Care to give an example of the trade? I put on a spread earlier in the week, and bailed on the buy portion when I saw the security going up, so I need to be convinced of these 'exotic' trades...

I've been playing with ICs on SPY, but see the value in changing to SPX. I'm surprised Tastytrade uses SPY vs SPX options in the videos I've seen. Perhaps it's geared toward smaller traders that can't tie up the capital required to cover SPX. Larger bid/ask spreads on SPX could be another reason.

I'm trading a paper money account right now to get comfortable with the more complex strategy mechanics. Tomorrow's paper trades will be an SPX IC and maybe a short straddle/strangle on BRK/B.

The only live trading I've done so far is CC on TSLA at 725 and 750. The premium is crazy high and the recent price rise is likely a little bump in price from the window dressing portfolio buyers. If I end up ITM, I'll roll to Mar. I should have my TSLA basis down to 0 by the spring.

Thoughts on strangles vs IC on SPX? It looks like a wider profit range at the same strikes and you could manage losses vs spending $$ on the long side of an IC.

Besides SPX, what other indices do you trade? Is there a bond index similar to the TLT ETF?

Iron Condors are very safe compared to naked puts or calls. You sell an out of the money put and call then buy a put and call farther out of the money and collect the difference in premium. Example Jan 8:

Sell 3800 call and buy 3815 call collect (10.20-7.06) 3.14 on the call side.
Sell 3600 put and buy 3585 put collect ( 12.66-10.90) 1.76 on the put side
Total premium collected is 4.90 or 490.00 per contract and loss is limited to difference between strikes minus premium collected.

490.00 per contract for a one week strike. You can adjust the strikes per your risk tolerance and expectations with respect to capital used. I don't have my trading software up but I can tell you the margin on this is better than on naked trades and return on capital is very good. I usually look to make my trades at somewhere between 80 and 90% probability of success. Last year I had only one condor go bad and I took the loss early instead of letting it go to max. I usually take profit and put capital back to use at around 65% of max profit. In an uptrend like we have had for the past few months I look for a bigger down day to enter so I can get really good prices for the put side and widen the calls for the inevitable rebound.

This is not trade advice. Use paper money to experiment and get comfortable before risking real money. Seek professional investment advice before risking money. Etc, etc, etc.

I only do the condors on SPX. The bulk of my trading is ES futures and ZB which is 30 year bonds. I love futures but it is very hard to learn and very dangerous unless you are religious in taking small losses.

I took this trade earlier today. I like the hourly rate of this.

I have looked everywhere on Fidelity site for a form that gives us permission to sell covered calls and cash secured puts in our 401k. Can’t find it and was on phone for 45 min today waiting for a rep until I had to punt. Anybody have gouge on the best way to allow option trading through our Brokeragelink? Thanks

You can’t trade options in your 401K BrokerageLink.

You can double check me if you want... let me know if you see something different. In the NetBenefits app, select your brokeragelink account (this basically takes you to the webpage version, so you can just do this from the web if easier). One of the banner links on the top is “Investment Products.” Under that link, select “Options”. Select the orange button that says “Apply to trade options.” On that screen it says that my BrokerageLink account is ineligible for options. This checks with the list of eligible account types (401Ks are not listed as eligible).

Nice. It's on par with 7ERA flying a greenie. If you ever turn from day trading into real estate, you could get that hourly rate a little more often.

​​​​Which platform are you trading on?

I have quite a few different accounts at fidelity and haven't invested much time checking the veracity of all this "can trade options , can't trade options" but....

from the directions posted above my acct says....

BROKERAGELINK NQP accounts with DELTA PILOTS PLAN, and FMTC

"The following account types are eligible to trade options:

• Traditional IRA
• ROTH IRA
• SEP IRA
• IRA Rollover
• Money Purchase Keogh
• Profit Sharing Keogh
• Voluntary MP Keogh
• Voluntary PS Keogh
• Non Prototype IRA
• Non Prototype Trust
• Individual
• Joint
• Investment Club
• Corporate
• Unincorporated Business
• Partnership
• Sole Proprietorship
• Trust
• Estate
• Custodial
• Fiduciary
• Health Savings Account"

additionally,....

BROKERAGELINK NQP accounts with DELTA PILOTS PLAN, and FMTC

Account Option Level Action a BROKERAGELINKxxxxxxxxxx Level 2: Buying calls/puts, long straddles/strangles, selling cash-covered puts

Seems like maybe I can?


All I know is , if it's something you want to do, I would pursue it first on line and follow up with a real person. Today was a bad day to talk to a broker at Fidelity, prolly due to year end tax strategies.

Not sure if this provides any insight or just muddies the water. Best of luck....Happy New Year

Cheers

I do futures on Tradovate. Options on TOS but I am looking into switching to Tasty Trade. I haven't been very happy with TOS since the buyout.

That trade was just a quicky as I didn't have a lot of time today. I was out with errands most of the day and I generally don't trade the last two weeks of the year due to Christmas and New Years. I just happened to look and there was a perfect setup and I had a few minutes. When I have a full day I can do very well. Some days are better than others, of course not every trade is a winner.

I work for a trader who manages a LOT of money. He has been very helpful with my trading journey and since he has the need for good data the plane, houses, boat, and even his car are wired with the fastest internet available. I have been lucky to be able to listen and learn from him. The flying is a side benefit of my main agenda which is to learn as much as possible from him about trading and wealth.

I wrote 2 covered call contracts in my Brokeragelink account this morning. You just have to apply for options trading. Sorry, I don’t have the link or know who to call. Start with the Delta Service Center at Fidelity and follow the trail from there.