Testimonials

February 14, 2013

Baseball, Buying a Car and Iron Condors

Filed under: Options Education — Tags: , , , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 8:14 am

With spring training right around the corner, traders should ask themselves this question; have you ever noticed a baseball player warming up before a game? Or watched footage of a baseball player at practice? What are they doing? Swinging a bat. Throwing and catching balls. Running bases. Working on the fundamentals. To be good at anything requires learning the fundamentals and constantly working on them throughout your career.

Option trading is no different. Even traders who have traded for years, who trade complex strategies return to the fundamentals to make their trading decisions. Take trading iron condors. Trading iron condors requires utilizing the fundamentals. Traders who are trading iron condors are trading a fairly complex, four-legged option strategy. They need to be able to visualize the strategy in order to analyze it and ultimately decide whether or not they should be trading iron condors or something else.

Traders trading iron condors should consider the spread from several different perspectives. Specifically, they should consider it as combinations of other spreads. When a trader is trading iron condors, the trader is in fact trading a pair of credit spreads. An iron condor is a put credit spread combined with a call credit spread. That’s one way to look at it.

Trading iron condors can also be considered from the strangle-trading perspective. An iron condor is a short strangle combined with a long strangle with wider strikes. The profit (and risk) comes from the short strangle, while the long one provides protection.

An iron condor can also be thought of as four individual option positions. Traders trading iron condors have a position in a long put, in a short put, in a short call and in a long call. Thinking of trading iron condors from this perspective, in particular, can help traders make adjustment and closing decision more effectively.

And, of course, an iron condor is, well, an iron condor! It is a single strategy in which the risk can be observed on a P&(L) diagram or through the greeks.

This strategy-break-down technique is not just suited for trading iron condors, but for trading all multi-legged strategies. It is an effective analysis technique akin to how car shoppers consider buying a car. They look at the front; then walk around to the side, then the back; they look under the hood and at the interior. All the while, they are considering this one purchase, but just from many different perspectives.

John Kmiecik

Senior Options Instructor

Market Taker Mentoring

December 20, 2012

Great Trader Part I

Filed under: Options Education — Tags: , , , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 11:28 am

With the holidays in full swing and trading volume falling off, it might be a good time to give yourself a mental break and reflect on your trading. Are you the great options trader you thought you would be by now or have you ever wondered what  truly makes a great options trader? I mean not a options trader that does pretty well, but one that you envy and want to be? Are great options traders just born that way? Does being smarter necessarily give you an advantage in options trading? Is studying charts until you are bleary-eyed from looking at them the secret; or is it just dumb luck on who succeeds and who fails? How does one learn to trade options?

The qualities that you will need to succeed in my opinion are a commitment to success, having a options trading plan and the most important, mastering your emotions—or the psychology of options trading. I believe that options trading is the hardest job in the world (quite possibly the best, but the hardest). That’s why it will probably take you a lot longer than you think before you really get a solid grip on it.

So let’s first talk about your commitment to success. This essentially sounds like the easiest of the three qualities to master doesn’t it? Why does anyone want to become a options trader in the first place? Probably, because they want to become wealthy and very successful. Who isn’t committed to that, right? All you need is some money, charts, and a platform and you are on your way. Almost everyone says they are committed but most people are not because when they find out options trading is work—and it is. They tend to lose their focus and their original goals when the going gets though.

If you are committed to success then you must be committed to reaching your goals. The most important part of having goals is to write them down. If you never write them down they are simply just dreams. We don’t want to dream we are a great trader we want to realize that we are! Only about 2% of Americans write down their goals. Is it really shocking to know that most people never achieve what they want out of life? As “corny” as it may seem, when you write something down no matter what, your thoughts are transformed from the subconscious to the conscious and are now tangible. Your goals have become something you can see and say out loud. If you never write them down they never exist outside of your thoughts.

Let me leave you with this before I end this introduction on how we are going to build a great options trader out of you. I think everyone can agree whether you are a beginning options trader or a more experienced options trader that there are several key components you will need to do to become a standout. Having said this I also know that most of you will not be committed to do this at first. I know I wasn’t. I thought to myself I am too smart and I know how to options trade. I knew it would not be easy but I was unprepared for the results that followed. I’ll give you a hint, they weren’t good. After I decided to fully commit myself and write down my goals did my results finally change. Let’s face it; options trading is a realm like no other. Options trading looks easy and which in turn makes you lazy to work at it. Be committed to your success and write down your goals right from the start will only help you achieve the success you are after that much quicker.

Enjoy the holidays!

John Kmiecik

Senior Options Instructor

Market Taker Mentoring

October 12, 2012

Volatility Events, Predictions and a Piece of Cake

Filed under: Options Education — Tags: , , , , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 1:19 pm

Option trading is easy. Well, let me qualify that statement just a bit. To be fair, options are more complicated than more simple, linear assets like stocks. But there are some elements to options’ pricing that actually make them a little easier to trade from a valuation standpoint. To find out more about this feel free to visit the options information section of our website.

The most important thing to consider is predictability. You probably receive many unsolicited emails telling you how so-and-so can predict the market with 100% certainty and make you a billionaire overnight. On the other side of that coin, there is not a professor alive who will tell you that it is possible to predict the direction of the stock market with any statistical significance. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. But one thing for sure: predicting the direction of a stock is though, and you’ll be wrong often.

But, aside from directional implications of the underlying stock, there is an important pricing factor to options that is much more predictable: volatility shifts resulting from expected volatility events. All options have an imbedded component to their pricing relating to expected-future volatility. This is called implied volatility. It can be thought of as the expected future volatility implied by the market.

Sometimes volatility is quite predictable, and therefore, fluctuations in option prices resulting from implied volatility changes can be likewise predictable. So-called volatility events include earnings, Fed announcements, CPI, PPI, Retail Sales, Payrolls, GDP and more. Volatility events are often scheduled far in advance. Just google a financial calendar and see when CPI is scheduled to be released six months from now—you’ll easily find that information. Unemployment figures are always the first Friday of the month. And so on.

When volatility events are imminent, options get more expensive. Why? Hedgers and speculators brace for a potential move by buying options, creating price-pressuring demand. Look at a chart of implied volatility for a typical stock option class and take a look at its value in the few days leading up to earnings. Typically, it will increase right before earnings. Then afterwards, it tends to fall right back to its normal range.

Scheduled volatility events help option traders analyze the ebb and flow of option premium levels with the precision of predicting the moon cycle. But all volatility events are not predictable—only those that are regularly scheduled. Sometimes, volatility events come out of nowhere. Takeovers, CFOs cooking the books, these sort of things can take a trader by surprise.

Though not all volatility events are predictable, the fact that some are provides great value to option traders. Imagine knowing that a stock would almost always rise at a certain date every quarter! This makes option trading a little easier than stock trading in my opinion. Maybe not quite a piece of cake; but still advantageous over trading stocks.

John Kmiecik

Senior Options Instructor

Market Taker Mentoring

August 11, 2011

Great Trader Part II

Filed under: Options Education — Tags: , , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 10:24 am

Last time we talked about an options trader having a commitment to excellence. This time we’ll go over why an options trader needs a trading plan and how to go about writing one. This is the part nobody wants to do. Most options traders think that their trading plan is in their head. “I know what I need to do when I need to do it” most beginning and some veteran options traders will exclaim. If it was just that easy, everyone would be a great options trader. Unfortunately it’s not. That is specifically why you need a written options trading plan. Just because you know what to do doesn’t mean you will do it.

Before you even begin to write your options trading plan, you must take an inventory of yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? You must take the time to truly examine yourself and be honest about whom you are. Your options trading plan must match your personality.

The first thing you need to do to start your options trading plan is to write down your goals like we talked about last time. Once you do this, it brings everything into perspective. The same reason you need to write down your goals is the same reason you need to write down your options trading plan-so your thoughts are transformed from the subconscious to the conscious. It doesn’t matter if you write the plan on a nice piece of paper or a cocktail napkin. It just needs to be written down in your own words.

The next section of your options trading plan will be money management. This is one of the most crucial and often overlooked components of successful options trading. How much are you going to risk per trade? What are your weekly or monthly profit targets? What are the maximum losses you are comfortable with on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? All of these questions need to be answered right in this section.

Strategies will be the next component of your options trading plan. This will be the meat and potatoes of the plan so to speak. A thing to consider is to start with relatively a few simple strategies (long calls and puts) and master them before you write in more complex option strategies into your plan. You need to describe in as much detail as possible the strategy you intend to use. You will probably be making constant changes to this part until you get exactly what you want.

The last section will be the follow up and review. This is when an option trader needs to print out the charts and the option chains and review them. Did I follow my written options trading plan like I said I would? This needs to be done when the market is closed so all your attention can be on the review. You must keep a trading journal and must always acknowledge your winners and more importantly learn from your losing trades.

This is just a general outline of an options trading plan to get you started. We will go into more detail in each area in upcoming features.

John Kmiecik

August 4, 2011

Great Trader Part I

Filed under: Options Education — Tags: , , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 12:03 pm

Have you ever wondered what makes a great options trader? I mean not a options trader that does pretty well, but one that you envy and want to be? Are great options traders just born that way? Does being smarter necessarily give you an advantage in options trading? Is studying charts until you are bleary-eyed from looking at them the secret; or is it just dumb luck on who succeeds and who fails?

The qualities that you will need to succeed in my opinion are a commitment to success, having a options trading plan and the most important, mastering your emotions—or the psychology of options trading. I believe that options trading is the hardest job in the world (quite possibly the best, but the hardest). That’s why it will probably take you a lot longer than you think before you really get a solid grip on it.

So let’s first talk about your commitment to success. This essentially sounds like the easiest of the three qualities to master doesn’t it? Why does anyone want to become a options trader in the first place? Probably, because they want to become wealthy and very successful. Who isn’t committed to that, right? All you need is some money, charts, and a platform and you are on your way. Almost everyone says they are committed but most people are not because when they find out options trading is work—and it is. They tend to lose their focus and their original goals when the going gets though.

If you are committed to success then you must be committed to reaching your goals. The most important part of having goals is to write them down. If you never write them down they are simply just dreams. We don’t want to dream we are a great trader we want to realize that we are! Only about 2% of Americans write down their goals. Is it really shocking to know that most people never achieve what they want out of life? As “corny” as it may seem, when you write something down no matter what, your thoughts are transformed from the subconscious to the conscious and are now tangible. Your goals have become something you can see and say out loud. If you never write them down they never exist outside of your thoughts.

Let me leave you with this before I end this introduction on how we are going to build a great options trader out of you. I think everyone can agree whether you are a beginning options trader or a more experienced options trader that there are several key components you will need to do to become a standout. Having said this I also know that most of you will not be committed to do this at first. I know I wasn’t. I thought to myself I am too smart and I know how to options trade. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I was unprepared for the results that followed. I’ll give you a hint, they weren’t good. After I decided to fully commit myself and write down my goals did my results finally change. Let’s face it; options trading is a realm like no other. Options trading looks easy and which in turn makes you lazy to work at it. Be committed to your success and write down your goals right from the start will only help you achieve the success you are after that much quicker.

John Kmiecik

March 30, 2011

Baseball, Buying a Car and Trading Iron Condors

Filed under: Options Education — Tags: , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 4:08 pm

Have you ever watched a baseball player warming up before a game? Or watched footage of a baseball player at practice? What are they doing? Swinging a bat. Throwing and catching balls. Running bases. Working on the fundamentals. To be good at anything requires learning the fundamentals and constantly working on them throughout your career.

Option trading is no different. Even traders who have traded for years, who trade complex strategies return to the fundamentals to make their trading decisions. Take trading iron condors. Trading iron condors requires utilizing the fundamentals. Traders who are trading iron condors are trading a fairly complex, four-legged option strategy. They need to be able to visualize the strategy in order to analyze it and ultimately decide whether or not they should be trading iron condors or something else.

Traders trading iron condors should consider the spread from several different perspectives. Specifically, they should consider it as combinations of other spreads. When a trader is trading iron condors, the trader is in fact trading a pair of credit spreads. An iron condor is a put credit spread combined with a call credit spread. That’s one way to look at it.

Trading iron condors can also be considered from the strangle-trading perspective. An iron condor is a short strangle combined with a long strangle with wider strikes. The profit (and risk) comes from the short strangle, while the long one provides protection.

An iron condor can also be thought of as four individual option positions. Traders trading iron condors have a position in a long put, in a short put, in a short call and in a long call. Thinking of trading iron condors from this perspective, in particular, can help traders make adjustment and closing decision more effectively.

And, of course, an iron condor is, well, an iron condor! It is a single strategy in which the risk can be observed on a P&(L) diagram or through the greeks.

This strategy-break-down technique is not just suited for trading iron condors, but for trading all multi-legged strategies. It is an effective analysis technique akin to how car shoppers consider buying a car. They look at the front; then walk around to the side, then the back; they look under the hood and at the interior. All the while, they are considering this one purchase, but just from many different perspectives.

March 12, 2011

Maximizing Fade Plays

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Dan Passarelli @ 9:50 am

Do you feel like you’ve seen this movie before? Trouble in the Middle East. People in the streets; panic in the market. Is this recent wave of trouble going to last forever? Not likely. Perhaps there is an opportunity to fade this fall. But how should an option trader play the fade to maximize chances of success and maximize option-trading returns?

The obvious starting point for a trader to fade this fall is to take a positive-delta position. This is fancy options speak for a bullish trade. There are lots of different ways to take a bullish stance given all the various types of option-trading strategies out there. So, the question really is: Which is best?

There are a few major considerations here. First, traders must strive to maximize reward by minimizing risk. In order to do so, option traders must define their expectations. Am I looking for an extreme turn around? A mild retracement? A dead-cat bounce? The more a strategy can be tailored to expectations, the more risk can be controlled and reward can be maximized.

Next traders need to consider implied volatility. This is where option traders can get an edge in their options positions. If implied volatility is high (overpriced), option traders should consider option-selling strategies. If implied volatility is low (underpriced), option traders should consider option-buying strategies.

In the current market scenario we have a situation where if the turmoil in the Middle East subsides, the market should rally somewhat, but it’s not likely to go to the moon. Further, with the VIX at its current nose-bleed levels and implied volatility of individual stocks following suit, it’s easy to find overpriced options. Any clever fader trader should be looking for put credit spreads to sell. Put credit spreads have positive delta and take a short position on implied volatility. Great candidates for this sort of play are indexes and ETFs like SPX, SPY, DJX, DIA, et. al. Traders are best off staying away from oil stocks and precious metals that might be adversely affected by Middle East stability.