Let us be reminded of the wisdom of placing mental stops. Electronic stops are opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of.
If you have no problem sitting through a 70 point draw down on the ES, then a mental stop is a great thing. Otherwise, it wouldn't have helped you any more than a physical stop.
Hmmm.. short vega when the ViX has been in the teens for months ... maybe not so much an amatuer issue as "need some options education issue" I'm a total amateur with no money to speak of but I have long-do-dong VEGA for a month now (for obvious reasons) The great thing about being on the right side of VEGA is that I had a calender spread on with a delta going against the now bearish market .. but the VEGA explosion really cusioned me and now makes manuevring this MAY-SEP spread so much more lucrative. (TLT bond ETF) For those of you new to options, just get a little education (and stay away from clunky old time firms like FIDELITY and IB)
one again, thursday exemplarifises the following why all daytraders fail: leverage. If you want to be a successful daytrader and make at least 100k a year you need 500k. 20% a year is managable. And you wouldnt have blown up thursday if you didnt use leverage. Most daytraders dont even have 500k. Or they have 5k with prop firm and buying power 500k and they lose 5k in such a market and exit the market forever. This is why daytrading is for losers.
Can someone explain what this means? Is it like me saying "I was on the right side of BIDU before their earnings report and with that 90 point gap-up I now have a lot more cushion to give back daytrading it"? To me options traders not only come to learn greek, but also the fine art of euphemism
It was a totally off the cuff humorous comment and honestly was directed at nobody. Humor is essential in these times. I'm still trying to wrap my head around what I saw Thursday...Watching the E-Mini's completely fall out of bed with literally no bid from 1130's to 1060-ish. That panic and drop was more dramatic than anything seen during the Lehman/crdit crisis. I think it portends to some unhinging going on. I'll tell you the cause, are you ready for this? Pure, unadulterated PANIC. LOL at fat fingered follies. Enjoy the day.