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I'm new to strategy trading. I'm just starting out with Tradestation. I called Tradestation and asked them if they keep any fundamental data that I could incorporate into my strategies. For example, will a company with 3 consecutive periods of earnings growth respond to a bullish set up better...

Hi, I've been reading about strategy trading and I think I'm ready to try out trade station. But I'm a little confused about something. I thought Tradestation was a stand alone software package. When I go to the Tradestation site, it looks like I have to make Tradestation my broker. Is this...

Thank you all for the fine responses. My experience in serious trading is 6 months old. I've focused mostly on straddles following McMillian's method and I've had moderate success but I've noticed a few things. First, every straddle that I have played has broken to the side I initially...

When the market finally breaks out of this trading range I want to be ready because I think the direction it chooses will be strong for a while. I'm fairly new with options. Most of my knowledge is bookish so I would like advice from experience traders: If market goes bullish, my plan is...

How come some indexes have no volume? For example, $BKX Bank Index - Philadelphia, $BTK Biotech Index and $INX Internet Index. Can you trade these indexes? Second question, how can you tell what stock is related to a particular index. Is there a database that lists stocks and the indexes they...

Nitro, you are exactly right. McMillan is a respected name and I've done well following his straddles, but I'm beginning to feel that his calendar spread list is just "window dressing". I can't find a trade in the whole list. How did you get around this?

I'm new to trading the skew. Each morning I compile a list of options with attractive skews based on closing prices. I often find great calendar spreads and backspreads. But when I go to trade them, the prices have changed dramatically. It seems that most skews don't even last overnight. The...

Trading a select group of options is something that I am constantly thinking about. Currently, I do not have a select group of options. Instead, I download information each morning into an access database that I wrote so I can seek out very specific details on options. One thing I look at...

I've recently started studying calendar spreads and I'm confused about something. Is it better to set up a calendar spread with options tending towards high implied volatility or low implied volatility? The way I see it, if you set up on a high IV, you collect more premium but you risk a drop in...

I ran across an interesting play and I'd like to know if anyone has ever tried it. I found a good long straddle, but the underlying was between strikes so I checked out the strangle. The strangle had and 90% likelyhood of touching a breakeven in 6 months. But the likelyhood of the underlying...

"Best" is kind of subjective. If you are asking which one is the most accurate, I would think it's the cox/rubenstein model, but it's difficult to work with. If you are asking for the easiest one to work with, I would say Black Scholes. When you consider the difference in accuracy between the 2...

Here's why I don't like playing straight long or short deltas. When you factor in the bid/ask spread, the loss of premium, the commission cost and the past losses that you have to cover, you need to be "right" by a significant amount of money. Often I was right about the direction I chose, but...

All probability studies are based on the mean AND the standard deviation. Many people just ignore the SD but since you use stop losses, the SD is very important. When 2 systems appear identical, the SD can be the tie breaker. If you are playing directions (long and short), choose the one with...

I'm reading about two types of option traders. Those that follow one or two underlyings, like an index, AND those that look for extremes in implied volatility and/or technical patterns in any stock or future. Which type are you and why?

Puffygums said "A real trader will never answer that question straight." Interesting reply. It's always been my opinion that most people aren't successful at trading and instead of not telling the truth, they simply opt to tell you nothing and let you draw your own conclusions. But you are...

"Yes"... This is the second time I've seen this "oh so clever" response. Another comic genius. Please, if you don't want to participate in a serious discussion then don't post anything at all. At least show enough courtesy not to spoil this thread for the rest of us.

Pattayatrader, I'm not surprised that it is hard to find truely successful traders. The fact is that the "perceived" low cost of entry into this business and the ease that someone can get started undoubtably attracts many who are unprofessional and lose the bulk of their trading capital before...

Trajan, an excellent point. I trade long straddles and backspreads. I perfer non-directional trades. I compare my performance to the indexes strictly as a measure of performance. If the OEX is up 5% and I'm up 6%, regardless of how I got there, then I say I'm beating the index.

This is a pretty disappointing round of responses. In case you are unaware, professional organizations in various industries all over the world exchange results. It seems that some people simply assume everyone else will lie, so they see no point in telling the truth themselves - as if that...

Thanks for the advice, but you haven't addressed the question. Simple question, don't be shy - Is anyone making money? Please be specific and tell the dollar amount of your trading account devoted to options and what percentage of return you generate from trading options.