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Thanks for the comments. Maybe I will give it a shot with the negotiations...it's just against my nature really. I always think, "If this was my business, I would post a flat rate, tiered rate, or whatever and that would be the end of it." Therefore, I probably wouldn't be a good salesman or...

You're correct, and I didn't fully elaborate about the tiered commission schedule...I used the 1.50 rate in my example though. Round trip for 40 contracts should be: ((40 x 1.5) + 9.95) x 2 = $139.90 Good point, that would come out better, but I don't have $25K committed to options at this...

Has anyone acheived favorable bottom-line returns trading condors, butterflies, double-diagonals or other high commission strategies through ToS? I love their platform, customer service, etc, but the commissions seem like they would basically kill my "conservative" IC strategy. What I...

Agreed, thinkorswim has pretty awesome analysis tools - especially the desktop version. I also like Options Oracle (free) from SamoaSky.

Are you actually defending this guy, Spin?! What happened to the other spindr0...the one with the witty comments that I so love? http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157211 Bring back the alter-ego... :cool: And if I get blacklisted for encouraging RFT to stop being...

Yeah that may be the best thread ever...EVER!! And it also contains some of my favorite quotes of all time from this clown...are you ready? "I am writing not for the people who oppose my views. I am writing for those who will read it in the future--the web has a long written memory." :D...

Here's how I'd play this stock...just give me your gut instinct and I'll do the exact opposite. :D On a related thought: Is it possible to add a sticky post to the options section that advises new traders to read through all of riskfreetrading's posts before asking questions? He's...

And before you even ask...I CAN provide a formal proof that you're a moron. Don't make me embarass you by calling your bluff on that. :)

I know this post is getting a little old, but I can't resist... Riskfree, you have got to be one of the most entertaining posters to watch on this board...top 5 or better. Honest to God it makes me grin just to read your incoherent rambling sometimes. And by the time I finally get through...

Trade still alive? Hope you stuck with it past Monday! :D

Thanks both of you, now I understand. It's a theoretical advantage that may in fact exist in the real world sometimes, it just doesn't exist long enough for me to gain an edge from it due to computer (and maybe non-computer) arbs. In that case I do agree with Mark that credit spreads would be...

Ok bear with me on this, I still feel like I'm missing something. I understand your point about arb'ing with a box spread if one side was more "valuable" than the other. Maybe you could help me figure out if I'm not getting the point of the McMillan example? Or if you disagree with his point...

Thank you Mark, good points. Would the other part of the argument - that bear put spreads should accumulate value more effectively than call spreads on a quick move in UL - mean that a put spread at $3 and call spread at $2 are actually not equivalent? For instance if the stock drops 20%...

Last night I was re-reading a section of "Options as a Strategic Investment" where McMillan recommends using bear put spreads versus bear call spreads. His reasoning is that 1) the put spread should accrue more value than the corresponding call spread on a quick underlying move and 2) early...

Yeah, I'm leaving MB, partly for the premium issue, but also because they don't offer spreads yet...?? Sometimes they say within a month, other times they won't give an ETA. Not worth the hassle anymore. I'm looking at ThinkorSwim, but can anyone confirm from their own experience that the...

thanks johnny, i see what you're saying. I think they are holding the entire premium though. Spoke with the head of their trading dept recently who agreed that the situation is unfair for traders. He basically said that Penson makes the rules and his hands are tied.

Excel can be ok if some coding is included, but I agree it reaches limits with this kind of project. I'm currently transferring an older Excel application I created for pairs trading with stocks over to a database with VB front-end. It was somewhat similar to what you're trying to do, screened...

Just a heads up MTE, as far as I can tell, ToS uses the same clearing method as MB. I've spoken with a couple reps who have confirmed that premiums will not be added to my buying power and that they don't pay "short interest" (their term). There seem to be way too many people at these brokers...

One of the better (free) tools I've stumbled across is Options Oracle. Once you've found a stock you're comfortable with, start modeling the different strikes and expirations until you get a R:R that you are also comfortable with. To get that initial list of stocks, you could use a free stock...

loufah, you are correct in terms of net-equity, but I don't want my broker netting out the position for me. I want the full $1700 premium from your example which I would then use to purchase further shares, options, etc. If I was simply trading IV on this call, your example would be more...