Going down with the ship ...

Originally posted by aphexcoil
I refuse to believe that, based on the size of all world markets, there aren't a few less-known strategies still around to perhaps arb something and make a killing.
More...
There are, but you can't do it with retail commissions, retail slippage, and retail execution. You'll find the occasional good arb as a retail trader, but you're better off trading with either a directional or volatility bias, IMO.
 
Originally posted by daniel_m
jeeezus...

with all this deliberation over the efficacy of one solitary IBM trade you'd think the fate of the world rested on the outcome...

the point isn't whether or not the ibm trade is a good one (i'm sure all the gurus bashing it have taken the opposite side - yeah right!)... the point is that it was just an ad hoc "hmm, this looks good" spur of the moment thing... like a maiden waltzing through the countryside, stopping to smell whatever flower tickles her fancy...
which, in my not so humble opinion, is no way to make it in this biz...

if you wanna play at being george soros or jim rogers, .. ok, great... then it's time to hit the books and get a solid economic grounding... then your reasons are real reasons, not psychological rationalisations..

and yes, you are right, there are almost countless ways to make it with options... do you REALLY think you know what you're doing with them? seriously? bro, i bet you haven't got the slightest... when you can understand and explain everything in a book like McMillan, and have the know how to execute the trades, you can probably start to formulate some strategies... until then, it's just guesswork and luck...
More...

Daniel,

You give good advice. However, I do have a good solid background on options. I know enough about them to at least slow the bleeding if I turn out to be a poor options player.

I didn't expect the market to completely cave in, so I wrapped those long puts with further OTM short puts. This is a sound strategy. If, as I thought I saw in the charts, IBM goes down in the next three weeks, I will have a decent return on a smaller risk.

I own McMillan's books. He's a great author for options trading. However, the only way to get proficient (in my opinion) is to actually trade these things with real money.

I am tired of paper trading. I don't learn anything about emotional control from paper-trading.

At least this way, if I do lose money, I'm feeling pain. I think everyone has a tolerance for pain and once that is reached, you are forced to make corrective changes.
 
I'll tell you what keeps me in line:

My wife and 13-month-old daughter. I want them to live well and have all that they need. Kinda gives me the impetus not to be reckless with the old trading account.

Back when I was young and single I didn't give as much of a shit as I do now, so maybe it's just part of getting older.
 
Originally posted by aphexcoil
I think everyone has a tolerance for pain and once that is reached, you are forced to make corrective changes.
More...
There are also some people who never learn, despite the pain.

One historical figure comes to mind....

     F-R-E-E-D-O-M........
 
Originally posted by aphexcoil


Ever notice how there is always someone to say your strategy sucks? Its easy around here -- yet very few people are willing to post any real trades.
More...

LOL!! ROFL!! ROFLMAO!!!! now isnt this the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.. let me think.. who was it that made over 900 posts on ET BEFORE making a single "real" trade?

-qwik
 
Originally posted by qwiktrade


LOL!! ROFL!! ROFLMAO!!!! now isnt this the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.. let me think.. who was it that made over 900 posts on ET BEFORE making a single "real" trade?

-qwik
More...

Right, and was I being cruel to anyone by throwing in a bunch of "your relationship with your mom must have been bad" bullshit? No!

Granted, I talked a lot -- so its out of my system now. I'm trading. Cut me some slack.
 
Just read pieces of this thread and am getting a good chuckle..

alphie: You really don't know options. A couple of trades and a few books aren't going to do it.

I see you making the same mistake with your talk on e-mini trading. I don't get it. You had a plan. You had a system. You back tested, paper traded, talked a good game - but - you never played it. Why not go back to your system and try it? I guarantee you that you'll blow through your cash trading options much faster than via trading your original plan.

I also promise that the easy arbs that you think you're seeing don't exist (at least not at your stage of the game).
 
Originally posted by def
Just read pieces of this thread and am getting a good chuckle..

alphie: You really don't know options. A couple of trades and a few books aren't going to do it.
More...

Def,

I really must say that this is just BS. I don't care if you are George Soros or the options expert of the world, every one of us starts somewhere in this game.

To say that somebody doesn't stand a chance because of lack of experience is sort of a catch 22, isn't it? In order to get to the point where you truly understand things, it requires a period of mistakes where you build up that experience.

I've read enough books on math, statistics and just about every other formula and none of them really applied to the real-world "precisely."

So, I decided to write my own very basic program to download quotes from YAHOO and calculate standard deviations for whatever stock I want to trade. I then pipe that through a real-time filter and use IB's quote to send me a signal of when an option may be overpriced on underpriced based on volatility levels.

I will guarantee you this much. I may blow through this account and several more before I finally figure out a distinct edge.

My old system doesn't work with my capital level. I made a fatal error in paper-trading 50k and scaling positions only to find out that it won't apply to a 5k account. What am I going to do, by 1/10'th of an ES or NQ contract?

People starting out with a little capital are at a distinct disadvantage because of many SEC rules.

This is a hard game and if you want to learn, you have to fall on your face to succeed.

I will watch and observe options long enough to find an edge. However, to just say, "hey there are better people out there than you at this" is really pointless because I can guarantee each of them went through a period of brutal first-learned experiences.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top