Tastytrade Review + Criticism

[VIXTrader]

I think the idea with selling otm premium (and thus generally putting the probability of expiring out of the money always in your theoretical favor), is simply to allow people to live long enough to figure something out. They've surely seen new accounts dying spectacular deaths by buying OTM premium, so their mantra is essentially trying to keep newbies alive and give them a fighting chance.

I think if you stick to their basic rules (I paraphrase here, could be mistaken, happy to have Tom or Bat correct me), your account may live awhile:

1. Sell otm (pref delta ~ .3) options - cash secured or as a credit spread(s) - 50-30 days out

2. Stay small (they don't specify but I would be concerned about risking more than a few % per trade in normal circumstances, certainly no more than 10% cash should a naked underlying position have a serious black swan scenario and go to zero, or double in the case of short calls)

3. Make sure IV rank is > 50% (basically higher than 50% of the measured IVs for the last 365 days for you none TOS/TT people)

4. Make sure both the underlying and the options are liquid (personally I only care that the underlying is very liquid for short naked positions but your mileage may vary, certainly any spread or anything you plan to exit before expiration needs to have liquid options).

5. Ideally have your portfolio as a whole close delta-neutral (essentially a long/short strategy so that it is insulated from broad price shocks, in theory...)

Is there an edge in there just from the above? Hmmm not so sure, probably some edge in SPX as we know there is a put premium in there that "seems" to be generally mis-priced since 1987 (not a coincidence I suspect...). For instruments as a whole, I wouldn't bet that just the above is going to bring home the bacon.

However, if you add some additional criteria that gives you a directional edge and is of a nature than generates a lot of scratches and small gains/small losers, with very little outliers on either side, then you have something where the above could be more useful/profitable than simply going long/short the underlying...

Yes, there is an edge there and that is a profitable long term strategy, fact. I know option traders as a whole like to pretend there's some merit to being as complicated as humanly possible (myself included) the truth is sticking to very simple trade rules like the ones above taken from TT actually do work, to the tune of about 7-10% a year on average.

It works, period. So criticizing Tasty Trade for something that is quantifiably true seems silly to me. Now if the guys on Tasty Trade ever claim that those trade rules could yield higher than 10% a year, then I'd take issue with it. But as long as they are stating realistic expectations of 7-10%, then they are absolutely correct.

The problem is, VERY few people have the trading discipline to follow such simple and easy trading rules month after month, year after year, decade after decade.

 

[DTB2]

It works, period. So criticizing Tasty Trade for something that is quantifiably true seems silly to me. Now if the guys on Tasty Trade ever claim that those trade rules could yield higher than 10% a year, then I'd take issue with it. But as long as they are stating realistic expectations of 7-10%, then they are absolutely correct.

.

Have you ever seen them claim 7-10% as the expected returns?

hey have bandied about the 1% per day figure quite often actually.

 

[VIXTrader]

Have you ever seen them claim 7-10% as the expected returns?

hey have bandied about the 1% per day figure quite often actually.

I haven't seen them make any claims for expected annual returns, but then I don't watch the show religiously or anything. I've seen several, and never got the impression they were claiming astronomical returns. I've always been left with the impression they are just scalping the VRP for about 10% annually through systematic trading rules.

1% a day? You must have completely misinterpreted that. Only anonymous posters on Elite Trader would ever say something so unbelievably F'ing stupid.

 

[DTB2]

I haven't seen them make any claims for expected annual returns, but then I don't watch the show religiously or anything. I've seen several, and never got the impression they were claiming astronomical returns. I've always been left with the impression they are just scalping the VRP for about 10% annually through systematic trading rules.

1% a day? You must have completely misinterpreted that. Only anonymous posters on Elite Trader would ever say something so unbelievably F'ing stupid.

This should help you get up to speed.

https://www.tastytrade.com/tt/shows...folio-return-analysis-12-09-2014?locale=en-US

 

[lawrence-lugar]

1% a day? You must have completely misinterpreted that. Only anonymous posters on Elite Trader would ever say something so unbelievably F'ing stupid.

Your name is VIXTrader...
You of all people should know that's possible ...that's not That far-fetched, at all.

 

[Macca1]

I haven't seen them make any claims for expected annual returns, but then I don't watch the show religiously or anything. I've seen several, and never got the impression they were claiming astronomical returns. I've always been left with the impression they are just scalping the VRP for about 10% annually through systematic trading rules.

1% a day? You must have completely misinterpreted that. Only anonymous posters on Elite Trader would ever say something so unbelievably F'ing stupid.

Well I watch the show everyday, and unfortunately you're completely wrong in your assumptions. Tasty trade have never pitched 7-10% p/a for an expected return on a typical viewer account size. Sos has mentioned the 1% a day several times, it's no misinterpretation. He's also said live on air he would rather lose money than make 20% pa.

 

[VIXTrader]

Your name is VIXTrader...
You of all people should know that's possible ...that's not That far-fetched, at all.

You do realize that would take a 100k account to BILLIONAIRE status in 5 years and the richest man in the world in just over 7 right? Instead of posting on a chat forum, you might want to consider finally passing grade 8 math class.


"Sos has mentioned the 1% a day several times, it's no misinterpretation"

I've heard him talk about aiming to build a 1% daily theta decay portfolio, but that is not even close to the same thing as earning 1% per day when you factor all the other things into the equation. I would imagine it's a combination of misspeaking a little bit as well as adding in some boisterous entertainment value to the show, not realizing how retarded some of his viewers are and how easily they misunderstand even the most basic of concepts. Sos's only crime is speaking from a "that goes without saying" perspective. If he knew how dumb some of his viewers are he would probably be more careful with his words.

 

[DTB2]

I would imagine it's a combination of misspeaking a little bit as well as adding in some boisterous entertainment value to the show, not realizing how retarded some of his viewers are and how easily they misunderstand even the most basic of concepts. Sos's only crime is speaking from a "that goes without saying" perspective. If he knew how dumb some of his viewers are he would probably be more careful with his words.

You are wasting your talents, you should become a White House apologist err, I mean spokesman.

You apparently can spin everything.

The tt boys make mistakes of this magnitude quite often, dare I say weekly.

 

[VIXTrader]

I'm not spinning anything. If Sos really does say with a straight face that he can make 1% a day in the long-run, I'll call him a f'ing idiot. But as I said, the only reference I've seen to anything close to that is when he talks about building a 1% a day theta decay portfolio. His only crime there is not holding the viewers hand and walking them through why that DOES NOT mean earning 1% per day in end profit.

It's a show, for entertainment, and the information in general is good. Does he say dumb things? Yeah. Does he say things that are incomplete and could be misunderstood by dumb viewers? Of course.

But a smart viewer will be able to take the good, laugh and filter out the bad, and be a better trader for having listened to alternate views. A dumb viewer just nitpicks works and phrases because they have nothing better to do. They certainly aren't making any money in their own account, so making fun of others seems to be how they spend their time.

The world is full of people who think dulling someone else makes them shine. It's bullshit. Sos is doing just fine in case you haven't noticed.

 

[DTB2]

The world is full of people who think defending something or someone that they fully do not know makes them look smarter.

You don't have the facts so quit acting like you do.