Why is my VIX call showing loss on increase, and profit on decline?

[kmiklas]

I accidentally sold the call instead of buying it. There seems to be a bug in IB; I will call them tomorrow. It's documented above.

 

[stepandfetchit]

I accidentally sold the call instead of buying it. There seems to be a bug in IB; I will call them tomorrow. It's documented above.

That is no bug.
If one selects the BID for placing an order, the tool assumes you want to Sell at that price. If one selects the ASK for placing an order, the tool assumes you want to Buy at that price.
If you wish to make a different trade you should insure you know how to use the tool you have to possibly modify your order to what you desire.

While I do not have IBK, TOS makes similar assumption, when one desires the default orders.

 

[narafa]

I see what could be a bug in TWS? For those with IB, does this happen for you?

1. View the VIX option chain
2. Choose a strike price for a Call (say, 50), and click on the bid price to buy.
3. Note how the order window defaults to "SELL"

Anyone else see this?

Doesn't happen with me, I click on the offer and it opens a buy ticket, normal. Maybe you experienced a bug. Simply add the option to your watch list and see what it says in the position column 1 or -1.

 

[old coot]

You'd think a company making cough syrup and Vaporub would be a pretty solid investment.

 

[donnap]

I love this place!

destriero rides again;-)

 

[def]

I see what could be a bug in TWS? For those with IB, does this happen for you?

1. View the VIX option chain
2. Choose a strike price for a Call (say, 50), and click on the bid price to buy.
3. Note how the order window defaults to "SELL"

Anyone else see this?

As mentioned that is no bug as it clicking on the offer to buy or bid to sell is faster. If you do not like that type of action, you can play around with your configuration settings as well as set up hot keys to do the opposite.

One other item another poster mentioned which I would like to emphasize. Take advantage of the paper trader. You can learn the software, optimize your set ups and gain experience on options and more without the expense.

 

[Atikon]

There is almost no chance that VIX will go to 100, so the call should simply decay.
As for what’s happening, it may be perfect example of convexity just mentioned here:
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/stocks-vs-options.344711/#post-5098608

And that’s the fun and potential edge in trading options, if you spend 1000+ hours studying exactly such movements.

What edge? Are you talking buying short term option for the convexity in gamma? That's wsb "edge"

 

[Atikon]

So you SOLD a Call the Vix spiked and the value of the Call wen't up, thus the Seller is assigned the Loss since he sold the call at a lower price than what the Call is worth today. Might want to edit the OP

 

[Atikon]

There is almost no chance that VIX will go to 100, so the call should simply decay.
As for what’s happening, it may be perfect example of convexity just mentioned here:
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/stocks-vs-options.344711/#post-5098608

And that’s the fun and potential edge in trading options, if you spend 1000+ hours studying exactly such movements.

What edge? Are you talking buying short term option for the convexity in gamma? That's wsb "edge"

My Bad, your talking about the Essence of 0 DTE Strategy. Yeah checks out

 

[kmiklas]

As mentioned that is no bug as it clicking on the offer to buy or bid to sell is faster. If you do not like that type of action, you can play around with your configuration settings as well as set up hot keys to do the opposite.

Thank you; yes, I mixed up the bid and ask prices.

One other item another poster mentioned which I would like to emphasize. Take advantage of the paper trader. You can learn the software, optimize your set ups and gain experience on options and more without the expense.

Personally, I don't like paper trading for this particular exercise, because I want to watch how the option moves intraday. I have my live trading terminal running all day--with algos running on port 7496, and can't shut everything down to start the paper terminal. So, I bought one relatively inexpensive option for learning purposes. Also, I find that I learn better if I have even a little bit of skin in the game. Regardless, thank you; good advice.