Interesting thread and I am learning a lot from it. Thanks to all of you. Besides having condors on in my effort to master credit spreads I have not done any other delta neutral trades but the subject interests me. The cold truth is that it is good to have some directional trading experience or some feeling for the back and forth movement of the market. Being able to hold one's own in most market conditions compensates for a lot of mishaps or inefficiencies in order placement and being caught between legs. If you are not skilled you are going to mess it up sooner than later (there is very little luck in this game on the long run) but on the other hand if you do have that aptitude or have developed that skill you may find that to keep things simple you do not need to do options. I have been around for a while and I have trader friends who live with the most convoluted option positions but it works for them while others keep endlessly scalping the ebb and flow of the same spread. Maybe at the end it comes down to what fits your personality the best. Just my 2c worth. Regards, GC