crwood

Gary, I got mixed info from IB. In email, they told me the Surface Pro 2 would work, because it runs on Windows 8, but when I talked to them on the phone to ask further questions I was told by the rep he didn't think that was true. Haven't found a place where I could demo it, but I'm looking for one. Also, thanks for the other tips on using a remote setup. That actually made me think of Virtual Firefox, which is supposed to run Java on IOS devices. Have any of you tested this before or had any luck with it or is just a gimmick? Thanks again for all the feedback and suggestions.

Yes, I have tried it, but again the functionality of it is really a fraction of what you can do otherwise. For example, you have to create new orders to close a combo position. That is to say you can't close a spread unless you create a new combo. You can only close individual legs. That problem is magnfied because ask bid prices are static. Might as well be using delayed quotes. Obviously not ideal. I guess there isn't a tablet out there right now that can do this. IB really needs to step up their game on this front. We're now over three and a half years since the Ipad was launched and it's pretty clear tablets are here to stay.

The TWS app for the IPAD is pretty useless in my opinion for trading options especially for creating combos. It can be done, but it's way too cumbersome. Same holds true for the TWS app for Android. Now, it's fine for stock watching, but not if you're into more sophisticated trading. Does anyone know of a tablet that allows you to have the full functionality of the TWS desktop? I don't even use a desktop. I use a Mac Book that is four years old and I have all the functionality on it as I would any desktop setup. Which is ironic, because the latest Ipad's don't allow you this full functionallity. Doesn't make much sense to me considering the operating systems are so similar, and because IB isn't just a broker for stocks, but if you try to open up TWS on the Ipad it will just sit there and do nothing. With IB's clientele that's focused on futures, forex, options, etc., why did they create a mobile solution that's better for stock traders? I would love to be able to ditch the laptop and get a new tablet, but the way IB currently has their system setup it is not ideal for what we do here. Any other suggestions out there I'm missing?

Thanks for the explanations guys. What do you consider appropriate indexes to play this on?

At what point do you get a volume crush to make a traditional IC worth taking on other than playing it around earnings? And at that point you're taking on just as much risk as buying and holding through earnings. If you have an IC and the stock makes a big move after hours you can easily be gapped the next morning for a huge loss. I've had much better success selling far OTM IC's (typically 5 to 10% away from the stocks current price) about 10 to 14 days from expiration and just letting the time decay work in my favor where they expire worthless. It's not possible to make huge gains doing this (because position sizing and higher margin requirement really limits you), but if I can make 10 to 12% and only have commissions on one end of the trade I can technically outperform SO just merely by not having commissions to exit the position. However, if I can identify IC's that may be a bit closer to the strike but I'm holding for shorter duration with the same ROM or better I'm interested. I just haven't been able to find them short of doing them around earnings where your risk profile increases dramatically. And I really don't understand the concept of CTM IC's. You'll have to hold them much longer and the longer you hold them the greater the odds the prices moves hard at one of your wings or beyond the short side at which point you'll have a sizable loss. Currently I have an IC on RUT. The chances it moves 60 points between now and Friday are remote. Granted I'm only going to make about $220 on $2000 margin, but I have high extremely high confidence I'm going to make that $220 come Friday without having to pay another $30 in commissions to exit the position.

Just from reading some of Kim's articles in the past I know he loathes most things CNBC (and for good reason...never trust the media). I don't usually get to see the yahoos that come on at 5 p.m. ET where they talk about their options plays, because I'm trying to get out the door, but the few times I have seen them I've heard them talk about a strategy where they spend $5.00 to make $5.00. I have never spent the time to backtest or see if any of them work, but I was curious if anyone has ever used something similar? I suspect the ones those guys talk about are delta heavy in one direction and probably produce poor results. Any experience with this?

Happened to me once, but I got lucky. I sold SPY credit spread and then waffled on whether to exit at the end of an expirations Friday when the SPY was about 20 cents from being in the money. Rare that the SPY moves that much on a Friday after hours I told myself. Well, at about 4:30 it went ITM by about five cents and I was - of course - completely helpless at that point. It eventually closed back above the strike price, but I woke up the next morning to confirm what I already knew.... that I had been assigned. Luckly, the SPY was up Monday morning when I had to immediately sell it all back, and I made more than I would have otherwise, but it was pure luck and definitely more stress than you want to deal with.