Another Spreadsheet for Reference

I setup a spreadsheet similar to the one that I use for Optioneer minimum targets at various timelines between 30 and 45 days. With the spread trading through Questrade I would consider going as low as 10 days IF I could get enough of a credit at the outset to still produce my $2.40 per day per $1200 risk capital...just in order to keep the money working for me. Trades at this short a timeline have a good chance of staying profitable. The only drawback may be that at this point premium may have eroded such that I will not get that credit...so 10 days may be an unreasonable short end...maybe 15 might be the minimum.

Having said that a quick glance at my sheet indicates that a credit trade of 8 cents with 6 contracts traded will produce $2.61 for each day of the 10 day trade. Small absolute dollar figure but doing that over and over again, assuming that 10 day trades are frequent amounts to the same thing as running 15 cent credits over 26 days. It is a shame that I will barely make more than the broker even though the $2.40 is net commissions. Going with higher position sizing AFTER using a minimum size for the calculations is in order for these.

Note that these are my absolute minimum targets.

With Optioneer I went from 5 for 5 trades not filled over two weeks to 3 of 4 filled over about two weeks again. Better selection of trades as I have a target in mind when placing them and the lenience is allowed accordingly. The better the trade credit beyond my minimum target the more lenience to get the trade filled. With Questrade the lenience works a bit differently as it is a straight up limit order but it will still let me get trades filled for minimum risk at my target or greater without guessing where to sell and buy the strike levels.

I should note that this ignores the actual value of the legs of the trade as long as the difference in my selling price and purchase price meets the criteria the options could be 15 cents or $5.

Also, my formulae allow me to change the risk capital on the fly, adjust the colours for the indicators and bump the position sizing very easily to compare various setups.

Jeff.