I pray for humanity that you're joking about you credentials. Don't worry.... I'm retired. I worked as a bench chemist for Rohm and Haas (bought by Dupont), I worked as a physiologist for the Medical College of PA, I taught Medical Students for many years at Hahnemann Medical College (now merged with Drexel) and founded, developed and sold a clinical trials contracting company... Now part of COVANCE. My wife is a physician... still in active practice. I used to manage her practice but we sold that practice to... (that's a secret). Now I spend my time playing with options and argueing with idiots like you.
I've worked with hundreds of really smart people. Many of whom just don't get how simple options are. Back in the 70's and 80's, my brother and I, along with Blair Hull and some others, like John Olegues (sp?) pioneered all the basics like strangles, straddles, condors, Iron Condors, butterflies and all that stuff. We made a ton of money....because we could take advantage of those who know nothing about options. AND, we did these things for 50 cents, dollars, not pennies like so many are attempting these days. It all boils down to just selling out of the money calls and puts, and adjusting when and if necessary. I can defer to Atticus for any detailed questions about derivatives these days....he can handle all the academic questions. But, don't get caught up in the crap that you should buy something and hope it goes up....this empties many a retail account. BTW, the only reason for a Series 7, is to be able to bypass having to trade only with your broker, and have access to capital...basically trading professionally vs. as a retail customer. Much like needing a drivers license to take your car on the actual highway instead of driving up and down your driveway. [ All the best, Don
<<< It all boils down to just selling out of the money calls and puts, and adjusting when and if necessary. >>> Hey, that sound familiar! As i once posted some weeks ago, very early in this thread, I often think investors sometimes initiate various strategies, simply because so many are available to play with, and so they do.... simply "because they can". I recall having that conversation with someone who lost about 1/3 of his investing cash experimenting with various strategies. Too many investors try strategies just because they see others doing it. I call it the BECAUSE I CAN syndrome. What trade can possibly be better than selling a put 10 - 12% otm, and benefiting if the stock climbs up, remains in a tight trading range, or even if it drops 20 - 25% from the starting point .... and you still make double digit annualized % returns.... even after the drop. First with puts, then with calls. And then having the choice to buy a little insurance protection if you'd like to,.... when you'd like to. And how cool is it to have time decay working for you? Earning money even if the stock just sits there doing nothing. I honestly don't get the attraction of doing trades where the stock has to stay inside of, or outside of defined trading ranges. Or strategies that "secretly" over leverage you to insane levels. Or strategies where time decay is actually working against you. Or trades where a certain % move has to occur within a specific time period, or you lose your money,.... even if it occurs just a day or two later. Or trades that put you at the mercy of how much volatility moves during a limited time period.... and/or in what direction. Or trades that investors won't do, because some minor GREEK is not quite where it should be,.... even though the other 99% investment criteria are all in the acceptable range. I'm more of a big picture kind of guy. I'm not going to delay a good trade, hoping to make it a great trade, and then maybe miss out on the trade completely, because some minor greek(s) could be better. I know these type strategies are very popular, but I just don't understand why investors want to put themselves through the stress, uncertainty and volatility of these type strategies. is it the intelectual challenge they enjoy, or the fun of evaluating if and when to make an adjustment? Do they really make that much more money than the basic put seller, for the same otm cushion, same leverage, and same unit of time? Or is it mostly just the POTENTIAL for additional profit, if things go as planned? Just asking?
putty man.. please pick up a issue of the Stocks and Commodiities magazine.. there is an article about buy overwrite strategy as it relates to covered write and short putting ... you should definitely read it.. don't be afraid to try something new..
Can I assume the essense of it is, that I assume all the risk, but little profit potential? A lot of strategies like strangles, sound really good on paper. Not so much in reality. Hence, I like the" keep it simple" style of investing. But then again, I know I'm not as smart and experienced as most here.
don't assume the essense of it.. read it.. it will give you insight into taking on over write risks.. it compares.. different strategies.. against historical data.. buy/write..buy/hold....partially covered calls.. full covered .. naked... for ITM, OTM, and ATM .... its a worthy read.. really clear cut.. i know you'll get something out of it..