Finding your bread and butter

[.sigma]

So many options traders start with iron condors. They work well until they don’t. I doubt seriously that iron condors will end up being your bread and butter trade.

Hey Bobby, glad to see you posting. Loved your journal.

Anyway I wanted to ask, currently where do you reside in your journey as far as strategies go?

Meaning since condors aren't your bread-and-butter, what is?

I'm inclined to trade many butterflies these days. They've become my favorite strategy, the whole myriad of them (broken-wing, skip-strike, iron fly, double fly, long fly, short fly etc..)

Wing spreads are great in general but I like positioning weekly long fly's in many products.

 

[Wheezooo]

So you just have ones where you can live with the loss? No favorite option trade that you keep going back to or make the majority of trades with?

You have a faulty premise. No strategy has an 'inherent' advantage over any other. Same holds true for buying and selling. Anyone teaching you otherwise is selling you a false bill of goods. Some positions just allow you to sleep better. Sleep is good.

 

[Bushwacked9]

You have a faulty premise. No strategy has an 'inherent' advantage over any other. Same holds true for buying and selling. Anyone teaching you otherwise is selling you a false bill of goods. Some positions just allow you to sleep better. Sleep is good.

Well I agree and disagree at the same time ... Yes no strategy is perfect or a winner all the time ... However there could be some that just make more sense to you and you find easier to trade than others because you have a system for it and practiced it quite a bit.

That's all I meant by that .... Not that ICs win rate would be any better than another. It all comes down to the person ... I believe

 

[.sigma]

You have a faulty premise. No strategy has an 'inherent' advantage over any other. Same holds true for buying and selling. Anyone teaching you otherwise is selling you a false bill of goods. Some positions just allow you to sleep better. Sleep is good.

While I concur, let me play that advocative devil.. YES, no "inherent" advantage.. but...

Depending on your molecular structure and brain wits...
One can create a synthetic advantage.

Where... for ex: Dude is a trading wizard. He loves fading jaded lizards...
But hates and waits to get paid in silver.
He uses advanced GARCH models he got from his step dad who was/is also a wizard.
Calculate the dispersion, and wallah, you are trading weekly iron-flies within implied--spaces.

So yes theres no inherent numerical life-less f(x)=NUMB function BUT add some human witty intellect and watch him go!

 

[tommcginnis]

So you just have ones where you can live with the loss? No favorite option trade that you keep going back to or make the majority of trades with?

There are half-a-dozen fairly good graphics with basic outlines of option strategies for given market set-ups. We pick our bread&butter from something else. For me, it's losses. Show me some strategies with $1 positive expectancy, and I'll *probably* choose the one with the smallest number of losses -- not the $2 winners, but the 25¢25¢25¢25¢25¢25¢25¢25¢. I favor systematic operation; I favor base-hits over homeruns. That addresses your original query.

 

[Wheezooo]

While I concur, let me play that advocative devil.. YES, no "inherent" advantage.. but...

Depending on your molecular structure and brain wits...
One can create a synthetic advantage.

Where... for ex: Dude is a trading wizard. He loves fading jaded lizards...
But hates and waits to get paid in silver.
He uses advanced GARCH models he got from his step dad who was/is also a wizard.
Calculate the dispersion, and wallah, you are trading weekly iron-flies within implied--spaces.

So yes theres no inherent numerical life-less f(x)=NUMB function BUT add some human witty intellect and watch him go!

Well done.

 

[Sweet Bobby]

Hey Bobby, glad to see you posting. Loved your journal.

Anyway I wanted to ask, currently where do you reside in your journey as far as strategies go?

Meaning since condors aren't your bread-and-butter, what is?

I'm inclined to trade many butterflies these days. They've become my favorite strategy, the whole myriad of them (broken-wing, skip-strike, iron fly, double fly, long fly, short fly etc..)

Wing spreads are great in general but I like positioning weekly long fly's in many products.

Hello Sigma! My bread and butter trade is selling the 10 delta put in /ES at 60 DTE. I manage the put at 40% profit or close it at 21 DTE, regardless of profit or loss. So far this year, the average hold time on the trade is 7 days. Best wishes on your journey.

 

[taowave]

Hey Sigma,pretty sure you know that an IC is basically a bunch of butterflys stacked together..

may I ask which broker you trade with??

I am trading with IB and it seems like I wind up paying about 6 bucks for 4 legged spreads(1.50 per contract)..

TOS would charge me 2.60 for the same spreads...

Any input appreciated

Hey Bobby, glad to see you posting. Loved your journal.

Anyway I wanted to ask, currently where do you reside in your journey as far as strategies go?

Meaning since condors aren't your bread-and-butter, what is?

I'm inclined to trade many butterflies these days. They've become my favorite strategy, the whole myriad of them (broken-wing, skip-strike, iron fly, double fly, long fly, short fly etc..)

Wing spreads are great in general but I like positioning weekly long fly's in many products.

 

[.sigma]

Hey Sigma,pretty sure you know that an IC is basically a bunch of butterflys stacked together..

may I ask which broker you trade with??

I am trading with IB and it seems like I wind up paying about 6 bucks for 4 legged spreads(1.50 per contract)..

TOS would charge me 2.60 for the same spreads...

Any input appreciated

Hey Tao, yes I am aware of the relationship between condors and flys, I love me some wing-spreads!

I trade with tastyworks and TOS!

 

[Bushwacked9]

Hey Sigma,pretty sure you know that an IC is basically a bunch of butterflys stacked together..

may I ask which broker you trade with??

I am trading with IB and it seems like I wind up paying about 6 bucks for 4 legged spreads(1.50 per contract)..

TOS would charge me 2.60 for the same spreads...

Any input appreciated

Can you not call Ameritrade and get them to lower contracts?