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Thanks DP, you make a good point and I might have been too conservative here. My thinking was that since I was bearish going into the calendar and it was turning into a bullish one, along with not wanting to be short vol with the Syria uncertainty, I should take the opportunity to close the...

Out for a scratch at a strike touch. Don't want to be long deltas on Monday morning after we dropped so hard over the last hour.

Adding some additional short index exposure with SPY 13Sep 170 put from 3.74, 2-lot.

Long the SPX Sep13/19 1655 put calendar from 5.55. Looking for a small downward move next week. Hat tip to atticus for the trade idea. The third time should be the charm on my short SPX theme here. “Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win." Vince Lombardi

Your diagrams seem correct, as are Natenberg's...he has just combined the long call and the short call into a long call spread. Check out pp. 202-211 where he covers vertical spreads in detail.

I do not have experience with the other brokers you mentioned, but I generally get pretty good commissions on SPY with IB using the SMART Rebate option, and I am a low volume trader. For example, yesterday I bought two SPY options for a total of 77 cents commission, and I usually do not have to...

Thanks for the great advice, justrading. I have not been formally tracking MAE/MFE but will start doing that. I anticipate that it may be especially useful for my short vol trades in which spot moves around quite a bit during the period I am holding.

Timing is everything. My SPY puts were quite profitable on the sharp drop after the open, but I did not interpret the sharp, and very visible, reversal at the bottom as I should have. I closed both the SPY puts on the way back up at quite a bit less than I could have at the bottom (avg 4.60), as...

Closed half at 4.75. Short ES from 47, target 35 stop 51.

7K to 200K in six months...what a story. I can imagine how hard it must be after starting that way. Thanks for the advice also. I'm focusing on options, particularly the strategies in this journal, and working every day to improve my analytical tools, feel for the market, and trade management...

When I first started trading full-time last fall, I thought that becoming consistently profitable would be the equivalent of a one-mile nature walk. Instead it seems more akin to a 50-mile forced march through a mangrove swamp with a hundred pound pack. Looking back I can’t believe how...

Thanks for the kind words. If I understand you correctly, you prefer to always have a short portfolio delta. Just out of curiosity, why is that?

Long SPY 13Sep 170 put from 4.25, 2-lot, basically a short delta one position. I still feel that there is a downside bias to the market and the SPX daily chart looks pretty bearish to me. Obviously a little risky with NFP tomorrow morning but I think the r/r is favorable here with a lot of room...

In trading, as in battle, one can argue that discretion is the better part of valor. I put this spread on nearly a week ago with ES at 1636 and continued to feel very good about it (with up to a 15% unrealized gain) until after today's pretty bullish price action. With ES currently at 1652 (as...

Out shortly after the open at 4.46.

Long the Sep6 160 SPY call from 4.51. Intended as a partial hedge for my bearish fly given that we are quite a bit off the midday lows and that there does not seem to be a lot of fear in the market looking forward at this point. Happy to take the loss on the hedge if the market keeps going down...

+1, nice call.

I think SPX will likely end the day higher than Friday's close, not sure if ES will rally any further but am prepared to hold to 1660. Anything "better" than that and I'm pleasantly surprised. In my opinion, that's the great thing about a fly like this, it gives one the flexibility to let a call...

Closed the vertical for a scratch. It served its purpose for me, and I think the reaction to the missile reports shows how jittery the market still is despite the Syria delay. Still expecting a solid up day tomorrow but a move downward by the end of this week or early next.

Long the ES Sep6 1640/1655 call spread from 7.25. I had to "pay up" for the spread a bit, but thought it was worth it. The goal is partly a price bet on a small rally through Tuesday and partly protection for my ES fly (1615 body strike), which I am keeping open as I am still bearish over the...