Anyone trading more than 2-3 usually have a pretty good Trading Plan and when you ask forum for help on unrealistic amount over few contracts, you are either wasting print or don't have a good Trading Plan and should get flat till you develop more rigid Trading Plan. I was short from late summer, election night triggered "news" signal seldom used and reversed, am going to remain long till new contract highs and resume looking to short/and hedge. I don't trade by opinions and what I think, it all automated so I can't screw it up. I use to use my "keen ability" to change rules only to make matters worse LOL, I would never come to forum for help though on any position, otherwise you don't have a system. Good luck.
Close the position. Invest in mutual funds, maybe large cap / S&P500 ETFs. Don't do anything else. Maybe sell some covered calls the next time you feel like trading. Or better, just go to Vegas and play small as gambling appears to be your thing. If you have 38 contracts of exposure in anything, you should not be asking questions like this. You're risking way too much relative to your apparent market experience.
There is nothing easier than to give a variety of tips, the whole industry built on this business. A very successful business, but not for those who ask
Most profitable trade trading is about pressing buy sell buttons , so so; wrote 6 books and sold them , sold indicators ,sold automated programs , education , back testing software , anylysis , systems , methods , formulaes , trend courses , then price action courses , but the best trade was selling a course in trading the market chop+ phsychology + emotions and loss recovery formula , after all the others failed.It was the most profitable.
What a horrible horrible advice. Current position is apparently deeply underwater and you suggest a way more complex position? Wtf. That's just outright stupid.
Don't be stupid here. You sit on a simple short futures position and should definitely not get into options or other futures expiries now. It's a simply binary decision. Stay in because you believe the market will further sell off or exit/reduce because you believe the market will find more upside. Nobody can make that decision for you because you will otherwise lack conviction in your decision. But don't be dumb and follow some stupid advice to turn your position into some zombie structure. To hedge? Bullshit. Hedge by reducing or exiting the position. Simple as that. If you cannot accept taking losses, small or big, then you will be toast in this industry anyway. Look for a different job if you must, but keep it simple, don't follow advice to make this situation way more complex.
I don't understand how options truly work beyond a basic understanding of the devilish things that they are, but I feel Zzzz1 is doing his best to tell the OP to stop the madness and take true stock of the predicament he/she be in, and make it right, right quick. 38 contracts open in this instrument can go very bad, very quickly. How options can mitigate it I can only muse upon, but very scary to be in that place...Unless one does have 7 figures of cash in the trading account.