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On paper, I figure that I'll own Manhattan is 2.3 years :)

You determine the strike prices based on your risk/reward tolerance, each of which go hand in hand. Closer strikes means more risk (and reward). And vice versa for further strikes. There's no magic pattern for taking positions at some time of the day or some time of the month, eg...

As mentioned by MTE, collars are not risk free unless legged into. In your example A, the risk is $100 plus the carry cost. $300 plus the carry cost for Example B. A long collar is equivalent to a bullish spread. Bullish spreads are directional trades. They will gain if the underlying...

I think that the odds are stacked against the inexperienced option trader. B/t spread slippage and delta being less than one, you have to be more right than wrong. Add to that some time decay and IV variations and you have a tough nut to crack. Without some edge, most are going to have a...

I'd second that motion. If you want to be a trader, get equities down first. They will hone your skills and reactions.

Like most (I think), I place positions when I have an opinion of the underlying. I tend to leg in because more often than not, I get better fills than accepting market prices. When right, I can get 10, 20, 30 cts more, or better. When wrong, I don't allow the last leg to hurt me for more...

As suggested, you can buy the SPY. If margin is an issue, you can buy OTM calls but that's going to involve a bit of slippage if SPY reverses (distance to strike plus some/all of the call premium).

Your first answer is correct. It's probable that in 2 out of 3 cases, in a one year period, your stock would trade b/t 90 and 110.

LOL. Don't worry about the "new topic" police. No matter what they say, you still get to walk around at home in your underwear (g). As for your SPY CC writing idea, I'm not too sure that I'd be interested in beating the S&P500 year over year . Given that the SPY is down 40% this year, it...

Leverage is a double edged sword. If the underlying doesn't cooperate, OTM options will lose more in terms of percent. Going with the previous example, Suppose XYZ is 100 and XYZ is 98 at expiration Jan 95p 3.30 Jan 100p 5.50 Jan 105p 8.50 Jan 110p 12.00 If you bot the Jan...

Jjacks, Correct. If the Bid/Ask hits > .20 and then stays > .20, I want it to beep the first time. Period. If it subsequently drops below .20 and then goes above .20 again, it should beep again. Once. This is no problem to achieve. The problem is that when the condition is being met...

Kevin, I am using an ALARM function and have the wav file in the same directory. It's functional. But as for the rest of your reply, I have no clue what it means since I'm lost in Excel. Fortunately, I have a friend who is more familair with it and perhaps she will be able to help me...

Technically, with an ATM delta of .5 you would have expected a bit more than a 1.5 gain on that 3 pt move because as the option goes more and more ITM, the delta increases. The reason that you didn't realize a profit was because IV contracted after the Fed meeting and that negated your gain. In...

Kevin, Your formula gives a VALUE# error in B1 if the value in A1 is > .30 Do you have any other suggestions? thx

Ray, You have two issues in your post, 1) Volatility in the underlying (price change) and 2) The implied volatility of the options which causes price change in the option unrelated to price change in the underlying If I understand what you meant by the potential of what you had...

Kevin, Thanks for the suggestion and the formula. I'll try to test your solution if the market gives me some free time. Since my spreadsheets are linked, it often takes me a bit just to figure out what I think that I thought that I was doing (g). DMO, I suspect that you're right...

Closing prices can be misleading. The last option sale often doesn't correlate in time with the last trade in the underlying. Other reasons for weird EOD price relationships include closing at the bid or ask (particularly when ther's a large spread) and IV changes during the day (stock goes...

Whoosh....whoosh.. whoosh... No, I did not inhale. I'm just a heavy breather :) On a more serious note, if there are any IB/DDE/TWS users proficient in Excel, I'd greatly appreciate your two cents regarding a problem I'm having. Math skills not optional :)...

I don't see how the first suggestion solves the problem. If I am correct in that the changing of a quote (bid or ask) results in a brief period of no quote which Excel interprets as zero, then A1 <> zero will return a negative conditional test for that brief instant and the moment that the new...

Hi Don. How are ya? ... and Happy Holidaze! I'm terrible in Excel. I've been working in Lotus 1-2-3 for 20 years and I still do it there, save it and then open the file in Excel. Too busy so no time to learn Excel. I agree with your conclusion. It's TWS in live mode that is the...