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.

Steady Condors 2013 - Year in Review


2013 was a strong year for Steady Condors even while our preferred underlying, RUT (Russell 2000), managed to hit all-time highs on almost a daily basis to the tune of nearly 40% for the year. As most of you know Steady Condors is a market neutral, income generating, manage by the Greeks strategy. Our trades are primarily risk managed variations of iron condors. If you haven’t already, please see our introduction to the strategy here.

Non directional income trading wasn't designed for relentless trends like 2013 provided and many of our competing services set record drawdowns. Our worst drawdown in 2013 was less than 3%, and our year end performance was 29.4%. We report performance net of commissions, on the whole account, and non-compounded. If you would have begun with a $40,000 account you would have ended with $51,760.

 

Please be sure to read the final comments of the Steady Condors introduction to understand our transparency in reporting performance compared to other services.

 

Many traders and investors are continually in hot pursuit of the next “holy grail” strategy looking at nothing other than past returns and often forgetting about what is equally important at the end of the day…that nasty four letter word we all have to deal with in the financial markets…RISK. The primary focus of Steady Condors is risk management, whereas we find many of our competing services make attempts to predict the market with their credit spread and condor trades.

 

Nobody knows where the market is going, so stop caring about what it will do next. Focus on executing your plan (that means you have to have one!), and ignore all the noise. Most months in 2013 we were required to make several adjustments to keep our deltas under control as the markets continued to march higher, but this risk management is what allowed us to still produce a nice profit for the year with minimal stress while many other condor traders relying on "technical resistance levels" were wondering/hoping that "it can't go any higher, can it?" Make no mistake, iron condors can be brutal on the upside as well as the downside as many learned in 2013. When comparing Steady Condors to other services or strategies, don’t forget to consider both historical performance AND historical drawdowns in both up and down markets.

 

The plan for 2014

 

It’s pretty simple, but requires discipline…Follow our trade plan one day and one month at a time. That will never change; the best traders are normally fanatics about this. Some years will be better than others but if you stop focusing on the result of each individual trade and define success on an annual (or longer) basis we are confident you will be very satisfied with our service. “Keep your rules rigid, and your expectations flexible.”

 

We are NOT saying replace all your other investments and load the boat with Steady Condors, but instead consider how adding a risk managed and market neutral income generating strategy like Steady Condors could benefit a portion of your portfolio. We are very excited to see what 2014 brings, best wishes and good trading to all!

 

Start Your Free Trial

What Is SteadyOptions?

12 Years CAGR of 115.5%

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

  • When Investors Lose Their Nerve

    It was a rough end to the week for markets, with a sharp sell-off on Friday reminding investors just how quickly sentiment can turn. For anyone who sold in late summer anticipating a correction and then bought back in at the start of October, that one-day drop might have felt like confirmation that they can’t win.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 500 views
  • Uncovering Common Cryptocurrency Trading Mistakes For Beginners

    Are you tempted by the shining allure of crypto trading? You aren’t alone. Decentralized cryptocurrencies hold perhaps the most tempting investment pull of a generation, especially amongst young or beginner investors. After all, by painting a different way to buy and sell, cryptocurrency offers something new that we’re all keen to get in on. 

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 7053 views
  • Buy Call, Sell Put Strategy Explained | SteadyOptions

    The Sell Put And Buy Call Strategy is an example of a synthetic stock options strategy: using call and puts options to mimic the performance of a position, usually involving the purchase of a stock. We saw this when looking at the synthetic covered call strategy elsewhere.

    By Chris Young,

    • 0 comments
    • 68177 views
  • Long Straddle Options Strategy | Maximize Profits with Big Moves

    Straddle Options Definition
    An options straddle strategy is buying (or selling) both a put and call option with the same strike price and expiration date for the same underlying asset, and paying both the put and call premiums.

    By Pat Crawley,

    • 0 comments
    • 68619 views
  • Gamma Scalping Options Trading Strategy

    Gamma scalping is a sophisticated options trading strategy primarily employed by institutions and hedge funds for managing portfolio risk and large positions in equities and futures. As a complex technique, it is particularly suitable for experienced traders seeking to capitalize on market movements, whether up or down, as they occur in real-time.

    By Chris Young,

    • 0 comments
    • 31224 views
  • Long Gamma vs Short Gamma: Options Strategy Explained

    Gamma is one of the primary Options Greeks, which measure an option's sensitivity to specific factors that could affect an option price. Despite traders hyping up several different Greeks and second-order Greeks like "Vanna" and "charm," there are only four primary Greeks that you need to be familiar with to understand options trading.

     

    By Pat Crawley,

    • 0 comments
    • 50992 views
  • Predicting Probabilities in Options Trading: A Deep Dive into Advanced Methods

    In options trading, the focus should not be on predicting the exact closing price of a ticker on a given date - a near-impossible task given the pseudo-random nature of markets. Instead, we aim to estimate probabilities: the likelihood of a ticker being above a specific value at a certain point in time. This perspective turns trading into a probabilistic exercise, leveraging historical data to make informed decisions.

    By Romuald,

    • 1 comment
    • 17502 views
  • SteadyOptions 2024 - Year in Review

    2024 marks our 13th year as a public trading service. We closed 136 winners out of 187 trades (72.7% winning ratio). Our model portfolio produced 116.7% compounded gain on the whole account based on 10% allocation per trade. We had only one losing month (of 0.6% loss) in 2024. 

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 6658 views
  • Wheel Strategy Options: Master Wheel Trading Explained

    The “wheel” trade is variously described as a beginner’s strategy, a combination to exploit features of both calls and puts, and as “perfect” solution to the well-known risks of shorting calls, even when covered. The options wheel strategy is an income-generating options trading strategy that both beginners and experienced traders can leverage for profit.

    By Pat Crawley,

    • 0 comments
    • 77186 views
  • Why Dollar Delta Will Change Your Trading

    Delta is one of the four main option Greeks, and any serious trader needs to have a thorough understanding of this greek if they hope to have any chance of success in the trading options. If you’re a beginner, you can visit my blog to learn more about understanding option delta

    By GavinMcMaster,

    • 0 comments
    • 36886 views

  Report Article


We want to hear from you!


There are no comments to display.



Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

Options Trading Blogs