I bought a few calls last week when the market gapped down on friday at the open, now theyre barely in the green even though the markets are quite some higher than when I bought them, why is that?
Quote from failed_trad3r:
I bought a few calls last week when the market gapped down on friday at the open, now theyre barely in the green even though the markets are quite some higher than when I bought them, why is that?
Quote from livevol_ophir:
It's the vol. If you are buying or selling options you are a vol trader. Even if you don't know what vol is, you're still trading it.
My best advice, don't trade options until you've done your homework. Delta is the last risk we pay attention to on the floor, yet it's the first (or only) for many retail investors. If you think a stock is gonna go up, buy the stock (or vice versa of course). If you buy or sell an option, you are buying or selling vol - that's the bet you're taking.
Quote from failed_trad3r:
Well, I just thought of something! Instead of buying calls i can buy puts on the Vix! This way I get money even if volatility goes down because that means the vix goes down which means the put rises in value???![]()
![]()
Quote from dmo:
Free Thinker is right in saying vol crush, and a week of time erosion didn't help you any either.
Of course it's the IV of the option itself that counts. The VIX probably correlates to some extent with IV on your option, but it's not directly relevant.
Quote from dmo:
If IV on the SPX goes down, then the VIX will go down, so you might expect that a put on the VIX would be worth more.
But in reality, the IV of your VIX put would probably drop too. And time would pass. So you might experience exactly the same thing as you did with your calls - right on direction but still a net loser on your option due to theta and vega loss.