Will do. Please reply with one of your innovations, as apparently that much is in the public domain. I already know how to risk 10 to earn 1, so you may want to clue in the misinformed here.
I hate to repeat myself, but in your case I'll make an exception. Do some reading. I wont do your homework for you. If you disagree with any of my innovations, let's discuss.
Seriously, I'll go through the thread again to find the innovations and get back to you on that. IMO, what's missing in all the credit spread/iron condor sites on the web and how you could really add value : the underlying. It's never mentioned, because I guess using spot to hedge risks in condors complicates risk/reward, entry/exit and probably scares people who lost trading directional before moving on to options and 'neutral' strategies. But that's the best way mixture of the two for me, selling ATM and trading around it in spot (maybe not so in equities but certainly in round the clock index futs/currencies.) If someone could help people with strats that sell ATM spreads (condors, flies, whatever) and trading around it to assist your deltas, that would be innovative. But I damn sure wouldn't do it because I'm up at ungodly hours hedging, so I wouldn't expect a paying customer base to do so.
There is nothing of substance in this journal. So I suppose I find fault with all of your so-called innovations. I am around if you'd like to discuss it further.
"Easy to price, hard to hedge" (Derman). It applies as well to European binaries as it does to these moronic verticals (equivalent short strike). Any discrete hedge will become whipsawed to death. Any spot hedge substantial enough to cover the risk to the wing-strike will become the primary risk. Anyone who has traded options more than a few months would know this. It's why pros don't sell garbage/teenies.
Was wondering who in their right mind will spend 3 pages arguing about the moral ethics of linking a picture on the inter web. So i googled howard cohodas and it turns out howard is quite old. So this is kind interesting, you have a 70(?) yearold just starting to learn about option trading, and like all beginners once (myself included), the first trades are always on the sell side for the instant gratification of "pocketing" those premiums. I think we should let howard do his thing (sell otm ics), dont think he will change his mind unless there is a blowup. Nothing makes you rethink your plan faster than watching your "stable" positions that has been held for weeks turn into a wipe within days even hours.
How did you estimate my age? :eek: <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C22cv1O5Y00" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> As predicted by many here, the increase in volatility this week hurt my account. But wait... It is still the best month on month return I've ever had with real money trading. Go figure. I may be a relative beginner, but I began my journey with credit spreads about 8 years ago. And I've been an investor for over 40 years. Some of it managed by others, some of it managed by myself. That only characterizes my background, it does not speak to my expertise in trading vertical spreads. For all you brilliant pundits who speak with such authority on my methods, perhaps you missed that my trading unit is the credit spread and not the Iron Condor. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to understand how Iron Condors enter the picture with respect to my methods. And so it goes.
Let not your expectations be overly influenced by the results of paper trading. I did about 150% better in paper trading than I have done with real money trading. I hope you can do better. Be warned... hubris is a terrible companion. Been there and done that.
Howard That is what I´m afraid of. The difference between FILLS in real money and funny money, when I go cash. So will start small. KEDWARDS Inrigued me. Stupid amatuer like me would like to know what spot means? Spotting to hedge the deltas I sort of understand. Though not how to do it. Do you make a higher return in doing so? Less losses?