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BookingAlpha Option Trading Advisory

Friday, March 20, 2015

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (March 20, 2015)

Well, as it turns out it was not the end of the world and the markets didn't crash. My SPX 1965/1970 Credit Put spread with March options finally expired successfully with no sweat. A few days ago I talked about how most traders constantly fear a market crash. It's an exaggerated fear when, after all, you should only experience 2 - 3 severe market crashes in your life time, or perhaps less than that in a 20 year long trading career. These traders are the same that, for the most part, are too quick and eagerly sell Calls prematurely, which is a much more dangerous practice. I know the psychological profile because I was like that myself during my initial phases of development as an Options seller.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

May 2015 RUT unbalanced Iron Condor

Today I started to play the first position of the May expiration cycle. This was an unbalanced Iron Condor and I chose to play it with RUT this time.

Trade Details:

BUY 2 RUT May 1100 Put @4.30
SELL 2 RUT May 1110 Put @4.95
SELL 1 RUT May 1330 Call @2.95
BUY 1 RUT May 1340 Call @2.00

Monday, March 16, 2015

Trading Podcasts

The markets get closer and closer to my credit spread's boundary. Temporary losses start to pile up. I enter an order to close my position, ready to defend it with an adjustment later on. My order doesn't get filled. I chase the price of the spread, willing to pay a higher debit, no fill. Markets keep moving against me. Heart bumps faster, losses increase, I start to feel shortness of breath. No fills yet..."AAaaahhhhhhhhhhhh",.....a scream in the middle of the night. I wake up all sweaty and agitated. "Thank God it was just a nightmare!". Man, the markets are taking its toll on my psyche. Now I can't even stop thinking about them while I sleep. What the hell!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (March 14, 2015)

All right folks, we went from 2072.25 to 2053.40 for a 0.92% loss and the SPX index is now -0.27% year to date, to the frustration of index investors (they deserve it, they've been kicking our butts in the last couple years). This was a pretty exciting week where we reached a short term oversold extreme. I took advantage of the opportunity and sold an SPX 1970/1965 Credit Put spread with March expiration. I was a little early with my entry and had to endure some pressure the next day when the market fell a little bit more but things are looking great now. The market would have to experience a drastic fall in order to affect my position.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

tastytrade - an unbiased review

Warning: This post is going to be much larger than usual.

I wrote a review of tastytrade back in April 2013 when I had been watching the show for a few weeks, quite possibly not more than a month. It's only fair to write another one now that the show has evolved and I have had the opportunity to digest much more content and become more familiar with it after two years.

tastytrade has become somewhat controversial. It's like the New York Yankees, with legions of fanatics and tons of haters, but very few people staying neutral. From what I have seen, they have many more lovers than haters, but boy do the haters take it seriously. I want to put the passion aside and be objective on this post in order to write as fair and unbiased a review as possible so that people can make the best out of it without falling into endless unproductive arguments and personal attacks.

March 2015 SPX Credit Put spread

Today I entered an SPX Credit Put spread position during the morning

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (March 7, 2015)

We started the week at SPX 2105.23 and closed it at 2071.26. The index is now up only 0.60% year to date, which makes most traders in the universe negative for the year. I continue to be pretty passive with my options plays and didn't do anything as anticipated in the previous portfolio analysis.