Two comments: It sounds like you have already discovered the two central drawbacks to this strategy! #1. These plays are best when IV is below...
JW, First , a comment on commissions-- these days you should be spending less than $1.00 per option contract and with decent volume you can...
Just comparing historical to implied is not sufficient, although it does help somewhat with decision making. That is, if the implied is high, you...
Having seen many of dmo's posts, I'd have to say that he's been generally right. There is no statistical edge to any particular strategy all the...
A comment on resilience to loss vs. profit-- they are not opposites. An IC position can have a high probability of profit, and if it does, it...
Pismo, I have thought about the emini solution, and am playing with Ninja Trader on simulation to learn how to do futures effectively as a...
Money management, and hence the adjustments, is more important than the original strategy, although the initial strategy selection narrows the...
This is not a comment on technical analysis in particular, but I note that in the overall period 07 until May 09, EVERYONE of the technical...
JW: I'm currently using SPX for my IC's, despite their wide bid-ask spreads. I use them mainly because they offer many strikes spaced at $5...
I agree with Phil (optioncoach) and Mark on this one. Here's my take on your position. It looks like that you are writing options for about a...
xflat, Of course, I realize that the market maker is doing the trading with me (or you) a large percentage of the time, but in really liquid...
Smith the Trader-- how close are you putting your IC's to the current prices of the index you are working with? It seems to me that you may be...
Clarodina, the basic fact is that this is a May 09 option which means that it expires two weeks from now. The chances of IBM being at 60 in two...
Thank you Mark and jwcapital for your commentary. Mark-- I probably should have mentioned that these were SPX options, so the VIX relationship...
Mark, a question for you--what amount of your gross premium do you set aside to use in debit "insurance" spreads? Obviously, a person wants to be...
Margin is commonly thought of as a percentage of the underlying product, but that is not exactly the case. The ES mini contract margin currently...
kxvid's comment is exactly the problem. Most people think futures are INCREDIBLY RISKY. The reality is that they are almost the same thing...
I think that MTE is revealing one of the secrets of success with IC's, and I totally agree with his approach. "Don't overleverage!" If you...
FIrst comment: Don't worry about sucking at negotiating! Just send them an email with a rate you would find favorable and see what happens....
The short answer in that scenario is yes you are until the longs expire anyway. There are a couple of variables to consider beyond the simple...
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