Hi, I have been reading a lot of the posting in the last few days and I realised that a lot of people seems to think that it is almost impossible to make money out of straight calls and puts. So what I wold like to know is, #1. Is there anyone out there who is consistently making money out of straight calls and puts. #2. If there is, what is your workflow or strategy? Thank you so much as I am still trying to learn. Regards, The13th
not consistently but it works for me. i dont trade options that often no more. still, if am bullish on a stock i buy the common and either sell puts or long some otms to maximize profits. it's a simple approach that works pretty well if u can determine direction with some grade of accuracy. buyin' premium can be effective for diversification purposes and adds to your bottom line.
When I first started buying and selling calls and puts I had wild swings in my monthly performance. Some months I did well and other months I lost. Then I read a few books on selling credit spreads on indexes in 2004 and swithched to this trading strategy exclusively. So far in 2006 all my spreads and Iron Condors have expired worthless. I trade mainly on the SPX index which moves very slowly and does not change much from the beginning to the end of the month.
Hi, thanks for all your replies, but what I am looking for are those who exclusively or majority of the time trades straight positions. Is there really no one out there? HAha.
i was doin' it for a period of time and was pretty consistent but noticed that i was better off tradin' the underlyin' since it was mainly all daytradin'. so it can be done, yeah but intraday strictly speakin' i dont know how much more of an edge u can find vs tradin' stocks outright....u can do it but your picks have to be very volatile and u gotta be good in predictin' direction. if u are after tradin' futs options intraday...forget it.
it can work, as i said u better be good in predictin' direction and/or vola. better use 'em as a complement to your strategy...am not really fond of a single approach.
Fit, I trade spreads as well, I'm curious to know what books your read and liked? There is not a lot of specific info out there
I trade OEX calls and puts. Most often I sell calls and or puts intraday generally only holding for 30 minutes to an hour. I trade them just like ES futures. What I like is that they move slower and generally having less value per S&P point. For example the ES moves 2 points for a $100 profit and the typical OEX at the money option moves $50 to $60 ballpark. I traded the ES futures for years and find I no longer like it's snappy speed. Anyway I am working more with the OEX options now and I am up for the year so far.....but only a little. My difficulty is getting out fast when a move suddenly turns hard against my position. If any body has ideas on fast covering I would love to hear them.