hey there, we're live at the nasdaq in times square the guys are getting ready for the show behind me here's what's coming up next >> it's looking just downright bad for tesla shareholders the stock falling into a bear market if you think this trade is going to get even uglier, mike khouw will tell you how to profit from the wild ride. plus, there's one semi conductor stock that's surging this year, and dan nathan says if history is any indication, this stock is about to go parabolic. he'll tell you how to get in on the run for less. >> and -- ♪ it's party time excellent

>> it's party time for tech stocks as the nasdaq just locked in an historic winning streak. but if you missed all the fun, don't worry. the chart master will tell you how to catch the rally it's time to risk less and make more the action begins now. and we start off with a party in tech after the nasdaq's epic winning streak. but check out the fang trade in the past month amazon, netflix, google, all rallying while facebook has been standing in the corner during all the fun, down 2% the chart master says the beaten down social stock is about to play catchup let's get over to carter very casually dressed carter at the plasma hey there. >> yeah. didn't go to work. snow day facebook i think there's an opportunity as a catch-up trade. we know that it has lagged and it also was one of the most punished from its peak the first slide here shows some of that. obviously from the peak in september, october of '18 to the lows, the christmas eve lows and then back. what we've got is microsoft, google, amazon you see the numbers.

apple, facebook and netflix of course really the ones that were destroyed. so facebook, i want to zero in on that because it has lagged and i think there's an opportunity at this point. so a very simple chart it's only about eight months i would just point out that this low right here is the christmas low. so if you zero in on that, what we know is that the stock makes a new low. it undercuts its october low, but that is not the case on a relative basis, which is to say that as it was selling off, it was actually outperforming the s&p. and that sets up what has been since not only an absolute winner but a relative winner i think that's part of the opportunity. the chart itself, many ways to draw the line. we're going to focus on this gap. hershey volume i think we're going to get another one. one way i think you can draw the lines is as follows. you've got something of a head and shoulders bottom you have this well defined top and of course you get that massive breakout and then this flag

another way to draw the lines, just that. this symmetrical triangle. what i'm thinking is that you have this initial heavy volume thrust and you're going to get a second one, all coming from the point at which it broke out and we do it again one more, where might we go. so i put those seam lines in let's just do it we put in our head and shoulders bottom, we put in our flag here it comes again. if the premise is right, i think we're going to thrust like that and thrust like that the reciprocal is what we did on the way down after gapping down, we had this very well defined triangle what happened? we did it again. we got the reciprocal going on here i want to play for a meaningful bump higher and also a catch-up trade. >> mike, what's your take on facebook >> the preceding weakness we saw on facebook was news driven, they had a lot of negative news,

but in that time the company, of course, has proceeded to get cheaper and cheaper and that's really the issue here. the company is not trading at an expensive multiple it's still growing it has a huge moat around its business you can imagine it's trading about 18 times nex year's earnings and they essentially own their entire space. if you were saying, okay, back in the day television was first coming out and you could own the entire industry, what woul the appropriate multiple for that be? this is something that's going to generate something like $25 billion in free cash flow in 2020 so when i look at something like that, i think targeting the level that you were just looking at but also trying to minimize my premium outlay. i was looking out to may you could put on the 150-165-175 call spread risk reversal for about even when i was looking at this today you would be selling the 150 puts at $3.80. buying the 165 put s at 7.70 and sell the may 175 calls so net-net you're not putting out any premium to put that trade on that's going to start kicking in, $2 up from where the stock

is trading to the downside you could potentially be forced to buy at the stock at $150, which is a prett good discount where the stock is trading in case that premise turns out to be the wrong direction on the trade but here's the other thing i mean you're going to be owning it at an even cheaper level or valuation than we're currently seeing. >> what i think is interesting about the setup here, is tha expectations were very low into this last print and therefore they outperformed and the stock had this big gap once again, because the stock consolidated well above the highs over the last month, i think expectations are still kind of low. what's important here, we know why earnings are not going to grow in 2019. but sales are expected to grow 23% to almost $70 billion. when mike talks about a moat so here's the thing as we head into april, and say in the next six weeks or so, this stock may start moving up into that. you may have the trade before that the way mike set up this trade, it's not costing any premium as the stock moves closer to

that short put strike he's going to have losses as it moves into the money into that call spread, he's going to have gains but he's got a good trade structure at may expiration. if nothing at all happened, he's got no crime, no foul. i really like this setup because i think expectations will be low again if the stock continues to consolidate to earnings. >> to your point if you go through earnings and nothing happens this trade actually will likely make some money why is that? options premiums are elevated when you have that catalyst. once the news come in, the premium comes out. where is it going to come out the most it's on the wings, the 150 put and 175 call that you're shot and those will decay more than the 165 call that you own. if the stock lands here after earnings which i don't expect. >> so just to summarize the principle here that i think is most in effect is after a major reset in either direction, think about the plunge in august almost a year ago, you consolidate and get a follow-through move to the downside the reciprocal is in play here you have that initial re-rating higher we've consolidated and the presumption is that you're going

to get a second re-rating higher get long. let's stick with tech. check out the surge in semi stocks this year they group is up nearly 20% despit trade tensions and global growth fears. dan thinks there's a stock about to rip higher. dan? >> yeah. let's talk about western dij al here a lot of old-timers know this as a disk drive company about three years ago they bought sandisk flash these guys are also exposed to cloud, mobile, there's a lot of things going on here this stock was an absolute disaster in 2018 with a peak to trough decline of about 70%. but the stock is up 40% this year it's kind of caught a little bit of a bid i was looking at it earlier in the week because the president of the company was speaking at morgan stanley's tmt conference. while i wasn't expecting a lot, i thought it would b interesting to see how the stock reacted to what he had to say. the talk was yesterday look at that, that's the six-day chart. the stock got creamed into the talk but it actually caught a

bit afterwards i listened to the conversation, there wasn't anything great going on there he was talking about large inventories, lack of pricing power, really the global economy and waiting for when that pickup will be and when they're working down those inventories, when the balance sheet will look a little bit all that stuff it's all second half of this year but the stock like i said has rallied a bit off those lows it's up 40% on the year. the technical setup is interesting. i've got two charts. i'll let carter speak to them after the fact look at this one-year chart and this well defined downtrend that it had been in it bottomed out on christmas it broke up above that downtrend line here's the really important part it was able to actually get back above 50 today, and that was the breakdown level from the fall. so i think that's a really interesting setup. it was able to hang out here for a little bit then the five-year chart i think is really interesting too. look at this massive double bottom that it might have put in a 40% bounce off that tells you there's a little bit of a bottom here what do we need now? we need a catalyst to propel this higher.

analysts hate it, high short interest they're not going to report earnings until late april, the last week of april i think this thing sets up pretty decently for a call spread if the news gets incremental better here and on that earnings announcement in late april, this thing is going to act like a coiled spring in my opinion. so to me you look out to may expiration where the stock was trading at 51.50 and you could buy the may 50, 65 call spread paying $4 for that buying one of the may 50 calls and it breaks even at 54 you can make up to 11 between 54 and 65 and then you lose up to 4 between 54 and 50 and a full 4 below 50 here's the key thing this trade is already $1.50 in the money here, so i'm kind of playing from a position of strength i'm really defining my risk at that $50 level that it just got above. but i like this. this is not an earnings trade it's a bit of a momentum trade i would consider taking this off

if it was up near 60 prior to earnings in late april. >> you know the -- sorry, go ahead. >> i was going to say, it's interesting when you look at a situation like this becaus you're probably thinking to yourself spending $4 in premium, stock is currently trading, it seems like a lot of money. 8% of the current stock price. consider how far this stock has moved over a relatively short period of time up 40% essentially from the lows in a period of time shorter than what you've got from now to the expiration of this trade also take a look at how much this stock moves around earnings the answer is quite a lot. we've seen multiple double-digit moves just in a single day following the earnings release that's the kind of situation where you can be justified in spending a little more premium than you otherwise might in some of the stocks we commonly talk about. this thing can really move >> dan has touched on the two key things from a point of view, it's the current circumstance, which is an established downtrend that is starting to not only stop but going back up. where is that happening? the former circumstance, a prior low. so the long-term chart, the double bottom, exactly right

but it's why the current stock is bottoming, the current action is very developmental. it couldn't be better. >> as carter would say, a bearish to bullish reversal. here's the most important of that thing i was looking at the longer term charts it was the price action this week i listened to that conversation of the president it didn't sound good, it got hit initially but it came all the way back and got back to that key support level. so to me i think this sets up for a bounce in a good market with incrementally better news. >> for everything "options action," check out our website optionactions.cnbc.com while you're there sign up for our newsletter do not miss out. here's what's coming up next. >> turn the car around tesla shares are taking a turn for the worse and mike khouw thinks this could just be the beginning of a total u-turn he will explain. >> plus, calling all "options action" pals reach into your pocket, grab

your phone and tweet us your question @optionsaction. if it's nice, we'll answer it on air when "options action" returns. i don't know what's going on. "options action" is sponsored by - looked at chart patterns. i've even built my own historic trading model. and you're still not sure if you want to make the trade? exactly. sounds like a case of analysis paralysis. is there a cure? td ameritrade's trade desk. they can help gut check your strategies and answer all your toughest questions. sounds perfect. see, your stress level was here and i got you down to here, i've done my job. call for a strategy gut check with td ameritrade. ♪

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of notes barclay is calling it tesla's un-iphone moment tony questioning if the move is an act of genius or desperation and morgan stanley warning the decision gives bears more material to work with than the bulls. how should you play the stock now? mike khouw is over at the plasma with his call to action >> tesla obviously a very interesting situation. elon definitely has the cool factor i'm not just talking about him and his company. the model s proved to be one of the best cars that's ever been made, which was quite an achievement when you consider that there weren't any electric cars on the market before that came out the bad news, though, is that competition is finally on its way. audi, jaguar, bmw, mercedes-benz and porsche are coming out with electric cars. those that have been seen so far looked at very favorably by the automobile press. finally, this is an issue for anybody trying to build an electric car but particularly fo tesla because they only build electric cars, electric batteries are exceptionally expensive. let's take a quick look at what

he's saying he can do here which is sell a car for $35,000, that has a 60 kilowatt hour battery these batteries are probably in the neighborhood of $7,200 the general motors volt also has a battery that size. they don't make any money on the car. that's okay because it helps them offset the fuel economy issues on their trucks where they do make money look at the vw e-goff. this is a car they're selling about the same amount of money an this is a car they make millions of anyhow. they make them at $35,000 and a battery about half the size. so when i was taking a look at this thing, you can obviously see the volatility that we've seen it's been fairly range bound one of the things that helps the stock bounce like this is the fact that it has an enormous high short interest. at some point he's probably going to have to raise capital if he does that, that could increase the float that's certainly one of the things that could put a lid on the stock as well. the way i think we can take a look at trading this thing, option premiums are exceptionally high.

i'm looking out to the april-june 250 calendar put spread you could sell the april puts at $7, bu the june puts at $18.25. net-net you're spending $11.25 now, if you hold this until after those april puts expire, obviously you need the stock to be below 250 but actually until that time, this will be most profitable if the stock declines down to that 250 level. that may seem like a big move. it really isn't when you consider that there is some leverage here. this is a very volatile story. there are a number of headwinds. they may need to raise capital i think people are starting to have doubts about whether elon can talk the stock up. >> all right so down to 250 which would basically test its most recent 52-week low. carter, what do you see in the charts here? >> well, i mean that's just it frankly anyone that has a chart they're looking at at home, it looks like an ekg chart when you go to the doctor it just goes up and down, up and down the past three years. it has no character.

which is to say, we're looking for well defined opportunities like wdc, a bearish to bullish reversal or something about to break out or top out this is just meandering around with no direction. it's lost. >> given that, what do you think of the trade >> the trade is really interesting. we know that 250 level is a big double bottom level from 2018 and looks like it was prior resistance before that and so it's established a new range. i think mike's trade gives you a lot of optionality here. it would be a nice trade if the stock were to work it ways back down to 250 to that short expiration strike but it could be the thing that sets up where you end up financing that longer dated 250 put with the short dated short one. so to me i really like this trade. because like carter just said, it's been moving around a lot. there's probably a better chance that it goes back towards 250 right now than it's back up well closer to 350, which has been a level where it's found some resistance lately. i like mike's trade here. >> last word, mike. >> i think the real issue we

ought to be thinking about is what's going to get the stock to go significantly higher from here we've seen some weakness we have a lot of storm clouds brewing. it's going to have to be something pretty miraculous. we still have that s.e.c. thing to worry about i am long puts in the name and i'm not yet in this structure but i will be adjusting to this one or something close to it depending on where the stock opens on monday. coming up, general electric's nightmare has turned into a dream for shareholders this year and that's good news for one of our traders who will explain. plus got a burning question for one of the traders you are in luck because we're taking your tweets later in the show much more "options action" straight ahead what do you look for when you trade? i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too. i don't want any trade minimums. yeah, i totally agree, they don't have any of those. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. do you just say yes to everything?

hm. well i say no to kale. mm. yeah, they say if you blanch it it's better, but that seems like a lot of work. no hidden fees. no platform fees. no trade minimums. and yes, it's all at one low price. td ameritrade. ♪

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i've done all sorts of research, read earnings reports, looked at chart patterns. i've even built my own historic trading model. and you're still not sure if you want to make the trade? exactly. sounds like a case of analysis paralysis. is there a cure? td ameritrade's trade desk. they can help gut check your strategies and answer all your toughest questions. sounds perfect. see, your stress level was here and i got you down to here, i've done my job. call for a strategy gut check with td ameritrade. ♪ welcome back to "options action." ge's nightmare has turned into a dream for investors as the stock soared off its 6.66 bottom here's how dan cashed in on the move. >> run "options action," it's how we electrify, risk less so we can make more, and that's exactly what dan did with his bullis bet on ge. dan thought that ge nightmare could be coming to an end.

>> the last time this stock was a hat size, it did capitulate down near that $6 level and came back really quickly. >> but buying the stock could be risky. so to play for a bounce, dan bought the march 10 strike call for 50 cents now to make money, dan just needs general electric shares to rise above $10 by more than the cost of the trade. or above $10.50 by march expiration but spending 50 cents just to bet on ge? chill out, lady. so to cut costs, dan then sold the march 13 call for 10 cents and created his call spread. here's how it works. between the 50 cents he spent on buying the lower strike call and the 10 cents he collected by selling the higher strike call, he reduced the total cost of his trade down to just 40 cents. and now to make money, dan just needs ge shares to rise above the strike of the call that he

bought by more than the reduced cost of the trade. or in this case, $10.40 by march expiration >> it's alive, it's alive, it's alive! >> maybe so, doctor. but remember, there is a trade-up and since dan sold that higher strike call, his profits are capped at $13. since the time of the trade, ge shares fell to the devilish $6.66 level and then soared more than 50%, meaning this trade looks pretty good. now "options action" fans all over the world want to know one thing. what will dan do now ♪ >> okay. so this trade expires in two weeks. dan, what do you do now? >> listen, you had that news about divestitures, the stopgaped up and was trading

close to 12 in the premarket that day but it kind of gave back a lot of those gains very, very quickly for whatever is going on, a lot of investors are pretty happy with the gains off the lows last year but weren't too excited after digging into the news. i think this is one that you probably see some support at $10 and you probably want to roll this trade out the company will report their q1 earnings in mid-april, and maybe you roll whatever gains you have in a trade like this maybe up until the april 11 calls and play for that earnings event. >> mike. >> one thing i would say about this is that the trade proved it worth when the stock fell actually, not the subsequent gain that's the reason you sometimes put on these options trades rather than going out and buying the stock because that would have been a bitter pill to swallow. >> big week. obviously it's all about the gap that occurred on monday. now if you want to call it a flag, it's this quiet low volume reaction to the heavy volume up in gap the presumption is lows are in, higher prices ahead. >> i think 10 looks like a good support level. there's probably some good resistance at 12 or 13

that's why i chose that 13 strike to sell versus the call spread so to me maybe it looks like an 11-13 call spread that you roll in until april. up next, your tweets and the final call see that's funny, i thought you traded options. i'm not really a wall street guy. >> "options action" is sponsored by - n? eh, it just feels too complicated, you know? well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. jj, will you break it down for this gentleman? hey, ian. you know, at td ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step until you're comfortable. i could be up for that. that's taking options trading from wall st. to main st. hey guys, wanna play some pool? eh, i'm not really a pool guy. what's the hesitation? it's just complicated. step-by-step options trading support from td ameritrade ♪ ♪

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what do you look for i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too. i don't want any trade minimums. yeah, i totally agree, they don't have any of those. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. do you just say yes to everything?

hm. well i say no to kale. mm. yeah, they say if you blanch it it's better, but that seems like a lot of work. no hidden fees. no platform fees. no trade minimums. and yes, it's all at one low price. td ameritrade. ♪ we have got time for one tweet. our viewer asks what are your thoughts on gld, the gold etf at $123 healthy retreat or break in technicals here? i'm in the april $126 calls. what would you do? carter, technical, what do you think? >> it was a bad day for gold but it also is still within the bounds of a normal giveback after th very impressive 15% move off the low. so i would tolerate a little bit more stay in the trade or roll out. >> i would actually just roll your strike down i like being long gold but just use a lower strike call. time for the final call. carter, kick it off here. >> well, facebook,

get long >> mike. >> you know, i like what elon is doing but i think tesla has some problems so i'd use calendar put spreads. >> dan. >> western digital, bearish to bullish reversal i like playing it with the call spreads. >> that does it for us here on "options action. see you next friday at 5:30. "mad money" with jim cramer starts right now - [announcer] the following is a paid program for automatic home standby generators. brought to you by generac power systems. - [narrator] there's no place like home and today, you rely on power more than ever for all the comforts you love. but when your power goes out, you feel helpless, out of control, you're in the dark without air conditioning or heat. food begins to spoil. many people lose clean, running water. the home network and internet are down. your home security system is useless