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Too bad John Q Public doesn't get to take part in that 6.5% dividend.

Depending on how small you are talking about, I'd go with either ThinkorSwim or Interactive Brokers. TOS has a really nice platform (as far as options go) and a low initial deposit requirement ($3500). IB will give you better commissions, but their platform is not nearly as user friendly and...

Why not wait until it gives some tick of a heartbeat before jumping in? You can save yourself a ton of cash by not trying to be the guy who buys the exact bottom. At least let it make one day where it doesn't break a previous low so you have some reasonable idea of a possible support level...

A couple of questions: 1) What do you expect the underlying to do in the future? 2) Is this a long or short term position? If it's a long term position that you want to maintain but are worried about additional downside, why not sell 50% of your position and then take advantage of the high...

I seem to recall reading that Jim Rogers mentioned the next boom is going to be agriculture, so perhaps it's worth looking at those type of stocks. Food production is a high tech industry, so in my long term portfolio, I'm looking at things like POT & MON which make agricultural chemicals and...

What about getting a friend/family member, etc to place trades for you? You do all the analysis and they simply throw the orders on when you tell them? Obviously this won't work if you are trading small time frames, but maybe this would be the small disconnect you need?

Where did you see the TOS app is going away? According to their integration FAQ, the TOS software will continue to be offered.

I'm guessing that you mean you are long both TNA and TZA and short the respective calls instead? In this case, you are only partially hedged...up until you exceed the call strike price in either direction, in which case you've capped your upside but not your downside (though you've offset it...

Not sure if this applies to you, but it might be worth talking to an IB rep for the specifics... http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/software/acctmgmt/accountmanagementusersguide/fundsmgmt/promontory_insured_network_deposits.htm

The etfdb website has a good ETF search engine so if you can't find it there, it probably doesn't exist. Also, any reason you can't just use futures options? That'd give you leverage and they're on all the major indexes.

After the huge run up in the VIX today, it seems like a perfect time for a back ratio PUT spread. Currently I'm looking at the following: 1 x 2 SEP 27.5 / SEP 22.5 Put spread which can be put on for a $1.20 credit (TOS prices after close). It may be better to roll it out to OCT or NOV to...

Make sure you are telling them you are a hyper-aggressive/huge risk-tolerant individual. I was initially denied for even Options Level 1 on my wife's Fidelity account, so I went back and checked the appropriate boxes making it sound like I thought trading 100kg of Afghan poppies was no big deal...

Does anybody have any links to good articles/books on the details of how the electronic exchanges actually operate (from a hardware/software perspective)? I'm not finding too much with my Google searches other than ultra basic stuff (i.e: "The NASDAQ is electronic"). Thanks much,

Even Buffet uses options on occasion. They are a tool, nothing more. You might want to try the ThinkOrSwim platform as a learning tool. It's got some great visualization tools to help you get familiar with risk profiles, etc. You can also use their historical testing tool to jump back and test...

The only short in existence which doesn't have a theoretically unlimited risk profile.

Thanks for your comments, piezoe.

Got it...you're the guy who shows up in a room, farts, and then leaves. Good to know.

Care to elaborate a bit?

A good chunk of my wife and I's retirement is in our respective company 401ks. Fortunately, they offer some level of self direction so we're not completely stuck with 6 mutual funds. Any recommendations on how to hedge retirement accounts effectively? I'd like to maintain the hedge in this...

NLY currently trading at $16.50. About an hour ago it traded as low as $14.05. Big volume but I haven't seen anything on the news. Anybody know what happened? Thanks