SPX Credit Spread Trader

The only reason I kept my working for the man lawyer job as long as I did was to keep that steady income of the salary coming in while I build up my trading capital. Within a few months, I should be fully kicked from that bad habit ;).

Nothing wrong with some guaranteed income while building up that coin until you can go it alone. Also the time is used wisely learning from mistakes and having your experience grow.

Oh and with respect to mortgaging the house, selling the wife and kids, the wife market crashed recently and you cannot get the same $$ you could a few years ago :(

Quote from ryank:

This has been a very busy day on the board, glad to see it.

I run a small (4 person) company, this is my escape and this week I've really needed one. I'd like to trade options full time right now but don't have the coin that Donna or Coach do, we can all dream right :D? Maybe if I mortgage the house, sell the wife and kids... nah, that won't work :p.

ryan
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Quote from optioncoach:

Prego Fly is my nickname for an unbalanced FLY if you will or skip strike FLY. ...
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Thanks very much Coach. I was reading the link to the previous page where you first mentioned it. It made my head spin trying to map it out, and I reached for Cottle's book for help as well. Boy, isn't options fun! That would make some interesting wknd mental exercise (on top of the tax return I plan to do).

Great thread. Appreciate all your effort.
 
Quote from rdemyan:

There's a lot of activity on this thread today.

Doesn't anybody work for a living any more??

Am I the only one still working for the man. :)

I was thinking about what our economy would be like if most people traded options for a living. Once I retire I know I'll be trading full time, because there won't be any S.S.

Oh yeah, and I want to live high on the hog, like Donna :p
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I do it for living (CTA) but to not make it that optimistic, I live in Eastern Europe now to lower my expenses.

Besides the fact I miss my NJ town and ocean very much, the plan works very well, as I have plenty of time here to complete and refine my methodology, nothing to say about favorable time difference.
 
Chris,

I'd be curious to hear how you handle your distributions to yourself. For example, if you need 10k per month to live on, does your strategy get you the 10k and that's it, or do you make 20k on an average month - 10k for you and 10k to keep your account growing?

Does anyone trading for a living, or contemplating it, have a ratio that you use?

I know when I first penciled this out, I originally neglected to factor in the continued growth of the account. This also does not work well if you have a couple of off months.

Any thoughts?


-Cash

Quote from ChrisM:

I do it for living (CTA) but to not make it that optimistic, I live in Eastern Europe now to lower my expenses.

Besides the fact I miss my NJ town and ocean very much, the plan works very well, as I have plenty of time here to complete and refine my methodology, nothing to say about favorable time difference.
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You want your head to spin, talk to Cottle in person lol. All those years on the floor, he speaks another language ;). But loaded with useful info as is his new book.


Quote from Opra:

Thanks very much Coach. I was reading the link to the previous page where you first mentioned it. It made my head spin trying to map it out, and I reached for Cottle's book for help as well. Boy, isn't options fun! That would make some interesting wknd mental exercise (on top of the tax return I plan to do).

Great thread. Appreciate all your effort.
More...
 
Quote from CashCache:

Chris,

I'd be curious to hear how you handle your distributions to yourself. For example, if you need 10k per month to live on, does your strategy get you the 10k and that's it, or do you make 20k on an average month - 10k for you and 10k to keep your account growing?

Does anyone trading for a living, or contemplating it, have a ratio that you use?

I know when I first penciled this out, I originally neglected to factor in the continued growth of the account. This also does not work well if you have a couple of off months.

Any thoughts?


Cash,

that actually was my problem when I lived in the US, but here it is relatively simple as most expenses are low.

Another favorable factor is that my strategy is very consistent, so I keep high rate of profitable months (almost month-to-month is profitable), which makes everything whole a lot easier.

However I stick to the plan regardless - steady contributions to own trading account, which is traded more aggressively and brings good returns.

I know that the worse to handle are drawdown periods, but here this is not the issue.

Answering your question - I would say that you need to manage the budget the same way as you manage trading system. Once you know how to manage DD, the rest is easy.


-Cash
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Quote from CashCache:

Chris,

I'd be curious to hear how you handle your distributions to yourself. For example, if you need 10k per month to live on, does your strategy get you the 10k and that's it, or do you make 20k on an average month - 10k for you and 10k to keep your account growing?

Does anyone trading for a living, or contemplating it, have a ratio that you use?

I know when I first penciled this out, I originally neglected to factor in the continued growth of the account. This also does not work well if you have a couple of off months.

Any thoughts?


-Cash
More...





Cash,

that actually was my problem when I lived in the US, but here it is relatively simple as most expenses are low.

Another favorable factor is that my strategy is very consistent, so I keep high rate of profitable months (almost month-to-month is profitable), which makes everything whole a lot easier.

However I stick to the plan regardless - steady contributions to own trading account, which is traded more aggressively and brings good returns.

I know that the worse to handle are drawdown periods, but here this is not the issue.

Answering your question - I would say that you need to manage the budget the same way as you manage trading system. Once you know how to manage DD, the rest is easy.
 
Chris,

I'm just curious, how much cheaper is it in Eastern Europe and what drew you to that area of the world (I'm sure there are other low cost areas in the world to live)? Also, why not find a cheaper place in US, Mexico or Canada a little closer to home?

ryan
 
Quote from ryank:

Chris,

I'm just curious, how much cheaper is it in Eastern Europe and what drew you to that area of the world (I'm sure there are other low cost areas in the world to live)? Also, why not find a cheaper place in US, Mexico or Canada a little closer to home?

ryan
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I was born in Poland, but lived in the US for many years.

There is (lousy) state health care system here, but additional coverage starts from $200 a year :D This actually makes the biggest difference, as in the US i had to pay for my private plan.

Car insurance is lower, and your average mileage is 10 times lower. In general, even $2K/mo here can make you financially comfortable.

Mexico - it would be nice, Canada - not necessarily as one the biggest problems here is climate (loooong and harsh winter).
 
Quote from ChrisM:

I was born in Poland, but lived in the US for many years.

There is (lousy) state health care system here, but additional coverage starts from $200 a year :D This actually makes the biggest difference, as in the US i had to pay for my private plan.

Car insurance is lower, and your average mileage is 10 times lower. In general, even $2K/mo here can make you financially comfortable.

Mexico - it would be nice, Canada - not necessarily as one the biggest problems here is climate (loooong and harsh winter).
More...

I hear Norway's not bad.
 
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