It would almost seem like instead of going long or short minis you should just sell a put/call instead...at least you get a nice cushion from the premium if you're wrong initially. the data shows 90% of traders fail, most regardless of duration. Peopel really suck at timing the market, on all time frames. having the premium work to your advantage should at least bump the odds a bit
A lot of people do it, they just don't talk about it. It is interesting that everyone is talking about something that is hard but not something that is easy.
I agree, while there's nothing wrong with selling a put or call...the premium return collected is relatively tiny. You can make much more, if you're good at predicting movement ...it all boils down to that classic Risk vs Reward spectrum.
Not necessarily if your accuracy is high enough your Reward must not be greater than your risk for you to be profitable; so i guess it all boils down to the same misconception. When I trade trends, my reward is > risk, but when I trade ranges, my risk is > reward but then again so is my accuracy.
If you want go short , sell put and sell futures/stock , if you want to get long sell call and long stock/futures , risk of choput is reduced . The premium you receive will be about 3% for puts or calls on indices for 2 months , that 3 % gives you an edge /cushion , price has to go more than 3 % against you before you see loss . If it goes > 3 % , you can sell second option to get 6% premium on options , if you are clever you get trade your way out of losses by further option trades .1 future /stock = 2 options . You will find something profitable , if work hard on this , otherwise you will be with charlatans forever. If you are smart enough , you will also find a strategy that makes 100% a year return , on futures and options.These smart traders are on their yachts not on E T. Most people are sold the snake oil of price action , technical analysis , trends etc Your data confirms the value of these analyses, plus something else more important , this is hidden by all snake oil merchants and their accomplices.
Another way to play options is to sell calls if you want to short and buy a put if you want to long.If stock comes to you for writing put , the cost is cost of stock less premium received.