underlying then collar. sometimes i but the calendar or diagonal at once, other times i add the short later, like of the long runs to resistance and i roll it up taking out some cost/profit, then see shorts at a higher strike against it, taking more profits / reducing cost.
i had june 65 calls going into earnings. i've been long most for over a year. rolling and trading around it. its been good to me.
thing is when they structure a trade and buy 2 or 3 contracts thats not the real world. to make any type of living you need to have a beat on a few sectors at least so you can get long who you see the rotation. i've got 50-60 trades on at all times. some different structure on same symbol (SPY for instance i'll always have several trades running)
I will argue that like any school, you take away what they teach as you apply yourself to the curriculum. Since my trading start in 1990, I've read almost every book out there, and OA cut thru much of the clutter with direct and actionable instruction. There's a value to the community as with any college, that's why schools still exist in todays digital world. Yes, you can bypass all of this with individual learning, from books or online classes, but your chances of success as many have said is diminished, but my experience with OA has been nothing but positive. One final thought, there is real value in taking the same class, recorded or live, from two different teachers. I always learn something new with the different perspective.
For the price, I don't think Options Animal is worth it. This company is excellent at teaching capital preservation. Their methods helped me protect a lot of profits, but I've made more money with Trader Travis and his $50 package that came with the Market Club Options plan.
I have been following this thread for a while, and watched a few of the OA webinars. Leaning towards not spending the $6500, but I am intrigued about learning some of the better adjustment techniques for trades gone bad, or hedging across earnings. Does anyone have any good book recommendations - I have most of the basic options books, and McMillan's stuff and I see a whole lot of academic theory type stuff? What seems to be missing is the trader mentality, or strategic planning. I have been doing mainly covered calls, occasional collars, some bull put spreads and bear call spreads, and occasionally just buying calls or puts. Would like to learn some more about calendars and diagonals since we seem to be back in low IV land again. Seems like a bad time to be doing credit spreads with the premiums low, so I haven't been doing any in a while. Mainly, I want to have a more well-rounded set of trades I can use for a dying bull market, or trading range/bear market which is likely to be just around the corner. Not against paying some money for the right training, but I don't want it to be basic Options 101 for 75% of the training. I would do the repair strategies part of OA if it were maybe $1K or $2K. Doesn't seem worth it for $6500 to just relearn about basic options stuff and Greeks.
First post on this site. I was directed to this thread by someone who is considering OptionsANIMAL. I have been a member for about five or six years now. I also balked at the initial cost, but I had been trading in my retirement account, and had sustained large losses based on trade recommendations from someone who was supposed to be infallible. No sense going into that in detail, but considering how much money I was losing every week, the cost of OptionsANIMAL paled by comparison. I would suggest that if you are considering this group, you think of the cost in terms of tuition. The educational program is extremely extensive, and includes eight levels, each divided into 6 to 8 individual courses. You must pass a test at the end of each level in order to advance to the next, and you are encouraged to participate in a graduation process that involves trade tracking, and oral examination, and written submissions to be sure that you truly do understand the material. There is no additional cost for the graduation process. I believe that OptionsANIMAL has gone through credentialing so that much of the education is considered to be continuing professional education, although I am a little unclear on this, since I have not needed it to be so. In addition to online education, however, each individual course is recorded and archived by four or five different instructors. In addition, each instructor has weekly coaching sessions, and live classes are held regularly, at the rate of about two to four every weekday, and one or two a day on weekends. The live classes may have between 8 to 20 attendees, and there is ample time to ask questions. The instructors are smart but intelligible, and work very hard to make sure that everyone understands the material. You can expect answers to your emails, and responses to your questions. Membership does entitle you to monthly trade recommendations, and you watching real time as trades are adjusted if necessary to bring them to a profitable outcome. It’s true that it may take a while, and the profit may not be huge, but it’s unusual to see a losing trade. Others have mentioned the free conferences, held three or four times a year, which are packed with information, including newly developed material. The education is not elementary. I would say it is quite advanced, and involves extensive discussions of volatility, the Greeks, risk management and trade sizing, hedging strategies, and other sophisticated concepts. There is no doubt that one needs to be dedicated, motivated (either by fear or greed,) disciplined, and hard-working to take advantage of all of the available resources. But OptionsANIMAL is a great way to actually learn how to trade, to come to understand options, and as such is much more valuable than a simple trade recommendation service, which you follow at your own peril. Believe me, I know, since I have participated in a number of such services as well. Now that I understand Options, I am able to spot the flaws in those kinds of services, and won’t waste my money again. In short, if you have the motivation and the dedication, and the intention to succeed, I highly recommend OptionsANIMAL.