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Why I Don't Like Trading Options On McDonald's

Same stores sales are up 6.8% in Q4 2025. With inflation and rising labour and food costs, 6.8% is not really very much. Then the rumours about 2,000 or so more outlets opening up this year are the same projections that we heard over the last few years. What they always forget to tell us is the number of their restaurants shutting down. Why might some be shutting down? Well maybe a new highway going is diverting some of the road traffic off in a different direction or a neighbouring high school is closing down. Four years ago they lost some restaurants in Russia. Now look at this. Next this. McDonald's trading on the close back on Thursday. It had a good day. There is new talk about a bigger and better "Big Arch" meal with a bigger burger with a better tangy and creamy sauce. Now this. Today's one day chart. It's Monday. Now it's one day of Call option trading. Look at the volume of trading on these Call options. Over 6,000 contracts. The open interest ...

Toyota

Very few option contracts trade on Toyota. I have wondered why and offer one potential explanation. It's listed on multiple exchanges around the world and "option makers" in North America are basically just following the action. If the markets open stronger in North America that means Toyota traded stronger overnight on markets overseas. Secondly, the Calls and Puts trade in incriments of five dollars.There are for example 135 Calls, 140 Calls, 145 Calls. Having a five dollar spread wipes out the incentive try to daytrade option series which are soon to expire. If the stock moves from 142 to 143 the "bids and asks" on a 140 series of Calls might hardly change. It's not like trading the stock like Boeing where you can get in and out with option series set up in increments of $2.50 . Here is it's one month charts. The company now has a new C.E.O who is getting criticized for not moving to go electric quickly enough.
What I am now about to show you might discredit some of my above points. It's a five day chart on Toyota and look how all the action seems to happen on the opening. Why? It's the effect of overnight trading on other markets. Our North American trading follows Toyota's overseas market trading.
Now back to my point of how contracts trade. A volume of three and twelve contracts in the 140 Calls and Puts series that expire soon. Look at how wide apart the "bids and asks" are and how low the outstanding number of open contracts are. It's crazy.
Toyota is a great company. It's just not one that attracts option players.

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