is ATM the best ?

Just load up on the nickel otm calls.

Just kidding. A well defined time frame can open up the possibilities as long as it is stuck to. I once in a while like to buy the next month out otm calls. I have had some pretty good succes with them while selling some of the front month against em, but sometimes I just speculate. I generally don't like front month otm calls unless I'm just using them to limit my risk and don't really consider them a good hedge nor would I speculate with them unless they were real cheap in nominal terms(say .10 or .20) not on a IV basis.

I would say stick atm and itm. One caveat, atms can be tricky sometimes as they will go to parity quickly as expiration approaches and the stock rallies.
 
don't want to be odd man out, but the question is Delta and gamma per $, not Delta and gamma per sh. So, if the ATM costs $2 and is Delta 50 and Gamma 10 and the 5% out costs $1 is 40 and 6, you would get more Delta and Gamma per sh buying the 5% out. Of course, you would also have more decay and vol at risk.

The example above is just to show the proper way to compare. I haven't done the math to determine whether these exact #s make sense for a given vol scenario, but the fact remains true regardless: To compare 2 options, do your Greeks per $, not sh.
 
oops, typo on prior email:

Should read: you would get more Delta and Gamma per $$$$$ buying the 5% out. Of course, you would also have more decay and vol at risk.

not

"you would get more Delta and Gamma per sh buying the 5% out. Of course, you would also have more decay and vol at risk."
 
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