Bubba opens this session pointing out something that shapes the entire show: the Dow, S&P, and Russell are all pushing to new highs, yet volume in the S&P is running around 500,000 contracts versus a normal two to three million. That gap between price action and actual participation is, in his framework, the single biggest obstacle to day trading, since his edge depends on speed and velocity that simply aren’t present in a market drifting quietly higher on thin turnout. He’s careful to note that a low-volume grind doesn’t mean the rally is fake or about to reverse, just that it removes the kind of sharp move he needs to find a trade.
That framing doesn’t stop him from finding work to do, though. He walks through Amazon and, seeing an opportunity he’d flagged the day before, sells a put spread for Wednesday expiration, the 282.50 put against the 280 put for about a 70-cent credit, a modestly bullish bet that the stock holds above the lower strike through the week. He pairs that with two same-day credit spreads: a Russell (IWM) call spread at the 300/301 strikes for 43 cents, and an SPY call spread at 767/768 for 42 cents, both structured as quick, defined-risk day trades against levels he expects to hold given the market’s lack of real thrust.
The most interesting trade of the episode is in Palantir, where Bubba builds what he describes as a synthetic put at half price. Rather than simply buying a put outright for around $5.80, he sells an in-the-money call spread structured so that the net risk comes out to about $2.90, effectively the same directional exposure as owning the 157.50 put, but at roughly half the cost. He frames this specifically as a bet that Palantir’s recent strength is a blow-off top likely to fail, targeting the August 14th expiration, and takes the time to explain the mechanics clearly enough that less experienced viewers can follow why the structure behaves like a cheaper put rather than a traditional credit spread.
Throughout the episode, Bubba repeatedly contrasts this session with his broader philosophy: he mentions that Apple, Meta, and Google are all too close to their means to bother with, and that even though the VIX is quietly ticking higher even as the market grinds to new highs, a signal he flags as a small warning sign worth watching, he isn’t going to chase anything without a real trigger. He also touches on why he prefers to wait for three or four standard deviation extremes before considering a longer-term short, distinguishing that patience from the faster, rules-based day trades he’s willing to take on any given morning.
By the end of the session, Bubba has four live positions on the board (the Amazon put spread, the IWM and SPY call spreads, and the Palantir synthetic put) a solid day’s work given how little the tape itself offered. He closes with a reminder that his win streak on the twice-weekly calls now stretches back roughly 300 sessions, not because every day is exciting, but because he’s willing to sit on his hands until conditions actually support a trade, and take four when the setups happen to line up like they did here.
About Trading Live With Bubba
Trading Live with Bubba is a live-session show on the Tradier Hub YouTube channel hosted by veteran trader Todd “Bubba” Horwitz. Airing Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Bubba scans markets in real time, calls out credit spread and day trade setups, and teaches trading discipline through live narration.
