Search results

yeah let's hope so.... i usually avoid earnings season too....but not becuase i expect a company to have TRIPLED it's earnings, then fall like a rock the next few days!

thank you don, that is a reasonable position. i will still lose sleep though wondering what caused my calamity in going long CALM. i was actually hoping that the SHO list, naked shorts, etc. could be blamed. LOL.

well, perhaps then my question has less to do with SHO and more to do with levels of short interest then. i am trying my best to develop screening criteria for trade entries and i blew it big time on CALM. thinking, incorrectly, that high short interest and blow-out earnings were likley to...

what is the SHO? i got killed going long CALM last week (with it's huge short interest, great earnings, etc.). Another post made mention of the SHo list (i assume its an indicator of naked shorts outstanding?) and how CALM was on it. obviously for the future I'd like to understand how a...

thank you for your response flytiger. but i must admit ignorance on this subject. in fact i do not know what the SHO list is, or what it's implications are. this might seem a bit naive, but how much damage to a stock like CALM can naked shorting do? is it reasonable to expect it to be...

well i got my arse kicked in CALM this AM, after fully expecting to be just fine looking at pre-market. if we cannot beat these guys would you advise to stay away from all equities with high short interest (becasue we don't know if it's bona fide short shares or naked?) what's the...

...other than, of course, SPY, etc? anyone?

what are some of your favorites to trade from a credit sread / IC standpoint? i know the spx/spy are popular, but are there some others that might have an advantage to trade spreads? for instance, what about the inverse/double inverse ETFs such as DXD, TWM, etc? more volatile, but worth...

you are absolutely right - from the standpoint of margin vs acct value it is very important. i guess i am looking at ways to evaulate each trade on it's own so i can determine what the benefit of doing good spreads is. i mean, if the overall return expectation is only a couple of % pts per...

i was actually referring to the REAL YIELD of the trade, which would mean return on margin tied up for the period. ( ie credit of 100 on margin requirment of 2000 = 100/2000 = 5% return on margin) i think return on actual account value would be irrelevant, because i am basically concerned...

thanks......a couple of things stand out to me even without doing caculations. i think qqqq was trading at around 44 when you put this IC on back on 1/28. the strikes you chose are pretty tight - 38-42 on the low side, 46-50 on the high side. that means that the underlying need only move 2...

lejmorro - can you post the specifics of one or two of the last IC or spreads you did? i would like to see if i caculate 30%+ returns for your trades. i, too, have been looking at setups on indexes and stocks that show me a 15-20% return at pretty good probability of success. but, the...

in the case you mention, you'd buy the call spread becuase the premiums would be going up in that instance i assume? thanks for the explanation!

as a sidenote - when someone says "leg into" an IC does that just mean execute the high or low spread, then come in later to initate the other end? under what circumstances would you want to do that - maybe make sure the trade is going your way, then put on the spread on the opposite end? thx,

great idea to post this journal. i too would like to know how you pick your strikes - is there a % range away from strike that you like the current underlying price to be? are you using probabilites to assess your chances of being within strikes? i have just begun trading spreads, and...

hmmm....thoughts to ponder. thank you guys for your advice in this matter. fakie

johno, i trade mainly vertical credit spreads on indices and some equities (although i really just started doing this) i agree with you on not thinking in terms of % stops that would be the same across the board. options sinply move too erratically for that to be of any value. but, i am...

thanks for the input. understanding that each trader's results are different, what would be a reasonable expectation for returns on a monthly basis using credit spreads?

i am putting together my trading plan and i am wondering what is a reasonable monthly return, or yield, on trading credit spreads on indicies. i would like to return 12-15% per month using this strategy - is this within reach or should i adjust my expectations? any thoughts would certianly be...

thanks johno....what are your feelings on how close to ITM, percentage-wise, you'd let it get before liquidating the spread? also, i assume this would be done at least a week prior to expiration to try and maintain at least some time premium and avoid a loss?