Tag Archives: option trading

The Iron Condor Option Trading Strategy – The Most Account-threatening Weekly Options Trade In The Entire World

For all the investors out there who can’t pick market direction to save their lives, here is a good trading strategy worth considering: it’s called the iron condor Option Strategy. This trade is ideally suited for non trending markets, however it can also product great results in a moving market just as long as the investor who is trading this strategy understands it thouroughly and has been properly educated on how to work the trade and most importantly how to correctly adjust.

The iron condor is a trade that benefits from the reality that options are a wasting asset – an investment vehicle that slowly drains value as time passes by. These trades will profit just as long as the strikes which have been sold remain outside the range that has been created on the iron condor profit graph when the trade was first initiated. And these trades can kick off a good and solid return on investment in quick periods of time.

Two individual credit spreads make up an iron condor. Each credit spread is placed above and below where the stock or index being used is presently trading at. Above the underlying is a bear call spread. Below is a bull put spread. This trade can be initially placed either as one whole iron condor spread – all four legs together – or as separetly placed credit spreads.

Ideally, the stock or index that is being traded will remain within the range created by the two separate credit spreads. These are usually placed far enough away from where the underlying is currently trading where as to give the underlying room to move around on the chart without breaching either one of the spread positions on both sides. If the underlying does move so far as to threaten either credit spread, the iron condor trader will need to have a plan in place to protect the position by managing and making adjustments to the position.

Most of the time, iron condors can be profitable as they offer a high probability of success. That being said, it is extremely important for the newer iron condor trader to understand the potential danger of these trades as the reward/risk ratio is very poor. One losing trade can completely destroy a trading account and eliminate many months worth of gains. This is why it is so important to have a solid iron condor management and adjustment plan in place before getting started trading this strategy. These can absolutely be profitable over the long run IF one knows how to correctly place, manage and adjust.

Many iron condor traders grow over confident because they win for a number of consecutive months using this trade. Then they are woken up as the inevitable problem month comes along and destroys a significant portion of the their trading account. This could have been averted if they had only properly prepared before hand and learned how to correctly place, exit, manage and adjust these trades.

Had I first learned just a few of the simple iron condor adjusting tips, tricks, and simple management techniques found at this iron condors website, I could have remained profitable even with the rest of the market crashing all around me.

To discover these ‘tricks’ to trading the iron condor , to over to this iron condor website and see my free video. It will depict an very down-to-earth idea for suitably placing, managing, and ADJUSTING these types of trades.

Weekly Option – Using The Option Spread To Magically Create Weekly Options Cashflow

A neat strategy for Weekly Options traders who reckon that the underlying instrument they are working with will be range bound for the next 2 to 4 days or so of time is the butterfly trading strategy.

This theta positive derivative trading approach creates profits when the stock or index that is being traded remains within a trapped area on the graph or ends up on weekly options expiration day at or near the sold strikes of this trade.

Here is an representation of a weekly options butterfly spread position:

Buy 5 contracts of QQQQ forty four put. Sell ten contracts of QQQQ 46 put. Buy 5 contracts of QQQQ 48 put.

These trades can create rapid gains for the weekly options trader due to the fact that the short strikes of the trading position (the strikes which are sold) create so much premium into the investors account for the reason that they are being sold ‘at the money’ – which are the strikes that have the largest amount of time premium in them. Again, these options that are chosen exactly where the underlying is trading at frequently offer the most amount of option premium available.

Although you will notice a lot of versions of the butterfly technique, the two most frequent are the standard butterfly option spread trade which is set on for a debit, as well as the iron butterfly, which is put on for a credit. It is true that these two unique variations of the butterfly spread are certainly dissimilar, if you would look at the risk graph of one and then compare it to the other, they would come across spot on the same, and they actually act the same as well.

The weekly options butterfly option strategy is a ‘delta neutral’ method, meaning that derivative traders who apply this strategy either don’t have an view on marketplace direction or believe that the underlying stock being played will linger in its general location on the price chart for the period of the trade.

With the right understanding, Weekly Options can be a profitable, low stress, and pleasant investment means that doesn’t necessitate one to be chained to their computer screen worrying over every single tick of the marketplace all day.

Ted ‘The Spread’ Nino is an option selling zombie – particularly obsessed with riding the Weekly Options . Stop by his Weekly Options Training Site to catch more about his First-rate Uncomplicated Way to maneuver the weeklys for ongoing gains.

The Double Calendar Options Spread Trade – Innovative Sandbox For Iron Condor Option Traders

A good option trade for iron condor traders who are seeking to build up their option trading repertoire is the Weekly Options Double Calendar spread.

What exactly is this trade?

The double calendar is simply two separate calendar spreads located on the same stock or index, usually placed on either side of wherever the underlying is presently trading at.

What exactly is a calendar spread?

A calendar spread is the sale of a closer month option (many times the closest month option) sold at a particular strike price – and the purchase of a farther out month option (many times the next month out option). The farther out month option is purchased at the same strike price as the one that was sold.

Following is a sample of a calendar spread on an underlying we will call XYZ.

Sell 1 April 20 Put Buy 1 May 20 Put

The way this spread generates profits is from the variances which will arise in the volatility stages of the 2 different strike options, as well as from the fact that the front month option will without a doubt decay at a swifter rate than the deeper further out month option.

A calendar spread creates a rather narrow profit tent over the current price of the underlying, while two calendar spreads (a double calendar spread) creates a profit tent that is quite a bit wider and protects a larger area around the underlying current price. This is one reason why iron condor traders find these trades attractive.

Following is a sample of a double calendar spread with XYZ trading at 30.

Sell 1 May 15 Put Buy 1 May 15 Put Sell 1 May 25 Call Buy 1 June 25 Call

A benefit of the double calendar spread when put up against other option income strategies such as the iron condor trade or the credit spread strategy, is the reality that the double calendar spread can handle big violent moves in the stock market much better than other option trades. When one looks at the risk graph of the double calendar trade and then looks at risk graph of a similar iron condor trade, it is very apparent that the double calendar can withstand a quick big move with less pain then if the same move were to occur to an iron condor trade.

Furthermore, soaring volatility rewards the calendar trade, basically pumping further gain into the position. So in a situation wherever the market suddenly tanks and moves downward, what might be a disastrous scenario for an Iron Condor trade could turn out to be a great circumstance for a correctly setup Weekly Options double calendar position.

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Iron Condor – Buckle Your Seat Belts

As the iron condor spread is becoming a more popular way to trade options, it’s important to go over the pros and cons that come with this trade. Before going out and trading this strategy, it is really important to take the time to fully understand this trade from top to bottom.

While the iron condor strategy sounds like an exotic trade – in fact it is really quite simple. It is comprised of two separate credit spreads – a put credit spread and a call credit spread – on the same stock or index.

The simplicity of this trade might be a bit misleading to the newer option trader due to the fact that the probability of the trade is so far skewed in the favor of the trader – it is easy to overlook the potential risks that are involved.

For example, let’s take a look at the iron condors risk to reward. The maximum possible reward these trades can give off can be ‘dwarfed’ by the maximum possible loss. Let’s pretend that we place a trade that has a total potential reward of five thousand dollars. The risk to reward on this trade can be just terrible – for example out max possible loss COULD be around twenty five thousand dollars or even more.

However – as long as a trader educates themselves and uses the proper trade management and adjustment techniques – this risk to reward ratio doesn’t need to be a problem.

The final, bottom line is that as long as the trader has educated themselves on this trade and they have learned how to correctly manage and adjust the iron condor when things go awry – this trade can be a wonderfully reliable way to create monthly income from the market.

Teddy Baby is an option selling psychotic – exceedingly enthusiastic about trading the iron condor . Visit iron condor Site to find out more about his simple paint by the numbers instructions for playing this strategy for reliable profits.

Does The Iron Condor Strategy Actually ‘Do It’?

The iron condor strategy. This strategy profits when the stock or index being used does NOT make significant moves. Of course options traders try to utilize strategies that can take advantage of movements in the market. A lot of times there is not big movements in the market or the underlying being used so the options being traded expire worthless. Iron condor traders love this type of market environment as it is the ideal situation to pull profits from the markets.

You can imagine the iron condor strategy trade as a purchased strangle and a sold strangle. A “strangle” is where a trader buys an an out-of-the-money call as well as an out-of-the-money put option. Strangles’ premiums are less than those of straddles due to the fact that the contracts are out of the money. Another way you can look at the iron condor strategy is to think of it as two credit spreads placed at the same time – a put credit spread and a call credit spread. The long calls or puts above and below where the short options are placed at are the wings.

For example, let’s take a look and we find that the SPX is trading at around thirteen hundred and so we buy the jan call option at 1375 bringing in right around $245, and at the exact same time we buy the january put option for $4.38. As long as you have chosen a broker that is options friendly – you just need to make sure that you have the funds available to margin the difference between to the strikes. In this pretend scenario, in order to do this spread one would need somewhere around $1320.00.

The calculation would be:

Thirteen hundred seventy at $2.50

1355 @ 4.50

What this shows is that that the credit you bring in is about two dollars.

$15 dollars minus $2 dollars = Thirteen – then times this by one spread (100 contracts) equals about $1,320.00 dollars.

If the underlying finishes the trading cycle below the sold options, the trader gets to keep the entire credit which can translate to a great return in a short period of time.

This example described is one of the wings of the iron condor spread trade – and it is the call spread side of the trade. To construct a fully placed iron condor, one would need to add a bull put spread – which is a put credit spread – below where the underlying is trading at.

Iron condors are great trades and be traded consistently with very profitable results – and some traders use this strategy as their only trading strategy to pull income from the markets. Of course, however, there are potential risks with this strategy – just like any trading strategy.

Knowing which stock or index to use – as well as knowing how and when to properly place, exit, manage and adjust the iron condor is essential. Managing and adjusting these trades are a major part of experiencing success with this type of trading. Not having a solid grasp on how this trade works – or not having a plan in place for what you will do if one of these trades ever moves against you (which it will eventually do) could wind up costing significant losses. Ask me how I know!

To discover more about the iron condor option strategy, visit this training website for heaps of free trading videos, illustrations, and reports on how to fittingly put on, close, supervise and adjust the iron condor strategy to produce a ongoing monthly earnings.