Hi FM757, I check your blog and it seems interested As for me, I'm a IC too, most of time i trade IC for index options like RUT/NDX/SPY never trade on future options. I like your strategy, can you share more deeply with us ? Here's my question : 1. Why you choose future over the stock ? 2. You're playing /SP or /ES, I use TOS and they do not provide /SP future 3. How is your future multiplier ? is it 1 lot future options for 50 future contracts or for 100 contract ( in stock 1 lot options = 100 share stockS) 4. I check most of your IC range using 1 SD (Standard Deviation), why do you choose to have multiple calendar spread, for september position, why march ? and why there's only put leg on Oct ? 5. How do you survive in black swan event like this recent week ? with this high volatility ? 6. How's your stop loss ? 7. I know you calculate premium is around 40%-50% from the margin, how's your target profit ? when usually you take profit, upon expiration date or 1-2 weeks before ? 8. what is your 'edge' with your IC ? Nice to know other traders that in same path with me are you full time right now ? in LA ? i'm in LA
I don't put a whole IC on at the same time. I will put one side on at a time and end up with an IC in the end. Sometimes I might not get a full IC on. The idea is to sell one side when that side is relatively expensive. Putting on a full IC all together means you will get one side relatively cheap and that is not what you do as a seller of premium. To increase your edge and the probability of winning on the trade is to sell when options are expensive. In my experience that is critical. You can not wake up in the morning and say "I think I am going to sell some options today because my premium in getting low and I need to keep generaing income". There are only certain times when to sell premium and the rest of the time you need to sit on your hands. I found this out the hard way, but now I wait for the right time. Since changing my strategy as you can see from my blog, as of Aug I have had 15 consecutive profitable months. To answer you questions: 1. Better return on margin. Can sell far OTM. Tax treatment is better. 60%LT cap gains, 40% ST cap gains 2. I trade only SP options. 3. There is no stock involved. They are cash settled. $250/point. 4. I do not use SD. To choose strikes I use support/Resist and other technical analysis. I choose whatever month I think has the risk/reward I am comfortable with. Sometimes I only get one side of IC. 5. Check lastest post on my blog. 6. I do not have a hard and fast stop loss rule. It is not possible in my opinion trading my strategy. There are multiple factors. 7. I look for a profit target of 80% or more of premium taken in. 8. My edge is being a seller of options and taking advantage of time decay. Selling at the correct time and far OTM. fm757 http://spfuturesoptiontrader.blogspot.com/
I just heard we can have better tax if trade using future options, can you explain more detail ? what's 60%LT ? also, in your future options, how they are treat the expiration date ? can we still trading on last hour on expiration date ? and how's the settlement price ? is it will be same with the price that end in the expiration day ? or they are refer to another index symbol ? Because we cannot do that on index options (such as RUT/SPX/etc), we cannot trade in expiration trade, the last hour we can trade is at 1 day before expiration, and the bad things they do not refer to the index it self, they refer to another index. Let's say SPX close at 1175 on expiration day - they refer to SAT (not spx) that maybe close at 1150, so if we have short put at 1175, our short put will have the maximal loss.
Nell, The tax treatment on Broad based Index options(Section 1256 contracts)is 60% of gain/loss is taxed at 15% long term capital gains and 40% of gain/loss is taxed at your ordinary income tax rate(short term capital gains). symbol examples: options on SP, SPX.....60/40 treatment Equity options, options on SPY.........all short term capital gains Consult your tax guy. I am not an accountant. As far as the details about expiration day and all, I can't answer. I very very rarely hold until expiration or trade options on their expiration day. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. fm757 http://spfuturesoptiontrader.blogspot.com/
>>Oh, I thought all good traders had a blog. I must have been misinformed.>> No, not all personalities of good traders allow for blogs to publicise your ego. And no, I will not visit your blog, despite you asking a dozen times. All this thread does is serve as an advertisement for a blog with out-of-date information. No thanks. Click.
Dude, I don't know what hole you crawled out of, but I guess you have been waiting patiently for me to have a loss so you can come out. So, I guess to be a successful trader you can't have any losses. Hmmm, that news to me. You won't be lasting to long in this business. The blog is my own personal journal and nothing else. I don't know why I wasted time responding to your nonsense, so this will be my last. Have a great day!!