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Coach: What's your take on the market? I'm looking to potentially add one more bear call. I'm particularly concerned about the Iran situation. I read an editorial over the weekend about how Iran could increase the price of oil to $100 without ever firing a shot. All they have to do is...

Let's see. This looks like a variation on the prego fly we've been discussing. So the maximum gain would be from 1200 to 1230. The margin required would be for the 6 credit spreads so that would be $12,000 (ignoring the credit received). So the return on this (assuming the position doesn't...

Hey Donna: The next time your husband asks you to explain yourself, you could try mustering up your best Al Pacino (or was it Marlon Brando) voice and respond: "Never ask me about my business, (insert husband's name)." But seriously, what's the success rate of your strategy been? From...

How do you define FOTM versus OTM? Wouldn't the percentage for stocks be different from indices because of differing beta? Shouldn't a comparison be normalized using some parameter, maybe beta?

My month was respectable: 3% return on margin invested. I did do a stupid thing and bought a Google call. But I got out quickly after the trade started to go against me. Next time I feel the urge to do that, I'll post in the thread and hopefully someone will talk me down :)

Congrats, Pi Way to go! I wish my month had been as good. But as your friends here on the thread, it's partly our duty to temper your enthusiasm. As Coach has mentioned many times and I'm living proof, just be careful you don't start to take on more margin and risk than your original...

You got that right! However, I don't think Manning will ever win the big one. He's your classic pocket passer (albeit one of the best at it), but the best defenses know how to defend that. I was rooting for the Colts, as well. I don't get to see many Colt's games. I didn't realize Manning...

I just learned something I wasn't aware of. According to Scott at ToS trading in the SPX continues on another 15 minutes after trading in stocks closes. That explains why I've gotten some fills at almost a quarter past what I thought was the close.

Anybody considering adding a bull put for February at this point, or are we all getting a little nervous?

Hey Coach: That's a good price even though you didn't get the full fill. If you'd like, I'll take those 15 at $0.35 off your hands. That's just what I was looking for. :)

Coach: I'm glad you said 1330, because I just got filled on a 1330/1340 bear call for February for $0.65. Might be a little close, we'll have to see. I still want to take on one more bear call position and the one you suggest might be good for me at this point given that my 1330 is a...

So, I guess you're saying you're not interested in bear calls at this point.

Coach: Are you considering putting on any bear calls for February? I tried to get a bull put filled yesterday and went as much as $0.10 below the mid, but couldn't get filled. It now looks like I probably missed that boat given the turnaround.

Ryan: I searched on your posts and couldn't readily find the trade you got filled on. I'm looking for another position for February. Would you mind sharing which bull put you got filled on? Thanks.

I think I understand it and as a retail trader it doesn't seem that I could make use of this. Besides being able to put up less margin would probably get me into trouble eventually. So how did they ever come up with the word "haircut" to describe this. I don't see any connection. Thanks.

Boy! I make a post this morning, hop on a plane, and within 4 to 5 hours there's another 7 pages of what looks like really interesting information on the pregnant fly to digest. Two questions: 1) What is a haircut and a risk-based haircut. 2) Coach, I haven't had time to digest the...

I do keep a spreadsheet as well which has each leg. But I use TurboTax where you generally have to enter each trade for it to sum up correctly. I guess I could override the Turbotax entries and attach an edited version of my tading spreadsheet. Thanks for the link.

Speaking of taxes....... 2005 was the first year I traded credit spreads. I'll start with a simple question. Do I have to list every leg of each trade on my tax return?

Actually, I put on a RUT bull put for January that when executed was 9.3%% OTM from RUT price to the short strike. The trade was placed 8 weeks prior to January expiration and I got $0.65. Normally, I don't like the RUT because the market makers are much more tight-fisted than the SPX makers...

I'm not experienced with the XEO, but I'm curious why you are viewing the comparison between the XEO and SPX in terms of strikes removed from ATM. Why wouldn't percentages be the way to do the comparison. By this I mean 80 points OTM on the SPX is 80/1287 or 6.2% OTM. Why not look at premiums...