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Strategies & Market Trends : Systems, Strategies and Resources for Trading Futures -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patrick Slevin who wrote (4879)	9/30/1998 10:00:00 AM
From: TradeOfTheDay	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44573

OK, Patrick and Tom - am I flattered to have my name mentioned by 2 of the traders I admire most ?? Oh yeah... but honestly, I just can't accept the kudos. This mkt has been a position traders dream - volatility to die for . I KNOW I will not have this good fortune all the time. But the swings have been there..and setting a 3 day limit for myself has lessened the time decay impact. If we go into a tighter range though , I may get in trouble this week. May have to withdraw to my first love - shorts !

To: Patrick Slevin who wrote (4879)	9/30/1998 10:13:00 AM
From: Tom Trader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44573

You've pretty much nailed it--in terms of successfully trading the OEX and probably most options. One has to get the direction right and it has to be timely--now that is on the long side. When one is short--the timeliness element is not a factor--and when one does ratio-writes and similar strategies one can allow the direction and time to come together at its own pace. The underlying risk is of course what happens when one is wrong with my type of strategy--and there unless one is very disciplined one can lose a lot of money in a hurry. And then of course there is the margin requirement when one is selling short these index options. The need to be disciplined and close out positions fast if things are not going right when one is short is why having a broker who one can rely on is of the utmost importance. I saw a post from Mary, I think, who posted that she could not exit a long trade because of her broker's incompetence--now that would have me in an absolute tizzy if I were short and needed to bail in a hurry. I need the ability to talk to a PERSON who can understand what the hell I am telling him and then do it fast--and tell me right away if not sooner, that it has been done. BTW, I rarely use market orders when trading the OEX --I may place an order at the bid or ask--because when I have done so, I invariably get screwed--so this is something that I do only when I have to exit a position fast and be sure that I will be out. Now Bev and Don and others who seems to have this ability to nail the direction would probably be very successful trading futures -- though the moment of truth will come when one does not time it perfectly and then one has to close out a position as the trade begins to cost one. Not so when one goes long the OEX because the maximum downside is the cost of the premium--and one can afford the luxury of sitting back and waiting for things to come together. The main reason that I've been doing these OEX trades is because I have all this cash sitting in t-bills while I wait for an opportunity to reenter equities--so in the mean time one can make some money with this relatively laid-back approach.