SteadyOptions Trading Blog

The CBOE Volatility Index, known by its ticker symbol VIX, is a popular measure of the stock market's expectation of volatility implied by S&P 500 index options, calculated and published by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).VIX is considered by many a "Fear Index".

2020 and 2021 so far have been extremely difficult for many of us. Coronavirus and Covid-19 have spread across the world leaving havoc and chaos in their wake. We had to worry about the physical health of ourselves and our loved ones throughout this pandemic.

The typical barrier option yields a payoff when the underlying reaches a predetermined price. Expanding on this idea is the double barrier option. This expansion of the barrier option is most applied to currency trading, indices, commodities, or OTC options, but not exchange-based trading.

Some options produce a payoff if the underlying reaches a preset price. This is a great advantage of the barrier option because traders can expect profits (or worthless expiration) depending on the underlying behavior. The barrier refers to methods by which the underlying expires, as well as whether the price moves in the desired direction.

If you’re a first-time trader or this is your first year in the market, it’s important to know what to expect when it comes to your taxes. Now is the time of year to start thinking about your tax returns and what you’ll need to file. If just thinking about it gives you a headache, you’re not alone.

My firm is frequently asked if it can pay people for referrals, and the short answer is “probably.”  The SEC calls third parties who send investment clients to investment advisors “solicitors,” and there is a specific rule governing solicitors and solicitor arrangements – SEC Rule 206(4)-3.

Most traders would agree that it would be a great advantage to decide whether to exercise an option with knowledge about past performance. Being aware of the odds an option will expire worthless gives the trader a significant advantage.

Traders have long known that options can be opened on many different securities. Among the most ingenious of these are options on options. There are four types of these: call on a call (CoC), a call on a put (CoP), a put on a call (PoC), and a put on a put (PoP).

2020 marks our 9th year as a public trading service. It was an excellent year for us. We closed 130 winners out of 194 trades. Our model portfolio produced 117.1% compounded gain on the whole account based on 10% allocation per trade. We had only three losing months in 2020. 

Most options traders see their world as a choice between calls or puts, alone or in various combinations. But there is more. With a chooser option, traders can open a position and decide later whether it will be a call or a put. This is also called an as you like it option.

Steady Options has now been trading the Leveraged Anchor strategy for two years, and, somewhat to my surprise, 2020 went even better than 2019. On the year, Leveraged Anchor was up 31.7%, while the total return of the S&P 500 was 18.4%.

The “ratchet option” is so-called because as a series, each successive position activates when the previous option has expired. The trader ratchets up (or down) to the next position. Each one is set up to be as close to the money as possible. It has many names, including cliquet, moving strike, ladder, lock-in, or reset option.