Well, I placed a trade over at Optioneer, I doubt it will get filled but I put it in just in case.
My Questrade account had more activity. Seeing as I place call and put spreads separately one or the other will get filled if the price moves a bit in the direction of the spread. I placed a 116-118 call spread and it was filled pretty early as SPY jumped right off the bat. The put spread didn't go anywhere.
I later called and cancelled my put spread to free up buying power and decided to place another call spread, 117-118 for a smallish premium gain in line with the first 116-118 spread seeing as SPY had moved up $1 that would be about right. SPY peaked and was starting to head down a bit so I changed my mind while on the phone with the order desk...I should have just called back.
I goofed.
I wanted to take advantage of the jump in SPY by placing a 116-117 spread as the premium was setting up really nice as the discrepancy between premiums was large...too large. I ended up placing another 116-118 for an 13 cent credit...the credit for the 116-117... and ended up with 19 cents on the 116-118 instead...
I am not exactly sure how I managed that but I got in a hurry and was looking at the wrong column. For the exact same exposure the 116-117 with 20 contracts was $230 compared to the 116-118 at 10 contracts $160....DUH!
Because I got the net credit wrong the order executed right away so I didn't even get a chance to call back to cancel it and place the correct order. I now have two identical spreads one at 11 cents and one at 19 cents that will be combined somehow into one. Dollar cost averaging spread trades anyone? My spreadsheets do not accommodate this trade.
Advantage, if I have to close the 116 strike options they can be closed in one transaction instead of two I suppose.
Live and learn.
Jeff.
Questrade, My direct access discount broker.
Showing posts with label Intraday update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intraday update. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Friday, September 25, 2009
Interesting twist, dissappearing bids
One of my positions that was showing a loss was not in a bad state, just down a bit. This was not a position that I had great hopes of gaining a lot... testing and all.
The option was worth $2.25 and I bought 2 contracts, $450. This is a higher than I normally would place on an options trade now, this one was entered before I decided on full trade loss risk.
Today, as I was reviewing the prices after the market had been opened long enough to get the option prices set and the bids in I noticed a huge loss in one account. My $2.25 position was at zero value, which shouldn't happen unless the option expires or nears expiry...even then it SHOULD have some value. This stock is only $1.30 down from the $20 strike price so I might expect a 50-75 cent loss at this point...maybe even as high as 90 cents worst case.
So what's up? No bids. The current ask is $3.00... much higher than my $2.25 entry price. Zero bids means zero value as nobody is buying. Now, the open interest is 1227 contracts so there is SOME interest but the stock itself is trading on lowish volume, under 20,000 shares in the first hour and less than 150,000 daily on average. Technically the stock is at a good support level trendwise so there is potential.
The first thing that comes to mind is THANKFULLY I decided not to place a stop on my options as I am not sure what price I might have got for this stock had I stopped it.
I notice that now it is back to a 50 cent paper loss, so all is good and this is actually in line with what I expected...so it is back to normal. I may drop this one as a bit of a whit elephant once it gets into a breakeven position or if I end up at a stable -90 cent point.
Jeff.
The option was worth $2.25 and I bought 2 contracts, $450. This is a higher than I normally would place on an options trade now, this one was entered before I decided on full trade loss risk.
Today, as I was reviewing the prices after the market had been opened long enough to get the option prices set and the bids in I noticed a huge loss in one account. My $2.25 position was at zero value, which shouldn't happen unless the option expires or nears expiry...even then it SHOULD have some value. This stock is only $1.30 down from the $20 strike price so I might expect a 50-75 cent loss at this point...maybe even as high as 90 cents worst case.
So what's up? No bids. The current ask is $3.00... much higher than my $2.25 entry price. Zero bids means zero value as nobody is buying. Now, the open interest is 1227 contracts so there is SOME interest but the stock itself is trading on lowish volume, under 20,000 shares in the first hour and less than 150,000 daily on average. Technically the stock is at a good support level trendwise so there is potential.
The first thing that comes to mind is THANKFULLY I decided not to place a stop on my options as I am not sure what price I might have got for this stock had I stopped it.
I notice that now it is back to a 50 cent paper loss, so all is good and this is actually in line with what I expected...so it is back to normal. I may drop this one as a bit of a whit elephant once it gets into a breakeven position or if I end up at a stable -90 cent point.
Jeff.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Friday, June 5th
I may be done trading for the day. Period volume is in the upper range today and the market is not moving around all that much, volatility is down. Actually it looks like volume is slowing down near the lunch hour but still in the middle of the last ten day average.
I have had a busy morning on the phones but I tried to do some trading in between, not the best of plans. I need to have some almost mechanical entry guidelines when I am trading under those circumstances. The first trade was OK, made a few bucks playing the counter trend or reversion with a tight stop...completely against the TICK timing as there were other factors lining up and I was feeling cheeky.
Next two trades had a too tight stop, missed the move as a result, and a wrong entry.
I think I will go for an early (for me) lunch and perhaps see what sets up this afternoon. Market is ranging right ow around the VWAP and there are some decent small target setups as a result but I often get burned playing those as I want to play for the breakout that, more often than not, does not appear.
I do see that mechanical trading this morning would have worked out not bad so I think that I will revisit my rulebook and get these TICK trade setups nailed down tighter.
I'll see if there is anything worthy of charting later today.
Jeff.
I have had a busy morning on the phones but I tried to do some trading in between, not the best of plans. I need to have some almost mechanical entry guidelines when I am trading under those circumstances. The first trade was OK, made a few bucks playing the counter trend or reversion with a tight stop...completely against the TICK timing as there were other factors lining up and I was feeling cheeky.
Next two trades had a too tight stop, missed the move as a result, and a wrong entry.
I think I will go for an early (for me) lunch and perhaps see what sets up this afternoon. Market is ranging right ow around the VWAP and there are some decent small target setups as a result but I often get burned playing those as I want to play for the breakout that, more often than not, does not appear.
I do see that mechanical trading this morning would have worked out not bad so I think that I will revisit my rulebook and get these TICK trade setups nailed down tighter.
I'll see if there is anything worthy of charting later today.
Jeff.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Nice morning
I decided to try to wait out the first 15 minutes of trading starting last week. Today that cost me a nice entry which cascaded to missing a few nice entries and left me scratching at the range area mid to late morning. Lots of learning as this tends to be my weak spot, but I would like a bit more profits to play with for my future learning...I guess I can't have it both ways.
I expect that I was not in the right trading mindset as the morning opened either. I had three people chattering at me right up to 0930h and on and off there after...not conducive to getting in the "zone" for sure.
Watching the open turn relatively strong on higher than average volume had me itching to jump in long, but I held. Trade the plan and all, I used the interruptions as excuses for not being in.
So I think I may have a new guide as it pertains to the open. I see that the TICK indication was strong to go long, there were a number of nice pullbacks in TICK that never reached the lower boundaries. I will note these on another post, I am just venting right now. The one low that did hit my target was a good entry on it's own, a little late but was still a 30+ cent move on SSO.
Lunch approaches and I see the TICK pattern heading down and I am in a long position in SSO hovering over my stop which I will not lower. I am sitting just under the 100VWMA which has typically been a good place to be and I usually miss it and get stopped before I can get under it...we'll see if it works today...this is my second try at a long SSO from the same price.
Ah, it is moving as I type and the TICK trend may be resuming up as well...I'll see where the next low reading appears and judge whether to advance my stop or not.
Jeff.
I expect that I was not in the right trading mindset as the morning opened either. I had three people chattering at me right up to 0930h and on and off there after...not conducive to getting in the "zone" for sure.
Watching the open turn relatively strong on higher than average volume had me itching to jump in long, but I held. Trade the plan and all, I used the interruptions as excuses for not being in.
So I think I may have a new guide as it pertains to the open. I see that the TICK indication was strong to go long, there were a number of nice pullbacks in TICK that never reached the lower boundaries. I will note these on another post, I am just venting right now. The one low that did hit my target was a good entry on it's own, a little late but was still a 30+ cent move on SSO.
Lunch approaches and I see the TICK pattern heading down and I am in a long position in SSO hovering over my stop which I will not lower. I am sitting just under the 100VWMA which has typically been a good place to be and I usually miss it and get stopped before I can get under it...we'll see if it works today...this is my second try at a long SSO from the same price.
Ah, it is moving as I type and the TICK trend may be resuming up as well...I'll see where the next low reading appears and judge whether to advance my stop or not.
Jeff.
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