Straddle on Earning day

[Vijay Nivas]

I'm a newbie trader in options, I bought Weekly(June3) Straddle for KORS yesterday at 42.5 strike price and WDAY at 76, hoping to ride the earning price movement, but end up loosing more than half my money.
Questions
1. If I need to use options for riding earning wave, what is the viable strategy?
2. What are the recommended spreads to use
3. Any input on the expiration timelines? Should it be same week or 20-30 day expiration.

Any feedback would be appreciated

 

[OptionGuru]

• Pick a direction and buy only Calls or Puts. Weekly options are best.
• No spreads.
  
• Straddles/strangles are too expensive.

 

[FreakofNature]

I'm a newbie trader in options, I bought Weekly(June3) Straddle for KORS yesterday at 42.5 strike price and WDAY at 76, hoping to ride the earning price movement, but end up loosing more than half my money.
Questions
1. If I need to use options for riding earning wave, what is the viable strategy?
2. What are the recommended spreads to use
3. Any input on the expiration timelines? Should it be same week or 20-30 day expiration.

Any feedback would be appreciated

Or casino tables, more or less the same

 

[TradeCat]

I'm a newbie trader in options, I bought Weekly(June3) Straddle for KORS yesterday at 42.5 strike price and WDAY at 76, hoping to ride the earning price movement, but end up loosing more than half my money.
Questions
1. If I need to use options for riding earning wave, what is the viable strategy?
2. What are the recommended spreads to use
3. Any input on the expiration timelines? Should it be same week or 20-30 day expiration.

Any feedback would be appreciated

I feel you. Made that mistake early on.
I recommend against buying before an earnings . Best wait till the morning after and ride the up/down trend. Small profit/Small risk.

Bull or bear spreads are popular.

Expiration is your choice. Some investors prefer something that's a month out to minimize theta.

 

[1245]

• Pick a direction and buy only Calls or Puts. Weekly options are best.

• No spreads.

• Straddles/strangles are too expensive.

I disagree. I like to use calendars as directional plays. I target a range and sell the near week and buy the following week/month if the skew is high enough.

 

[ironchef]

• Pick a direction and buy only Calls or Puts. Weekly options are best.
• No spreads.
  
• Straddles/strangles are too expensive.

Do you normally hold your position till expiration? If not when do you exit?

Thanks.

 

[Vijay Nivas]

I exited the position the next day after market opened with earning results. But, it didn't work in my favor and lost money on both calls and puts.

 

[TradeCat]

Vijay, hopefully this was a lesson learned.

 

[El OchoCinco]

Google "IV crush" which explains often what happens to straddles after earnings announcements

 

[OptionGuru]

Google "IV crush" which explains often what happens to straddles after earnings announcements

"IV crush" is a moot point for traders that buy straddles/strangles before earnings, 100% of buyers are anticipating a big enough move on the underlying to offset the debit paid for the options. - the OP even indicated that he was "hoping to ride the earning price movement".