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Got 3 right as well. :D

Indeed. Generally, if you insist on using a stop order then it would be more prudent to tie it to the ask price with some offset as the bid can drop to zero.

There is no simple answer like "...do this to protect your covered call position" as there are many factors that affect what can be done and how it should be done. To give you an example. Rather than doing covered calls you may want to look at buying vertical call spreads (i.e. essentially...

OK, buying a put vertical is a different thing, but still, I wouldn't go out and start putting on positions on top of positions. Don't forget that if you hedge away all the risk then you are left with no return beyond risk free rate, which is effectively zero. Personally, I wouldn't risk 1...

I wouldn't do that for two reasons. 1. By selling a put vertical (selling a put and then buying a lower strike one) in addition to the covered call you are actually adding more risk to the downside. That is, you are now holding two bullish/neutral positions, which both lose if the underlying...

I have said this many times and I will say it again, don't mistake bull market for brains. The market has pretty much been a one way street so no wonder covered calls did well. As the other poster pointed out, a covered call is exactly the same as a short put. In fact, you should switch to...

Agreed. :) If I'm trying to catch a short term move then I would generally go for the shortest expiration possible and slightly OTM.

There is no one size fits all answer here. The answer really depends on the time frame, size of the expected move and volatility view.

Yes, some brokers have this feature. So it depends on your broker whether you can place such an order or not.

Market makers and floor traders don't pay commissions, but they do pay a clearing fee to their clearing firm. As a retail customer, no matter how low of a commission you pay you still pay more than just the clearing fee.

The position is simply 7 short 63 puts and 1 synthetic short 65 put. I believe the technical term is "put stupid".

It's still a wrangle. One is a long wrangle and the other is a short.

Basically, there won't be a surge in IV once Oct options expire as Optionsxpress is probably calculating the IV index for a stock in a similar way to VIX. So it is a sort of a rolling 30 day IV, which means that as we get closer to Oct expiry the weight of the Nov options in the IV index...

A butterfly is about delta neutral ATM, but it can be used as a directional strategy as well, if you set it up OTM. You don't need to hold a butterfly to expiration to make a profit. Time decay is also an important component of a butterfly. Yes, you can trade a butterfly where you are short...

Options exchanges determine on which stocks to list options and what strike intervals to set.

It's no secret that put writing/covered call writing outperforms the index. You have BXM and PUT indices to prove it, but that's not an edge in a true sense of the word.

Theta is not an edge! Just because you beat the S&P in the rising market by shorting puts doesn't mean you have found an edge. Or in other words, don't mistake bull market for brains!

I agree that and iron condor is very commission intensive, but it offers a way to be short vega and long theta without the unlimited risk exposure of a straddle/strangle. Is it the holy grail? Of course not! It is just a strategy that has its place and time. By the way, you only mention...

Well, ideally, you don't have to take a big loss, but sometimes it is inevitable. Personally, I'm not a big fan of adjusting losing positions as you always have to accept a risk/reward ratio that is inferior to a new trade. So I'd rather take a loss and move on to a new trade. I don't think...

Changes in volatility do affect daily mark-to-market, but not if you hold to expiration.