TheMachine

Selling a call alone doesn't work well with both protection from a downturn and deferring taxes. If you sell it ATM or OTM, it doesn't protect against a large downturn. If you sell it DITM, then you already realize most of the gains by selling the call (at least that's how it works with the IRS). You could do it with a collar though, just pretend your now-DITM call is a long stock position since its delta is probably close enough to 1. This way you can sell an (A/O)TM call and buy an (A/I)TM put, and realize only the small amount of gain right now in selling the (A/O)TM call, saving and locking in the rest of the gain for next year, regardless of where the stock price ends up. Before you do this, you might want to double check IRS rules on combo orders/multi-leg positions and make sure this is how they will treat the taxes. I'm pretty sure it works since most of their exceptions are to prevent tax "exploits" with straddle-like positions where you leg out of one of the legs (either the winning or losing) depending on whether you want to realize gains or losses this year and hold the other until next year, but you should double check to make sure. (Note that you don't have to sell the call and buy the put with the same strike. You can both sell an OTM call and buy an OTM put, leaving some wiggle room for some potential extra profit/loss if you like.)

I sent in an application Monday night, account was approved and open for funding Tuesday around noon. (However, I am US-based so YMMV.) I am also planning to transfer a big chunk of my tastyworks margin account to Tradier. Note that tastyworks lists a fee of $75 for ACAT transfer-out (probably per transfer per account), so I'm planning on liquidating a bunch of positions and do the transfer in cash via my bank account using ACH. (Again, US-based so this route may not be easy/fast/possible for you.) Another issue is ACAT might take a few days and they lock down your positions (if you transfer in-kind) until the transfer is completed and only then you can manage them on the receiving brokerage. I don't want to have to end up bagholding some unmanageable position for days or weeks (ran into this situation before with another brokerage-to-brokerage direct transfer). Note that if you want to transfer your (Roth) IRA between brokerages you would have to fork over the ACAT transfer-out fee due to contribution/withdrawal penalties/limits. (Only relevant for those who worked in the US before and have one.)

Hello SO, Today I discovered this community and after a few hours of lurking the public spaces and checking out external reviews, I am quite impressed. I am looking to subscribe to some SO services but I have a few questions that I would like to have addressed beforehand. But first, a little bit about my options experience for better context. I ventured into options trading in September 2018, starting out by selling covered calls and buying naked options, then quickly started trading various spreads as well. In the process, I turned a CAD$40k TFSA account (no short options allowed except covered calls) into CAD$200k in six weeks and then subsequently to $0 in another six weeks. After that escapade, I took a few months break, but not to be disheartened, I started researching options guides on the web. Wading through the trash, I discovered Tastytrade, a seemingly genuine and legitimate channel. I've watched many hours of their studies, and, despite questionable mechanics, lacking statistical significance, and failing to report important metrics like ROI in most of them, I was convinced of their mantra of premium selling (sometimes even in low IV environments, though they do say they prefer calendars) above all else. In July 2019, I moved to the US for a new job and got myself a TastyWorks account ASAP. (Previously, I started out using Scotia iTrade ($9.95/$4.95 ticket + $1.25/contract), then switched to Questrade ($4.95 ticket + $0.75/contract with active trader (only pay HST after monthly rebate)), and still ended up paying $10k+ in commissions and fees in a year. One trade that I will never forget was a double calendar earnings play that Questrade listed as a $420 profit, hiding the $840 in commissions I paid from their trading platform, resulting in a $420 net loss.) I've been trading the Tastytrade mantra style since then (along with some unfortunate earnings plays) but my doubts about their purported one true strategy have grown above the boiling point. Combined with the fact that their "low commissions" are still quite high (especially with SPX options, where Questrade's commissions is actually lower for, say, a 10 contract iron condor), I started my search of better deals once more (no Robinhood please). Eventually, I discovered PureVolatility's Tradier/Tradehawk Bundle Package (which for some reason isn't listed in the Summary Of SteadyOptions Discounted Offers). Some questions: 1) In the thread, there are references to "Creating Alpha", which seems to be a service that's no longer offered? 2) How does the billing process work with Tradier for the first month of a new member signing up under this offer? How long does it take to set up a new Reg. T margin account? 3) How much are typical options contract fees Tradier passes on to the trader? I've seen mentions of around 10¢/contract all-in but not sure if this is round-trip or not and would like a more detailed breakdown. (I couldn't find this info anywhere on Tradier's website.) 4) Is this offer only available to subscribers of Pure Volatility or a bundle that includes Pure Volatility? (e.g. a subscriber of just Steady Options won't be eligible?) 5) Can customers who sign up for the Tradier Brokerage Special Offer (now $10/mth w/o TradeHawk? but the link still say $40/mth...) later switch to the PureVolatility's Tradier/Tradehawk Bundle Package? 6) My employer has a 401(k) plan that I participate in which is flexible enough to allow self-directed trades (with Vanguard Brokerage) but inflexible enough to disallow options, futures, margin, shorting, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Essentially, the only things worthwhile that I can buy are US stocks and ETFs. Am I correct to assume that despite these restrictions, my 401(k) can still benefit from Anchor Trades, Steady Momentum, and the occasional Pure Volatility strategies by providing the long ETF portions of these strategies? The options portion of the strategies will have to be placed in margin or (Roth) IRA accounts which unfortunately may lock up significantly more capital overall than if the entire strategy were placed in the same account. Currently, I'm debating between subscribing to just PV, just SO, or the everything bundle. I don't know anything about the software/research offers that comes with some of these subscriptions so insights on those would be appreciated as well. Thank you all in advance.