+BOT 1 AAPL AUG 17 '12 + 600 + 635 - 615 - 620 Call Combo 6.61 USD SMART 11:48:09 OptTrader 2.80 null + SLD 1 AAPL AUG 17 '12 + 600 + 635 - 615 - 620 Call Combo 7.00 USD SMART 14:28:24 2.81 null so .. that was a Wide topped butterfly.. or in another works.. Call condor.. however you wanna put it... i bought it for 6.61 sold it for 7.00 .39 cents or 39 bucks thats 5.9 percent in 3 in a half hours.. considering i have left thousands of dollars out for days to weeks to make that kind of percentage return.. i'd say i'm happy with it.
so i've been modeling these opex trades.. looking at a straddle on the weekly expiring tommorrow.. posted is the straddle pricing for the last week.. i really don't understand why the first stick on the chart has such large wicks.. it can't be ranging that much.. AAPL AUG 10 '12 620 Straddle bid 4.80 ask 4.83 15:57 pm 8-9-2012 <a target='_blank' title='ImageShack - Image And Video Hosting' href='http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/138/aaplweeklystraddle89201.png/'><img src='http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9742/aaplweeklystraddle89201.png' border='0'/></a><br>Uploaded with <a target='_blank' href='http://imageshack.us'>ImageShack.us</a>
well turns out.. my account is now locked.. a opening a butterfly and closing a butterfly in the same day is not possible... every leg you open and simultaneously close in one day is a round trip day trade. putting my call condor into a 4 trade round trip in one day... meaning i'm locked out for 95 days and i'm screwed.. i've already reset the account once.. and in order to trade now i'll have to go to another brokerage firm.. i'm so pissed..
Bummer. I'm not familiar with this rule for options. What is the exact number of RT allowed per day? Is it only applicable to stock options?
Dear Trader, You are receiving this message as your account UXXXXfalls under the regulatory designation of a Pattern Day Trader (PDT) and your account equity is below USD 25,000, or its equivalent. As background, a margin account is designated as a PDT if it transacts four or more day trades in any rolling five business day period (i.e., a PDT "trigger" ) and remains designated as such until a 95 period has passed without the occurrence of a subsequent trigger. Based upon a review of your transaction history, your account last generated a PDT trigger on 2012-08-09. Please note that an account designated as a PDT may continue to day trade as long as account equity of at least USD 25,000 or its equivalent is maintained. As your account equity is currently below this regulatory threshold, you are restricted from entering opening transactions until one of the following conditions has been met: 1. You increase your account equity to at least USD 25,000; 2. A period of 95 days has passed since your account last generated a PDT trigger 3. You are eligible for and formally request a PDT reset via webticket through the Account Management Message Center. Note that an account is eligible for a reset only once within any 180 period. Should you have any questions, or require further assistance please contact our Customer Service Center. Interactive Brokers Customer Service If you open a leg and close a leg in a day its one round trip.. Bummer is right!
Why trade intraday? Hold the additional day. You can trade ES, YM, NQ, ZB, GC, CL, etc. Wow, 95-days for PDT. I thought it was 60.
If IB locks you out of everything consider opening an account with another futures broker and trade there. Leave just the minimum in IB.
yeah, simple solution, day trade the ES until you are over $25k. sounds more like,"out of the frying pan, into the fire." not saying you can't make $50 in 50 seconds, (or loose it just as fast) trading the ES, but, why be 'forced' into something new and high leveraged because of a mistake already made. perhaps you could look at the lock out as a guaranteed, risk-free, 0% loss (including commissions!) for 90 days. hell, you will probably out perform 80% of the hedge funds over the next 3 months, with such non-negative returns as that. at least look into the smaller contracts for day trading the daily index moves, like the NQ, or maybe try mini currency contracts M6A, M6E, trying to catch larger moves over a couple days, rather than a crash course in learning to scalp ES point by point. if you feel good after getting your feet wet with futures, you can always scale up after success, rather than having to scale down, because of failure. make it a mission to survive the 90 days, and still come out ahead, "one day at a time." ha! good luck. bummer about the PTD ding, but quite the trader's tale (and lesson), for $39.