Another insightful post from RealProTrader. The next time I put on a trade, I'll remember that options trading is risky. Thanx.
In the end, there really aren't any new option strategies are there... these things have been around for decades. The difference is how you approach the risk management. If you can't do that, it doesn't really matter what strategy you're trading.
BTW, thanks for telling me how to become a pro. I just have to drop $10K in an instant and not give it any thought, is that correct? I now know my goal for the year ==>> To become a real pro like youself.
Dear Nancy: I'm interested in details about the one income strategy that seems to be working and the outside service thatsgot a high track record of predicting winners If you care to share the general idea behind the strategy or the service). My understanding is that Ondercins primary strategy is a married put (rolled into collar when appropriate) strategy. It would seem that would produce substabtial profits in a bullish market though I dont fully follow on how to manage the trade if the stock declines. A married put strategy is synthetically a long call so if you had a good service it would be a better ROI to simply buy calls.
Have you looked at DiscoverOptions Personal Mentoring, which is run by OptionVue - the company Dan always worked with until he decided to go out on his own recently? http://www.discoveroptions.com/public/pages/mentoring/mentoringOverview.html
I feel that it's only fair that I post a follow up after I've had first hand experience with Dan's mentoring program. I'm 3 weeks into the course, and I can assure you that there is very little chance that you can pick up the things that Dan teaches by reading books. The main difference between a mentoring program like Dan's and reading a book, is he gets to drill and hammer the same things over and over and over into your head till you get it. And then he pops a quiz, and makes sure he has hammered it enough. The other very big difference is by watching the archived videos, you get to see Dan and other people doing the trades. There's a big difference in reading about a strategy, and seeing someone do it live over and over again. Dan's teaching ability is second to none. He's even-tempered, very patient and most importantly, you don't go to sleep listening to him, he's a humourous guy. He tries to use analogies to make you remember difficult concepts, and he makes options Greeks very easy to understand. I feel that I now have a very practical knowledge of using option Greeks. In the past, I could probably recite the definition to you, but wouldn't have a clue of how to use them properly in putting on or monitoring a trade, or in using Greeks to tell you when to adjust, or when to get out of a trade. What do I think of Dan's teaching methods? I think they're great. He breaks things down into components, and then you learn and practice each one till you get good at it. First you learn the rules of picking an instrument for trading a strategy, for e.g. a calendar. Then you learn the adjustment rules. He also tells you the why behind the rules. Then you do the homework. The homework is very well structured, in that you practice learning to filter out trades first based on his selection criteria. Then the next homework involves putting on trades and making adjustments on instrument that Dan chooses, in a particular timeline that he chooses, because he wants to emphasise the adjustment or something else. Then in the final homework, he gives you a list of stocks and you go and backtest each one of them in whichever timeline you choose, and apply your skills. I have to say that when I follow the rules and don't deviate from them, I have done very well in backtesting. His rules work. Here's what I think of Dan's strategies. I think they work. They all make sense, and are very logical. There are traders who've been trading for 15 years, and come to Dan for mentoring, to improve their trading. There are strategies for a low IV environment, there are strategies for a high IV environment. His risk management stuff is awesome. My favourite has to be how he locks in profits once a trade becomes profitable. As Dan says, if you let a trade go into 20-25% profits and you end up with a loss that month, you're fired! Here's what I think of Dan as a person. I think Dan falls under the extreme "P" (Perceptive) category of the Myers Briggs Personality Indicator type. Do a google search for Myers Briggs. I personally fall under the J (Judgemental) type, but I can live with him. The great thing is, he has Tom Nunamaker helping him, Tom is awesome with organisation and making things easy to find and making everything very systematic and running like clockwork. The most important thing about Dan, is that I believe he truly wants to see his students succeed. He's constantly doing new things to help his students. When I signed up, it was for a 3 month mentoring course. I think now it's stretched into 6 months. And once you sign up, you get perpetual access to the webcasts, to Dan, to the tools on the website, and to the community. He doesn't try to upsell you, upgrade your "package" or nickle and dime you to death. I really like that. A lot. I think Dan realizes that 3-months is not enough, so the first two months are spent attending classes, studying and doing your homework, and the third month is spent in one-on-one mentoring. Then the next 3 months he'll look over your shoulder as you put on live trades. In the past, I felt uncomfortable that Dan changes his strategy rules. Now I realize that he does it to constantly improve the way you trade, so that you're able to make less adjustments, and lose less in a strong move. I wouldn't have it any other way, after I saw his awesome new ideas on adjusting condors. The only minus I can cite, is Dan is hard to get on email. So pls don't sign up and lengthen the queue! Just kidding.