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I am no expert, but there is no intuition. I tried trading with intuition. Not a pretty sight. After reading this thread many times, I am convinced it's math. But back to my question. Isn't it easier to sell options because you don't have to be as accurate as trading the underlying? Any other...

Wait a minute! About the underlying, when selling otm options, you don't have to be too accurate on the underlying. You don't have to know where it will go, but you have to know where it will not go. That's easier to predict...or am I an idiot.

Generally speaking, not as big as the premiums.

Echoing Ursa and MTE, I paper traded this strategy with many securities for about 6 months. It's a losing strategy. If you had the capital, selling the straddles may be profitable, but expect a few wipeouts.

Yes, Iceman. I think Union was referring to the few comments on selling way OTM options. He was just adding that warning, which I learned the hard way. Thanks Union.

I agree with Nordic. Even if you don't agree with Mav or Risk, you gotta admit, they make you think. They may also prevent you from entering a losing trade. That's my experience.

Maverick makes a good point that I never thought of before. So it goes back to the question "Can you TRADE options for a living?" What's our conclusion here?

No mention about his own account.

Oh I forgot to add. It is writing naked.

One risk management plan is to get out if the option doubles in value. Then you may want to sell further away because the high volatility would be present. Second, is to get out when the underlying reaches a certain value. Another is to short a strangle.

I am a newbie. Could you explain to me why this would be dangerous? He recommends exit strategies, such as if the ootion doubles in value, get out? Could someone explain why this is dangerous?

Has anyone read James Cordier's book on writing naked options. He is advocating writing options 3 to 5 months away. Although boring, he claims that this is a money-maker. For example, the February 90.00 crude oil call, which expires in January, is trading at about $600. So write this option NOW...

This is the most interesting and the most educational thread. By reading ALL comments, I am concluding that you can't win in the options game. You can get lucky a few times, but you can't win consistently. Am I right? Please prove me wrong.

Excuse my ignorance. So, when they say "75% of options expire worthless." What are they talking about? The actual security OR the open interest.

Maverick brings up a good point. How is it possible that all those options expire worthless? How can that happen? If IBM is trading at 100. all call options from 30 to 99 are worth something at expiration day. All put options from 180 to 101 are worth something on expiration day. So why this...

I am not good at interpreting TA to enter a position. But when there is so many sell signals using TA, I sold and I'm glad I did, eventhough they may be losses. I was long cotton until 6 sell signals came up. I closed, then it fell. In conclusion, I think TA is helpful if there are many...

Getting back to spreads. What about ratio credit spreads on both sides?

So, maybe that is the edge. Ratio credit spread. Buying way out of the money calls AND fewer ATM calls. Then make adjustments. If the underlying rises, get out at a profit. If it falls, you still win. What do you think?

So, maybe that is the edge. Ratio credit spread. Buying way out of the money calls AND fewer ATM calls. Then make adjustments. If the underlying rises, get out at a profit. If it falls, you still win. What do you think?

Let's look at an example. The crude oil futures January $85 calls expire on December 16. They are now trading at $550 each, which represents 1,000 barrels. Maverick is saying that the probabilty of it hitting 85$ by December 16 is the same probabilty as it NOT hitting 85$. Maverick is...