SPX Credit Spread Trader
- Thread starter El OchoCinco
- Start date
I have given my no holding into set unless you are far enough OTM speech enough times.
Sorry for those who got burned by this set, but I have said in the past that if you have earnings post thursday or pre-friday or significant economic data pre-friday it will drastically affect SET and you need to keep this in mind.
Sorry for those who got burned by this set, but I have said in the past that if you have earnings post thursday or pre-friday or significant economic data pre-friday it will drastically affect SET and you need to keep this in mind.
Quote from jeffm:
I added about 1/3 of my monthly size during the dip this week. It wasn't much of a dip, but that may be all we get if the market is back into the go-go mode of the fall. I have short may put spreads at 752 and 745 and will be happy to add more if we drop in the next couple of weeks. I also used some tight b/a spreads to create few cheap otm debit spreads for lottery insurance. For instance, I have some may 725/715 spreads for 0.10. If all goes well, I will never make money on those trades. If all goes to sh1t, I will be glad I had them
I also have a very small short call spread for may and will be reluctant to add any more. If we do get a drop at some point, I will buy june calls and leg into the spread on the subsequent rise.
I might also look into May/Jun diagonals, but I want to wait until Monday when I will have a clearer picture of my margin.
i also only utilized 1/3 of my allocation thus far for short may. usually at this time i am 80-100% at my max. my puts are @ 725 for 3 pts, now i wish i had done more. cheap debit spreads are on tap for next week and short call hunting in the 1 pt or less range. i will not force more puts until a drop. just in the past year i behaved like this and was grateful that i did. i am sure you are doing the same.
i have been meaning to ask you, or anyone who may know; do you have any suggestions for other future options that pay like er2? es pays at .5 of er2 and ndx pays the same as er2...any others worthy of studying in your opinion?
anyway, good trading to you.
Diversifying into other index instruments gives you some flexibility to find suitable trades, but it doesn't provide tremendous equity curve smoothing. The end of February being a good example. Instead of other index futs, I have been putting my profits into non-correlated trading methods. But I'm no market wizard. Keeping on top of the index trades (plus regular committments) is a full plate for me. So I have been looking into other trading programs. Last year, I funded a commodity spread trading program. This year I am looking for a good commodity short option manager.
I am considering this CTA: http://www.financialcii.com/index.html
I'm not in a hurry though. I'll probably set something up in the early fall.
I am considering this CTA: http://www.financialcii.com/index.html
I'm not in a hurry though. I'll probably set something up in the early fall.
"Full Plate" means different things for different folks.
I looked at the web site you referenced and it looks like they do 'run of the mill' credit option strategies on futures.
Why would you trust this particular CTA over others where your capital is concerned? (not to mention confidence in your own ability to do the trades yourself).
True. But if i judge it to be full...its full
I make good money on my index spreads, but this is after many years of effort. Much of that effort would apply to other markets and methods. But I just dont have time currently to get myself to where I think I need to be to handle those new markets.True again. Is there anything wrong with that?
I don't. They're just an example of a CTA doing commodity credit spreads. I might trust them after further research. That remains to be seen. Are there any that you have positive experience with?
Again it goes back to the time issue. Commodity trades involve a greater number of markets and exchanges (not to mention the trade ideas themselves). I don't think I'm educated enough to do the trades right now. Given time, I would be. I've learned the hard way over many years that half-assing a trade method gets you a full-ass portion of losses
One of the multi-cta pimping brokers sent me their normal end of the month newsletter today. I read it because its an easy way to keep an eye on what various ctas and systems are doing.
Here's a little gem from this month's edition:
In the S&P options market, World Capital and Argus were both caught short calls and will be citing drawdowns of 30-40% for the month. Both mangers have now had a chance to reassess the markets and will be getting back to work this week. Anyone invested in Argus please give us a call to review the changes to his program.
Dayum! That's a pretty nasty spanking there, fellas. I love how it sounds like they got called into the principal's office for a lecture. I guess they won't be cashing any 20% performance checks for awhile...
Here's a little gem from this month's edition:
In the S&P options market, World Capital and Argus were both caught short calls and will be citing drawdowns of 30-40% for the month. Both mangers have now had a chance to reassess the markets and will be getting back to work this week. Anyone invested in Argus please give us a call to review the changes to his program.
Dayum! That's a pretty nasty spanking there, fellas. I love how it sounds like they got called into the principal's office for a lecture. I guess they won't be cashing any 20% performance checks for awhile...