Paul

I find Strategy Builder within Option Trader the easiest to use. You can enter exactly what you want to buy and sell, check to make sure you have the debit or credit correct for that particular spread and go. A lot of people prefer the Combo option but I found it confusing and stopped using it after a few attempts.

Keep in mind also that for regular stock options anyway, the price changes if you are adding or subtracting liquidity. Not sure on the mechanics ( probably related to what Batch mentions above) but I quite often get greatly discounted commissions and have even had a credit, believe it or not.

I don't trade them every day but paid 1.33 per option contract yesterday.

Don't know, I just use charts for general guidance at a quick glance

Thanks

It happened to me a few times when I used Webtrader. Sometimes restarting Webtrader worked and sometimes building a different spread and then cancelling and trying the original worked. When that didn't work I had to open TWS and send the order that way. I eventually got fed up and don't use Webtrader anymore.

My experience starts in the 90's when I used to do phone trades with commodities. With the internet and such I passed the Series 7 and started trading stocks with Bright Trading in 2001 for a few years in their heyday. That tapered off a few years later with the introduction of high frequency trading. I just couldn't compete. I traded both stocks and options on my own after that with mixed success. Good enough to keep going but not making much. I have tried many services and am surprised when we actually get openings for new members, as Steady Options is easily the best out there for retail option traders from home. I hope to contribute by answering questions from these new traders as they come on line with us. The regular newbie questions that get asked again and again, whenever spots become available. I trade and understand the official Steady Options strategies and will help there as much as possible (allocations, how to get well priced fills, some of the whys), although there are obviously quite a few very advanced and knowledgeable people here. I trade full-time and am usually available, however I have been traveling the past few weeks.

OK, good to know. If this brokerage is financially stable it looks good except for the specific calendars they prohibit. Might be an idea to keep an account with IB just for them.

It seems they are also offering OptionNetExplorer for free if you trade more than 150 options contracts and a minimum of 20 tickets.

Can you imagine the change in profit potential for trades such as our current CRM? Almost too good to be true. Definitely worth a very close look even if all the extras aren't included.

got in AAPL 97.5 calendar calls for .25 and got out today for .35 and .36. Wish I had got more. Thanks

There used to be a number of tastytrade personalities that you could follow and see what they traded along with their results. I was on the site recently however and couldn't find them. The trade results were mixed, as I remember. Most were profitable, only a few quite profitable and a few traders losing. I didn't see anyone's trading style at that time that I wanted to follow though.

Happy Birthday Kim! Wishing you all the best! Thanks for all the hard work you put into this site.