Well today wiped out a day of hard work bouncing off the support to new highs back to the same support level. We have been sideways for some time now but we are once again at a short-term test mark of the support I drew below and it should be interesting to see what happens in a shorter week (Good Friday- market closed). Today's job news was met with bad news of higher bond rates so was it a wash? Jobs was hard data, bonds falling was market sentiment- who is right? All I know is that 2 more weeks of sideways churning would be fine by me and no upsets as we head into earnings reports over the next few weeks.
b/a spreads did seem difficult to manage today. I was interested in the May 1210-1225 put spread for (~0.2-1.4) I finally gave up and legged in bto may 1210 @2.4 spx ~ 1298 sto may 1225 @3.2 spx ~ 1297 I dont usually leg in but it worked well today. hey coach, sure would be cool to sell first, but since I dont have the margin thanks for the opening.
There's been lots of posts about Mid quote. The mid is just the middle of the posted bid and ask. That may be well off the midpoint of the MMs B-A. For example (Just number out of mid air) if 1225P is 1.3x50 -2.4x50, you are looking at a mid of 1.75 for that leg. If the mid of the 1215P is 1, you have a mid for the spread of 0.75. Most likely would get a fill for 0.65 (nickel off each side). But if 1225P B-A was 1.6x2 - 2.4x50, mid for leg would be 2-1=1. You still could only sell the spread for 0.65, since that is the MM spread price. So you need to do the math on the legs. Then figure out your mids. You can always ask for more, but the 0.65 would be a reasonable spread fill. In a fast moving market, you may find a better fill. That 's great, but it usually means the market is moving against you. A lot has to do with how generous MMs are at the time. Which usually reflects volume of options at that strike. The spread quote is different and reflects the difference between the Bid spreads and Ask spreads. Not particularly usefull information IMHO. Sometimes for 1-2 contracts they'll fill you to just get you off the screen. Sometimes, somebody new will pay the posted price. Hope this helps.
Thanks. It was a LOT of work. Check out the pics at www.drdomo.com . Click on the El Salvador tab. Was able to treat all the kids in the orphanage. Imagine packing an entire dental treatment room in duffle bags, carrying them 3000miles, and setting up to treat 26 people. That's what we accomplished. Now there's a clinic for the ongoing treatment of these kids!
OptionsCoach: thanks for the thread! I have a question (it may have already bean answered and I usually make an attempt to find an answer by reading through a thread, but 800+ posts...) How much money can be managed with your strategy (class of strategies)? i.e.What are your markets' liquidity constraints? Thanks! (I have little experience with the options markets but given the strategy's return profile and the institutional quest for low vol performance are the opportunities being squeezed?)
Coach, Notices your positions earlier on...... Verticals were 15 handles bet short and long strikes, oh a couple hundred pages back in the journal. Now your spreads are 10 handles apart. Any reasoning behind the change ?? Great journal you have brought to the community. Great contribution and hats off to you on giving back. Best, J-law