Scalping within a long straddle

Quote from Div Poacher:

There are two big problems with most "exotic" options strategies, for the commoner.

One is option commission. I'm probably like most people, that opened an account with a big retailer. It would cost around $80 to set up a 4-sided position. Yes, I know about IB and others now... but it will be a few months before I unwind everything.

The other is options approval. You need a lotta moolah to write short puts and calls.
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Since you like trading dividend paying stocks, you could hold some in your account to provide margin and sell straddles, strangles, etc against the stock and have the best of both worlds. Sure it limits your upside and may present you with more of the same underlying but that's the game.

If there is a library handy check out " Options; Essential Concepts and Trading Strategies" from CBOE and Options institute. See page 186 in the second edition. Its basic, but I believe it's what you're talking about.
 
I swear, if it wasn't for dividends to patch over all my screwup trades, I'd just be keeping it under a mattress! :p

I agree, though, that if you're secure with a core group of div-payers, it could make sense to view them as permenant "leverage"... and just do the day trading against them by writing options, or shorting QQQ/SPY.

Worst case, you break even when the market rises. And at least you still get the dividends.

I'm gonna try and branch out a little more, though. There's a whole universe of stocks that don't pay divs.
 
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