Averaging Down A No-No In Options If So What About Rolling?

Discussion in 'Options' started by ironchef, Feb 18, 2021.

  1. ironchef

    ironchef

    Everyone on ET drilled into me to never average down. OK so on my regular stock trades I seldom do that anymore.

    In options, it just occurred to me folks told me to roll-out, roll-up, roll-down, roll-up-out, roll-down-out.... Essentially the trade has already gone bad, so they say to do damage control we want to "repair" the trade. Aren't we then doubled down and throwing good money after bad in a bad situation?

    Most writers of options practice roll-out-up-down... routinely. Good idea?

    Not long ago, I had a pair of GILD butterflies that went bad. One advice was to "move" the challenged legs up, effectively a roll-up. Any coaching will be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. Give me details about this, too.
     
  3. I think the main idea in averaging down is the price will move reversal, not always move in one direction, but the problem is when the time price will reversal, it hurt when appearing reversal signal but still continue the main trend.
     
  4. ET180

    ET180

    When you average down, you're adding risk. If you can roll a defined-risk bear call spread out in time at the same price for a net credit, then you're not increasing your risk and reducing your max potential loss. Undefined risk is another story.
     
  5. qlai

    qlai

    I know both Tasty trades and Options Alpha teach to only roll the unchallenged leg, never the challenged one. Makes sense to me.
     
  6. iprph90

    iprph90


    You wrote a GILD butterfly? Risk- reward not favorable for writing vanilla flies.
     
  7. stocks yes, futures not so much :) re averaging down
     

  8. when you roll down you are actually reducing the risk. It is not a bad idea.
    When you sell a put and the market go down
    you need to roll down your put
    This does not in anyway mean double down or adding risk to your position
    you are actually reducing the risk (lowering the strike) but you have to sell a further expiry so you trade time to reduce your risk
    but if the market drop too much you might not be able to roll down than other repair strategy has to come in