DOnt know if you are referring to him or me, but beep is wrong in his post as I pointed out above.
Are naked puts really this safe????
- Thread starter RedDuke
- Start date
DOnt know if you are referring to him or me, but beep is wrong in his post as I pointed out above.
No, no, I have well understood you do not advocate selling short option.
My question was about volty: why wouldn't you have at least to worry about a volty explosion in most cases?
Regards
If the market sells off and VIX moves from like 20 - 25 over a few days, the OTM calls sold will be pushed further out on the skew typically found on index options so in addition to delta gains the vol increase will either not hurt too much to overcome deltas or still drop. When selling OTM puts a market drop hurts you on the deltas and the vol increase. I say in most cases because nothing is set in stone and a vol explosion could occur pushing all vols up all over. And the skew could change or OTM vols could go up. But in most cases a move lower in the SPX will see vols holding in the OTM skew or not moving up enough to overcome delta gains. My original point was if someone was only looking at naked options I would lean towards calls over puts since more downside risk is apparent in the next week or two.
But again for me it is moot as I would never tell anyone to sell short options. I know many people do sell far OTM strangles or naked on one side and make money for a bit but the blow outs can ruin years of profits and take out an account.
But call options are cheaper to begin with. If you sell call options you will sell them for a lower price than an equal-OTM put option. Therefore you can still get killed on a sharp move up, even with volatility dropping.
Selling calls in a downtrend can be painful if a bear market rally happens.
I understand you point of view, but for the same reason of the skew typically found on index, don't you think that no jump but a substantial increase on the market will hit your position by a mechanical increase in volty (no volty explosion)?
Regards
Yes..... but before I respond, remember I was answering a question solely in the context of a move lower.
If the market makes a sharp move up, the deltas will kill you more than any normal vol drop will since you move higher up on the skew but overall the vol should be relatively flat and all the damage mainly comes from deltas.
Is it that much to ask that people keep the context of the post in mind when reading it
Yes, if I understand you correctly I addressed that in my post.
[when you say jump you dont clarify market jump or vol jump]
No market jump, but a substantial increase I meant.
If you mean vol increase, then I addressed it. Again I said in most cases. If you are asking about exception to the norm cases then that is the exception one can never predict.
No, no I'm not asking about exception. I was just thinking about your example, and I wondered if, for the same purpose, selling short put wasn't more appropriate?
'cause of the higher volty level sold, a directionnal risk boundery , mechanical decrease in vol if markets dropped, same theta for put as call since low interest rate levels...for the first reasons.
Friendly,