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Well... It's now been about a month since my first trades in this journal. If all goes well, I HOPE to finish MAR positions off with an overall gain of about 3-5% after commiss. Considering the most I ever had at risk was about $2K, the return on risk would be around 20-25%. But I'm not...

This one is a prime example of being a little bit off on the timing. I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to get up to resistance when I first bought the IBM put. I was forced to take a loss because theta was killing me. I still felt the position was right so I got in again at a more...

Today's Action BOT 1 BBY MAR 50/55 call spread @ 3.00 Year to Date P/L Account Value: $10,005.00 YTD Gross P/L: 110.00 YTD Commiss: 105.00 YTD Net P/L: 5.00 YTD % P/L: 0.0%

Sure are far fewer candidates when we aren't right in the middle of (or coming up on) earnings season.

Decided that PALM is not worth the ER risk. Had to take the loss on the BBY position. Strikes are too far apart to roll effectively and I think that where I had resistance before is now going to be a pretty strong support. If it approaches the support I am looking to get in on a bull put...

AHHHH!!! Thanks, I would've hated to let that little bit of info slip by me.:D That is usually the last thing I check for during my search.

Correct to the above. Because options are more or less "priced correctly", one cannot play vertical spreads non-directionally and come out ahead. UNLESS the strategy includes risk management techniques and adjustments. These skills are what provides an edge. I personally prefer to make...

I'm not sure what you are getting at. The further OTM strikes almost always have a higher IV. This is especially true the closer you get to expiration. So the "anti edge" you speak of always exists. Of course, certain tickers have a steeper smile than others. In answer to your question...

In other news. Looks like PALM is gonna break out to the upside. Deciding right now whether to play a bull put or simply long calls. We shall see. I want to make sure it isn't going to fake me out first.:D

Getting too close to expiration to let the correction develope. Also, I am close to the short strike on my call spread. It costs me nothing to finish off the IC and also gives me a little more cushion on my calls. We will probably see a little bit more selling tomorrow, but time is wasting on...

Sold some MAR SPY cull puts also. Thought I would take advantage of the big down day today. I put my short strike at 126 and the long at 122.

Finally got in on the bullish DELL position that I wanted. I'll post on it specifically at the end of the day. I've got a project that is screaming for my attention. This big down day was a blessing, but in the future I am going to try not to have such high -delta.:p Looking right now to...

Of course!:D When screening for these conversion plays I have a tendency to find companies with high IV due to earnings expectations. I often ignore good situations like that one. It seems that sympathetically high IV might work out better than earnings related plays. In my...

I've been working on some various vertical roll (balanced and unbalanced) combinations. Depending on how I structure them, I end up in various combo positions. The interesting thing about most adjustments is that a large part of them are merely accomplished by adding one or more verticals to...

A little bummed today because I have so far been unable to get into two bullish positions that I had setup. HPQ and DELL With a pullback in either of these I will initiate a position. HAL is another potential winner, but I haven't yet decided on it.

Sounds to me like mostly averaging down. Of course, when averaging options it is necessary to roll also.

Made a difference in mine! That's why I'm willing to stay with them. Everything they can (and will) do for you more than makes up for the slightly higher commissions. ASAP talk to them about at least dropping the ticket charge. That one really bites into the profits on small trades.

Put on a PALM 40 straddle earlier when a notice came out that IV was at 60%. I figured that once the results from the RIMM hearing came back it would go back to normal. I was right about that. IV at close=48% with only a small move in the underlying. The problem was that I wasn't gutsy...

Today's Action Sold 4 SPY MAR 132/134 call spreads @ 0.20 Year to Date P/L Account Value: $10,132.00 YTD Gross P/L: 210.00 YTD Commiss: 78.00 YTD Net P/L: 132.00 YTD % P/L: 1.3%

I also trade the S&P, but mostly options like SPX or SPY. Sounds like you an I are working on the same things. I've messed around a lot with conversions into iron flies, box spreads, etc. I'm actually in search of ways to adjust a position without locking in a guaranteed loss. I realize...