SteadyOptions is an options trading forum where you can find solutions from top options traders. Join Us!

We’ve all been there… researching options strategies and unable to find the answers we’re looking for. SteadyOptions has your solution.

How We Made 23% on $QIHU Straddle in 4 Hours


Our regular readers already know that pre-earnings straddle is one of our favorite strategies. The idea is to buy a straddle few days before earnings and take advantage of increasing IV (Implied Volatility) before earnings. IV usually increases sharply a few days before earnings, and the increase should compensate for the negative theta.

If the stock moves before earnings, the position can be sold for a profit or rolled to new strikes. You can read more about this strategy in my post How we trade straddles and strangles.

 

Last week we entered a straddle on QIHU. Here is a screenshot from the trade alert posted in real time on the forum:

 

45e9c99741b758221f5bfe26b97f3fdd.png

 

This is how the Greeks looked like when we entered:

 

81baba8a0bf001cc2c0c44db456ed802.png

 

4 hours later, we closed the trade for 23% gain:

 

a10e407d036df34e6de081024ed4851b.png

 

This is how the Greeks looked at the time we closed the trade:

 

1f2e74f46d17eafad9e379bedc10d2a7.png

 

Please note how IV jumped from 37% to 46%, enough for 23% gain. We also rolled the trade to lower strike as the stock started to move down.

 

Of course such quick IV jump is not very common, and our timing was nearly perfect. But we patiently waited for a good entry point and identified when the price became cheap enough. This is where extensive backtesting comes handy. Each week we discuss the potential candidates on the forum and select the best ones, based on backtesting and our previous experience.

 

We invite you to join us to see how we execute the straddle strategy and many other non-directional strategies. While most major indexes were down 10% or more in August, we close nine consecutive winners.

 

Related Articles:

How We Trade Straddle Option Strategy
Can We Profit From Volatility Expansion into Earnings
Long Straddle: A Guaranteed Win?
Why We Sell Our Straddles Before Earnings
Long Straddle: A Guaranteed Win?

Start Your Free Trial

Edited by Kim

What Is SteadyOptions?

12 Years CAGR of 127.5%

Full Trading Plan

Complete Portfolio Approach

Real-time trade sharing: entry, exit, and adjustments

Diversified Options Strategies

Exclusive Community Forum

Steady And Consistent Gains

High Quality Education

Risk Management, Portfolio Size

Performance based on real fills

Subscribe to SteadyOptions now and experience the full power of options trading!
Subscribe

Non-directional Options Strategies

10-15 trade Ideas Per Month

Targets 5-7% Monthly Net Return

Visit our Education Center

Recent Articles

Articles

  • Harnessing Monte Carlo Simulations for Options Trading: A Strategic Approach

    In the world of options trading, one of the greatest challenges is determining future price ranges with enough accuracy to structure profitable trades. One method traders can leverage to enhance these predictions is Monte Carlo simulations, a powerful statistical tool that allows for the projection of a stock or ETF's future price distribution based on historical data.

    By Romuald,

    • 1 comment
    • 4,813 views
  • Is There Such A Thing As Risk-Management Within Crypto Trading?

    Any trader looking to build reliable long-term wealth is best off avoiding cryptocurrency. At least, this is a message that the experts have been touting since crypto entered the trading sphere and, in many ways, they aren’t wrong. The volatile nature of cryptocurrencies alone places them very much in the red danger zone of high-risk investments.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 1,384 views
  • Is There A ‘Free Lunch’ In Options?

    In olden times, alchemists would search for the philosopher’s stone, the material that would turn other materials into gold. Option traders likewise sometimes overtly, sometimes secretly hope to find that most elusive of all option positions: the risk free trade with guaranteed positive outcome:

    By TrustyJules,

    • 1 comment
    • 17,405 views
  • What Are Covered Calls And How Do They Work?

    A covered call is an options trading strategy where an investor holds a long position in an asset (most usually an equity) and sells call options on that same asset. This strategy can generate additional income from the premium received for selling the call options.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 2,857 views
  • SPX Options vs. SPY Options: Which Should I Trade?

    Trading options on the S&P 500 is a popular way to make money on the index. There are several ways traders use this index, but two of the most popular are to trade options on SPX or SPY. One key difference between the two is that SPX options are based on the index, while SPY options are based on an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the index.

    By Mark Wolfinger,

    • 0 comments
    • 6,950 views
  • Yes, We Are Playing Not to Lose!

    There are many trading quotes from different traders/investors, but this one is one of my favorites: “In trading/investing it's not about how much you make, but how much you don't lose" - Bernard Baruch. At SteadyOptions, this has been one of our major goals in the last 12 years.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 4,208 views
  • The Impact of Implied Volatility (IV) on Popular Options Trades

    You’ll often read that a given option trade is either vega positive (meaning that IV rising will help it and IV falling will hurt it) or vega negative (meaning IV falling will help and IV rising will hurt).   However, in fact many popular options spreads can be either vega positive or vega negative depending where where the stock price is relative to the spread strikes.  

    By Yowster,

    • 0 comments
    • 6,569 views
  • Please Follow Me Inside The Insiders

    The greatest joy in investing in options is when you are right on direction. It’s really hard to beat any return that is based on a correct options bet on the direction of a stock, which is why we spend much of our time poring over charts, historical analysis, Elliot waves, RSI and what not.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 3,812 views
  • Trading Earnings With Ratio Spread

    A 1x2 ratio spread with call options is created by selling one lower-strike call and buying two higher-strike calls. This strategy can be established for either a net credit or for a net debit, depending on the time to expiration, the percentage distance between the strike prices and the level of volatility.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 4,933 views
  • SteadyOptions 2023 - Year In Review

    2023 marks our 12th year as a public trading service. We closed 192 winners out of 282 trades (68.1% winning ratio). Our model portfolio produced 112.2% compounded gain on the whole account based on 10% allocation per trade. We had only one losing month and one essentially breakeven in 2023. 

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 9,453 views

  Report Article

We want to hear from you!


There are no comments to display.



Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account. It's easy and free!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now

Options Trading Blogs