HowardCohodas Index Options Credit Spread Trading Journal

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Quote from Martinghoul:

I don't really want to join the discussion here, since it covers the same ground as the T2W one. However, as a (somewhat active) participant of the T2W thread, I am curious who the "respected members" you're referring to are, Howard?
Did I misrepresent what you said about my back testing methodology? I could look it up, but that was my impression.
 
Quote from atticus:

The mid 2007 through all of 2008 period would've wiped out any dotm credit spreads. Howard states that he never had a month during this (or any other) period worse than +3.5%, backtest and real-money, and has not shown any gaps in trading during his real-money activity.

Obviously his backtest avoids any volatility threshold he defines in hindsight and therefore involves large gaps where his system was inactive. Anyone can look at the chart and avoid a period in question and simply adjust the backtest parameters to to avoid such known "high volatility" outcomes.

This makes Howard a fraud with respect to this BS backtest.

Correction:

He never had a losing month during his backtest. He never had a month worse than +3.5% during paper-trading. My conclusion stands.
 
Quote from atticus:

The mid 2007 through all of 2008 period would've wiped out any dotm credit spreads. Howard states that he never had a month during this (or any other) period worse than +3.5%, backtest and real-money, and has not shown any gaps in trading during his real-money activity.

Obviously his backtest avoids any volatility threshold he defines in hindsight and therefore involves large gaps where his system was inactive. Anyone can look at the chart and avoid a period in question and simply adjust the backtest parameters to to avoid such known "high volatility" outcomes.

This makes Howard a fraud with respect to this BS backtest.
And how do you characterize yourself when your premise is demonstrably false; a fraud, a scam artist, an incompetent, a careless in posting but nonetheless successful trader? You come off as a wise curmudgeon, but your posts frequently attack straw men. I mostly ignore you, but when you escalate to this level with a false premise, you mislead those with less knowledge like falconview. He worships you, tries to understand your posts and then posts the most irresponsible and incoherent statements with complete certainty. Seldom an "I believe" or an "I think" to qualify. The certainty of the ignorant.

But you are not ignorant. Nonetheless you state things with certainty which are false as well. Everyone should forgive falconview because of his ignorance. What you do cannot be forgiven. You are much more dangerous and should be suspect by all who read your posts.
 
Quote from HowardCohodas:

And how do you characterize yourself when your premise is demonstrably false; a fraud, a scam artist, an incompetent, a careless in posting but nonetheless successful trader? You come off as a wise curmudgeon, but your posts frequently attack straw men. I mostly ignore you, but when you escalate to this level with a false premise, you mislead those with less knowledge like falconview. He worships you, tries to understand your posts and then posts the most irresponsible and incoherent statements with complete certainty. Seldom an "I believe" or an "I think" to qualify. The certainty of the ignorant.

But you are not ignorant. Nonetheless you state things with certainty which are false as well. Everyone should forgive falconview because of his ignorance. What you do cannot be forgiven. You are much more dangerous and should be suspect by all who read your posts.
 
Thank you for the civil tone. I truly appreciate it.

Quote from RichardRimes:

It is DEFINITELY the gap in VOL that makes it impossible to sometimes get out safely and intact of a dotm and while u may have a "rule" that says I'll close when loss is 20%...you can wake up one morning with the VOL gapped up 300 basis pts and the loss you had last nite of %10 is now 80%...sure the other side of the IC will have a (small) gain but the vol changes that as well. Getting out of these when shit hits the fan is the problem....what if your on vacation or taking the day off or in a place when you can't easily trade (as I was in the last big drop)?
That is what contingency market orders are all about. A huge overnight gap would indeed be a black swan event. But you should consider whether if effects all indexes to the same extent and all series within the same index to the same extent. The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. So you cannot conclusively state that such an event will wipe out an account.

Quote from RichardRimes:

Basically you have to have a ton of money and willingness to lose a ton to trade these and they are NOT the best option to trade by most definitions. Granted it is HOW the trade is managed and the "luck" of the person managing the trade. Managing a trade in my very humble opinion is just not teachable and to think you can "lecture" or teach someone else (and charge money to do so)..you are deluding yourself and everyone else.
As a student of pedagogy, I believe I can teach my management methods. At least two people I know adequately managed the blip at the end of Feb using the same methods that would be appropriate for a black swan event.
 
howard, i know atticus pretty well and i will tell you he railed against the certain failure of these types of spreads for years. i went from credit spreads to other vol trading upon his nasty insistence and am quite grateful making a hell of a living. if you can mentally edit out the well deserved and undeserved insults you will see someone who is actually out to help you.

i will admit i'm quite distressed to see you want to or are trying to sell yourself to others with this strat.
 
Quote from domestic:

howard, i know atticus pretty well and i will tell you he railed against the certain failure of these types of spreads for years. i went from credit spreads to other vol trading upon his nasty insistence and am quite grateful making a hell of a living. if you can mentally edit out the well deserved and undeserved insults you will see someone who is actually out to help you.

i will admit i'm quite distressed to see you want to or are trying to sell yourself to others with this strat.
What volatility trading strategy do you use?
 
Quote from HowardCohodas:

I mostly ignore you, but when you escalate to this level with a false premise, you mislead those with less knowledge like falconview. He worships you, tries to understand your posts and then posts the most irresponsible and incoherent statements with complete certainty. Seldom an "I believe" or an "I think" to qualify. The certainty of the ignorant.

But you are not ignorant. Nonetheless you state things with certainty which are false as well. Everyone should forgive falconview because of his ignorance. What you do cannot be forgiven. You are much more dangerous and should be suspect by all who read your posts.

Quote from HowardCohodas to falconview:

It's actually getting pretty boring. I miss dialoging with you. That was an intellectual challenge. These guys don't come up to your shoe tops.
 
Quote from domestic:

howard, i know atticus pretty well and i will tell you he railed against the certain failure of these types of spreads for years. i went from credit spreads to other vol trading upon his nasty insistence and am quite grateful making a hell of a living. if you can mentally edit out the well deserved and undeserved insults you will see someone who is actually out to help you.

i will admit i'm quite distressed to see you want to or are trying to sell yourself to others with this strat.

IMO it is akin to asking someone to fly blind, and I take issue with that.

I like to help when I can, but I have zero interest in helping this fool.

For the record: I've seen Domestic's runs, not BS curve-fitted backtests, but real dollars at risk. I've seen his months well in excess of $100k wins. This is on an account in which he sweeps the gains out monthly (zero compounding), and we're talking low six figure balance.

There are probably less than a half-dozen traders on here that can equal his consistency and $wins. I personally know of one or two at most.
 
Quote from domestic:

howard, i know atticus pretty well and i will tell you he railed against the certain failure of these types of spreads for years. i went from credit spreads to other vol trading upon his nasty insistence and am quite grateful making a hell of a living. if you can mentally edit out the well deserved and undeserved insults you will see someone who is actually out to help you.

i will admit i'm quite distressed to see you want to or are trying to sell yourself to others with this strat.

First, we know that credit spread strategies can work, year after year, if managed well - just like any other strategies. Even in 2008. See my earlier post.

Second, I'm not so sure Howard is here necessarily to "sell himself" to others vs. more he's just sharing his trading approach. Just like OptionsCoach, Phil. And Phil actually had something to sell - a book. But I never got the drift that he was out hawking/praying on people. I don't think Howard is either.

Third... fine. Screw credit spreads. Let's hear ideas on how to generate the equivalent 3% to 5% per month, annualized. So instead of attacking Howard and his strategy - offer something else. Other ideas. So that all can see what the other possible alternatives are.
 
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