SPX Credit Spread Trader

Quote from optioncoach:

I have been concerned about the upside from a technical point of view because we have been in an uptrend and broke out of old resistance to new 5-year highs. These are all bullish signs for right now and with good earnings pouring in, the market will most likely now stay in this range above 1300. The big IF is if we get negative news that is floating out there and it is taken bad.

This is precisely why i am bearish, the way i see it with so much optimism priced into the market any good news will not take us as high as any bad news will take us down.

Quote from rdemyan:

Rally:

Unless I've been reading your posts incorrectly, I don't think you've been getting it right on your TA posts, except the last one (where you made no comments). :)

The reason i keep posting those TA charts is to give you guys(FOTM spread sellers) a perspective of where we might go based on past price action. Now will i be correct? Who knows but using the upper resistance band to open bear call spreads and the lower support band to open bull put spreads certainly gives you a small edge sort of speak. Call it an addtional layer of protection.


April Results:

1245/1250 bull put spreads = worthless
1330/1335 bear call spreads = worthless

Credit = $3.1

congrats to all on another good month.
 
Great job piccon!!!! I am sure you will enjoy this weekend ;-)



Quote from piccon:

My fellow SPX traders, Here is my update for the month and year to date. I assume OEX will not reach 600 in the next 5 hours.

Monthly:

15 OEX 600/605@1.135 =>1875
25 OEX 605/610@0.60 =>1500
25 OEX 575/570@0.50 =>1250
15 OEX 595/605@0.50 =>750
15 RUT 780/790@1.00 =>1500
15 RUT 720/710@0.65 =>975
13 SPX 1340/1350@0.90=>1170

This week ate a bunch of my credits

1) Close RUT 780/790/720/710 for a gain of $410.00
2)Close OEX 595/605 for a loss of $900

Total April gain=$4480

April return on margin (ROM): 7.12%

Year to date return on investment (ROI):18.5%

Lessons:

1) This month was pretty long and stressful. I think I am going to start trading only 20 trading days remaining.
2) Hedging is very useful . I hedged RUT and OEX and I closed these two with only 500 loss because I hedged them.
3) Entry is key.
4) Technical Analysis allows you to get the best premium as it determines your entry point. (Sell High, Buy Low) is key for our strategy.

5)18.5% return YTD: I never expected this in my life time.

Thanks to coach and everyone on this board.
 
Good month for me.

Return on margin at risk was 5.2%. Traded only SPX credit spreads and put on my first SPY call hedge (which reduced the profit a little).

Also, attached is an updated SPX settlement spreadsheet. The spreadsheet lists the Thursday SPX close and the Friday SET settlement value. The time period is just a little over 8 years: namely April of 1998 through April 2006.

I'll try to keep the spreadsheet up-to-date in the future. The hard works already been done. Should be relatively easy to just add a single month at a time and repost.
 

Attachments

CNBC Alert: Crude oil is above $75.

Apparently there are areas in Philadelphia that are out of gas. Some areas have over $4.00 gas.

How much longer can this market continue to go up??
 
I was just looking at some June options on the SPX. Looks like only the 1380 SPX options got added (I had requested 1385, 1390 and 1395 as well).

Anyway, the Jun 1370/1375 bear call has a mid at $0.65 with SPX up around 0.3. It was probably $0.75 earlier.

I know Coach doesn't like to put on positions more than 45 days out, but heck, I'm not Coach.

Seriously, I've been thinking about putting my bear calls on a little earlier. Maybe I'll start doing that and we can watch and see how it goes.

ToS has already freed my margin that was held for March, so I have powder available. I never put on all my positions at once, so I could get started now for June. I'd like to be further out though.
 
An antagonistic man (clearly not me :)) might comment thus:

...where we might go...past price action...will I be correct? Who knows...

Sounds reliable enough to bet on then!

...certainly gives you a small edge...an additional layer of protection

Certainly huh? Would you concede that a false sense of security might be more dangerous than no sense of security? Reasons why or how are not difficult to imagine.

Examples of flying too close to the sun based on TA are documented on these pages.


A less antagonistic man, like me for example, might comment thus:

I personally don't bow down at the altar in the church of TA as I believe her to be a false idol.

However, I am tolerant of all kinds of faiths and religions so I keep an open mind.

Well done on those results :)

MoMoney.

Quote from rallymode:

This is precisely why i am bearish, the way i see it with so much optimism priced into the market any good news will not take us as high as any bad news will take us down.



The reason i keep posting those TA charts is to give you guys(FOTM spread sellers) a perspective of where we might go based on past price action. Now will i be correct? Who knows but using the upper resistance band to open bear call spreads and the lower support band to open bull put spreads certainly gives you a small edge sort of speak. Call it an addtional layer of protection.


April Results:

1245/1250 bull put spreads = worthless
1330/1335 bear call spreads = worthless

Credit = $3.1

congrats to all on another good month.
 
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