Recent content by northcascades

RE: JPMorganChase/Derivatives Monster Interesting today the "asset allocation" shift from Schatz to Dax, considering the above "rumor" that JPM has the Schatz cornered. Of particular interest is the fact the the Euro has sold off in tandem with the Bunds (look at the intraday charts), since...

If you check the a long term chart of the VIX (going back to its creation by the CBOE) you'll see it's only risen above 50 on six distinct occasions. A rise above 50 has always been followed by a sharp market recovery. I'm not going to go through the trouble of giving returns because I'm not...

I'm looking at the VIX like an oscillator. It is relatively closer to its recent peak than the OEX is to its recent oversold low. I'm just "eyeing" the two and it "looks" like the VIX has a shot at taking out its high before the OEX (or SPX) reach their low.

BTW the reason I brought this topic up was that I was noticing that the VIX has already gained back more than half (roughly 55% to be precise) of the amount it lost when the market rallied after July 24, while the SPX and OEX have each lost only 38% (hmmm) of their big rallies. So the...

Keep an eye on the VIX. If it happens to rise above its July 24 high at about 56.75, and the OEX or SPX remain above their July 24 lows, that would be a very bullish divergence, IMO. Such an occurence would tell me that exceptionally high volatility is not translating into lower stock prices -...

She thinks we are like Robin Hoods, only we steal from honest hard working investors and keep the riches for ourselves. To make it worse, her objections are pointed mainly towards "proprietary traders" since their primary duty is to profit, not provide liquidity or act as a medium between...

I run a trading desk.

North Cascades, I have sold options using IB's TWS with an option account. It didn't seem that hard, took only about half a second, and it cost the same as buying an option. Thank you for sharing your strategy, I really like the idea of taking a partially hedged bet on the QQQ using all that...

nutseal, the scenario you describe where the spread widens in the direction of the underlying move is typical for an option. Still, the QQQ options trade with a nickel spread most of the time. Since my strategy doesn't "trade" the options, I'm only concerned with getting a few good fills per...

(Reviving this thread) I've been paper trading a strictly QQQ strategy for several months, buying front month options and hedging with the underlying using a directional bent, "comfortably" returning 5-6% per month. I basically copied the strategy from Todd Harrison's diary and after...

Hedge fund managers don't come from business schools. In fact no good traders go to business school unless they burn out. I question your motivation towards trading, and therefore your ultimate success, if you are merely using it as a stepping stone for a B-school degree (dime a dozen).:confused: