Recent danpas's Commentaries
Vertical Spreads and the Blurred Line...
My last post (Part I of this same topic) discussed debit spreads and credit spreads, both members of the vertical spread family. It was shown how, because of synthetic relationships, a debit call spread is essentially the same as a credit put spread and a debit put spread is essentially the same ...
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Tags: time-decay | positive-theta | credit-put-spread | synthetic-option-positions | debit-call-spread | negative-vega | bull-put-spread | vertical-spreads | negative-gamma | bull-call-spread
Vertical Spreads and the Blurred Line...
My last post (Part I of this same topic) discussed debit spreads and credit spreads, both members of the vertical spread family. It was shown how, because of synthetic relationships, a debit call spread is essentially the same as a credit put spread and a debit put spread is essentially the same ...
Read More »
Tags: positive-theta | synthetic-trade | positive-gamma | negative-vega | negative-theta | positive-vega | negative-gamma
Vertical Spreads and the Blurred Line...
Vertical spreads are one of my favorite subjects to teach. On the surface, they appear to be rather straightforward but, in fact, they are not. The overly simplistic view of vertical spreads held by many traders can lead to poor trade management and ultimately a heap of losers that should have be...
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The Stock Repair Strategy
The Stock Repair StrategyIt’s been a rough ride for a lot of investors. Formerly solid bellwether stocks like General Electric (GE), Caterpillar (CAT) and Citigroup (C) have taken a beating. Some investors are waiting (patiently) for the market to turn around. Some traders are buying at the new, ...
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Tags: c | ge | stock-repair-strategy | cat | f | cae | gm | one-by-two | stock-retracement
MTM Facebook Page
Hi, friends. Long time, no blog! Sorry. Busy, busy, busy. Market Taker Mentoring LLC has a facebook page! you can interact with fellow traders, share trade ideas, and learn more about trading. Visit the page today and meet like minded traders.Market Taker Option Trading and Trading EducationKnowl...
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Educational Option Trading Webinars
Generally I like to offer some free educational option trading tips. But this time I wanted to inform my readers that through my company, Market Taker Mentoring LLC, I'll be offering in-depth, interactive, educational option trading webinars. These educational option trading webinars will cover a...
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Entering a Trade
Nickels add up. It's true. If you're an option trader you realize this by now. Each nickel you make (or save) on an option contract is $5 in your pocket. That's $50 on a 10-lot; $500 on a 100-lot. Over the weeks and months and years, nickels are big money. Interested in learning how to save some ...
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Tags: 10-lot | trade-entry | option-contract | middling-the-market | spread-trades | market-makers | entering-a-trade
Fact or VIXion
The CBOE Volatility Index®, or “theVIX®”, has been at historically high levels for a while now. The question for today is: How long can it stay this high? To answer, let’s first examine what the VIX is and why it rises or falls.Basically, the VIX is a measurement of the implied volatility on the ...
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Tags: contributors | s-and-p-500 | option-prices | arbitrage-scenario | volatility-component | cboe-volatility-index | option-market | market-volatility | future-volatility | high-implied-volatility | spx | vix
The Battle of the Brain
No matter how long you've been a trader, it's easy to slip into bad habits. Among the worst habits for traders new and old is to be undisciplined.Though there are many different trading philosophies, strategies and methodologies, all traders need to have a plan, and just as importantly, they need...
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Tags: trading-machine | trading-philosophies | knee-jerk-reactions | fear-and-greed | trading-plan
Black Gold, Texas Tea
A friend of mine emailed me today inquiring about oil. "it's at it's lows", he said, "looks like it bottomed out; gotta rally from here". Well, I don't know if he's right or wrong, but (for our purposes) that's not important right now. What IS important (and interesting regardless) is how one cap...
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Tags: etf | fcm | commoditiy-futures-trading-commisssion | oil | oih | schlumberger | holdr | commodity-options | commodities | securities-broker | cftc | online-securities | futures-trading-commission | transocean
What to do? What to do?
What do we do when it turns around?: A great question that is on the minds of many traders these days. But I've got a better one: When what turns around? Many traders focus (maybe too much) on the obvious. Yes; the "market" (i.e. the S&P 500 index) is down at a relative extreme low. This, arguabl...
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Tags: s-and-p-500 | future-volatility | high-implied-volatility | vix | monitor-positions | index | reversion-to-the-mean | market-taker-mentoring
Living on the Edge
Edge. "What's edge?" you ask. Basically it's like crack for option traders. It is what you just can't resist! Experienced option traders trade when (an only when) they see edge. They just can't help themselves.It's like this. None of us has a crystal ball. As much as many of you may like to think...
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Tags: trader-edge | chart-of-a-stock | experienced-option-traders | good-trades | edge | option-premiums | market-data | option-volatility | trading-performance
Holiday Shopping
It's bad enough fighting the crowds at the mall, but try shopping for option trades this time of year! Trading options can be a little trickier during the holiday season because of some unique seasonal anomalies.First, it can be slower. Professional traders take time off. There are less market pl...
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Tags: trading-options | 10 | 000-lots | market-tends | market-closed | professional-traders | santa-clause-rally | liquidity-providers | theta-risk | option-trades | stocks-and-options | holiday-esason
The Golden Age of Option Education
Remember about seven or eight years ago when the bid-ask spread in a typical option contract was so wide you could drive a proverbial truck through it? When I was a market maker on the CBOE trading floor back then, most of my bids and offers were around 20 cents apart. I must say, it was a good t...
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Tags: professional-traders | market-maker | retail-trader | learning-options | option-education | trading-floor | bid-ask-spread | floor-trader
Remembering Theta Bara-ly
A theta trade? What's that? There was once a day when 80 percent of the traders I'd talk to at my trading seminars traded nothing but credit spreads, iron condors, time spreads and butterflies: i.e. theta spreads. With the volatility in the market these days, theta spreads have gone the way of lo...
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Tags: market-taker-mentoring | theta-strategies | theda-bara | selling-options | butterfiles | volatility-plays | theta-spreads | iron-condors | theta-trade | time-spreads | market-conditions | credit-spreads
