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NikTam

CML TradeMachine Trade Ideas

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Just now, ykotowitz said:

Earnings date is 2/22 ac. Backtests suggest entering 3 calendar days prior and exiting on earnings date, so will enter on 19th.

Market is closed on the 19th

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2 hours ago, ykotowitz said:

Earnings date is 2/22 ac. Backtests suggest entering 3 calendar days prior and exiting on earnings date, so will enter on 19th.

My apologies -- I am corrected.  Guess I'm in a couple days early!

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Does anyone else track their performance on the different types of CML trades?  A quick average of my Q4 2017 (started using CML in November) and Q4 2018 showed that I am either doing something completely wrong this quarter, or I am just having bad luck.  I use the same delta and profit taking strategy of ~30% for all three types of trades.  But based on my performance I should stop doing 3 days for sure, and also what has happened with my 7 day performance.  Any feedback is appreciated.

 

Type 2018

Avg Profit per Trade

Average of Held # of trades
14DPEC 21.4 4.8 32
7DPEC -6.8 4.7 16
3DPEC -16.7 2.2 6
Type 2017 Avg Profit per Trade Average of Days Held # of trades
14DPEC 26.8 4.5 10
7DPEC 18.4 2.2 18
3DPEC -19.4 2.4 5

 

 

 

 

Edited by cwerner376

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3 hours ago, cwerner376 said:

Does anyone else track their performance on the different types of CML trades?  A quick average of my Q4 2017 (started using CML in November) and Q4 2018 showed that I am either doing something completely wrong this quarter, or I am just having bad luck.  I use the same delta and profit taking strategy of ~30% for all three types of trades.  But based on my performance I should stop doing 3 days for sure, and also what has happened with my 7 day performance.  Any feedback is appreciated...

I track by trade type, but not by number of days (so all pre-earnings calls lumped together, but not broken down by 3day, 7day, 14day etc). I think 2018 has just been a poor year for a lot of these types of trades, primarily because of the last couple weeks. Up until the last couple days of January, my 2018 trades were right on par with 2017, but it was a brutal 2 weeks for the CML trades - you know these little temper tantrums are going to happen sometimes, which is why I allocate less than 1% of my option portfolio per trade. Anyway, here's my stats. I'll note that I don't have a set target/stop loss across the board - each trade has a profit target and/or stop loss specific to that trade.

 

  2018 2017
Type Avg Gain Avg Days Trades Avg Gain Avg Days Trades
Pre-Earn Calls 0.9% 4.3 24 4.3% 4.7 38
Pre-Earn Straddle 12.0% 7.7 3 3.9% 7.3 9
Post-Earn Short IC -60.3% 11.0 4 -29.7% 22.9 6
Post-Earn Short PS 39.4% 30.2 5 6.2% 24.4 31
Post-Earn Straddle   n/a   -0.7% 5.0 1
Recurring Straddle -20.4% 26.5 2 75.9% 26.5 4
TTM Squeeze -7.7% 6.7 3 61.0% 15.7 3
             
TOTAL -0.7% 9.6 41 8.1% 14.1 92

 

Edited by greenspan76

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@greenspan76  Overall the CML trades have been incredibly profitable even including the last few weeks.  I'm trying to figure out if others are having the same results with the 3 and 7 day trades.  Based on my 2018 performance if I stop doing them completely, then it will definitely show a benefit.  But last quarter the 7 days worked out pretty well.  Thanks for sharing your results.

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1 hour ago, cwerner376 said:

@greenspan76  Overall the CML trades have been incredibly profitable even including the last few weeks.  I'm trying to figure out if others are having the same results with the 3 and 7 day trades.  Based on my 2018 performance if I stop doing them completely, then it will definitely show a benefit.  But last quarter the 7 days worked out pretty well.  Thanks for sharing your results.

Gotcha. I'd have to go line by line to get that info and I don't want to spend the time on it. However, I took a quick look at only my 3 day pre-earnings calls in 2018 and saw that I had 5 trades with avg gain of 4.7% and avg holding period of 2.6 days - I stopped opening calls when volatility exploded, though, so only one closed trade in February and it lost 26%

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53 minutes ago, Djtux said:

I might get in as well.

image.png

Thank you @Djtux for the table. I have a general observation/comment that I would like some input from you and the other members. 

In general, the CML trades appear to be over optimized, imo. It is like choosing the RSI period and overbought/oversold levels that show large profits but for a very small zone. Your table does help to identify the plateaus of profit zone, which too me is a better entry area. Looks like T-5 or T-4 is a better entry with exit around T-2. Do you feel the same way, or you rather go with the backtest results from CML?

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3 minutes ago, Maji said:

Thank you @Djtux for the table. I have a general observation/comment that I would like some input from you and the other members. 

In general, the CML trades appear to be over optimized, imo. It is like choosing the RSI period and overbought/oversold levels that show large profits but for a very small zone. Your table does help to identify the plateaus of profit zone, which too me is a better entry area. Looks like T-5 or T-4 is a better entry with exit around T-2. Do you feel the same way, or you rather go with the backtest results from CML?

In the matrix, i count the days using business/trading days so it doesn't count the weekends, and it doesn't count holidays like the next monday (president's day).

I too would feel more comfortable entering a trade if the backtest parameters are robust, meaning if you enter or exit one day before or one day after, then does the backtest change significantly or not. That's just my opinion.

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1 hour ago, Djtux said:

I might get in as well.

image.png

@Djtux Help me understand this chart:  If I look at T-4, I see a 41, then at T-1 I see a 66.  So the difference btw the two as Median Return is 25 points.  Or it could be viewed as a 60.9% increase in Median Return (25/41=.609).  Is this relevant, or a we simply looking for the biggest number -- like 66.  But then how do we pick an entry date based on this graph?  Are we simply looking to avoid negative median returns?  In which case T-5 and T-4 look the best.

Edited by NikTam

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1 minute ago, NikTam said:

@Djtux Help me understand this chart:  If I look at T-4, I see a 41, then at T-1 I see a 66.  So the difference btw the two as Median Return is 25 points.  Or it could be viewed as a 60.9% increase in Median Return (25/41=.609).  Is this relevant, or a we simply looking for the biggest number -- like 66.  But then how do we pick an entry date based on this graph?

If you enter the call at T-4 (everything is counted using trading days) and exit at T-3, then the median return over the last 8 cycles (cutoff date is 2016-02-01) is 41%.

If you enter the call at T-4 and exit at T-1, then the median return is 66%.

If you enter the call at T-5 and exit at T-1, then the median return is 58%

Then you read the entire matrix by looking at entering at T-X and exiting at T-Y.

I'm not sure if it helps.

Also know that T-0 is the trading session just before the earning announcement (so for AMC announcement, it's the same day. For BMC announcement, it's the day before).

 

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2 minutes ago, NikTam said:

So if this holds true, then according to @Djtux chart next Monday would be 5 trading days until 2/26.  Correct?

The earning is not confirmed, i didn't see it on the company IR website.

If they announce 02/26 BMO, then T-5 trading days is today, because next monday the markets are closed (Washington's Birthday Monday, February 19th : https://www.nyse.com/markets/hours-calendars).

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1 minute ago, Djtux said:

If you enter the call at T-4 (everything is counted using trading days) and exit at T-3, then the median return over the last 8 cycles (cutoff date is 2016-02-01) is 41%.

If you enter the call at T-4 and exit at T-1, then the median return is 66%.

If you enter the call at T-5 and exit at T-1, then the median return is 58%

Then you read the entire matrix by looking at entering at T-X and exiting at T-Y.

I'm not sure if it helps.

Also know that T-0 is the trading session just before the earning announcement (so for AMC announcement, it's the same day. For BMC announcement, it's the day before).

 

Perfect.  Thank you, @Djtux.   It's another form of back-testing.  CML is nice because it can do a search.  But this is great for confirmation, detail and fine-tuning.  And the 8 cycle parameter is a good standard, I think.  And i like the Median Return calculation better than an average.  I think this is very useful.

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Just now, Djtux said:

The earning is not confirmed, i didn't see it on the company IR website.

If they announce 02/26 BMO, then T-5 trading days is today, because next monday the markets are closed (Washington's Birthday Monday, February 19th : https://www.nyse.com/markets/hours-calendars).

Dang. You're right -- those holidays can't be counted.  And if it's BMO we don't count that day.  Got it.

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4 minutes ago, Djtux said:

The earning is not confirmed, i didn't see it on the company IR website.

The WUBA (58.com) site is in (I believe) Mandarin. You can read Mandarin ? :D

 

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1 minute ago, NikTam said:

Did you post charts on these two as well?

I did not but i can. The features are still in beta, i'm still testing it.

image.png

image.png

 

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20 minutes ago, Djtux said:

The earning is not confirmed, i didn't see it on the company IR website.

If they announce 02/26 BMO, then T-5 trading days is today, because next monday the markets are closed (Washington's Birthday Monday, February 19th : https://www.nyse.com/markets/hours-calendars).

So this is the CML back-test.  If entering today then by CML rules it's either 9 days, or 11 days, before earnings.  I'm not sure because earnings is on a Monday and I'm not sure if that last weekend is counted as two additional days.

9 days http://tm.cmlviz.com/index.php?share_key=20180215171716_RHVfKbrY3JpSJWxi

11 days http://tm.cmlviz.com/index.php?share_key=20180215171745_krYKM8vD86D1Ebjv

The point is that neither of these back-tests are attractive in comparison to your chart.  Is the Median Return metric that different in terms of results, do you think?

Edited by NikTam

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4 minutes ago, NikTam said:

So this is the CML back-test.  If entering today then by CML rules it's either 9 days, or 11 days, before earnings.  I'm not sure because earnings is on a Monday and I'm not sure if that last weekend is counted as two additional days.

9 days http://tm.cmlviz.com/index.php?share_key=20180215171716_RHVfKbrY3JpSJWxi

11 days http://tm.cmlviz.com/index.php?share_key=20180215171745_krYKM8vD86D1Ebjv

The point is that neither of these back-tests are attractive in comparison to your chart.  Is the Median Return metric that different in terms of results, do you think?

You have to check what's wrong with the cml backtest, i see strange things after Sept 2017.

Quote

Date    Description    Size    Symbol    Expiration    Strike    Type    Trade Price    Profit/Loss    Stock Price
16-Feb-16    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Mar18`16    55    Call     $1.8          $49.8
24-Feb-16    Close 1DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Mar18`16    55    Call     $3.6     $178     $55.36
23-May-16    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Jun17`16    50    Call     $2.17          $49.42
31-May-16    Close 1DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Jun17`16    50    Call     $4.7     $251     $54.05
 8-Aug-16    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Sep16`16    55    Call     $2.45          $54.7
16-Aug-16    Close 1DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Sep16`16    55    Call     $1.82    -$65     $53.96
31-Oct-16    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Nov18`16    45    Call     $0.4          $41.85
 8-Nov-16    Close 1DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Nov18`16    45    Call     $0.62     $20     $41.91
21-Feb-17    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Mar17`17    35    Call     $0.88          $32.52
24-Feb-17    Close 1DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Mar17`17    35    Call     $0.65    -$25     $31.97
15-May-17    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Jun16`17    45    Call     $1.38          $42.76
23-May-17    Close 1DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Jun16`17    45    Call     $1.75     $35     $43.66
11-Aug-17    Open 9DaysBeforeEarnings:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Sep15`17    55    Call     $1.58          $52.14
15-Sep-17    Roll-Close DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Sep15`17    55    Call     $12.3     $1070     $67.15
15-Sep-17    Roll-Open 30DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Oct20`17    70    Call     $1.68          $67.15
20-Oct-17    ExpiredOutOfMoney DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Oct20`17    70    Call         -$169     $67.08
20-Oct-17    Roll-Open 30DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Nov17`17    70    Call     $2.17          $67.08
17-Nov-17    Roll-Close DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Nov17`17    70    Call     $4.8     $261     $74.8
17-Nov-17    Roll-Open 30DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Dec15`17    75    Call     $2.9          $74.8
15-Dec-17    ExpiredOutOfMoney DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Dec15`17    75    Call         -$291     $69.25
15-Dec-17    Roll-Open 30DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Jan19`18    70    Call     $2.7          $69.25
19-Jan-18    Roll-Close DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Jan19`18    70    Call     $10.1     $738     $80.13
19-Jan-18    Roll-Open 30DaysToExpiration:Long Calls    1    WUBA    Feb16`18    85    Call     $1.55          $80.13
15-Feb-18     ClosingMark:Long Calls    -1    WUBA    Feb16`18    85    Call     $0.03    -$153.5     $77.24

 

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3 minutes ago, Djtux said:

You have to check what's wrong with the cml backtest, i see strange things after Sept 2017.

 

Wow.  I've never seen that.  I am going to send that up to support at CML.

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3 minutes ago, Sirion said:

I closed round 1 of INTU for just over 40%. May re-open on a pullback or on tuesday, as T-0 day seems favorable. 

I'm up over 40% but will stay with it for now.  The 30 min chart still showing some upward momentum.  Maybe will close by end of day.

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13 hours ago, greenspan76 said:

I track by trade type, but not by number of days (so all pre-earnings calls lumped together, but not broken down by 3day, 7day, 14day etc). I think 2018 has just been a poor year for a lot of these types of trades, primarily because of the last couple weeks. Up until the last couple days of January, my 2018 trades were right on par with 2017, but it was a brutal 2 weeks for the CML trades - you know these little temper tantrums are going to happen sometimes, which is why I allocate less than 1% of my option portfolio per trade. Anyway, here's my stats. I'll note that I don't have a set target/stop loss across the board - each trade has a profit target and/or stop loss specific to that trade.

 

  2018 2017
Type Avg Gain Avg Days Trades Avg Gain Avg Days Trades
Pre-Earn Calls 0.9% 4.3 24 4.3% 4.7 38
Pre-Earn Straddle 12.0% 7.7 3 3.9% 7.3 9
Post-Earn Short IC -60.3% 11.0 4 -29.7% 22.9 6
Post-Earn Short PS 39.4% 30.2 5 6.2% 24.4 31
Post-Earn Straddle   n/a   -0.7% 5.0 1
Recurring Straddle -20.4% 26.5 2 75.9% 26.5 4
TTM Squeeze -7.7% 6.7 3 61.0% 15.7 3
             
TOTAL -0.7% 9.6 41 8.1% 14.1 92

 

 

I don't have for 2017 like below, Too many trades in 2017. At least i'll maintain in 2018 like below.

2018 CML results
         
 
         
           
Quote Entered Exit Holding days % Posted in SO
INFY Did not enter       Here
ASML Did not enter       Here
CHKP Did not enter       Here
TXN Did not enter       Here
SEIC Did not enter       Here
GD Did not enter       Here
NSC Did not enter       Here
SHW Did not enter       Here
EA Did not enter       Here
MAR 1/28/2018 1/30/2018 2 5.19% Here
AKAM 1/31/2018 1/31/2018 0 33.23% Here
ACIA Did not enter       Here
STT Did not enter       Here
INTU Did not enter       Here
SQ 2/13/2018 2/13/2018 0 40.00% Here
VALE 2/12/2018 2/14/2018 2 40.00% Here
WUBA Did not enter       Here

 

 

 

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Exited INTU for 70% gain.  There may still be gas in the tank on this one.  I will wait for any kind of pullback and may get back in.

 

Also exited SQ for 77% gain.  

 

I stayed out of WUBA -- it's taken off, too.

 

Not forgetting this is market that is roaring back.  So I did not set my GTC exits for 40% gain, as I usually do.

Edited by NikTam

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8 minutes ago, NikTam said:

Exited INTU for 70% gain.  There may still be gas in the tank on this one.  I will wait for any kind of pullback and may get back in.

I exited at 40% gain earlier today, i think you made a good decision to keep it a little bit longer and exit before the end of day. Good job.

8 minutes ago, NikTam said:

I stayed out of WUBA -- it's taken off, too.

I filled at 2.40 the Mar16 85 call earlier today but it was filled by mistake actually but i kept it just to track it.

 

4 minutes ago, NikTam said:

ACIA and VALE still looking good. 

Still in ACIA as well. I'm a little bit less confident in this that the stock can continue higher.

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2 minutes ago, Sirion said:

@Djtux any chance for your heat map for CW and W? curious if we should try to enter before EOD today. 

For CW, i'm not totally sure where the diff are coming from but from a quick first look, it seems that it's coming from :

  • there is the strike selection as the strikes are $5 apart so the 2 strikes gives a delta that is sometimes far from 40 delta
  • no profit/loss early exit

 

image.png

image.png

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Last few days have been good -- thanks all!  I'm almost back to where I should be without TLT and SVXY losses.  That's where I want to be -- like they never happened. :-)

 

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1 minute ago, NikTam said:

@Djtux  Thanks!  W looks good.  Looks like good idea to hold to the day before earnings.  Since it is BMO.  Does your charting contain EOD pricing?

T-0 for W is the day before the earnings announcement because it is BMO. That should be equivalent to the T-1 for CML if they have changed their code (close 0 days before earnings meant to close after the earning announcement for a stock announcing BMO.)

Quote

Does your charting contain EOD pricing?

What do you mean ?

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1 minute ago, Djtux said:

T-0 for W is the day before the earnings announcement because it is BMO. That should be equivalent to the T-1 for CML if they have changed their code (close 0 days before earnings meant to close after the earning announcement for a stock announcing BMO.)

What do you mean ?

End of Day.  How do you factor in prices?

Edited by NikTam

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Just now, Sirion said:

Entered W, avoiding CW. Thanks for the help @Djtux!

My chart is still in beta, so please do your own due diligence with the cml backtest. it's good practice to take a look at the tradelog of the cml backtest just to double check.

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      This article can be seen in a video or as a full written article below the video. 
       

      PREFACE 
      Trading options in Fabrinet (NYSE:FN) using a short window before earnings are released has been a staggering winner over the last several years. 

      This is it -- this is how people profit from the option market. Identifying strategies that are tightly risk controlled, take no stock direction risk and no earnings risk. Strategies that are immune from a bull or bear market. 

      STORY 
      Everyone knows that the day of an earnings announcement is a risky event for a stock. But the question every option trader, whether professional or amateur, has long asked is if there is a way to profit from this known implied volatility rise. It turns out, that over the long-run, for stocks with certain tendencies, the answer is actually, yes. 
        Yes, there is a systematic way to trade this repeating phenomenon, without making a bet on earnings or stock direction.

      THE SET UP 
      What a trader wants to do is to see the results of buying an at the money straddle a couple of weeks before earnings, and then sell that straddle just before earnings. Here is the setup: 
       

      We are testing opening the position 14 days before earnings and then closing the position 1 day before earnings. This is not making any earnings bet. This is not making any stock direction bet. 

      Once we apply that simple rule to our back-test, we run it on an at-the-money straddle: 

      RETURNS 
      If we did this long at-the-money straddle in Fabrinet (NYSE:FN) over the last three-years but only held it before earnings we get these results: 
         
      Click here to see the back-test live

      That's a 162% return over the last three-years, with 9 winning trades and 3 losing trades. But, let's take a step toward risk reduction before we move forward. 

      While we are looking at this same trade, let's also set a rule that if at any point in the two-week period the straddle loses 25% of its value, we just close it and wait for the next pre-earnings cycle. While we're at it, we will do the same with the upside -- that is, if at any time during the two-weeks the straddle goes up 25%, we take the profits and close the trade. 

      For clarity, this is what we test: 
       

      And now we can see the results over the same three-year period: 
         
      Click here to see the back-test live

      While we are taking 75% less risk, we are seeing about the same results -- we will continue down this risk adjusted path for the rest of this dossier. 

      Digging Deeper 
      Now we can see the results over the last two-years: 
         
      Click here to see the back-test live

      That's a 126% return and 7 winning trades with 1 losing trade. Remember, this trade takes no stock direction risk and no earnings risk -- this is completely agnostic to a bull or bear market. 

      Even further, that 126% actually came on just 16 weeks of trading (2-weeks per earnings cycle, 8 earnings cycles), which is over 400% annualized returns. 

      Now we look at the last year: 
         
      Click here to see the back-test live

      We see a 65.2% percent return on 3 winning trade and 1 losing trade. 

      Finally, we can look at the last six-months: 
         
      Click here to see the back-test live

      That's 40.1%, winning both of the last two pre-earnings trades. 

      WHAT HAPPENED 
      This is it -- this is how people profit from the option market. Identifying strategies that are tightly risk controlled, take no stock direction bets or earnings risk. It's preparation, not luck. 

      To see how to do this for any stock we welcome you to watch this quick demonstration video: 
      Tap Here to See the Tools at Work 

      Thanks for reading. 

      Risk Disclosure 
      You should read the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. 

      Past performance is not an indication of future results. 

      Trading futures and options involves the risk of loss. Please consider carefully whether futures or options are appropriate to your financial situation. Only risk capital should be used when trading futures or options. Investors could lose more than their initial investment. 

      Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition.
    • By Ophir Gottlieb
      How to Profit from Trading Options in Autodesk Inc Right After Earnings
       


      Date Published: 2017-05-18 
      Written by Ophir Gottlieb 

      LEDE 
      While Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) just crushed earnings again, sending shares soaring in the after hours trade, one option trade after earnings has been a consistent winner. It takes no earnings risk, little stock direction risk and over the last year has never lost while returning over 160% annualized returns. 

      The Trade After the Excitement 
      While most of the focus is on the actual earnings move for a stock, that's the distraction when it comes to the option market. For Autodesk Inc, irrespective of whether the earnings move was up or down, if we waited one-day after the stock move from earnings, and then sold an out of the money put spread, the results were very strong. 

      We can examine this, objectively, with a custom option back-test. Here is our earnings set-up: 
       


      Rules 
      * Open short put spread 1 day after earnings 
      * Close short put spread 29 days later 
      * Use the option that is closest to but greater than 30-days away from expiration 

      Here are the results over the last year: 
       


      That's a 47.3% return, with 4 winning trades and 0 losing trades. The total holding period was less than 4 full months, meaning the annualized return was over 160%. No earnings risk was taken -- this is not a coin flip over earnings. 

      The Logic 
      This strategy works beautifully in many companies where heavy stock volume follows the earnings release. The logic behind this trade follows a narrative that even after a bad earnings release, if we wait a day after, we find the stock at a point of equilibrium. 

      If it gapped down -- that gap is over. If it beat earnings, the downside move is already likely muted. Here's how this strategy has done over the last 6-months: 
       


      That's a 21.3% return, on 2 winning trades and 0 losing trades. Since this is a total of a two-month holding period, that 21.3% is actually over 120% annualized. 

      If you're curious, yes, this also produced positive returns over the last 3-years. Here are those results. 
       


      Now we can find some comfort in this approach where is shows 9 winning trades and just 2 losing trades over the last three-years. 

      WHAT HAPPENED 
      There are patterns to stock behaviors before and after earnings and those patterns reveal opportunities in the option market, without taking the actual risk of earnings. You can find them, stock by stock, Apple, Google, Netflix and of course Autodesk Inc are just a handful of examples. There has been edge here with this strategy. 

      To see how to do this for any stock and for any strategy with just the click of a few buttons, we welcome you to watch this quick demonstration video: 
      Tap Here to See the Tools at Work 

      Thanks for reading. 

      Risk Disclosure 
      You should read the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. 

      Past performance is not an indication of future results. 

      Trading futures and options involves the risk of loss. Please consider carefully whether futures or options are appropriate to your financial situation. Only risk capital should be used when trading futures or options. Investors could lose more than their initial investment. 

      Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition. 

      The author has no position in Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) as of this writing. 

      Back-test Link
       
       
       
       
       
    • By Ophir Gottlieb
      How to Trade Options Before Earnings in Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO)

       
      How to Trade Options Before Earnings in Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO)
      Date Published: 2017-05-15 

      PREFACE 
      Trading options in a short window before earnings are released benefits from the rising implied volatility but avoids the risk into the actual earnings release and also avoids any kind of stock direction risk. 

      This approach has returned a annualized rate of 198%. Now that's worth looking into. 

      STORY 
      Everyone knows that the day of an earnings announcement is a risky event for a stock. This can be explicitly seen in the option market, where the implied volatility (the expected stock move) rises into the earnings event. 

      The question every option trader, whether professional or amateur, has long asked is if there is a way to profit from this known volatility rise. It turns out, that over the long-run, for stocks with certain tendencies like Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO) the answer is actually, yes. 
       
      Yes, there is a systematic way to trade this repeating phenomenon, without making a bet on earnings or stock direction.

      THE SET UP 
      What a trader wants to do is to see the results of buying an at the money straddle a few days before earnings, and then sell that straddle just before earnings. The goal, is two-fold: (i) to benefit from that known implied volatility rise, and (ii) to own the straddle for a very short period of time when the stock might move 'a lot,' but taking no earnings bets. 

      If either of those two phenomena occur, there's a very good chance this wins, if neither occur, the amount risked is normally quite small. Here is the setup: 
       


      We are testing opening the position 6 days before earnings and then closing the position 1 day before earnings. This is not making any earnings bet. This is not making any stock direction bet. 

      Once we apply that simple rule to our back-test, we run it on an at-the-money straddle: 

      RETURNS 
      If we did this long at-the-money (also called '50-delta') straddle in Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO) over the last three-years but only held it before earnings we get these results: 
       
      Long At-the-Money Straddle * Monthly Options * Back-test length: three-years * Open 6-days Before Earnings * Close 1-day Before Earnings * Holding Period: 5-Days per Earnings   Winning Trades: 5 Losing Trades: 7 Pre-Earnings Straddle Return:  17.1%  Annualized Return:  102% 
      We see a 17.1% return, testing this over the last 12 earnings dates in Broadcom Limited. That's a total of just 60 days (5 days for each earnings date, over 12 earnings dates). That's a annualized rate of 102%. 

      We can also see that this strategy hasn't been a winner all the time, rather it has won 5 times and lost 7 times, but here's the key -- it wins about half of the time, but the average gain per winning trade is substantially larger than the average loss on a losing trade: 
       


      Consistently Successful 
      This idea has also been a successful approach over the last two-years:
      Long At-the-Money Straddle * Monthly Options * Back-test length: two-years * Open 6-days Before Earnings * Close 1-day Before Earnings * Holding Period: 5-Days per Earnings   Winning Trades: 4 Losing Trades: 4 Pre-Earnings Straddle Return:  22%  Annualized Return:  198% 
      Now we see a 22% return, testing this over the last 8 earnings dates which is a annualized rate of 198%. 

      Yet again, we see a trade that wins about half the time, but the average win is much larger than the average loss: 
       


      If you really want to see how we found this, and how to do it for other stocks like Apple, Google and Amazon, here is a 1-minute and 34-second video that every professional option trader would rather that you don't see. 

      Learn more here: Try the Back-tester Yourself

      WHAT HAPPENED 
      There are patterns to stock behaviors before and after earnings and those patterns reveal opportunities in the option market, without taking the actual risk of earnings. You can find them, stock by stock. This is how people profit from the option market -- it's preparation, not luck. 

      To see how to do this for any stock we welcome you to watch this quick demonstration video: 
      Tap Here to See the Tools at Work

      Thanks for reading. 

      Risk Disclosure 
      You should read the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. 

      Past performance is not an indication of future results. 

      Trading futures and options involves the risk of loss. Please consider carefully whether futures or options are appropriate to your financial situation. Only risk capital should be used when trading futures or options. Investors could lose more than their initial investment. 

      Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition. 

      Back-test Link
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
    • By Ophir Gottlieb
      The Secret Behind Options Pre-Earnings Trading in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
       
       
      Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC): The Wonderful Secret Behind Options Pre-Earnings Trading
      Date Published: 2017-05-4

      PREFACE 
      There is a wonderful secret to trading options right before earnings announcements in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) , and really many stocks, that benefits from the rising implied volatility but avoids the risk into the actual earnings release and also avoids any kind of stock direction risk. 

      THE WONDERFUL SECRET 
      What a trader wants to do is to see the results of buying an at the money straddle a few days before earnings, and then sell that straddle just before earnings. 

      The goal, is two-fold: (i) to benefit from that known implied volatility rise, and (ii) to own the straddle for a very short period of time when the stock might move 'a lot,' but never take the risk of actually owning options during the earnings release. 

      If either of those two phenomena occur, there's a very good chance this wins, if neither occur, the amount risked is normally quite small. Here is the setup: 
       


      We are testing opening the position in Intel Corporation 6 days before earnings and then closing the position right before earnings. This is not making any earnings bet. This is notmaking any stock direction bet. 

      Once we apply that simple rule to our back-test, we run it on an at-the-money straddle: 

      RETURNS 
      If we did this long at-the-money (also called '50-delta') straddle in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) over the last three-years but only held it before earnings we get these results: 
       


      We see a 47.8% return, testing this over the last 12 earnings dates in Intel Corporation. That's a total of just 72 days (6 days for each earnings date, over 12 earnings dates). That's a annualized rate of 242%. 

      We can also see that the win/loss rate is split with 6-wins and 6-losses, yet the return is enormous. That means the winning trades are much larger than the losing trades, which is exactly what a successful trading strategy attempts to do. No magic bullets -- rather smart methodologies for wealth creation. 

      MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYE 
      While this strategy is benefiting from the implied volatility rise into earnings for Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), what it's really doing is far more intelligent. 

      The ideal stocks for this strategy have a couple of common characteristics: 

      (i) The companies rarely pre-announce earnings -- this is an investment that does not look to make an earnings bet, so an earnings pre-announcement is the opposite of what we're hoping for. 

      (ii) The underlying stock price of these companies tend to move a lot (or some) as earnings approach and various institutions and traders shuffle the stock price around in anticipation of the earnings result. The more one sided the outside world starts betting on direction -- up or down, the better it is to own the straddle. 

      WHAT HAPPENED 
      This is it -- this is how people profit from the option market -- it's preparation, not luck. 

      Test the results on Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc, and the results are staggering. 

      To see how to do this for any stock and for any strategy with just the click of a few buttons, we welcome you to watch this quick demonstration video: 
      Tap Here to See the Tools at Work 

      Thanks for reading. 

      Risk Disclosure 
      You should read the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. 

      Past performance is not an indication of future results. 

      Trading futures and options involves the risk of loss. Please consider carefully whether futures or options are appropriate to your financial situation. Only risk capital should be used when trading futures or options. Investors could lose more than their initial investment. 

      Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition. 

      The author has no position in Intel Corporation Inc (NASDAQ:INTC) as of this writing. 

      Back-test Link (does require custom earnings settings).
       
       
       
       
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