Swing trading with Butterflies

Discussion in 'Journals' started by Global OptionsTrades, Jul 30, 2021.

  1. Thanks @traderwald

    1. Good question re assignment.

    An imperfect but truthful answer is that it hasn't been an issue yet! Either my closing orders have filled well before that becomes a possibility, or everything has expired worthless. Remember that whilst possible for the short side to fill, the long ItM side will provide protection.

    Per the point above, a preference for cash-settled contracts where possible insulates me from the prospect of delivery of a load of futures on unfavourable terms, but not the financial impact.

    2. As with most people I started out trading single contracts, and trade larger position sizes now. Its straightforward to understand value at risk / maximum loss with these spreads, so application of Kelly Criterion provides a good framework to determine optimum position size.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2022
    #141     Jan 19, 2022
    traderwald likes this.
  2. The S&P500 put fly from yesterday (#137) closed today in profit.

    Trade date: 18 January 2022
    Security: SPX
    Price at opening: 4592
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 21 January 2022
    Strikes: 4480 / 4520 / 4600
    Structure: 2 / 3 / 1
    Opening Spread: 12.05
    Close date: 19 January 2022
    Trade duration: 1
    Closing spread: 17.50
    Profit / (Loss): 5.45
    Profit / (Loss): 45.2%

    I opened a put fly on TSLA today, and closing orders filled 90 minutes later.

    Trade date: 19 January 2022
    Security: TSLA
    Price at opening: 1013
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 21 January 2022
    Strikes: 955 / 975 / 1015
    Structure: 2 / 3 / 1
    Opening Spread: 6.80
    Close date: 19 January 2022
    Trade duration: 0
    Closing spread: 7.85
    Profit / (Loss): 1.05
    Profit / (Loss): 15.4%

    I could do with a few more days like this :D
     
    #142     Jan 19, 2022
  3. Thank you @Global OptionsTrades

    Which markets do you find most feasible (in terms of liquidity and open interest) to trade option strategies in ?

    For example do you trade Eurex / Euronext etc. or any other market or maybe you can comment which markets have good liquidity if you know.
     
    #143     Jan 21, 2022
  4. You can see I'm trading SPX (and ES), NDX (and NQ), RUT predominantly.

    My scan list includes oil (CL), cable (GBP), AUD, T-Bonds (ZB) and VIX but trading opportunities are occasional.

    Further to prior discussion here, I've added a few stocks with zero dividend, liquid options market, and volatility. These include (predictably) AMZN, GOOG, NFLX, TSLA.

    Margin and commission are obviously considerations e.g. SPX is half the commission of ES for twice the exposure.

    I would be keen to hear about other markets / securities that might meet my requirements?
     
    #144     Jan 21, 2022
    qwerty11 and traderwald like this.
  5. Placed orders for a call fly on SPX yesterday. Position filled as SPX dropped towards the end of the session, and continued to fall so that the position is 75% down. Its currently a lottery ticket.

    Trade date: 20 January 2022
    Security: SPX
    Price at opening: 4578
    Direction: Call
    Expiry date: 24 January 2022
    Strikes: 4615 / 4635 / 4655
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 0.90
     
    #145     Jan 21, 2022

  6. @Global OptionsTrades

    I am very new to opts trading and have been looking for what are liquid options available. Found this stats about Eurex Market (attached) a few months ago. Has Equity options and Equity Infex options as well. Some like OESX have 17 million traded contracts for Oct 2021. There are also stock options which trade around 600k contracts. Not sure if this is big enough volume. What do you think ?

    What is the traded volume of contracts on SPX options in a given month on average ? (I assume it is much bigger than 17 million)


    I am also looking at other markets as well. ASX (Few stocks have good enough volume for about 5 contracts or so per trade)and others like Intercontinental Exchange etc. But US seems to have the best volumes.

    Do you use IB for trading ?
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2022
    #146     Jan 21, 2022
  7. Yes, I use IB.

    I used to try to apply this to DAX30, but have recently switched to EuroStoxx, but as you can see from the lack of trades in either, opportunities are few and far between.
     
    #147     Jan 25, 2022
    traderwald likes this.
  8. The bounce didn't happen.

    Trade date: 20 January 2022
    Security: SPX
    Price at opening: 4578
    Direction: Call
    Expiry date: 24 January 2022
    Strikes: 4615 / 4635 / 4655
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 0.90
    Close date: 24 January 2022
    Trade duration: 4
    Closing spread: -
    Profit / (Loss): -0.90
    Profit / (Loss): -100.0%
     
    #148     Jan 25, 2022
  9. Popped a couple of short positions on yesterday.

    Trade date: 25 January 2022
    Security: SPX
    Price at opening: 4317
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 28 January 2022
    Strikes: 4110 / 4185 / 4335
    Structure: 2 / 3 / 1
    Opening Spread: 26.90

    Trade date: 25 January 2022
    Security: RUT
    Price at opening: 1981
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 28 January 2022
    Strikes: 1870 / 1905 / 1940
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 2.20

    Most of the closing orders on the RUT trade filled shortly after opening, leaving a 'free bet' on the remainder.
     
    #149     Jan 26, 2022
  10. Orders filled to open a short fly position on Nasdaq prior to the Fed announcement, and closing orders filled just afterwards, in profit.

    Trade date: 26 January 2022
    Security: NDX
    Price at opening: 14446
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 28 January 2022
    Strikes: 13830 / 14030 / 14430
    Structure: 2 / 3 / 1
    Opening Spread: 50.50
    Close date: 26 January 2022
    Trade duration: 0
    Closing spread: 61.63
    Profit / (Loss): 11.13
    Profit / (Loss): 22.0%
     
    #150     Jan 26, 2022