Great Employment Report

[LacesOut]

Yeah, I'm not one to trade that way either...OTOH, some creative stuff can be done with options if one has the urge to hold thru various announcements.

There's no doubt a lot of money to be made IF you get it right.
I tried 3 times and got smoked each time. Learned my lesson.

 

[der_kommissar]

There's no doubt a lot of money to be made IF you get it right.
I tried 3 times and got smoked each time. Learned my lesson.

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...Typically the days leading up to one of these announcements will either be in "drift mode" or range mode...Those are opportunities to leg into spreads in options...If done correctly, you will typically get into them for less than what they are trading at (if executed all at once)...With futures trading and the need to have stops in the market, it can sometimes be far too "binary" and the risk of getting the stop hit and then having the market reverse in your favor is always a big possibility.

Of course, there is always a great deal of risk in legging into spreads, but without ticket charges, etc...1-2 lots at a time can be done and it is certainly not as much risk as futures trading (fractional positions, etc).

 

[LacesOut]

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...Typically the days leading up to one of these announcements will either be in "drift mode" or range mode...Those are opportunities to leg into spreads in options...If done correctly, you will typically get into them for less than what they are trading at (if executed all at once)...With futures trading and the need to have stops in the market, it can sometimes be far too "binary" and the risk of getting the stop hit and then having the market reverse in your favor is always a big possibility.

Of course, there is always a great deal of risk in legging into spreads, but without ticket charges, etc...1-2 lots at a time can be done and it is certainly not as much risk as futures trading (fractional positions, etc).

Sure but then you are often playing a VOL game and pre and post report you see some stupid VOL and the IVs never seemed to play my way.
I found it to be a losing strategy for me but no doubt there are some guys who can crush the report.

 

[der_kommissar]

Sure but then you are often playing a VOL game and pre and post report you see some stupid VOL and the IVs never seemed to play my way.
I found it to be a losing strategy for me but no doubt there are some guys who can crush the report.

Fair point. From an event risk standpoint, I find the constant scheduling of CB talking heads 10x more annoying than the Employment Report the first Friday of each month...In the old days, you basically scheduled your trading around a few key events each month...Now, it's a near constant calendar full of outside influences and Open Mouth Operations. Such a difference from even a decade ago.

 

[LacesOut]

Fair point. From an event risk standpoint, I find the constant scheduling of CB talking heads 10x more annoying than the Employment Report the first Friday of each month...In the old days, you basically scheduled your trading around a few key events each month...Now, it's a near constant calendar full of outside influences and Open Mouth Operations. Such a difference from even a decade ago.

Yes I remember those days - rarely would an unscheduled event move the markets significantly (maybe once every 1-3 months).
Now I'm bag holding for long term so I care less about the short term machinations. But trading oppies n futures 15 years ago was much easier, and cheaper. I remember I was buying crude calls, 4-6 months out, a few dollars above the underlying, for under $1000. This was when a 50 cent move was considered 'big'.