atticus - Natural vs Iron flies? Other than order entry .. which, when and why? I've tend to think in terms of iron .. mainly because I "like" verticals. Edit - Not an options guy. Just thinking outside of comfort zone here.
If shallow-ITM (bull or bear, directional) I almost always choose a natural. If neutral it's a pick-em, but often the ITM leg on the natural makes it a tough fill on the exit. I can build irons with a generic spreader in IB and other clearers, but it's mostly personal preference. IB's TWS is idiosyncratic with their condors; they apply a haircut > the debit on the natural condor, so they essentially force you to trade the iron. If XYZ is at 100 I would choose the natural if bullish in the 95/105/115 call fly. If I am neutral it's whichever mkt is tightest on NBBO. Generally it's best to avoid any deep ITM leg, but it's always possible to offset a fly with its synthetic (iron offset against a natural) if the need arises. Either way, you're still trading two verts with the natural.
You're still that confident it's going to drop, and why didn't you create a stop loss when it was in the $0.70's?
Entered new trade from older system: SPY May 140 calls Buy 1: 1.30 (filled) Sell Limit: 1.70 but if tanks before rising then Buy 2: 1.00 and new Sell Limit: 1.45 Stop: .90 R/R: .45 + .15 = +.60 -.40 + -.10 = -.50
Added 20 more contracts @ $0.39. 40 contracts total, average $0.45 each. Big day tomorrow. This trade is like shooting fish in a barrel. Once the trade is completed I will give details about my strategy, I do not want to show my cards yet.
Jeff Was just going to mention, the ATR and VIX are rising. So time to trade long options again. Then I see you already entered. I´m still waiting here for a better entry signal. Probably tomorrow as only ten minutes left here.