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Ever since she was profiled in NEW MARKET WIZARDS I have seen her constantly advertised for expensive seminars all over the US, yet I have never seen any proof, as in documented returns on her account(s), that she is still an elite trader. Does anyone have any evidence? Thanks.

No, but Green's numbers do not include all traders, but rather only those who have received the IRS label as a "professional." A person would need well over 10K to be able to live off of the income from trading.

It is 11% of the 36% who are successful. 11% of 36 is 3.96--less than four percent. The stat is on page 60, under "The proof is in the pudding!"

Robert Green, a well-known accountant for traders, notes in the new (just got it today) September edition of ACTIVE TRADER magazine that (1) 64 % of the 1000 or so mark-to-market traders (trading for a living) he deals with LOST money in 2004; and (2) of those 36 % who made a profit, only 11%...

Have you considered the possibility that the first three months one tried this might be losing months? It could happen. It happens all of the time.

Fitzy has thin skin. If you write him an email complaining, he is known to take it personally. If you can't stand the heat...

Err, buy stop order. Not stop limit.

OR one COULD put in a stop limit buy order, once the sold straddle has become profitable to the point that buying a protective strangle would make it a break-even trade. That way, one is not buying the higher (or not) IV strangle. But that would be cheap route. It does not prevent gap...

Just about EVERYONE does that, unfortunately. Quick--buck artists and self-styled promoters are par for the course in the options industry. I would actually consider Macmillan one of the less unscrupulous promoters out there. Wade C(r)ook--14% a month doing covered calls-- is at the bottom.

Ursa, I cannot and won't answer for others, but when I sell straddles and convert to iron flies (or buy calls and then sell stock short if the call appreciates enough that I can lock in a guaranteed profit--a version of the so-called "free trade"), I do so because there might well be a...

My guess is that these guys wrote the book to drum up clients (and to sell books). Reminds me of the way Wade Cook (not that these guys are con-artists like him) wrote books that were infomercials in print. They're brokers, not traders. Note how they strongly recommend not using discount...

Are you referring to the new book THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO OPTION SELLING? I read it at B&N for about fifteen minutes a few weeks ago. I was thoroughly UNIMPRESSED. Cordier and his co-author--both brokers--give little attention to volatility and to risk. Their article in this month's FUTURES (I...

I often sell cash-secured puts in my wife's IRA (up 13% through June 30). Imo, one has to sell puts that are already slightly itm in order to maximize risk/reward. Selling otm--not worth it, imo.

Amen. Trading imo is the toughest way to make an easy buck.

Not only that, but the Summa article on which it was based appeared in TA of SC. Summa is even a published author on futures options.

That's news to me--and good news. The home team does not always win!

The real casinos are the MM. Like Steve Wynn, they sell bets worth a dollar for a dollar five. MM will one up you, gladly taking those same bets off your hands for ninety-five cents. As for looking for arbitrage opportunities, I see it as a waste of time for us retail traders.

In all honesty, there really is no such thing as an edge because the markets, like any future event, cannot be predicted. The delusional and those full of hubris are welcome to disagree. But that does not make them right. :-)

There is no inherent advantage in any one strategy. Bull spreads, ratio spreads, bear call spreads--none of them in and of themselves has an edge built in to it. If the market analysis behind the strategy (why someone places a ratio spread) proves accurate (in hindsight), then the strategy...

Fact, is, most everyone who trades THINKS that they have an edge, that they can outsmart the market, that they are NOT going to be one of those losers who spends years treading water, in the end going nowhere. Whether it be from their "superior intelligence," money-making trading system...