Swing trading with Butterflies

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

  1. I missed a couple of downside trade signals at yesterday's close, but assuming we're continuing down for a day or two, I've opened a long trade on VIX today. IV was 150%. Not sure how this one will pan out.

    Trade date: 06 October 2021
    Security: VIX
    Price at opening: 22.83
    Direction: Call
    Expiry date: 12 October 2021
    Strikes: 23 / 25 / 29
    Structure: 2 / 3 / 1
    Opening Spread: 0.42
     
    #71     Oct 6, 2021
  2. Took profits on this week's short FTSE position, and will unwind the VIX position today.

    Trade date: 04 October 2021
    Security: FTSE
    Price at opening: 7034
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 08 October 2021
    Strikes: 6900 / 7000 / 7100
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 23.00
    Close date: 06 October 2021
    Trade duration: 2
    Closing spread: 31.50
    Profit / (Loss): 8.50
    Profit / (Loss): 37.0%
     
    #72     Oct 7, 2021
  3. Added a short position on DAX today.

    Trade date: 12 October 2021
    Security: DAX
    Price at opening: 15136
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 15 October 2021
    Strikes: 14900 / 15000 / 15100
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 11.10
     
    #73     Oct 12, 2021
  4. The VIX Call Fly (#71) expired OtM for a 100% loss. Conviction wasn't strong and it was a smaller position than normal.

    My view of the DAX Put Fly (#73) has changed and my model suggests it should be closed. This morning, spread (mid) is 2.0 (less than 20% of what I paid for it) so I'll leave it open in case there is a downturn in Germany between now and close tomorrow.

    I opened a short position on Nasdaq yesterday:

    Trade date: 13 October 2021
    Security: NQ
    Price at opening: 14725
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 15 October 2021
    Strikes: 14780 / 14630 / 14480
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 9.00

    As Nasdaq dropped, orders partially filled at 19. I'll update if/when the remainder fills or expires.
     
    #74     Oct 14, 2021
    .sigma likes this.
  5. The rally towards the end of the week wasn't helpful!

    Trade date: 12 October 2021
    Security: DAX
    Price at opening: 15136
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 15 October 2021
    Strikes: 14900 / 15000 / 15100
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 11.10
    Close date: 15 October 2021
    Trade duration: 3
    Closing spread: 0.00
    Profit / (Loss): -11.10
    Profit / (Loss): -100.0%

    Trade date: 13 October 2021
    Security: NDX
    Price at opening: 14725
    Direction: Put
    Expiry date: 15 October 2021
    Strikes: 14780 / 14630 / 14480
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 9.00
    Close date: 15 October 2021
    Trade duration: 2
    Closing spread: 9.50
    Profit / (Loss): 0.50
    Profit / (Loss): 5.6%
     
    #75     Oct 18, 2021
  6. jamesbp

    jamesbp

    Andy

    Do you have any stats on % of trades that are bearish/neutral/bullish that your model produces ?

    Cheers
    James
     
    #76     Oct 18, 2021
  7. I don't have that info atm but looking back at the last 10 trades, 9 were Puts, and 1 was a Call (on VIX).
     
    #77     Oct 19, 2021
  8. jamesbp

    jamesbp

    All bearish trades ... I know small sample ... but might be worth investigating whether the model is overly biased to picking downside flies as ( if you look back at the Fly Pricing Arc ) downside Flies are relatively cheaper than upside Flies ... but markets tend to have a little positive drift ... just a thought
     
    #78     Oct 19, 2021
  9. To update, we have discussed that this strategy favours bearish positions, and in the recent bull market, I'm not getting directional entries that meet my criteria to trade and post here.

    Thought-provoking questions here and offline from @jamesbp (for which, many thanks) have been very useful, and I've been looking at (and trading) short-duration flies without having a directional rationale, as well as verticals.

    I can't rename the thread but will pop some of these trades on here, making it clear that they are not directionally-driven.
     
    #79     Nov 8, 2021
  10. Non-directional trade. Confidence isn't strong on this at the moment, but looking for 15% on this by Wednesday.

    Trade date: 22 November 2021
    Security: NDX
    Price at opening: 16753
    Direction: Call
    Expiry date: 24 November 2021
    Strikes: 16840 / 16890 / 16940
    Structure: 1 / 2 / 1
    Opening Spread: 2.60
     
    #80     Nov 22, 2021