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Had another look at the attached GLD chart, and for the last 3 years there's not only been Autumn rallies into December, but also Winter rallies into March. Based on those seasonal patterns, plus the dollar's current high level and the good chance of more money printing coming soon, I decided...

Good points. I sold a few Jan GLD 150/149 Bull Put Spreads back in June, figuring the 150 level would hold. So far, so good. I don't buy Single Options much any more, but am considering some GLD January Calls if GLD breaks out above 160. :cool:

Anyone buying GLD Calls and/or selling Bull Put Spreads in preparation for another Autumn Rally? GLD has had a nice consolidation since May, between 150-160. I've also read Open Interest in the Futures Market was at an extremely low level in July - normally a contrarian indicator. On the...

I love SBUX enough to currently be at a loss in my October Bull Put Spreads! :eek:

He's got my vote, but doesn't Mr. Market prefer the other guy? My favorite theory is: The U.S. Stock Market is the best place to put your money, because it's the "least dirty undershirt"!! :p

You gotta love Market Gossip. It's half the fun! If there's one thing I'm pretty sure about it's this: My opinion about what the Market will do, plus $1.50, will probably get me a nice cup of coffee at Starbucks! (depending on local prices...) :)

I think this applies to me, because all my trades right now are 1-4 Single Leg Credit Spreads. Either I'm legging into an Iron Condor, or just trading a directional Credit Spread. At $3.00 each via thinkorswim a group of 4 costs $12.00. The minimum price for this at tradeMONSTER is $12.50...

That's the big question of course. When will the $SPX go to new highs? I certainly hope we do so this year, because all my directional trades are Longs (via Bull Put Spreads). But Mr. Market, could you PLEASE just keep the SPY below this line for 8 more days? :D

Thanks. I should have been able to figure that out, but there was a brain cloud.... Started a new thread about this topic if you want to check it out. I put your quotes in there. :)

From the other Thread: If you trade SPY, then 10 spreads is probably your minimum to make any meaningful return in absolute terms. These are the brokers and their commissions for 10 spreads: TOS: $60 IB: $28 TradeMONSTER: $20 OptionsHouse: $18.5 eOption: $16 For 10 ICs (40...

Great info! Over the years I've gone from Dean Witter, to Scottrade, to Options Express, to thinkorswim. So don't want the hassle of changing again, unless I'm really blown away with a better deal for the way I trade. Will see what everyone says... :cool:

I saw that $9.99 + 0.75 there too. I think I had it changed later to a flat rate of $1.50 per Option. I also get a $39.95 cash refund each month from t.o.s. if I do enough trades. But I forget how many trades I need to get that...duhh... Just started a new Thread to try and get to the...

What are the pros and cons for the different Options trading commissions at: thinkorswim Interactive Brokers TradeMONSTER OptionsHouse eOption :confused: Thanks in advance!

Looks like there may be a catch at tradeMONSTER: Options $0.50 Per Contract* * The commission is calculated by counting the total number of contracts across all legs. The charge is $0.50 per contract, with a minimum commission of $12.50 for single leg orders and $15.00 per spread for...

Whoa! I thought t.o.s. was the best deal in town, and it's the worst! Thanks for the info. :eek:

Quite right, though I remember back in the late 80's paying a few hundred dollars in commissions to buy 100 shares of stock!! Times sure have changed. No, that's $1.50 per Option Contract at thinkorswim. Each leg = 2 Options = $3.00 x 2 legs = $6.00 per IC. Very important to factor in...

Here's some stats to show the influence of Time & Commissions on the Percentage Gains and Risk/Reward Ratios for SPY 150/151/130/129 Iron Condors, with SPY@140.00: September: Mark Credit: .13 (.06 comm) = net .07 % Gain: 8.05% Risk/Reward Ratio: 12.43/1 October: Mark Credit: .24 (.06...

I'm only opening SPY Iron Condors these days, so there's no correlation involved. But I see your point about it adding to the "Total Risk" if there was! There's a SPY group expiring in every month from August-January. About 1/2 of them are completed (Top & Bottom Legs) and 1/2 with just 1...

I see what you mean now. No, I don't just do 1 IC (group) at a time to keep the risk at 2%. Have quite a few going at once and closing over different months. So the "Total Risk" is # of IC (groups) X 2% each. So if you have 10 IC (groups) you're risking 20% of your Equity, as does a Stock...

The Upper Leg I opened yesterday gave me a credit of .15 Yesterday I could have opened the Lower Leg for .17 But if I wait for SPY to pull back I should get a larger credit for the Bull Put Spread (the Puts become more valuable when SPY goes down), which is why I prefer to Leg-In to Iron...