Adjusting an Iron Condor

[dagnyt]

Quote from forex-forex:

Mark .....read the OP closer, I think he left out some important details.

For the Calls to have fallen so much over a 1 1/2 week period it means that those Puts have gone up a lot and are close to ITM or even ITM. That means the position is in the RED - or close to it - at this point and the problem is the PUTS not the CALLS. So it's either close entire IC or hang on for a possible further loss or gain.

forex-forex

To me, the put problem is an entirely separate issue. And it's a much more important issue, but I have found that whether I hold the puts, roll the puts, or simply take the loss and close the puts, that the prudent thing to do is to close the calls.

I see no need to worry about whether the entire trade is in the red or not. Nothing can be done about that. The decision is whether to adjust the position.

But that does not stop me from buying (and suggesting that others buy) the calls, spending a few nickels. I know that some don't want to lose a few extra nickels on the call side when they are already losing on the put side. as I said, IMHO that's not prudent.

Mark

 

[dagnyt]

Quote from rluser:

I am in a similar position and have been considering this. My contract is MNX (apr) and I am looking at the call side. There is still quite a lot extrinsic value in the put side so it is tempting to move the calls up a few points for a small loss. No doubt tomorrow could force a decision on me.

When you have such an unbalanced position, I believe that it should no longer be considered an iron condor.

You have a risky put position. Make an appropriate decision as to how to handle it going forward.

But the call position is so inexpensive, can contribute so little to your future earnings, that I no longer have any interest in being short that spread. Thus I enter a bid and wait. Often the bid is filled.

If you truly want to roll those calls to lower strikes to collect some extra cash (and increase upside risk), you will discover that you must pay too much for the short spread when you enter a 4-way order to roll. If you can buy in those calls when the market is weak, you will get a much better price. And even if you never roll up, what have you lost? Peanuts.

Mark

 

[dagnyt]

Quote from jwcapital:

By exiting the bear spreads for .20-.25, I increase my profit on this side of the IC...

Even at the low, I was still OTM, but patient.

You and I appear to be in agreement.

The put spread is handled separately and the call spreads are covered at a low price.

I've been covering those cheap spreads for a while now and overall, it's made a significant contribution to my bottom line.

Mark

 

[rluser]

Quote from dagnyt:

When you have such an unbalanced position, I believe that it should no longer be considered an iron condor.

You have a risky put position. Make an appropriate decision as to how to handle it going forward.

But the call position is so inexpensive, can contribute so little to your future earnings, that I no longer have any interest in being short that spread. Thus I enter a bid and wait. Often the bid is filled.

If you truly want to roll those calls to lower strikes to collect some extra cash (and increase upside risk), you will discover that you must pay too much for the short spread when you enter a 4-way order to roll. If you can buy in those calls when the market is weak, you will get a much better price. And even if you never roll up, what have you lost? Peanuts.

Mark

Perhaps I have been unclear, but I think you are misreading between the lines.

My IC was placed a bit later than OP's with the result that the bear spread was threatened. If I read properly, OP elected to take some profits and some more risk. In contrast, I was contemplating spending a little to widen the IC.