Archives of “option trade” tag

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Why Traders Lose Money ?

  
  Education
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why13One of the most frustrating things a trader can experience is being dead on right about a trade, taking it, BUT.. still losing money! How can this be? This can happen in five different ways, each of the first four contain a lesson for better planning the fifth way to lose money in this list is just part of the game.

  1. You enter your trade correctly and it goes in your favor, BUT… you do not have the right exit strategy to capture your profits and they evaporate due to not having a trailing stop or waiting to long to exit to bank those profits. Sometimes winners even turn into big losers win not managed correctly. You have to have a plan to take profits while they are there.
  2. You enter the right trade BUT… at the wrong time, you either exit not allowing your trade enough time to work or you are stopped out but do not have a plan to get yourself back in the trade with the right set up. The right trade with the wrong timing pays nothing.
  3. You have the right entry and it goes in your favor BUT.. you pick the wrong stock option to express your trade. If you pick an option with a high implied volatility your trade has to overcome that vega priced into the option, after an expected earnings event that vega value will be priced out and you need the move in intrinsic value to make up that difference. With a far out in time stock option you need the price to move enough in the underlying in the time period of the option to make up the theta cost of time embedded in the option. It is crucial to understand the option pricing model to make the right option trades to express your time period and expected move. Sometimes options also do not have the liquidity in some stocks,or far out time frames, or far out of the money strikes. Getting in and out of an illiquid  option trade can be very expensive. (more…)

Ten Times When A Trader Should do Nothing

  
  Education
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Ten Times When A Trader Should do Nothing

  1. When you are confused and don’t know what to do, do nothing.
  2. There are no set ups on your watch list, then don’t trade.
  3. You are a trend trader and there is no trend to trade.
  4. The market is extremely volatile due to headline risk.
  5. You want to make an option trade but the options are illiquid with a huge bid ask spread.
  6. If you are trying to trade supply and demand but the government keeps interfering with your market, pick a different market.
  7. Your stock reports earnings the next day and you expect a powerful move but it could easily go either way, wait until after earnings to trade.
  8. You are a momentum trader but their is not momentum, then wait.
  9. You play the long side only and the market is in a correction or a bear market, wait for a new trend to the upside.
  10. If you are not at your best mentally and emotionally then don’t trade until you are.

10 Ways to Move From Peril to Profits

  
  Education
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  1. The first question to ask in any option trade is how much of my capital could I lose in the worst case scenario not how much can I make.
  2. Long options are tools that can be used to create asymmetric trades with a built in downside and unlimited upside.
  3. Short options should only be sold when the probabilities are deeply in your favor that they will expire worthless, also a small hedge can pay for itself in the long run.
  4. Understand that in long options you have to overcome the time priced into the premium to be profitable even if you are right on the direction of the move.
  5. Long  weekly deep-in-the-money options can be used like stock with much less out lay of capital.
  6. The reason that deeper in the money options have so little time and volatility priced in is becasue you are ensuring someones profits in that stock. That is where the risk is:intrinsic value, and that risk is on the buyer.
  7. When you buy out-of-the-money options understand that you must be right about direction, time period of move, and amount of move to make money. Also understand this is already priced in.
  8. When trading a high volatility event that price move will be priced into the option, after the event the option price will remove that volatility value and the option value will collapse. You can only make money through those events with options if the increase in intrinsic value increases enough to replace the vega value that comes out.
  9. Only trade in options with high volume so you do not lose a large amount of money on the bid/ask spread when entering and exiting trades.
  10. When used correctly options can be tools for managing risk, used incorrectly they can blow up your account. I suggest never risking more than 1% of your trading capital on any one option trade.

Ten Times When A Trader Should do Nothing

  
  Education
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  1. When you are confused and don’t know what to do, do nothing.
  2. There are no set ups on your watch list, then don’t trade.
  3. You are a trend trader and there is no trend to trade.
  4. The market is extremely volatile due to headline risk.
  5. You want to make an option trade but the options are illiquid with a huge bid ask spread.
  6. If you are trying to trade supply and demand but the government keeps interfering with your market, pick a different market.
  7. Your stock reports earnings the next day and you expect a powerful move but it could easily go either way, wait until after earnings to trade.
  8. You are a momentum trader but their is not momentum, then wait.
  9. You play the long side only and the market is in a correction or a bear market, wait for a new trend to the upside.
  10. If you are not at your best mentally and emotionally then don’t trade until you are.
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