Real-time options education and strategies
All charts in this post are the weekly time frame. For most of 2021, $AMZN has been consolidating under last year’s high. Five times, $AMZN has broken last year’s high and failed. Four times, the breakout failed within the week. Once, in July, the breakout held for three weeks before collapsing back into range on … Read more
Below is my current SPX position. The position is comprised of 2 trades: I bought a 5-lot of $75-wide Put Vertical Debit spreads to initiate the position and, after SPX dropped, I rolled down the long Puts by $25 creating a 5-lot $50 wide Put Vertical Debit spread and, in the same transaction, I sold … Read more
Are you the type of trader who likes your profits as soon as you can get them or would your rather let them ‘run’ with the potential of a much larger profit later? Not sure? Maybe a little of both types? Here’s what I typically do. As a trade progresses with a profit I like … Read more
(1) My portfolio was long about 35 SPX Beta Weighted Deltas after the close yesterday. Not a lot compared to my typical position but certainly enough to protect. With the prospect of a government shutdown looming the indexes could take a hit here. Overall I think the indexes, especially small caps (RUT), will rally strongly … Read more
Paul gave me these screenshots and asked me to finish the analysis. Here goes: Just before noon on Friday, Paul bought the 24SEPT 4425/4400/4375/4350 put condor in $SPX. He paid $3.00. The Put Condor has an especially effective risk profile. The position carried just -2.67 deltas, and had a $300 max loss and a $2,200 … Read more
Very important concept tweeted by Steve Burns and validated by the ‘Horse’. They both know what they’re talking about. Sounds good in theory but how do you do that? That’s what this post is about. Read it, understand it, trade it. Ask questions if you don’t get it! Step 1: Wait for a setup that … Read more
The Condor is one of the most powerful option strategies for generating a very favorable reward/risk ratio. It can offer generous amounts of long (positive) Theta as well as short (negative) Vega. Being short Vega tends to reward a position where the underlying instrument’s price grinds higher. That is why I often utilize an out-of-the-money … Read more
The first step in my process of initiating a new option position is identifying a promising chart setup. I’ll consider setups on various time frames anywhere from the 65-minute charts all the way up to the monthly charts. My typical trades originate from the daily and weekly charts but I’m always looking for the best … Read more
Unless you’re brand new to option trading you’ve likely heard of the Iron Condor trade. That’s a trade where you typically sell an OTM Call and Put Vertical credit spread as a way of initiating a non-directional position. I rarely utilize an Iron Condor but I often have it’s cousin, the Condor, in my portfolio. … Read more