezing, no fundamentals changed. Also 100% agree the "crisis" was manufactured. Real geopolitical issues don't get solved in 48 hours. They went from "Nuclear Tariff War" to "Peace Deal" in two sessions. Whatever liquidity issue is under the surface, they used Greenland as the cover to flush leverage and reset. I don't think Friday was just exhaustion though. "running out of steam" is usually a slow bleed. Fridays XLF flows were violent (-40% divergence). That looked like a forced liquidation or someone frontrunning the tariff news, not just a trend dying.

PapaCharlie9

Fundamentally sound stocks aren't cheap, unless they are being punished for something short-term. I'm not saying you should give up on your risk management, you got that right. Instead, find a way to trade blue chips with less money. For example, you can get approved to trade vertical spreads. Then you can trade for as low as $50 a spread, though blue chips are more typically between $500 and $50. Until then, the next best thing you can trade are sector funds. They tend to be cheaper than their constituent blue chips, but also have very different risk and volatility profiles. Examples are XLF ($53), XLE ($49), XLB ($49), XLRE ($41), etc. Steer clear of leveraged funds and single-stock funds. They look cheap on paper, but you pay in other ways, particularly if you use CCs with them.

fire_alarmist

Ill do you one better, Im of the opinion that there is a massive liquidity problem under the covers and that it actually went the other way around as a distraction tactic. I think XLF has been fake pumped and propped up since the Oct 17th liquidity crunch that was threatening regional banks/November drop and that fake pump/short squeezing simply ran out of steam and we were continuing on our path down. AFTER that XLF flow had been established, and the bearish pattern had been confirmed, this administration decided to announce the tariffs so that one dimensional thinkers look and see a much more easily resolved problem as the cause of the price action. So by removing the tariffs later, easy to fool people now think the cause of the problem is gone and they trigger another short squeeze event to try to blast us up away from puts to where they can just hold the market again. Its been very effective for them because of the mechanical nature of vix crushes and short squeezes allows them to just invalidate all bearish momentum immediately and with a relatively small investment change the trajectory of the market.

utsnik

One can always question. I thought something very wrong was up with my system as technical indicators and everything was positive. My ML model was also positive. Yet the outflow was huge! Seeing the pictures and the intensity of the tweets and posts (Trump and Vance planting a flag on Greenland) as well as the military threats. They surely made sure that the market was going to tank quite hard. Oh, I also detected some euphoria in a huge amount of calls on Thursday Retail was buying 3 calls for every put on Thursday in XLF, while DIA was almost two to one. Then insiders sold to retail in a huge dump on Friday. A perfect retail trap...

fire_alarmist

Look at XLF and JPM recently lol

fire_alarmist

XLF liquidations happening, but yea go ahead and buy calls.

fire_alarmist

Hey bulls, JPM and XLF dont look like that on days when we rocket up. They look like that on days where a looming liqudity crisis is being priced in LOL

AcademicStandard3701

XLF, and RSP red this pump on spy can only last so long

fire_alarmist

The bank bailouts have already been happening since October btw. Look at JPM and XLF, every time they start to go down, which would confirm the downward spiral and liquidation of the global financial system, they get mysteriously injected with massive amounts of liquidity to break the downward momentum. The world financial system is at stake, and they will just let the bearish patterns form, then short squeeze with printed dollars to never let the momentum build because they literally cant even bail it out this time when it full crashes. That complacency and desire to kick the can down the road is the reason silver/gold will not be going down. They arent going up, everything else is just being raped and pillaged so that the rich/global leaders dont have to deal with the massive shitstorm they created.

Rav_3d

I didn't sell based on the news, but trimmed some positions based on the fact that SPY made a new all-time high and couldn't hold it, while QQQ continues to lag and XLF seems to be breaking down. This may change now that the Greenland news is "not as bad" but it remains to be seen. We could also just have a bull trap that lasts a few days and then the selling resumes. I pay attention to what the market is doing, not the news.

thegr8lexander

If you’re worried about spy being overweighted tech, you could do RSP which is equal weight SP500. I’d also throw in some XLF (SPDR Financials ETFs) XLE (spdr energy)

marcus_media

Here’s a link to my video it’s called the wheel strategy. Other videos explain it better as well https://youtu.be/YlfZTy4M-kU?si=dzZ88DfIGkON6XLF

Pleasant-Monk7

You've got a decent fundamental thesis but the technicals are telling you something different, and that tension is real. The honest answer is that both matter, but for options specifically, timing matters way more than it does for swing trading stocks. A good fundamental idea can still lose money if the chart keeps rolling over before your thesis plays out. That said, if you're only needing XLF to get back to yesterday's price to break even, your risk is defined and the premium is cheap like you said. The bigger question is whether you have the conviction to hold through more downside if it happens, or if you'd panic sell at a loss. One thing that trips up newer options traders is not having a clear exit plan before you enter. Are you holding to expiry? Closing at 50% profit? Cutting at 30% loss? That matters more than the technical vs fundamental debate. Also worth noting - ETFs do move differently than individual stocks, but XLF is pretty liquid so the mechanics are similar. If you want to compare a few different strike prices and expirations to see which gives you the best risk-reward, tools like FunRobin can help you quickly visualize the breakevens and multipliers without getting lost in a full options chain. But the core decision here is really about your conviction and risk tolerance, not the tool.

jarMburger

Assuming you’re buying the call, why $54.5 call? It’s a bit OTM and $1/2 has a bit less liquidity if you sell it when XLF goes up. If you plan on taking assignment then it doesn’t matter anyway. I think it’s an okay relatively conservative play, better if you take it more ITM though.

hgreenblatt

"I want a second opinion on placing a $54.50 1/23 call on XLF " I give up, are you buying or selling.

fire_alarmist

Vix and VVIX waking up finally after months of suppression. XLF nosediving at the same time, Trump seemed to be conceding that the fake pump is over and lamenting the fact that it couldnt go higher yesterday during his Ford Plant speech. This is the continuation of the liquidity crunch that started in October, 5 x rejection of ATH and Nasdaq not being able to get close to previous ATH when the entire run up was based off the AI bubble, like it doesnt get any toppier than this.

fire_alarmist

XLF afking and everyone and their grandma full porting puts here because its so obvious. You know all the big players are on a conference call with Mango right now figuring out a deal to rig this shit right back up.

PatientAd9394

I like your thinking. JPM reported today, and 3 other major banks report tomorrow. The market didn't like JPM earnings call today so will see how it responds to the 3 other earnings tomorrow. If positive, I'll enter into 30 DTE XLF calls, otherwise I'll wait.

vash__ts

more broadly, the financial sector, e.g. and ETF like XLF is down about 2% based on recent tump tweets

REEMFMetalHead

Yeah, SPY is trying to roll over . . . XLF is down 1.74% . . . conditions in general are about to get kind of crappy for a while, I think. I'm seeing that on my portfolio today. Not sure about you guys.

FamiliarFalcon5366

Extremely cheap $56 strike price call on XLF financial sector etf, gonna print some cash

NeighborhoodDry1821

XLF lol

fire_alarmist

Alright... everyone go look at XLF and tell me this institutional real estate unwind aint about to send us down 10 bucks overnight lol

NeighborhoodDry1821

Someone needs to explain to me, like I’m a toddler, why XLF and banks moved like that

Fishherr

Why JPM and what date..? XLF has been rippin

NeighborhoodDry1821

Why they pumping XLF so much?

Ridiculous_Society

XLF

parkerj33

I’m currently doing two-year dated calls on XBI and XLF and selling CCs on them.

charliemike

Right now, I'm sitting on cash. The market is just not paying for downside protection right now for Low IV stocks and ETFs. A month ago, I got pretty good money for EEM and XLF (just over 1% for <30DTE) and now I would be lucky to get a quarter of what I got in late November. So it's not worth tying up my money in something that's paying me like 6% annualized. I'm not sophisticated enough yet to start doing bull call spreads or calendar spreads or whatever. So I do paper trades on higher IV stocks and ETFs and try to learn from what they do in the meantime.

Diligent-Isopod-9181

Today i come to terms with my mistakes and see if anyone wants to buy my XLF calls for $20

AbrocomaNegative825

XLF has had a very good month overall

Legal-Boysenberry-38

BUY FINANCIALS. Financial stocks multiples will start to move towards tech multiples. This starts with deregulation, the blockchain, and A.I. people forget about financials when it comes to A.I. there up big in 2025, they will have an even better 2026. This includes Goldman, JPM, Citi, Wells, Bank of America, XLF, KRE, COF, etc.

Legal-Boysenberry-38

Financial stocks multiples will start to move towards tech multiples. This starts with deregulation, the blockchain, and A.I. people forget about financials when it comes to A.I. there up big in 2025, they will have an even better 2026. This includes Goldman, JPM, Citi, Wells, Bank of America, XLF, KRE, COF, etc.

Legal-Boysenberry-38

Financial stocks multiples will start to move towards tech multiples. This starts with deregulation, the blockchain, and A.I. people forget about financials when it comes to A.I. there up big in 2025, they will have an even better 2026. This includes Goldman, JPM, Citi, Wells, Bank of America, XLF, KRE, COF, etc.

NeighborhoodDry1821

Why the strong rotation to XLF?

Confident_Potato_714

Great fund to hop into with lowering rates. Sold my SMH fund a few weeks back and put it into XLF for the upcoming year.

-ReasonableDoubt

XLF I think the financial/consumer data these companies own provides better moat than the companies tasked with storing/analyzing it. Tools can become outdated but data is forever. BRK, JPM, MA, V, BAC, GS

NeighborhoodDry1821

XLF rejected 3 times now off that level last week, GS and JPM downs?

markandersonfb

I feel like long dated XLF puts is the play but not quite yet

Diligent-Isopod-9181

Well guess its time for me to sell my losers. Looking at you XLF

markandersonfb

XLF puts?

fire_alarmist

XLF still nosediving, they literally aint got the funds to prop this market lol.

markandersonfb

Oh shit, is that in XLF?

tropicalia84

Meanwhile XLF hit all time highs yesterday

Comfortable_Spray273

Careful with the “cheap stock = good for small accounts” idea — that’s how most beginners bleed out. What matters more than the stock price is: • liquidity (tight spreads) • consistent intraday movement • clean options chains For small accounts, a lot of sub-$100 names have: • wide bid/ask spreads • random volatility • thin options (you get killed on fills) Honestly, many people are better off trading liquid ETFs or index products instead of chasing cheap tickers. Examples: • SPY / QQQ → extremely liquid, tight spreads, tons of expirations • IWM → cheaper premium, still liquid • XL sector ETFs (XLF, XLK, XLE) → slower, cleaner moves If you do trade single stocks under $100, prioritize: • high average daily volume • tight options spreads (check before entering) • stocks that respect levels (not meme behavior) The biggest upgrade for small accounts isn’t what you trade — it’s how selective you are. Fewer trades, better fills, defined risk. Cheap contracts don’t help if the structure is trash.

NeighborhoodDry1821

wen XLF die?

markandersonfb

something to think about over the weekend... why AXP, BAC, WFC, XLF and more financials make all time highs today?

Mordrim

XLF and XLI just broke, so I would look into those 2 sectors.

NeighborhoodDry1821

Financials hitting ATH, XLF

fire_alarmist

Oh lawd that XLF dump got some volume on it

daninsatx

Here is a list of stocks i bought back then and how they did. I tried to put it into a table but reddit wouldn't post it. # Fool Stocks Portfolio Data * **Stock:** SQUARE INC CL A * **Shares:** 52.00 * **Total Cost:** $11,856.00 * **Today's Value:** $4,784.00 * **Gain/Loss:** $-7,072.00 * **Percent Gain:** \-59.65% * **Stock:** AIRBNB INC CL A * **Shares:** 11.00 * **Total Cost:** $1,848.00 * **Today's Value:** $1,367.52 * **Gain/Loss:** $-480.48 * **Percent Gain:** \-26.00% * **Stock:** PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC. (PYPL) * **Shares:** 7.00 * **Total Cost:** $1,806.00 * **Today's Value:** $435.96 * **Gain/Loss:** $-1,370.04 * **Percent Gain:** \-75.86% * **Stock:** **SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS INC (SWKS)** * **Shares:** 11.00 * **Total Cost:** $1,921.59 * **Today's Value:** $762.52 * **Gain/Loss:** $-1,159.07 * **Percent Gain:** \-60.32% * **Stock:** GENERAL MOTORS CO (GM) * **Shares:** 114.00 * **Total Cost:** $5,840.23 * **Today's Value:** $8,669.70 * **Gain/Loss:** $2,829.47 * **Percent Gain:** 48.45% * **Stock:** CHEVRON CORP (CVX) * **Shares:** 18.00 * **Total Cost:** $1,908.00 * **Today's Value:** $2,700.00 * **Gain/Loss:** $792.00 * **Percent Gain:** 41.51% * **Stock:** **NVIDIA** * **Shares:** 195.00 * **Total Cost:** $3,057.60 * **Today's Value:** $35,569.95 * **Gain/Loss:** $32,512.35 * **Percent Gain:** **1063.33%** * **Stock:** Bristol-Myers Squib * **Shares:** 22.00 * **Total Cost:** $1,489.40 * **Today's Value:** $1,147.30 * **Gain/Loss:** $-342.10 * **Percent Gain:** \-22.97% * **Stock:** FORD * **Shares:** 414.00 * **Total Cost:** $5,413.05 * **Today's Value:** $5,394.42 * **Gain/Loss:** $-18.63 * **Percent Gain:** \-0.34% * **Stock:** Federal Express * **Shares:** 12.00 * **Total Cost:** $2,904.00 * **Today's Value:** $3,291.48 * **Gain/Loss:** $387.48 * **Percent Gain:** 13.34% * **Stock:** XLF * **Shares:** 74.00 * **Total Cost:** $2,960.00 * **Today's Value:** $3,972.32 * **Gain/Loss:** $1,012.32 * **Percent Gain:** 34.20% * **Stock:** KRE * **Shares:** 30.00 * **Total Cost:** $2,300.10 * **Today's Value:** $1,941.60 * **Gain/Loss:** $-358.50 * **Percent Gain:** \-15.59% * **Stock:** Enphase Energy * **Shares:** 14.00 * **Total Cost:** $1,953.00 * **Today's Value:** $437.50 * **Gain/Loss:** $-1,515.50 * **Percent Gain:** \-77.60% # 💰 Portfolio Totals * **Total Cost:** **$45,256.96** * **Total Value:** **$70,474.27** * **Overall Gain/Loss:** **$25,217.31** * **Overall Percent Gain:** **55.72%**

2025SAG

I mainly trade technology stocks and other aggressive stocks that are usually added to the following ETFs sectors like: XLK, XLF, XLC, XLY, and XLI. In fy23 I increased my portfolio to 161%, in fy24 it was 96% and this year fy25 it was up 114%. My portfolio has definitely increased significantly over the years. However, the market looks like it wants to come down, and it feels like it’s a house of cards, so I got out and sold all my stocks around November 11. And I’m just going to wait until breadth, sentiment, volume and momentum is back in the market before I start trading again. Happy trading everyone!

SecretaryAncient8923

I am too afraid to do any calls other than Covered calls, but I hope you do well. I am not of the mind that we are in an AI bubble yet that is about to pop. More and more people are purchasing, including average joe every day retail, AI access. It may be under priced but sale and use are increasing. Eventhough current revenue can't cover the costs of build out it still is revenue. Compared to the dot com era thousands of "companies" were just ideas, not actual companies with goods and services already producing income. I think it will continue to increase in diameter before the big kaplow. I hope the Markets react positively Wednesday, I just increased my shares in SOFI, JPM, BAC, AXP, and XLF. Not overweight just a little increase, just in case.

Tay_Tay86

In a bull steepener scenario, the cause for why it's happening matters a lot. If it's a recession that's causing the fed to react, all the gains in things like KRE and XLF will be at risk. Financials do benefit from the fed lowering rates, but in a recession credit becomes a problem. Defaults rise and the losses outweigh the gains. Investment activity slows. Bad times

fire_alarmist

XLF will be facing another liquidity crunch induced extinction event here momentarily, SPY will also be dragged down to 650. Trade accordingly. And by that I mean, Sell.

charliemike

You could look at low IV ETFs like EEM or XLF that selling a CSP on could net you about 1.1-1.3% per month. Plus what you're getting from SPRXX (or the equivalent MM while your cash is held as collateral) you could hit 16-18% a year all in. If the CSP expires unassigned then you just make the premium and start again. If you get assigned, you've got a little bit lower cost basis than the strike you chose so you can sell immediately or start writing CCs against them. A lot less risk because you don't have IV crushing you out of nowhere. Yes, it's boring but it's the kind of thing that doesn't YOLO $250k off a cliff. I want income off this not insane growth.

Diligent-Isopod-9181

Seeing my Jan 16 XLF calls be basically worthless amuses me. I guess I'm kind of a sick guy

Able-Breadfruit-5981

Wow massive XLF puts hitting the tape. That's how you know shit is getting real and it's not just your meme ai stocks.

RoverV

Why would want to? The world is just becoming more and more tech dominant. But to reduce exposure, lean into VDC and/or XLF

melanthius

Remind me in 40 years to get puts on XLF

aabotteen

Good work, tomorrow we short the bank stocks via XLF etf.

crazier_ed

XLF ?

fire_alarmist

XLF STILL DUMPING, and you guys still ignoring the looming liquidity crisis and credit crunch. Lol, lmao even

fire_alarmist

The fed hit the emergency, "save the XLF banking etf from dying and showing we are deep in a recession and financial crisis" button

dejaone

Most sectors are expensive right now. XLF and XLC are relatively cheap.

dimethylhyperspace

For the XLF? Hooefully if Visa comes in good we get a solid uptrend over multiple days. When I play XLF I'm usually looking for the ETF price to move 2-3$ before I close them out

Strange_Resource_217

Tf is XLF

fire_alarmist

We spend the entire last 2 weeks with the most manipulated SPX options ever seen, SPX options trading turned off multiple times, half the internet and markets turned off coincidentally when everyone thought it would be black monday, massive random gap ups that were given up asap except Friday, regional bank failures, random XLF banking etf liquidations causing -$3 insta SPY plunges 3 times and they think another random sussy ATH in overnight trading and paying extra for more anti bear AI comments on reddit will fix it? Lol, why would I stop buying puts NOW, you have already extended the move $100 past any semblance of reason. If anything my chances are BETTER if I buy puts tommorow than they were Friday.

dimethylhyperspace

Kind of bummed I closed my QQQ calls Friday. But 9/10 it feels like I either take the profits given or I lose them lol. I will be looking to buy XLF calls for Visa earnings though

fire_alarmist

Friendly reminder the financial system you rely on is suffering such a severe liquidity crisis that a .5% drop has regional banks failing, and spy dropping $4 in a minute multiple times a week as the XLF banking etf gets liquidation sells. Im sure your money will be there tommorow, dont worry.

fire_alarmist

Uh oh xlf trending down again pretty hard... Is everyone ready for our 4th XLF liquidation of the week? Are we all prepared for another -$4 1 minute candle on spy?

fire_alarmist

LOL go look at the XLF afterhours trading on a minute by minute basis. They erased some of the afterhours minutes, to hide the massive wicks that would be reported by dark pool trades today Im sure.

fire_alarmist

XLF trading halted btw, not a financial collapse brewing btw. You will surely be able to get your money out of your brokerage/bank tommorow dont worry about it

fire_alarmist

Regional bank liquidity issues last week, they conveniently turned off half the stock market/internet on a Monday that was poised to be extremely bearish, SPX options have been turned off twice this week, options pricing in general is wacko this week, and XLF the banking etf is the cause of these massive spikes down. And you say stop loss hunting????? Bro some of these bulltards really just need to be culled already.

fire_alarmist

Guys.... XLF is ominous af

fire_alarmist

I think a lot of you are not understanding the gravity of the situation, XLF teetering on the edge and that was the third higher time frame SPY ATH rejection and 5th look above and fail of the upward channel we started 4 months ago.

fire_alarmist

Uhhh you guys a busy squeezing your fake meat and didnt notice XLF is back down to the levels it was when the regional bank failures were happening last week and trending down???? Geee I wonder what is happening

fire_alarmist

If you want to see something cool, watch how your internet/robinhood magically freezes more when the big red bar shows up on XLF the financial etf. No coincidence, definitely not the big boys hitting the time out button.

OrangeForeva

OP: Are you talking about the credit market fears started by JPM comments and Zion? You can see some of the fear there in XLF. Don't think it's bad enough to cause a gold selloff (yet?)--that's likely just profit taking IMO.

pho_SHAten

SPY is starting to signal liquidity exit; financials and energy led the move. Price has been below the 20 MA for 6 days (9 days for XLF and XLE). Haven't seen this type of pattern since Feb 2025. the VIX spike proves institutions are buying downside protection. QQQ isn't bearish enough so i think it's just specific sectors that could get hit. if those sectors can't recover, the selling could escalate further.

fire_alarmist

Uhhh guys... XLF is back at its january support level right before the big crash... What happens if it goes...

MeasurementSame9553

I’m buying puts on XLF. Jamie Dimon’s cockroach quote was a signal. Probably a signal where I lose money on my puts 🤣 bear mode let the market fall!!!

Fit_Combination6988

Sold out of my XLF Oct17 54 puts for a $4.7k loss on Sept18. Those would have put me 10k in the green had I held 😔

aweberbrown

XLF calls!!! Sharing with the world for easy money!!!

aweberbrown

Buy XLF calls before market close for an easy profit tomorrow!!!

Gainztrader235

Here’s what I do and most institutions. One effective way to protect a portfolio from downside risk is through the use of long-dated put options a strategy commonly employed by institutional investors. By purchasing puts on broad market ETFs like SPY (S&P 500), QQQ (Nasdaq-100), or even inverse ETFs such as SDOW (3x inverse Dow Jones), investors can establish a form of insurance against major drawdowns. These positions increase in value when the underlying market declines, offsetting losses in the long equity side of the portfolio. How It Works - A put option gives the holder the right—but not the obligation—to sell the underlying asset at a set price (the strike) before a specific expiration date. - Long-dated puts (LEAPS, or “Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities”) can extend 6–24 months out, allowing more sustained protection without constant rolling. Key Considerations - Theta Decay: Option value erodes over time due to theta, especially as expiration approaches. The longer-dated the option, the slower this decay, but it still represents a cost of holding insurance. - Delta Exposure: The value of a put increases as the underlying price drops, but decreases if the market moves higher—so gains in your core portfolio typically offset these paper losses. - Volatility Impact: Rising volatility (VIX) during market stress boosts put premiums, enhancing hedge effectiveness. Strategic Implementation - Index Hedges: Buying SPY or QQQ puts protects against systemic downturns across sectors. - Sector-Specific Hedges: Investors may choose ETFs like XLE (energy), XLK (tech), or XLF (financials) depending on exposure concentration. - Direct Hedges: Buying puts on individual holdings—such as AAPL or NVDA—can protect specific core positions without over-hedging the entire portfolio. - Dynamic Adjustment: Some investors adjust their hedge ratio based on volatility levels or key technical levels (e.g., 200-day moving average breaks). Example An investor with a $500,000 equity portfolio might buy SPY $450 puts expiring in June 2026. If markets drop 15%, those puts could gain enough value to offset 20–40% of the loss, depending on strike and timing.