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A better strategy would be not to trade options that expire the same day. Extremely risky. A better strategy would be to understand what you are doing and asking questions before you place a trade. Learn first, trade later. And if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that. The model portfolio is $10k, but I use a $20k portfolio so all my trades are double size. Since Yowster starting managing the strategy in July 2024, I've had total profits of ~$14,300 after paying ~$2735 in commissions. I just switched to using Tradier for this strategy in May, so most of the commissions are from IB. I'm pretty happy with it overall. Maybe I should have not overemphasized the commission difference in my prior post because if you can't use a cheaper brokerage, the results have still been pretty good with IB

I use IB for a lot of trading, but these TLT trades, in my opinion, are too expensive there so I use Tradier for them. However, I made these trades at IB before I switched to using Tradier so I can give you real numbers on the commission differences. Over several hundred contracts of TLT butterflies at both brokers, my average commission per contract at IB was (EDIT: $0.5041....not the $1.138 I posted originally) and my average at Tradier is (EDIT: $0.11925...not the $0.214 I mistakenly posted originally. Tradier does charge a $10/month for Tradier Pro, which is spread across many other contracts for me. But even if you only traded these TLT trades at Tradier and you only did 15 butterflies per month, it would cost you around (EDIT: $14.31 commission...not the 25.68 I originally posted) + $10 monthly fee = $24.31. Whereas at IB, the same trade would be roughly (EDIT: $60.49...not the $136.56 I originally posted). Those are total costs to open + close just as a comparison of the difference

It turns out that my issue was based on a misunderstanding. I am not permitted to trade TLT for the reasons given above but I am permitted to trade TLT options. Thankfully I can still follow the SteadyYields trades.

I trade using IB (I am in France) and I never met this kind of issue. From my experience, it turned out that they always replied to me when I add a problem, even if it was with a certain delay by mail. You can also directly call them and ask.

This is an excellent question, and I completely understand the concern, considering the history.. We manage risk in the following ways: First is position sizing. We typically don't utilize more than 50-60% of the model portfolio. The main trade (based on the algo developed by @Romuald) is around 30% ($3k) and there are 1-3 extra trades based on Monte Carlo simulation tool. Second is managing the negative gamma. The trades are typically opened 5-7 weeks to expiration and closed 2-3 weeks to expiration, to reduce the negative gamma. That said, sometime even the best intentions go wrong. Last week we closed the long term bullish TLT trade that was opened months ago and went against us right from the beginning. We held it to give the thesis to develop, but unfortunately it didn't happen, and the trade was closed for $2,700 loss. Along with two other trades, we will record ~18% in October. This is probably as bad as it gets, but considering the fact that we make around 5-7% a month on average, we consider it an acceptable drawdown. We will be still up 56% in 2025 in 10 months, far exceeding our profit target of 30-40%. Hope this answers the question.

The better strategy is to understand gamma. Option trading in most circumstances is not rocket science and just playing percentages but the one thing that absolutely rips any strategy is gamma. When you have 0 dte trades gamma is sky high - I have a higher tolerance for it than Kim but I respect his point of view. If gamma moves against you and there is barely any time to expiry there is nothing you can do to control the outcome except pray.

I added a new coupon on the first page of this thread.

No, you're right. Sorry for the mistake. I'll update my post so noone is misled in the future. I did a quick formula on the last 5 butterfly trades at IB and last 3 at Tradier and failed to double the contracts at IB to account for open + close, so my numbers for IB are off. The funny thing is I looked at the last IB trade to verify it looked right and on that particular trade, the cost/contract was about $1.10, so I assumed the overall number was correct. Thanks for pointing that out. So I went back and looked at all TLT butterflies I've traded since 2024 and the actual cost/contract at IB was $0.5041. The actual cost/contract at Tradier was $0.11925. The other numbers I posted on total commissions paid and net after-commission profit is correct, though - that includes all SteadyYields trades and not just TLT. (As a side note, I had a few months where I traded more than 10k option contracts at IB, so I believe that made commissions lower than normal just on those months)

@Yowster @greenspan76 here are my YTD trades in SY for TLT ... I use IB as there really is not another brokerage to use in Canada at least for options ..... so yes the comms are high but still making good returns

@greenspan76 your comment about your experiences with IB commissions on the TLT trades made me look at my commissions for every 15-lot TLT fly this year. As you know IB commissions vary, but my range across all of those trades was a low of ~$0.35 and a high of ~$1.05 per contract (with only two trades of paying $1.00+). The average across all those trades was ~$0.60 per contract, so much lower than what you have observed. At that $0.60 rate the total commission to both open and close the trade was $4.80 for each fly (4 legs on open and close) - and with each fly typically costing ~$200 that commission is 2.4%. Ideally, I'd like under 1% impact per trade, but these are 4 leg trades so while not ideal the commission impact is bearable. Of course if you can lower fees and the same fills with another broker then that is better. The question is why your IB commissions are so much higher than mine, I have nothing special or out of the ordinary tied to my IB account.

The losses were with the previous manager who did a terrible job. Yowster has been managing it since the other guy was ousted, and there has been good returns. Read the postings on the Forum or follow Kim's email updates on Steady Yields. Sarang

1. IBKR is a very low commission broker. I have used them for several years with both Steady Yields, and also better yet with Steady Collars strategies. Their commission structure as well as low Margin interest rates allow you to keep most of the profits for yourself. 2. You can read about it in the Forum Steady Yields Sarang