I have the original quotes set up and running from Friday. However, I can't find anything today to get new quotes...
Technically it is not an Iron Condor so they will not apply IC margin rules to it. You could theoretically lose in NOV and in DEC so therefore margin is required for both. Phil
IB help emailed me back and said they are only available on the browser version. I logged on through the browser version, but still can't find them. Don't know what the deal is.
Phil, I had the same market overbought condition on SPX and OEX and I decided to buy NOV Puts on them. There are too many resistances on both indexes coupled with overbought conditions. Resistances: OEX 556, 560, 565, 567 SPX 1199, 1204 1207 (50% Fibonacci retracement) 1209(MA(50) )1235. So I bought 2 SZPWA SPX NOV 1205@12 and 3 OEBWL OEX 560 @7. If SPX can't close above 1209 and OEX above 560, I wil probably make some money on them. We will see later today or tomorrow.
Phil, I had the same market overbought condition on SPX and OEX and I decided to buy NOV Puts on them. There are too many resistances on both indexes coupled with overbought conditions. Resistances: OEX 556, 560, 565, 567 SPX 1199, 1204 1207 (50% Fibonacci retracement) 1209(MA(50) )1235. So I bought 2 SZPWA SPX NOV 1205@12 and 3 OEBWL OEX 560 @7. If SPX can't close above 1209 and OEX above 560, I wil probably make some money on them. We will see later today or tomorrow.
Update on MOnthly/Weekly Calendar. Opened the following with SPX at 1186: Bought NOV SPX 1185 Put @ $14.90 Sold NOV SPX WEEKLY 1185 Put @ $7.60 Cost: $7.30 With SPX at 1206 NOV SPX 1185 @ $6.85 Weekly SPX 1185 @ $2.00 Spread = $4.85 Loss of $2.45 Assuming I close out the entire spread at once. Since I have 2 more weeks until expiration after this weekly expires, the long NOV 1185 Put will still have value and therefore the actaul loss could be less. In fact I could sell more weeklies to bring down the cost. Will see how the week goes. If Weekly expires worthless then can still sell another weekly on Friday as long as the market is not too far from 1185. I could also sell 1195 and have a credit spread with maximum loss of $5.00 plus original debit paid minus new premium taken in. So if I paid $7.30 for the spread and the weekly expires worthless and can sell the next weekly 1195 for more than $5.00 then it might be worth it. I will know better what I want to do as this week progresses.
Coach: I'm considering the following strategy for December: 1) I currently have only bull put spreads for November (unloaded my only bear call today as it looks like the market may start going significantly higher). 2) I'll start putting on Dec bear call spreads only that are way OTM. The November bear calls don't look attractive. Although this will increase my margin requirements above my normal 33% of my portfolio (for credit spreads), in practice, I don't think I'm taking on any more risk (compared to a normal IC for the same expiration month) as the bull puts are all for November and the bear calls will be in December. I won't put on any December bull puts unless I free up margin or the Nov. expiration has passed. I just want to make sure I'm not missing something with regards to my margin expectations in practice.
Another strategy to consider: Buy 10 XSP (mini) S&Ps 120 @ $1.75 Sell 1 Weekly SPX at 1205 @ $7.90 Cost = $960. If the market is rangebound you can sell another weekly call against the position. The idea is to perhaps use the XSP's (mini-SPX's) to make the adjustments to the position whuch would be .06 or so delta positive with + theta and +vega since the long options are ITM and short is ATM. If market explodes before weekly expiratoin then maximum risk is $460 on the upside ($500 difference in long and short strikes minus initial debit). If market tanks, then maximum loss is debit paid unless another weekly can be sold or 120 XSP's still have value. But for the week, if market is rangebound you can squeeze premium out of the weekly and sell another the next week. Any thoughts? Phil
This is OT but I wanted to ask the many knowlegible futures traders on the board. I was thinking about how folks could hedge against a rise in their mortgage interest rates. Many people have ARMs or worse yet interest only mortgages. Seems like you could short futures on T-bills or notes to hedge against this. Is this a crazy idea? Say you had a 1 yr ARM - what would be the best instrument to hedge with?