I got burned in IRBT calls using just the 3-16-16. I got to wondering if a 5-34-34 would have warned to use puts, and I think it would have. Notice the green histogram sloping downward heading for a fall. Likewise, a red histogram can be sloping upward heading for a rise. So, now I'm using 3-16-16 as Accelerator Oscillator and 5-34-34 as Awesome Oscillator.
Textbook example of me having my own call Accelerator Oscillator and Awesome Oscillator and put Accelerator Oscillator and Awesome Oscillator. Also, I'm trying to keep a delta-neutral portfolio.
I decided to simplify and use just 5-34-34 MACD and 34-5-34 MACD. A comparison of Awesome Oscillators.
It seems like the big opportunities in diagonals just dried up and I had to get out of trading or get more aggressive and directional. I switched back to 3,16,16 and I put a 9,3,1 Slow Stochastic in for screening. I considered going to straight puts and calls or debit spreads, but it's hard for me to leave diagonals, so I went to shorter-term diagonals.
There was a discrepancy between the Barchart chart and the Barchart screener on Slow Stochastics and also on Fast Stochastics but not on Percent R, so I used a 20-day Percent R.
It is theoretically possible to make good money trading options, but will you? I had a highly negative delta and the market crashed and I still lost money. I think I'll go back to ETF and stock ownership and try to avoid owning losers.
I figured if I'm going to be owning stocks and ETFs and hoping to make more than I lose I might as well sell covered calls.
The 50-day RSI and 20-day moving average system kept me out of a lot of good trades, so I lowered my standards.
I think this covered call strategy is going to work out. Can usually sell an ITM strike price for a profit, can sell an OTM strike price if it looks more bullish, hopefully will never get stuck with a loser for long.