Besides that, puts have been bid up in price, so for the same distance OTM you can get a much better credit on a bull put right now. Oops... another validation for using the Ansbacher Index inadvertently sneaked into my post.
Fluent Korean after 2 1/2 years ? Wow, this is impressive. I met people in the US with very limited English after 20+ years of living. Some people believe that fluency in an Asian language is a task for life.
Chris: That's an interesting comment. I lived in Switzerland and felt the same way after my 3 years was up. Now after 15 years back in the US, I look back fondly at those times. My goal is to spend 3 to 6 months a year in Europe and the rest of the time on the West Coast. Trading options is good for this kind of life style.
In general is contrarian. Puts normally should be more expensive and this is measured by put/call price ratio at the same distance from ATM. This means that if puts IV is high and IV calls is low, prevailing opinion is bearish and public is mostly wrong i.e. market may move higher.
Love the Jump, just was thinking Panama would get you focused on a move to the beautiful scenery down there someday. I am waiting for a pull back and test of the 1295-1300 level (apparently next week, not going to happen today darn it) to make my bull put spread. ryan
Yeah if we get any pullback I will grab the puts. Tried grabbing the 1370/1375 spreads for $0.25 but was too close to the mid to get filled so far.
As far as learning the language, I think it all depends on what you are doing in the country, and whether or not learning the language is a necessity. Asian languages are a bit harder than latin based languages, but we Americans generally lean a little bit on the idea that many foreign countries teach English as a required subject in school. This allows us to get a round without speaking their language. I didn't have that luxury. As far as mindset, their schooling is much different from ours. I did a lot of service work for high schools and such. Their methods of teaching and learning are very different. We encourage free thinking and creativity. They encourage memorization and performance. Both have their ups and downs. But their country is like 99.something% pure korean. I was treated like a rock star everywhere I went. I couldn't just blend in like a normal person. I don't understand that mentality.