Recent content by thoreau777

Don't forget the beauty of Hyde Park, one of the most culturally diverse cities in America. I did my graduate work there, at The University of Chicago (which incidentally is located in the city's south side). I studied business, and it developed my trading skills to what it is today. If it...

Below is a copy of the top rated comment on the book, "Practical Speculation", and please note that the vast majority of the reviewers rate the book a perfect 5 stars out of 5. Even though the book was written a decade ago, I'd still highly recommend it. [***********...

RedEyeFly, did you ever read Victor Niederhoffer's follow-up book to "The Education of a Speculator"? It was called "Practical Speculation", and it offers many profitable strategies to improve one's trading. It has very high reviews, and is brimming with erudition. Here is the Amazon link...

You are correct, but it is often a good starting point. I surmise that everyone on this message board will be aware of this most elemental equation: Expectancy = (Probability of Win * Average Win) – (Probability of Loss * Average Loss). I aver that although it does not guarantee success...

Someone contacted me as to why I am writing my caveat now and I told him that I felt concerned that too many traders are being lured into this market with premium selling. The ease with which money has been made using this strategy in past memory (in the major indexes) is both spurious and...

If I could share any of my own experience to aid other traders, I would strongly caution against any persistent premium selling as a profitable long term strategy. While I no longer engage in options that much anymore in my portfolio, I did so in my past. I once managed quite a bit of money...

I wrote this following in another post but I thought I would repeat it here. I exhort that the shills on CNBC should discuss how so much premium sellers have been bankrupted in the past two weeks. I heard from my contacts that there was a record amount of put premium sellers during this last...

I heard from my contacts that there was a record amount of put premium sellers during this last downdraft who have now as of this morning been completely wiped out. Even if there is a powerful countertrend rally, their positions are sitting at maximum loss, so there will no more more deltas to...

Price action in the past two weeks does bring myself back to painful times, so I can completely commiserate with those premium sellers who are now in a fetal position. I tend to agree with opt789 that although my friends are keen to believe I am an optimist, I am well aware of the behavior of...

I agree Howard has been lucky. I do not smell insincerity in his posts, and so I do believe that he believes in his dashboard. But this method of selling cheap gamma has been tried before, and shown that there is really no positive expected outcome over the long course of events. I believe...

I would like to chime in on this rather interesting thread. I do have various friends on site, and many know that in my past, I fancied selling premium. When observing data sets and myriads of statistical data, selling premium at the RIGHT TIME can be a very profitable strategy... for a time...

Dear startraitor, Thank you so much for those kind words. Blessings are what each one of us need to fathom and get through this often difficult life. I trade only a fraction of what I used to, and I am mostly involved in this board and other sites to share my scars and help some traders...

Dear 1prometheus, You definitely exhibit a keen understanding. There is really no true "edge" that is implicit in options trading for the typical retail investor. I like how you realize that being positive theta is not a true edge nor does it lead to a positive economic expectation in of...

Yes 1prometheus. The SPX and Nasdaq caught quite a beating today. Is this the part where retail investors, finally talked into believing all the hype from shill sites and talking heads at CNBC come rushing back in to pick up "bargains" being unloaded by insiders and professionals (i.e. the...

Dear 1prometheus, Yes, I agree with you that the previous poster's calling Steve Jobs a douchebag was a little harsh. We can only pray for Steve Jobs, as he likely does not have long to live. His rather fragile appearance is doubtless because of his liver function, as the liver secretes...