SPX Credit Spread Trader

[rdemyan]

I called ToS a week or so back and they said that there is 24 hour trading except when the markets close, I believe it is for one or two 30 minute periods at the end or near the end of the trading day.

Their commissions did look high. Maybe I can negotiate them down.

Quote from gatorplease:

TOS added futures as a hedging tool. Their platform is good for that purpose. I've used the futures to hedge against losing SPX positions. But TOS only trades during daytime hours and their futures commissions are slightly high.

If you go to daytrade, check out some other brokers specifically as a futures account. I use IB ONLY for futures.

Does anyone else have a low commission futures broker? I looked at Tradestation. Looks cheap up front, but lots of back end costs. I don't trade enough to justify.

Sorry, slightly off topic. Consider it a hedging question.

 

[rdemyan]

Quote from rdemyan:

I called ToS a week or so back and they said that there is 24 hour trading except when the markets close, I believe it is for one or two 30 minute periods at the end or near the end of the trading day.

EDIT: I see now that Mo already answered this

Their commissions did look high. Maybe I can negotiate them down.

 

[Hybone]

What do you mean by "just doesn't work well at all"..... ? Is it the speed, or the graphic clarity? If you only cae about the speed and can sacrifice some graphic clarifty, then it is not too bad at all. You will have to go to the preferences tabs to make some changes to maximize speed and it should be fine.

I am using it to control my home PC everyday and it has been the best thing since slice bread for me as I could do a whole lot behind my company's firewall before.

Quote from gypsies:

I have tried that, and it just doesn't work well at all. I called for support and the tech I spoke with agreed, that it doesn't work with things like Remote Desktop.

 

[momoneythansens]

I think the issue is specifically with the ToS platform via Terminal Services/Remote Desktop etc. The Java app doesn't seem to respect some of the windowing painting/scaling/scrolling requirements for it to work flawlessly (manifesting as flickering and other display issues)...at least that was my experience, though I was using a PDA for a client LOL.

Experience may be better via alternative remote access mechanisms: GoToMyPC/PCAnywhere/VNC/Citrix etc.

MoMoney.

Quote from Hybone:

What do you mean by "just doesn't work well at all"..... ? Is it the speed, or the graphic clarity? If you only cae about the speed and can sacrifice some graphic clarifty, then it is not too bad at all. You will have to go to the preferences tabs to make some changes to maximize speed and it should be fine.

I am using it to control my home PC everyday and it has been the best thing since slice bread for me as I could do a whole lot behind my company's firewall before.

 

[gypsies]

Quote from Hybone:

What do you mean by "just doesn't work well at all"..... ? Is it the speed, or the graphic clarity? If you only cae about the speed and can sacrifice some graphic clarifty, then it is not too bad at all. You will have to go to the preferences tabs to make some changes to maximize speed and it should be fine.

I am using it to control my home PC everyday and it has been the best thing since slice bread for me as I could do a whole lot behind my company's firewall before.

I concur that Remote Desktop is fantastic in general, and use it both from work to home, and from home to work everyday, as well as from my laptop when traveling. However it was beyond slow with the TOS client running on my machine at home and did not function well, it could not keep up with the screen changes. This was also on Broadband, so access speed was not an issue. I believe the way they painted their screens created too much traffic for Remote Desktop to handle. This was a trial that I did last July, perhaps TOS made improvements. TOS's sign up process was also unstable, and when I called in, they said to just pick another sign in name and try again. They would let the programming staff know what had happened, "perhaps they could fix it". Did not give me a warm feeling. I did talk with one of the top guys, and he was extremely helpful, supportive, and created a great impression of the company, as well as explained their hedge, not taking $ for orderflow from the exchanges, (ie always trying to get the best execution for their customers). But with the technical difficulties, it just didn't work out. Not to worry, I am

 

[andysmith]

Rally,

I think you'll have to adjust the May 1335 to June. What'll that look like?

For the last pullback, your 20-pt debit spread worked pretty well,... I was going to join you this time around ... Why have you switched to futures?

Quote from rallymode:

Yes, it's too early for June. Besides, now that my may 1335 short is closing in, i am in no rush to open a june position unless its a part of an adjustment.

I played the last pop with debit spreads, this time i am going a lil more aggressive.

Short ES 1330.50, target 1315/stop 1335.

 

[andysmith]

Any predictions on the effect of Tue's announcement?

Quote from rallymode:

I dont see it going even that high but who knows. Now that im short the futures, it will be nice if we stayed in the channel but we shall see what next week brings. I will most likely close all positons before the FOMC announcement though at a profit or loss.

 

[rallymode]

Quote from andysmith:

Why have you switched to futures?

I wanted to be more aggressive per point move in the index and the ES is as aggressive as you can get. Lotsa risk too though, gap risk especially makes me nervous with such positions.

Quote from andysmith:

Any predictions on the effect of Tue's announcement?

The FOMC meets Wed not Tue

i hate predictions but here's my opinion.

1) Fed raises the rate another quarter point and says further hikes maybe needed based on data. - Market sells off.

2) Fed raises the rate another quarter point and implies we are almost done and it will pause sooner rather than later. - Continuation of Fri's rally.

3) Fed doesnt raise the rate and says they are pausing as data indicates economy is slowing without concern for inflation. - Major rally, probably another 20 points or so.

As you can see, if i am right, my odds arent too good therefore i will most likely be out of my positions before the announcement.

EDIT: Also, if you are going to play the pullback with debit spreads i suggest you wait until after the dust settles from the announcement. If i exit my posiitons, i will definitely reenter them at that point but i will not hold through the announcement unless we are 20 points OTM. I can do that easily with futures and not cheat myself with the b/a spread on any options spreads.

 

[piccon]

Are you telling me to get out of my 1340/1350?

Before I do that I would consider getting whatever I can for the 1285/1275 PUT to help me with any loss on the call spread

Quote from rallymode:

I wanted to be more aggressive per point move in the index and the ES is as aggressive as you can get. Lotsa risk too though, gap risk especially makes me nervous with such positions.



The FOMC meets Wed not Tue

i hate predictions but here's my opinion.

1) Fed raises the rate another quarter point and says further hikes maybe needed based on data. - Market sells off.

2) Fed raises the rate another quarter point and implies we are almost done and it will pause sooner rather than later. - Continuation of Fri's rally.

3) Fed doesnt raise the rate and says they are pausing as data indicates economy is slowing without concern for inflation. - Major rally, probably another 20 points or so.

As you can see, if i am right, my odds arent too good therefore i will most likely be out of my positions before the announcement.

 

[rallymode]

Quote from piccon:

Are you telling me to get out of my 1340/1350?

Well, i can only tell what i would do and that would be to get out of the way before the announcement if we are too close. But i also would not have opened that spread for the credit you got when you got it, so i dont know what to say.

One thing is for sure, I would wait and see what happens between now and wed 2:15EST before i made any decisions.