What you say is true, of course, but the calendar spread is typically ATM options which have the greatest demand from every trader who does options, regardless of his or her system. Even investors with primarily stock positions use atm options for a hedge. I don't think calendar spread strategy will "spoil" itself as a strategy because of the inherent demand for ATM options outside of that strategy. Finally, even within the universe of options only traders, most of them are direction oriented, while the long term nature of calendars would not suit their trading style. I just don't see it happening.
I think it's actually unreasonable to expect any mentor to make you into a successful trader. A good mentor can teach you how to trade a certain product in a conservative and smart manner, and can teach you how to make appropriate exits and adjustments. But so much of trading is based on timing and subjective decisions that are hard to quantify. That sort of knowledge is frequently implicit and seems to come from experience alone. A trade that uses the exact same criteria and setup on one occasion might not work in another situation because of difficult to explain reasons. From that respect, if your mentor has taught you how to enter and exit trades appropriately, how to judge risk appropriately, and shown you how to avoid some of the more egregious mistakes, I would consider that a successful endeavor. How much that should cost is a personal decision. For what it's worth, the TOS/Redoption virtual trader program costs only 100 bucks/mo and is good for the beginning options trader in all of the regards I referred to above. That mixed in with some books and a large dose of experience is the best self-mentoring process I know of. st
Hi, I am seriously considering signing up for dan sheridan mentoring program and I would like to ask some general questions for people who are in the program... Did it help you o became a better trader ? Did you find a good community ready to exchanges ideas with you ? Are you able to be consistent in your trades ? Aproximately what can one expect to make on your entire account ( not just on the money you invest ) in 1 year after using the non directional strategies that you learn ? 10% ? more...less ? I appreciate every reply to my questions thank you
Here is an alternative to a mentor. Listen to Dan's webinars on cboe.com several times. Also, his book is coming out this spring. Start small, $5k, one or two contracts, for at least six months. Learn one specific strategy, and learn it well. For example, become an expert on calendar spreads. You can expect 5-10% per month.
This is so ludicrous it's absurd. You think the guy is teaching how to make 5-10% a month? If you follow this advice to go and do any sort of thing with your hard earned money, you have everything you get coming to you. This advice also doesn't tell you what your expetant drawdown is, and how likely it is that one day, you blow all your earnings and then some. All people ever tell you is the rosy side. If this guy could really make 10% a month with little risk, he could _easily_ raise $100M and he would be doing it for himself with other peoples money. nitro
Nitro, the only ludicrus and absurd thing is you. 1) you keep on trashing options and from our previous thread I can tell miles away you know nothing about options. Again, one thing is not to agree, but another is just blattering about stuff you know nothing about 2) you don't offer any alternative 3) it is very possible to make from 3% to 8% - 10% in a month with options if you know what you are doing and I know it is possible because I have seen accounts of people who did it, I just wanted to know if students taking his mentoring can do it as well professionals option seller/writer are able to make from 30% to 70% each year 4) this is my main point, my question was for someone WHO TRADES and or wants to trade for a living, you might be a writer, with over 9450 posts, most likely you are an internet junkie, but definitely you are NOT a trader 5) you can keep on writing another post since it's really the best you can do, just don't expect to be taken seriously
I completely agree with NITRO. Where do you get off thinking that the market gives away 5-10% per month --TO NEWBIES!!?? Be realistic.
For the record I didn't buy Dan's course and I went through all his material on the cboe and found a few good strategies that I backtested and I will play them out live with a small account just to see the results live. There are plenty of good books on this subject that I have been putting off for sometime but I think I need to just read through them and see were that takes me.
Heres an alternative: Buy copies of all the essential options books mentioned here on ET ad nauseam, like Cottle and Natenburg... Understand everything in them. Tinker around with your newly learned trading techniques with a TOS paper-money account... As soon as you like, muster 5 to 10 grand or whatever you can manage and start trading small. Chances are you're going to lose the plot a bit and get into silly trades etc; even after you've gone to Sheridan's or anyone else's master-class for that matter. Point is, you can learn all this stuff and more by reading (at a fraction of the cost).. plus, its better to learn through experience.... You should also trawl through the archives of ET, because amongst the dreck, there are some priceless threads from real traders, with real experience, who have generously dispensed their hard won knowledge... you can learn practical trading concepts and absorb advice you're never going to find in books and seminars, for free too.