Writing short puts is for those who can afford to gamble big. I'm just trying to make a living and pay the rent. Been trading full-time for a few years and I drive a corolla. There is no 100% winning strategy. I make money half the time.
Just don't forget writing options has limited gains and unlimited losses. I could afford to gamble a small amount but got killed a few times by the unlimited losses part.
What about selling put spreads or call spreads? Losses are defined (limited) in those situations, although the max loss is still greater than the max gain of any given trade....and getting good executions on spreads isn't always fast/easy.
I really admire people like you who trade for a living. A smart guy like you choosing trading as a job. Why? For me, it is a hobby, a very interesting mental challenge and fun, so it is a lot easier.
Valid points. As I said earlier (in the first page), I do not recommend writing puts b/c of black swan events. That said, some people got rich, just like some people got rich managing hedge funds and others closed down (not to mention SEC). Look, I truly understand your points, and all I'm saying there is more than one way to skin a cat. Is it the best way? Maybe not.
Yep, covered calls on a dividend paying stock is a great example which I employ as well. Not sure why people assume the worst, perhaps b/c I'm new here
I am not smart enough to give you an intelligent answer. Like he said, there were more than one way to skin a cat. I guess if you know how to any method can be profitable. Generally I don't do spread because of the limited gain part. I did spread when the single leg accumulated some profit and I was trying to protect the down side. This was what some of the ETers advised me to do instead of riding the profit up and then down to nothing on many occasions. Best wishes.
I do day trade options, FB, AAPL, TSLA, occassionally AMZN or GOOGL and will say it is possible to make consistent gains. I normally pay little to no attention to the Greeks as my holding time is 15 min to 2 hrs most days...Delta is the only thing that I'm interested in. I close positions fast if they turn against me. Always take an initial preset profit from 1/3 (typically .20-.50 depending on the spread, stock, and expected overall move) of my position then use a manual trail stop on the remainder. Always having a preset initial gain, stop, and overall target has allowed me to become consistent. I use TOS so it's easy to see relative option prices on the chart compared to the underlying which helps tremendously for my R:R. I will always trade ITM options with at least a week of time....occsionally I'll end up holding a nice gain on a small position until it turns against me. In conclusion, I'll say yes you can be profitable day trading options. But any trader will tell you, what works for one may not work for another. Find your niche and stick with it. GL in your trading.