Tastytrade Review + Criticism

Discussion in 'Options' started by Lucas, May 27, 2015.

  1. He was probably recovering from his premature ejaculation of what he thought was the solution to the Riemann's hypothesis. Then his daydream ended and he realized he had a TTrades episode to film and in hast ran from his student dorm to the studio looking like the colorful description you mentioned.
     
    #41     Jul 23, 2015
  2. Pan Am finally folded up her tent in 1991. Does that mean you've been trading options for the past 24 years?

    The airline I retired from (Delta) bought the last of the Pan Am assets (Atlantic Division, Pan Am Shuttle, and New York City Worldport) later in '91. More recently Delta (DAL) acquired Northwest. I don't do Delta options however, to thinly traded. Very little Vol or OI.

    Best

    Steven Leeds

    Airline Transport Pilot DC-9, B-717/757/767/777
     
    #42     Jul 24, 2015
  3. xandman

    xandman

    Mr. Leeds,

    Transports is one of the interesting canaries in the market right now. Additionally, Airlines is a sector with news, liquidity and volatility to merit active discussions. Sure would like to hear your opinion and picks in this sector. Perhaps, in a dedicated thread.

    Thanks.
     
    #43     Jul 24, 2015
  4. newwurldmn

    newwurldmn

    ??

    HVOL in the 30's
    Avg Daily volume of 30,000 contracts plus
    Open interest in the 600-700k

    How much more liquidity do you need?
     
    #44     Jul 24, 2015
  5. I find TT entertaining and thought provoking- as usual do your own research,and of course back testing is nonsense-it's why 95% of traders fail. Back testing assumes perfect entry and exit-with options you can achieve the perfect exit if selling premium anything else is just random-like forex. All in my own opinion of course, but never met a rich forex trader
     
    #45     Jul 25, 2015
    ebolamonkey likes this.
  6. Macca1

    Macca1

    "Back testing assumes perfect entry and exit" No it doesn't, it depends what back testing engine you're using. Serious traders code their own, inside a custom platform

    "but never met a rich forex trader"
    FX has a natural supply/ demand where central banks are forced to trade even if it's not profitable for them. FX is the most profitable asset class for alot of Quant traders who exploit instances like this. Here's a "rich" forex trader for you- https://ca.linkedin.com/in/epchan
     
    #46     Jul 27, 2015
  7. Not interested really- if FX made people rich we'd hear about it-99% are hopefuls who lose £6-10k before giving up-and yes backtesting DOES assume perfect entry and exit-hindsight is 20:20 vision. Backtesting is a tiny bit useful but forward real time testing is usually a wake up-all sytems work for a while until they don't-unless of course you are a squillionaire and know otherwise. Good luck but do not be fooled,please life's too short for dogma
     
    #47     Jul 27, 2015
  8. Macca1

    Macca1

    No you wouldn't, profitable traders rarely post on forums. Sure 99% of FX traders lose, however your premise that FX is just random walk is flawed.

    All back-testing requires walk forward testing. Assuming that all back-testing is based on perfect entries/ exits is total non sense. In Tom's words, you obviously lack the "Domain still".

    Don't be fooled into drinking the Kool-Aid.
     
    #48     Jul 27, 2015
    ebolamonkey likes this.
  9. TD80

    TD80

    It is entertainment first, and I think has some good educational value.

    That being said, they over-trade. Perhaps it is a result of being floor traders for so long. I bet they would even admit they over-trade if they really sat back and thought about it and reviewed their numbers. It does provide for "action" for viewing so that could be part of it...

    If you are looking for vol-selling/vol-trading shenanigans, these are your guys. I happen to like them and find them entertaining. I'm a fan of selling verticals on very liquid things under very specific circumstances, and never more than 20% of my entire portfolio at risk in short-vol.

    The last being critical to sleeping like a baby...
     
    #49     Jul 28, 2015
    ebolamonkey likes this.
  10. jeffRei

    jeffRei

    I have watched TastyTrade from almost the beginning. Both for the entertainment and the educational value. In many cases the education came from proving Sosnoff wrong. The biggest problem with the show is that they have to find trades everyday even in very unfavorable markets. The second problem is they are trying to cater to people with very small accounts. They try to convince the new listener that this is an easy way to make money.

    I have come up with the 3 biggest problems with the show:

    1. They spend a lot of time pushing defined risk trades primarily so people with small accounts can get involved. Their strategies primarily consist of selling vertical spreads for one third the width of the strikes and then taking the trades off at 50% of max profit. My calculations show that this strategy requires an 80% success rate not including commissions just to break even. Obviously this is not a great way to make money.

    2. They emphasize earnings plays as a great way to stay engaged and make some quick money. The main thinking is that following an increase in implied volatility prior to earnings there is a "vol crush" following the earnings announcement which is profitable for the premium seller. In reality there is no such thing as a "vol crush". The volatility expansion is related to the expected move remaining constant while the days to expiration is decreasing. When volatility decreases following earnings it is simply dropping back inline with the new expected move. Earnings plays are really only profitable if the strategy correctly anticipates the price movement. I don't see an edge.

    3. They constantly discuss that the only way to make money in the market is through strategic investing, which is another way of saying taking advantage of the leverage and statistical advantages in options. Then they spend a large part of the show discussing their futures scalping. They have never discussed on the show or provided a study showing where the edge is trading futures or why it is a good addition to a strategic portfolio.

    I have found one good take away from the show that has helped my trading. A number of market measure segments have shown that OTM options have extra premium associated with them when implied volatility is high. When implied volatility is high there are opportunities to sell puts and calls very far OTM for good premiums. This strategy works especially well with ETFs. this type of trading takes a lot of patience since volatility has been very low for the past three years and the opportunities don't come along very often.

    I still listen to the show since I haven't found any other network that has the same level of open discussions about options trading. However as others have said remain skeptical.
     
    #50     Jul 29, 2015
    conley1, i960 and Macca1 like this.