pintodave

I have PM with TD, but would still be interested in the non-PM version. I've been out of the loop for a bit, but man I can't stand the IBKR platform (unless that has changed recently).

The struggle is definitely real, being on the east coast US is terrible because it overlaps with general "work time" (although that is probably a good thing - if I was in Europe I'd work and then trade at odd hours all night). This is my 2nd go around with S.O. because of the same issues, timing is tough!

Negative bias is a real thing! I am just in the first 25% of this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085N3SZ1T/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 It's just more "mental trading soup" for the brain, but I find I need to go read stuff like this every so often.

You know, this is completely baffling. Companies like GrubHub, Door Dash, Uber, Lyft - how can they not make money????? They are essentially software app companies! I understand there is office overhead, development, other overhead, insurance, etc, but they have no physical product and have no manufacturing risk HOW can they not make money???

@Yowster you hit the nail on the head, University of Miami has been doing this in S FL and is finding exactly that. I think factoring that in, it worked out to the same or slightly less than .5% mortality rate. I think this virus has been spreading a lot longer than we were aware of, I'm thinking at least 3rd quarter of last year if not longer. I am in no way a Covid denier, yes it is serious, but a lot of these numbers are not adding up. Yes we need to be careful, yes large gatherings like sports, concerts, etc should not be happening right now. But I do believe there has been a tremendous amount of number fluffing going on - I am sure some of it is just heat of the battle and will get sorted out later, but I can't help but think some of it is nefarious. You can take that to the bank. Look at NY - oh, if you died at home, clearly you couldn't get to a Dr, so it must have been Covid. No proof, no autopsy, just increase the death count by 3k or 4k or whatever it was. There is financial incentive for hospitals to mark people as covid patients, and more money if they get on a ventilator. "Follow the money". With respect to hospital workers, of course they are not furloughing the front line, but all we heard about for weeks was how every hospital would be overflowing and there would not be enough capacity, not enough medical staff, not enough ventilators, etc etc. That simply is not the case. I'm glad they were wrong, but as a Floridian who has to deal with hurricane season and the media hype that "we will most certainly die this time", I try to strip the fanatical hype from factual data. All I am saying is the data does not match the fear. I am not sure where the saying originated, but it goes something like "there's lies, damn lies, and statistics". Interesting time to be on this floating Petri dish called planet earth. Rant over and sorry for completely derailing the Uber thread, but too I agree this cannot be good for Uber LOL

Which android phone/platform are you using and to confirm, you are US based? I am using TOS Mobile and it works really well (Samsung S8), they've improved it a lot over years ago. I just looked and it says there is an update available for the app, now you've freaked me out and I don't want to install the update LOL.

Been a while since I looked at it, but I am pretty sure that ThinkOrSwim looks at the -20% price slice.

That is a good idea, I've seen a few people mention this... Question: in a live funded TOS account, how do you keep all of the trades up and active for multiple days to track? Do you enter a ridiculous order that will never get filled so it always stays as an "open order" (like enter a buy order for a calendar as a credit) or is there another way to keep a trade visible for multiple days and still have live market data with it (without re-entering the trade every morning)?

Thanks for sharing... be curious to hear feedback about this broker. The only 3rd party software I've used is ONE and I really liked it. Looks like it is only free if you meet the following: 37+ equity trades per monthor150+ options contracts and minimum of 20 tickets per month Then it is 50% off of the $55 month fee if: 18–36 equity trades per month or75–149 options contracts and minimum of 9–19 tickets per month

Awesome, thank you for the extra feedback. I will most likely switch to Scottrade Pro vs directly with IB. Even with a smaller account, the $5 minimum wont be hard to exceed, even on a 1-lot trade as long as it is 4 legs, I'm still coming out slightly ahead to what I am paying now (1.50/contract TOS). Once I start managing a larger account, then the savings will be even that much better.

Hate to keep beating this horse but I have a few more questions: - Those that are using Scottrade Pro, do you feel there is any execution difference (if you have a reference to judge by...) vs. using IB directly? I know there shouldn't be but I don't know how any behind the scenes order routing/execution preference goes. @ahrdlicka have you been happy with trade execution? - Also, in playing around with IB's mobile platform, it seems they've done some enhancements recently and it is now "usable", which is great, that was my biggest hang up with switching from TOS. I see Scottrade Pro uses IB's Handy Trader App, is it the same build/funcionality as the regular IB mobile just with a different name?

For those of you using IB/Scottrade Pro, do you or have you used Option Net Explorer to set up & send your trades to IB? I know ONE offers that ability, just wondering any feedback on how well it actually works VS directly placing the trade in IB platform.

Since this is about IB order execution, have any of you found good videos for the TWS mobile platform? I found this one on IB's youtube channel, it is a good introduction but I'd like to find one going over complex order entry, etc...

I'd also vouch for Dan's work, like Kim said he is very honest in his assessment of things. Lots of free stuff on youtube to watch, I've done a couple smaller paid courses/events over the years and if I traded full time or with a larger acct I wouldn't hesitate to add more of his paid educational stuff to my toolbox.

I really need to sit down to see if I can tolerate the IB mobile platform...... That is a pretty sweet commission structure.

Is the mobile platform any different than the regular IB mobile app?

I'd be curious as to what their explanation is too. My guess is that since it is a paper account, maybe you got some mythical first print fill that wouldn't have happened in reality?

Just an update, after the open this morning, I did end up selling an option against it rather than close it or roll it down. So, after doing that I have a few observations. Yes, rolling it down would allow you to lock in some profits and keep the profit potential bigger should the market keep moving in your favor, but as the market moved against my position today, the p/l curve for the position was a lot more "gentle" by having it set up as a debit spread. So that is the trade off I guess... I did jump the gun a little too soon this morning, I could have locked in more profit by waiting, but who knows what is going to happen in this crazy market. All in all, it was interesting to weigh the different options and observe it in real time. So, net, the position is now a 2 point wide debit spread, max "loss" is a $35 profit, max gain would be a $235 profit... even after the monster rally, the position is still up $75 total and I figured out that I can avoid the "day trading" rule if I need to....

Thanks, I called TOS and told them I did not plan on bringing the acct up to 25k and asked if there was anything else I needed to do (other than don't be an idiot and "day trade" ) They said I was ok to trade, but if I have any issues going forward I will call back and ask them about the reset. If they give me a hard time then all the more reason to switch to IB

No, it was strictly a directional hedge, that's why I did only 1 contract (even though I wanted to do a few). If it ripped up in my face, my gains would offset the put loss. I very rarely trade single options. If I do a directional trade it is usually via a debit spread, but I don't really do much of that either, the majority of stuff I do is defined risk income-style trades.

Hi everyone, Just to preface this post - if you've been trading for a while or are very experienced, you might read this and say "Duh!", but I had a small "ah-ha" moment today so I thought I'd share it. In short, this is my epiphany of locking in profits via a debit spread. It's with regards to a situation I ran into to trading a small acct (sub 25k in the US) and dealing with frequent trading. I have a fair knowledge of "the basics" with respect to trading complex strategies, greeks, etc... 99% of the time I do not have "round trips" in one day and to this point, I have been more of a "put a trade on, manage if necessary, take a trade off" sort of trader. Where I am still advancing my knowledge is "whole portfolio management" techniques involving multiple positions, rolling, hedging, etc and some more advanced techniques like the interaction of futures with options pricing (vix), etc. So - in case you haven't noticed the markets have been kind of crazy the past few days Last Friday, I was a naughty monkey and violated the "day trading rules" pretty blatantly by trading SPY puts, so therefore I cannot have any "round trips" in a day for 90 days. Not too big of a deal, but with this market, it could be a hindrance. Today, around lunch I was not too impressed with what I was seeing in the markets so I decided to buy (1) SEP1 187.5 Put for $2.00. My thoughts were to hold it overnight anyways, but after rolling those VIX calls yeterday for a really nice gain & locking in profit while keeping long calls, I got to thinking - if I really wanted to, what could I do to lock in some profits without violating the "day trade" restriction? Remember, I can't sell the position, I can't roll the position...... But I can sell another option against it! DUH! By 3:30pm, I was really happy I had that put, it had expanded to over $4.50. Normally, I'd just sell it, but I couldn't and my plan was to keep it overnight anyways. I ended up not selling an option against it as it was approaching 4pm and I was at work and I really wanted to make sure I understood the "why" of what I was doing and not haphazardly get the trade placed. So in effect, by selling a further away put and creating a debit spread, it is very similar to locking in profits by doing a roll. The max risk in a debit spread is the amount paid, so by sitting on $2.50 in profits, it comes down to how much of that profit I want to lock in. If I think the market could still go down and want to give myself a little room to still profit, I widen the spread a little, if I want to lock in more profit, I just go one strike away from the option I own. To summarize - If you have "small account syndrome" and can't/don't want to burn up a round trip "day trade" but want to lock in some gains, this might be a good way to have your cake and eat it too. To the more experienced traders that actually read this whole post, please post up anything to add to this topic! Or if there is a "hole" in my theory please correct my thought process!