at least 3 months (I'll try to buy 4 month expiration, but close no matter what 1 month left) I couldn't see this going past 5 months... I've discovered (probably no surprise) that trading direction is hard... and for the trades I engaged in, they took at least 2 months to reach my exit criteria.
I learned the hard way this last week that a bear put spread is not an effective way to hedge equity swing trades. I think it would be perfect for longer term trades, but as someone said earlier, swing trades don't give the spread enough time to widen out. Switching over to use straight puts for protection on these two week swing trades...
You could have sold 108 and bought 105, when spread was at 2.00. You would then be left with a free trade, plus around sure 0.45 profits, and still have the chance to make another double on what is left with less money on margin.
No one is going to be able to discern what kind of trading is best for you. They'll tell you what you should be doing but that's no more than what THEY think you should be doing. You have to figure out the kind of moves (or lack thereof) that you're identifying and select the appropriate strategy for that.
funny, I've done that and haven't traded since But seriously, after trading direction, I started to look at trading vol. I dump less money into vol trades. thanks for the feedback!