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Is it just me or have the thinkorswim support people gotten a bit grumpy?

Vix popped up by 0.70.... how could premiums drop?

Coach, Several newsletters I subscribe to seem to indicate that there's not too much upside left in the short term. My own analysis also indicates the same -- look at a weekly chart of SPX and draw the channel over the last few months. It looks like SPX is at the peak of its cycle, ready...

I was checking out some JAN 1200/1190 puts spreads today -- there's hardly any credit there :( and yet it's only 70 points below the current market (and 70 points is not that much since that was the size of the move in Oct). I might just resort to buying calls/puts/strangles... until vol goes...

Donna, Actually, if you read some of the materials from Anbacher, Chang,... and other index premium selling funds, you'll see that 2001, 2002 and 2003 were great years for premium selling -- much better than right now. Even though the absolute monthly change was much higher back then, so was...

Under what conditions does VIX rise in an uptrend (usually it declines in an uptrend)?

MoMoney, Thanks for the replies. Since you are sitting out credit spreads for Jan (and Feb maybe), what do your positions look like?

MoMoney, Couple of clarifications: "When you're that far out (in time), I would suggest it's more of a vega play." -- I don't completely follow this (but I get the point about VIX being so low). Why would it be more of a vega play than a 30-day JAN spread plus later, a 30-day FEB spread...

MoMoney, It's entirely possible that my logic is flawed, but here's what I'm looking at: if I expect SPX to go up 20 points in the next week, I can go long ES contracts. I usually put a stop loss in when I go long. Instead of the stop loss I can purchase SPX puts and cap my downside... that's...

Coach, I believe you play the directional swings (ones lasting three or four days) in SPX with ES... are you still doing that? Do you use any other method to play directional swings? Do you (or anyone else) use synthetic calls/puts (eg: long ES+long put) to capture a directional move? I...

Coach (and everyone else): I've noticed that a 60-day spread has 2x the premium of a 30-day spread (was expecting around 1.7x). I'll post examples later, but has anyone else noticed this? I'm thinking of doing 60-day spreads (i.e. skip one expiration) since vol is so low, and this will also...

I suppose you think one goes to Stanford GSB because the education is better than other schools... Please post your trades so I can fade them.

If you are comparing the value of a Stanford (or Harvard) MBA to a UCB MFE I've got to believe you're not Stanford material. And if you are looking at a Stanford MBA strictly from the point of view of financial ROI,... well, what can I say? Tell me, what was your GMAT score? Who wrote your...

Coach, THis is a great post. All readers should print it out and put it next to their computer.

Wierd market today. A/D is awful, but SPX keeps inching up -- now at 1271. Either breadth reverses to the upside or we see a couple of sharp drops in the next few hours.... that's my story and I'm stickin with it.

...think you misinterpreted my question -- I was asking if the rally today was driven by buyers coming in with optimism or short covering...

Sure looks like a breakout,.... wonder if it's short covering though?

Riskarb, still think it'll reach 1285 by exp?

Riskarb, Did the google and saw the link -- very interesting. Does it work for you? How is it compared to, say, 1/2 hour on the treadmill? An older friend of mine bought a device called Resperate -- it's medically proven to lower blood pressure. It's all sound, no light. Coach, sorry for...

riskarb, How many times a second do you breathe during meditation? What is a sound and light machine?