In my opinion "systematically writing", as well as any other fixed time periodical trading, presses you to probably enter at the wrong time. I believe that selling time this way is not successful in long run (negative expectancy). Options are better played directionally and / or on their IV.
cnms2, I know what you mean. There are piles of materials, books and other resources stating that. I experienced that on my own back, wasting a lot of time. As about IV, agreed in some sense - but using them directionally is like using your PC for watching nice pictures only. It works, but you don`t take remaining 80% of their advantage.
This is why I prefer the shorter term trades. I feel I can be more accurate this way when it comes to directional forecasting. This is also why I generally don't open both legs of an IC at the same time (negative expectancy). I prefer to time my entry into one leg and rely on my ability to foreast direction to leg into it on the other side. This of course all changes if I have a certain expectation regarding IV changes.
I'll tell you what. I can't get filled to save my life today. I was very comfortable with the dip around 3:00. I was even giving up 0.15 but still no takers.
Today's Action BTC 4 DELL APR 30p @ 0.40 Year to Date P/L Account Value: $10,884.50 YTD Gross P/L: 1,030.00 YTD Commiss: 145.50 YTD Net P/L: 884.50 YTD % P/L: 8.8% Couldn't get filled on the SPX spread, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.
Got filled on a DNA APR bull call this morning and a long BAC MAY put. I'm 0.15 under mid on SPX calls right now and can't get filled. If I'm gonna have to give up this much I might just have to jump over to SPY or XSP instead.
Today's Action BTO 2 DNA APR 75/80c @ 4.25 BTO 2 BAC MAY 50p @ 3.20 Year to Date P/L Account Value: $10,875.50 YTD Gross P/L: 1,030.00 YTD Commiss: 154.50 YTD Net P/L: 875.50 YTD % P/L: 8.8% For those who are wondering why I opted for the debit spread on DNA. There was 0.10 difference in the synthetic mid, so I went with the higher of the two and got filled.