SPX Credit Spread Trader
- Thread starter El OchoCinco
- Start date
Probably not a good day to sell put spreads. With a drop this steep, VIX will stay high for a few days. For the past 9 months, you had to jump in and sell puts fast on any little drop. This drop is entirely different. There will be plenty of chances to sell after the market bottoms for a bit. And if it doesn't bottom soon ... all the more reason to have stood aside.
Naturally though, I closed and took my loss yesterday on some March ER2 call spreads at 840. I guess I was the coach hedge indicator this time
I think my 845's and 855's are quite safe however.
Naturally though, I closed and took my loss yesterday on some March ER2 call spreads at 840. I guess I was the coach hedge indicator this time
I think my 845's and 855's are quite safe however.Quote from yip1997:
Funny thing about margin in TOS account.
I sold some RUT call this morning, and I got more buying power.
I'll wait and see if RUT can hold above 800 level before I add more put spreads.
Yeah I hear you. I have not tapped into any of my margin yet except for locking up a portion required by SEC rules to cover the credit spread potential liability (10 point spreads). Since I am almost out of trading cash now (from all these good deals today) I have been selling premium in new blocks as the SPX runs down deeper and deeper. That premium I am getting I use to buy up some more of the really good stock deals today. That in turn increases my margin buying power to get even more haha. At some point of course, at this rate, I will eventually exhaust my large SMA and reach house or exchange limits and have to wait for the market to come back up so I can take profits.
If the world goes insane today and just decides to discount the good stuff to below the "ludicrous level" where I breach my first level of shorts - then - oh well its just inflated money anyway and I'll have to go back to work again. lol.
Fortunately being European style I don't have to worry about an early assignment on SPX and wait out the current emotion to return to reason. But RUT could get ugly if it gets weird on us...
Let's hope for the plunge protection team to do their thing. ;-)
See ya on the other side,
TS
All I can say is I hope you guys are managing your positions. This is one of those day's that could take out many month's gains...
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
Well...
Closed out my Bull Put Spread that I posted last week.
Legged out of short 10 1415 puts for $12.1K Loss when SPX hit 1415.
Waited...
Legged out of 8 Long 1405 Puts for $10.7K Profit when SPX was about 1409.
Waited...
Legged out of 1 Long 1420 Put for $2.1K Profif when SPX was about 1405.
Waited...
Legged out of 1 Long 1425 Put for $2.8K Profit when SPX was about 1402.
Net Profit - About $3.5K.
Phew! No Skill. Just a little tense waiting, with a good bit of money left on the table.
Mech
Closed out my Bull Put Spread that I posted last week.
Legged out of short 10 1415 puts for $12.1K Loss when SPX hit 1415.
Waited...
Legged out of 8 Long 1405 Puts for $10.7K Profit when SPX was about 1409.
Waited...
Legged out of 1 Long 1420 Put for $2.1K Profif when SPX was about 1405.
Waited...
Legged out of 1 Long 1425 Put for $2.8K Profit when SPX was about 1402.
Net Profit - About $3.5K.
Phew! No Skill. Just a little tense waiting, with a good bit of money left on the table.
Mech
Impossible to manage today - volume is so high the brokerages are losing connectivity. I am waiting for the smoke to clear in the morning. This was no where near as bad as 9-11 and the bounced right back on that bad event. I would expect this relatively minor china induced effect to blow off as soon as the automatic sell orders purge and clear the system. We had a cascade effect here from automated trading. People will be banging their heads soon for selling I am betting.
TS
TS
Nice work MT. Give yourself some credit for a well handled trade. You put on a bull put spread near the high, and you closed it for a profit after a 50 point sell off. The mouse ears and a little bit of intraday timing served you very nicely.
Much more important than the profit, you took the steps needed to preserve your account. You could easily have done the "hold and pray" routine. And that might have worked. Or you might have been crushed in the next few days. Instead you took control of your own fate. Well done.
Much more important than the profit, you took the steps needed to preserve your account. You could easily have done the "hold and pray" routine. And that might have worked. Or you might have been crushed in the next few days. Instead you took control of your own fate. Well done.
IB choked on me once today already.
Not that I am very motivated to trade anyway. Bid/ask spreads on the ER2 options have expanded from the normal 0.50 range to 2 full points. No thanks. The fear (and premiums) will still be there in a day or two when we have a better picture of what might happen next.
Not that I am very motivated to trade anyway. Bid/ask spreads on the ER2 options have expanded from the normal 0.50 range to 2 full points. No thanks. The fear (and premiums) will still be there in a day or two when we have a better picture of what might happen next.