Curious to ask how your week ended. You were bearish and that obviously didn't work out, but looking over your many trades you have on for any given day, you manage to have exposure to all scenarios. Plus, you seem to have that gift of being able to fluidly switch up the thesis when you see the original one not working. So if you don't mind me asking, did you capitalize on the rally even though you were initially bearish?
This week M-Th were really boring, and I pressed too hard on Friday. Part of the Friday loss was MRNA puts that I tried multiple times throughout the day and it never pulled back. I don't mind the MRNA losses because the r:r was there, but I shouldn't have bothered trying to buy MSFT/AAPL puts on such a strong day in the market. Two steps forward, one step back is always acceptable though. Always learning and taking mental notes!
Looks like retail was a big factor. Retail investors bought a record $2.2 billion of stocks on Monday, with many seeking shelter in ETFs as the market melted down, data shows
Thanks for the thorough explanations. You have me really intrigued by the asymmetry factor of the cheap options. I have it on my to-do list this weekend to look at super cheap puts for expiry on Monday. After such a huge rally going into the weekend, I imagine those puts must be super cheap, so for something that costs a few pennies and can pay big if we have a gap down open, I can see how that could be a great strategy. I have no idea about the prices but I'm guessing there are some strikes that were only a few pennies on Friday afternoon for expiry on Monday. And along with the good risk-to-reward aspect, buying low and selling high is a solid strategy. And Friday we finished very high!
Well so much for my idea. The puts are a bit expensive. SPY closed at 439.26, and to get a put around 10 cents or so, we'd have to go down to the 435 or 434. I will for sure watch these on Monday though. The interesting thing though is that if we consider the close of 439, and lets say 3 points up and down, the 442 call is 25 cents, and the 436 put is 22 cents. At 5 points away, the 444 call is only 8 cents, but the 434 put is 11 cents. So for both, the put is more expensive than the call. Does this mean the market is pricing in more of a likelihood of a drop vs. continued rise? Its the bet I would make after breaking the high from July 14 because I never want to be buying a break of a swing high. The only thing left to consider is would it make sense to buy both the call and the put? Neither will probably pay out if left till the end of the day, but since the loss is capped at a total of 11+8=19 cents, as long as one of them hits over 20 cents anytime during the day, it seems like a profit can be made. Clearly we will need some volatility, but after watching these things move since I've been following Dustin's thread, I see how these can easily hit $1 or more in just hours. Sorry for polluting your thread Dustin with my rambling. Just wanted to see if you or anyone else wanted to provide some further insight to this options newbie. (ever since you showed the huge asymmetry possible for the payout when you're right, it has me digging deeper while I work on my futures trading)
Good day today on the put side today, Dustin? I don't to assume so just because the /NQ had such a rough day, but I hope it was good.