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.

Managing Risk For More Than One Position


Delta (positive or negative) tells us which way we want the underlying to go to make money. Delta applies to single positions but also to the whole portfolio. When Managing our portfolio from a macro perspective, Delta is probably our main risk exposure. It is important to manage the portfolio delta to limit directional risk.

This trader is short two put spreads. One in YHOO (Jul 23/24) and the other in RUT (Jul 920/925). These positions began as iron condors and the calls were covered at a cheap price. "I’m not sure of what I should do. When adding these two positions together, the ‘portfolio’ is too delta long for my comfort zone."

=== RUT ===
I could offset the positive delta of the put-spread by shorting another call-spread. But that is somewhat inconsistent with my belief that I should initiate positions with at least two-months expiry. What would be more consistent is if I closed the put-spread and opened another Iron-Condor with a later expiry. The only thing is that in order to exit at break-even… This is somewhat expected as the volatility conditions for this trade were less than favorable.

Another option would be to roll-down the put-spread. This would reduce the amount of positive-delta, but still leave the portfolio with positive delta. I guess I will be looking to exit the RUT put-spread today. [Note: Position was closed @ 1.20]

My response:

 

Be careful about measuring portfolio delta. One RUT deltas is much more significant than one YHOO.
 

a) Delta is the change in value for an option when the underlying moves ONE POINT. One point for YHOO is a big move. One point for RUT is insignificant.


b) The YHOO spread is only one point wide and the max price for the spread is $100


c) The RUT spread is 5 points wide and the max loss is $500 (less credit collected)


d) Delta is a good guide for current (imminent risk), and the risk graph shows how bad things can get when such and such happens. But as to your comfort zone, the RUT position is far more ‘dangerous’ because more cash is at risk and RUT will move many more points than YHOO on almost every trading day.


e) Also consider that RUT is 40 points OTM. I am not suggesting that this is ‘safe’ but the question is: how do you feel about it? If this makes you nervous, yes, do exit. Especially today with a small market bump and a small IV decrease (RVX is -.77 as I write this).

Image result for delta options

Adjustments

Yes, selling another call spread is a viable adjustment. It is one way to maintain delta neutrality. However, when a trader looks at the current market, it is very difficult to sell call spread now that the DJIA has declined by more than 500 points in the past two days. The ‘best’ time to sell that call spread is immediately after covering your previous short spread. But selling another call spread is not for everyone. This is a difficult decision and I cannot offer guidance. For my trading, I do occasionally sell another spread after covering, but most of the time I do as you did: nothing.
 

There is a world of difference between initiating positions and adjusting positions.

  • When initiating a new trade, you have the ability to wait until conditions suit your needs. There is no urgency. You can easily satisfy that need for a minimum of two months.
     
  • Adjusting requires a very different mindset. Your objective when adjusting is to reduce risk. NOW. It is not to make more money from the trade. It has nothing to do with future profits. It is only about one thing: recognizing that this trade has gone awry and you want to give yourself the best opportunity to stop the bleeding. Primary goal: make the position less risky, reducing the immediate cash at risk. Secondary goal: Create a position that you want to own (do not blindly adjust and hope for the best) and which gives you a good (this is where your judgement comes into play) chance to make money from THIS POINT. Do not worry about past losses. Do not trade to recover those losses. Trading to get back to even is a losing mindset. Traders make plenty of poor decisions trying to recover losses.
     
  • Closing the put spread and opening another iron condor is a good idea. But ONLY when
     
  1. You do not allow the idea of ‘break even’ to be part of the decision. Please take my word for this. I know what it is like to roll the old position into a new one, choosing the new position based on its price (in other words, paying zero debit or collecting a cash credit for the roll), giving myself the chance to earn my original profit target – if only the new spread would expire worthless. When the market is trending this style of trading is financial suicide. Be willing to take the loss and independently find a suitable new position.
     
  2. You want to exit the current position because it is not one you want to own.
     
  3. The new iron condor is one that fits your trading criteria. Far too often traders make this ‘roll’ just to do something. Do not fall into that trap.
     
  4. You understand that doing this is two separate decisions. Close when you believe that is best. Open a new trade when you find a good one. Do not feel you must open that new trade at the same time the old one is closed. Yes – I know the need to get a new position so you can recover losses. Nothing wrong with wanting that new trade. Just make it a good one and do not allow the thought of getting back your money be part of the decision process.

Yes, rolling down the put spread is viable, when two conditions are met.

  1. The cash debit required is not more than you are willing to pay
  2. The new position is one that you want to own.

The important point of this post is that one YHOO delta is not the same as one RUT delta.

What Is SteadyOptions?

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

  • 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
    • 429 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
    • 870 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
    • 774 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
    • 465 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
    • 1,472 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
    • 5,885 views
  • Call And Put Backspreads Options Strategies

    A backspread is very bullish or very bearish strategy used to trade direction; ie a trader is betting that a stock will move quickly in one direction. Call Backspreads are used for trading up moves; put backspreads for down moves.

    By Chris Young,

    • 0 comments
    • 9,482 views
  • Long Put Option Strategy

    A long put option strategy is the purchase of a put option in the expectation of the underlying stock falling. It is Delta negative, Vega positive and Theta negative strategy. A long put is a single-leg, risk-defined, bearish options strategy. Buying a put option is a levered alternative to selling shares of stock short.

    By Chris Young,

    • 0 comments
    • 11,130 views
  • Long Call Option Strategy

    A long call option strategy is the purchase of a call option in the expectation of the underlying stock rising. It is Delta positive, Vega positive and Theta negative strategy. A long call is a single-leg, risk-defined, bullish options strategy. Buying a call option is a levered alternative to buying shares of stock.

    By Chris Young,

    • 0 comments
    • 11,512 views
  • What Is Delta Hedging?

    Delta hedging is an investing strategy that combines the purchase or sale of an option as well as an offsetting transaction in the underlying asset to reduce the risk of a directional move in the price of the option. When a position is delta-neutral, it will not rise or fall in value when the value of the underlying asset stays within certain bounds. 

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 9,654 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