Dagnyt, Coach, Thanks for your replies. I see what you mean. Ran it thru OptionVue and I'm only shedding delta risk near expiration of my calendar. And I would need delta right away. I would always roll the credit spread long before the market hit the short strikes, but I'm looking to hedge before that point as well. My old ticker can't take waiting til 10SPX points before doing anything! So... I'm re-reading those Prego fly posts. I'm looking at straight longs, backspreads, DR spreads and B'flys. Thanks for the feedback, gents.
I have tried to get filled on the SPX several times now. I am trying to trade 10 strike wide vertical spreads far OTM, which is probably the problem. I am always asking .10 to .25 under the mid and still no fill. Are there any tips or tricks someone has on getting filled easier? I am currently trading in lots of a 100. Would the lot size make a difference, i.e. 115 or 250? I do have connections with a trader in the pit that could fill my orders, do you think this would be a wise idea considering I have to pay more in commissions? Thanks
Has anybody tried trading the MID (Midcap 400) index. I tried it once last year and had to adjust so I haven't looked at it since.
Call ToS trading desk and have them call to the floor to get the REAL inside quotes on the SPX spread you are interested in. This will let you know the actual prices you have a chance of getting filled it. Call only when you are ready to place an order since I doubt they want you calling every 5 minutes for a price check lol... The composite quotes on your screen are wider than the actual b/a on the floor so calling down will give you a better sense of where you can get filled. I forgot who I used to use over there but call the trading desk and they can help.
thinkorswim like some other brokers have people on the floor that can negotiate orders for you. Your choices are: 1) Call them up to ask about negotiating a better fill for your spread. 2) Use the Live Support feature to do the same. Benefit with this mechanism is that they already know who you are by electronic magickery/witchcraft. 3) When submitting the order using the Confirm and Send button, assuming you haven't turned off the confirmation dialog box, you will have an option at the bottom to SEND to trade desk - this is what you should use if you are trading anything more than 50 lots so that a better fill will be negotiated for you by thinkorswim's trade desk. 4) Trade something else MoMoney.
I trade very small size in MID (did a 3-lot diagonal spread today). The markets are not as wide as SPX and the MMs usually give you a dime to 15 cents better fill than the screen quote - BUT - occasionally the markets become non-existant: (no bid - $5.00 ask), suggesting you might be in trouble if you have an urgent need to adjust a posiiton. Mark
Coach(and others), since i asked about es options, a lot of great discussion ensued. thanks everybody! my specific question is..... after investigating , do you see yourself considering doing more naked trades with es? they are tempting. back in the day when i sold naked, these obviously did not exist; so i am studying these. i just know the trouble that can be had when abused, and the span just makes it so easy to get greedy. ideally you would use it to write wfotm because to small credit is also a small margin......but as the market drops 100pts, your margin rises. so maybe write what max margin is? small hedges? i do believe rolling a naked position is far easier than a spread. maybe swinging atm? thanks again, having this group does save a lot of time thinking it through!
I may do some naked writing on the ES way OTM based on technical support or resistance points and whether any news is on the horizon. However I will mostly stick with spreads OTM. With spreads I will still try and stay within margin limits. ES gives me some more choices to play the index and it is easier for me to visualize how to hedge with futures since they have same point values. The past two days I have been scalping with the ES options (unintnetionaly lol but if it is there I take it). I am also looking at the end of the month options as well.