Trading Long Straddles

Discussion in 'Options' started by falconview, Jun 13, 2011.

  1. One month of trading new system

    SEREPENDITY TRADE METHOD - OR- THE SERENDIPITY OPTION TRADING METHOD

    START: Mid August, 2011, trading in cash. Balance: about $7187

    1) 2 Sept PUTS -50 – @ Buy $1.85, Sell $2.04 ( + 7%) + $26 New balance: $7213.77
    2) 2 Oct CALLS -49- @ Buy $4.05, Sell $4.42 ( +7% ) +$62 New balance: $7275.95
    3) 2 Oct PUTS -52 - @ Buy $2.85, Sell $3.10 ( +6%) +$38 New balance: $7314.13
    4) 2 Oct CALLS -52- @ Buy $4.42, Sell ($4.22) ( -5%) -$52 New balance: $7262.13
    5) 4 Oct Puts -59- @ Buy $4.74, Sell $4.99 ( + 4% ) +$76 New balance: $7338.12

    September, 2011
    6) 3 Oct PUTS - 59 - Buy $5.94, Sell $6.24 ( +4% ) +$72 New balance: $7410.95
    7) 6 NOV CALLS -48- Buy $4.04, Sell $7.36 (+ 6% ) + -$156 New Balance: $ 7583.57
    8) 2 NOV CALLS -48 - -Buy $7.38, sell $7.58 (+ 1.8% ) +$28 New Balance: $7595.64
    9) Sheeet! Made a writing mistake on the order form. Put in a limit order to sell, intending to raise the price a dollar for the day. Insteady of $7.58 I sold at $6.58 and it cost me about (-$210), Had to re-establish my position again. ( No. 10 )
    9) 10 NOV PUTS -60 - Buy $6.73, sold $6.58 (- 3% ) ( - $210 ) New Balance:$7385.64
    10) 10 NOV PUTS -60 - Buy $6.64, sold $ 7.65 (+14%) +$950 New Balance: $8335.64
    **** EXCHANGE FLAGS me as a day trader because I close out and take my profit at the end of the day. Instruct me to HOLD MY TRADES OVERNIGHT, or raise my CASH balance to $25,000.
    11) 2 NOV CALLS - 48 -QQQ- Buy $6.48, sold $6.96 (+5%) + $72 New Balance: $8449.75


    SEREPENDITY TRADING Account gain = + 16.5 % (4 week mark ( ONE MONTH) since starting.)
     
    #361     Sep 15, 2011
  2. #362     Sep 15, 2011
  3. E Mini chart ?

    I was curious if I could pull up an E Mini chart on FREESTOCKCHARTS.com

    Anybody know if there is a symbol that works?
     
    #363     Sep 20, 2011
  4. Use SPY, substract 0.5 and multiply by 10, ish...
     
    #365     Sep 20, 2011
  5. I notice the E Mini has lots of fast movements back and forth. Perhaps more so than the SPY? Would that be a factor in reading indicators?

    Thanks for the reply by the way.
     
    #366     Sep 20, 2011
  6. they track closely. you can also watch spx and not do the max. spread from es to spx goes to 0 eventually.
     
    #367     Sep 20, 2011
  7. I didn´t get the spread from es to something goes to zero comment?

    Sorry! Thanks for contributing.
     
    #368     Sep 20, 2011
  8. es is the future contract from the link I sent you. It expires every few months, there is also spx contract known as the big due to the large tick size, this is a contract traded by institutions and deep pocket locals. spy is more like a stock and is what you should focus on. You can lose your house trading futures if you do not understand margin.
    spy and its derivative options are extremely liquid. I have seen many times someone drop 5,000 lots and not move the bid one tick. You can't beat spy in terms of liquidity. Es mini is heavily traded by all the players, retail institutional etc. spy and es are two different animals.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/172876-driving-the-s-p-500-cash-index-spy-vs-es
     
    #369     Sep 20, 2011
  9. Kinggyppo

    Thankyou for the contribution to my education. Think I had read some of this stuff before, but had forgotten it. I just had an idle moment while my options were down -$700. Told my wife when she popped in and she had the usual sarcastic comments. I was waiting out the testing of overhead resistance. See if I am going to lose or recover later this week. My trade yesterday didnt work out so well this morning, complying with the EXCHANGE order to hold overnight. Think I made an ENTRY too quick. Going to have to refigure that technique.
    There was a reason I picked options, now that you mention it again. Futures can cost you your house comment.
    I was a bit bored and wondering if my proprietory indicators would read on the EMINI and if there was a chart I could test them on, with FREESTOCKCHARTS.com
    Nothing serious here, just killing some time. You have been around a lot of years, as I recognize your name.
    I´d figured out a way to get more volatility in my trade. So was trying it. Unfortunately it is a two edged sword. Nice if I got the direction picked right. Unfortunately, I jumped too soon apparently, so now have to have NERVES OF STEEL. Great description that, for what is going on here with me.
    I think I´ve made a poor trade, this week, but if it recovers to break even, might just opt to cash out. Can´t do anything until the market moves considerably in one direction or the other and I know what to do.
     
    #370     Sep 20, 2011