To hard to go into it in detail on a post, but automated trading with options is much different than equities. You should learn about the pro-customer status that comes with entering over 390/orders per day. For short options, you will need an PM account which requires more capital and experience. You should learn how margin works with PM and how each clearing broker has their own restrictions on naked options. Good luck to you.
Wait until you are down 30-40%, then it wont be as comfortable anymore i am afraid. Don't misunderstand me, i do hope you can reach your targets month after month and start with live account/journal soon. I just don't think its that easy unless you have millions left in your bank account and don't need to worry that much about losing 300-400K.
Yes, knowing the margin requirement is very important. I've currently only RegT margin, it's sufficient for my needs. Later of course I'll switch to PM to get even better results. I have not heard anything about a 390 orders/day limit yet. Thx for the info. I'll need to research such important things. Update: ok, here's it ( http://ibkb.interactivebrokers.com/node/1242 ) : I'm way below it: 39 daily trades... Ie. 10 times lower than the limit... And: here's how to overcome that limit: just open multiple accounts at different brokers... Or use multiple people (kind of friends, partners etc.)...
I have big ambitions, I just wanted to prove that my method is scalable even to such a 1M acct. Another reason is: the acct has this size, and the PnL reports are done based on that initial value...
For someone who ask so many basic questions about the market that even a newbie would be able to look up on google in 5 minutes (Does ES trade after hours??), now you want to make 30% a month.... This is the anchor that weighs down this site....