not consistently. I would guess considerably off the mid. when the pit is fearful they are not exactly givers.
Worst case scenario on the Calendar is that the market moves higher after putting it on and never looks back. The short will expire worthless and the long will have some value which you can salvage and thus no 100% loss of the net debit but it could be 50%. This of course happens when a strong trend exists so you have to be aware what is happening in the market (i.e., maybe avoid during Nov, Dec rallies). That is why I want to go only slightly OTM, so that the long will retain enough time value hopefully to minimize the loss as much as possible in that situation. However I make an assumption that in today's market, months where the market moves higher without any pullbacks and runs is the exception, not the norm. But still analyzing the market to determine if it is a good time for this spread is necessary. If market drops I simply roll the short out one expiration period and down a strike for a net credit and I have a bear put spread for a small net debit. If market roars upward from there, I reduced the potential loss. If market keeps running lower I have the profit from the bear put spread or I can roll down another expiration and strike and keep taking in credits. That is why I used the SEP ES and OCT EW, so that I would have the SEP EW, OCT ES and OCT EW expirations to make adjustments. I think the adjustments are numerous given the many months and the fact that this starts out with a net debit position (no margin requirements).
Chris: One adjustment example. I could buy back the SEP ES 1290 Put at 4.75 and sell the OCT EW 1285 Put at 16.00 for a net credit of 11.25. That would leave me with a bear put spread for a net credit of 1.75 after 9.50 net debit is subtracted. I can then open another calendar. This is the most conservative vanilla adjustment since it jumps right to the same expiration date as the long put. I woudl rather not do this unless the credit was huge. I would rather roll to the next expiration step and take in more credit as I see more downside potential. The above adjustment would be good if I thought we were bottoming out.
You guys should have a look at Cache Landing's journal 57.4% return on account for the year $$$$$ all from doing credit spreads
My head started spinning whilst reading your post. Perhaps that's what happens when others read my posts? lol. If you can simply summarize what your current position is, perhaps some suggestions might be more forthcoming. Good luck. MoMoney.
Told ya coach not to worry about your trade...but you're the success story and I'm not, so your conservative play was prolly a good thing.