Search results

Thanks, like I said just for curiosity. I agree there's no magic bullet, but I wanted to get an idea what you preferred since you stated earlier that neither method for playing mean reversion was your top choice.

I can see your point for the most part. Thanks for all your responses. Are you willing to reveal your strategy of choice? I'm not baiting an argument, just curious.

In this context you could say that markets try to put a price on uncertainty. What do you think the purposes of markets are?

Thanks for the apology...accepted. My real issue with scalping vs ICs is the black swan risk. I don't find flash crashes to be moot at all when they could inflict serious damage on an equity position. I'll admit that a trader could potentially get in more scalps in the same time frame as...

If future volatility was known in advance there would be no options market, or stock market, or any other market because everyone would know whether their bids or offers were correct and the "future losers" would never agree to trade at an unfair price. So yes, in that universe "fair value" of...

I'm flattered that you took the time to investigate me, but I fail to see how it's material to the conversation at hand? Obviously it's some kind of ego-boost for you, and if that helps you feel more comfortable I don't mind. But what does it really matter if I've only been trading options a...

I'm afraid you're using a strawman in that argument. Of course IB will auto-liquidate on a margin call, but as I stated earlier my personal max loss in an IC never exceeds ~5% of the total AV, it's not even using margin. So auto-liquidation doesn't apply to what I'd consider a sane style of...

Yes, I would agree that you can't use so much margin for an IC that the max loss would wipe out the account. Personally I would never open a position where the max loss would be > 5% of my account. I don't agree that "options in liquid option chains tend to be priced fairly" because I...

Alright, I would agree that in theory those two strategies can be played equivalently. And if, as you say, condors would be superior in calm markets and equity scalping would outperform in volatile markets, then you must be saying that the market is volatile more often than calm? I'm not sure...

A fair amount of what you just said I do agree with. I'm still not convinced that I need to trade the underlying, but I don't dispute that my method of legging can be very similar to your method of building up delta. A problem with mean reversion, however, is the larger trend within which...

Who is a "guy like me"? You mean because I questioned your assumptions about fair value that I'm automatically in a cult? I don't even know (or care) what optionetics is... I've never attended a seminar or followed someone's magic method. I learned about options primarily by reading McMillan...

My point is that it's entirely possible to leg-out of condors prior to expiration for profit (long term, not every trade). As Maverick pointed out in such an adult manner, it does involve volatility analysis.

Wow, I think I hit a nerve... Lost a couple Gs on condors, eh Mav? Still stings a little? If you want to resume when your hissy fit is over I'd be happy to discuss the above fallacies/half-truths. Your call.

Hmmm...I don't hold my IC trades to expiration. Try again. (And please don't say "solve backward from when you would have closed the position" I'm sure you can see the problem with that train of thought)

Maverick, Please define this "fair value" you speak of...? :confused: I'll give you a hint...there's no such thing.

I partially agree. Not to get too far off-topic, but my personal feeling is that after a certain point (which varies with every strategy), backtesting quickly devolves into curve-fitting. For most of my strategies, which I intentionally keep very simple, that point is reached pretty early and...

Not obvious at all...that's why I started the thread. I'm still not convinced that people are fully exploring what SQL has to offer. For instance, there are potential solutions to the "disk access" problem that don't require you to abandon SQL. **I'm not saying SQL will ever be faster in...

Very interesting stuff. It sounds like you know what you want out of the system, and it's good to learn why SQL, .NET, etc didn't work out for you.

Yes, I think there are ways like this to work within the slower performance of row-oriented storage and still get good results. It's all a trade-off in my mind, and a good solution might be to use both types of db. I'm getting lots of good feedback on both sides. :D

This is a very interesting topic for me, since I don't have any experience with column-oriented designs. Can I ask how you handle the higher insert cost (or maybe it's not much of a cost, depending on your strategy)? Also in certain situations, wouldn't the disk seek time be greater than for...