Originally Posted by Gunfighter

Absolutely. The most successful traders seem to be the ones who know how to take losses, not just pick winners.



All this talk of Delta, Theta, Vega, Beta, etc. has me thinking about real estate metrics. One I pay close attention to is the $/toilet ratio. We don't have a fancy Greek symbol for it, but higher is better. Self storage can get you north of 3,000,000:1. If investing in an asset class where a high $/toilet ratio isn't an option (residential), scaling the size of the portfolio where you hire employees makes a huge difference. The current high prices have tempted us into listing two of our smallest assets. We are re-deploying the capital into passive MF and pulling out a small amount for an options trading experiment. We've also taken advantage of the low rates to cash out refi and reduce risk with non-recourse debt.



Options aren't all that risky when managed properly by an educated trader. I've traded the simple strategies off and on for nearly 30 years. I just got tired of managing positions. The WB reserve schedule over the last year has given me time to take on some other personal interests, so I've returned to options trading. The biggest risk is losing time more than money.

Real estate comes with a wide range of risks. Buying an existing asset with a history of income is not very risky. Like options, you have to know the market and what represents a good price. You are absolutely correct about the relationship between risk and expertise. I'm working on my expertise in stocks, options and futures as a risk reduction measure. Knowledge and expertise definitely reduce risk and allow investors/traders to identify safety where others fear risk.