Question from a reader: What is your opinion on a short strangle vs a short straddle? I understand the same unlimited risk will be there because you are trading naked options. I found that one strategy I have had some success with in paper trading is using short strangles around earnings to take advantage of large drops in volatility.
Many traders prefer to trade Iron Condors with very low deltas and low premiums, allowing them to trade with very high winning ratio. Is this the right way to trade Iron Condors? The following article by Mark Wolfinger discusses the pros and cons of this high probability strategy.
Oracle (ORCL) has been following a similar pattern in the last few years. They announce their earnings date on the first week of the third month of the quarter and report during the third week of the month. Yet many times the options market "assumes" earnings during the fourth week and under-prices the third week options.
SteadyOptions started 2017 with a bang. We closed 21 trades so far in 2017, 17 winners and 4 losers, and our model portfolio is up 19.7% so far in 2017. We left the 2016 drawdown far behind, and the model portfolio is up 140%+ since April 2016. SteadyOptions 5 year Compounded Annual Growth Rate is 83.3% (including commissions).
Directional and non-directional are two variations of trading strategy. Directional trading strategy is simpler, but many traders are successfully using non-directional trading strategy. Non-directional trading strategy is the best option for traders who do not want to bet on the direction of the markets or individual stocks.
The CBOE PUT write index has caught a lot of attention in recent years, as it historically has produced higher risk-adjusted and absolute returns than the underlying S&P 500 index. Risk adjusted returns take into account both returns and volatility. CBOE describes the index as following:
Zero-sum is a situation in game theory in which one person’s gain is equivalent to another’s loss, so the net change in wealth or benefit is zero. A zero-sum game may have as few as two players, or millions of participants. Options trading is considered by many a zero sum game. But is it really a zero sum game?
We decided to investigate SPX calendar spreads from 2007 to present. More specifically, we wanted to know how frequently unmanaged SPX calendar spreads reached specific profit and loss levels relative to the initial debit paid. The results can be used for practical use of the calendar spread strategy.
Unless buying or selling options with a distant expiration date (LEAPS), each trader understands that the value of an option portfolio becomes increasingly volatile as the time to options expiration decreases. It is important to be aware of specific situations that may crush (or expand) the value of your positions.
Apple is a company that tends to surprise Wall Street every time it reports its quarterly AAPL earnings, usually on the upside, occasionally on the down. As a result, the stock often makes big moves the next day - sometimes as much as 7-8%. How can you leverage those moves?
2016 marks our firth year as a public service. We had a good year overall. We closed 127 trades in 2016. The model portfolio produced 40.1% compounded gain on the whole account based on 10% allocation. The winning ratio was pretty consistent around 66%. We had three losing months in 2016.
When you sell options, expiration is an anticipated event. When you own options, it's something to dread. There's much more to an options expiration, and if you are a newcomer to the options world, there are things you must know to avoid unpleasant surprises. Many investors come to the options world with little investing background.
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