Iron Condors Can Be Very Aggressive And Risky Trades
Recently, I had an important chat with a stock-option manager who is still seeking for the mysterious formula to yielding dependable returns with option investing each month. He mentioned some things which were so obvious to me and brought up many past memories.
The topic that really hit home for me was when he mentioned "Non-directional option investing doesn't mean we should generate return on investment in each and every direction. It means that we generate a profit if the asset doesn't move in any direction. In a few words, it's actually a directional strategy, sideways." This is absolutely the truth, and most investing programs say that it's easy to manufacture a profit with options simply because we can generate money for each and every direction. This is true in some viewpoints and false in others.
Those investing with Condors understand what I am saying, especially if you are investing in the Iron Condors which most programs and written materials preach. If you are investing with this option strategy during 2008 and 2009, you most likely aren't doing much good. The reason for this is that the Iron Condor is just as directional as other option positions only that its direction is called "Sideways." For most traders, it's just as difficult to forecast a neutral move as it is to predict an upward move or downward one.
I have had many calls over the years from people losing huge chunks of their accounts trading credit spreads and condors. They all say the same thing... "I was doing great for several months, and then all the sudden I lost nearly my whole account in one day." I have heard this story over and over again.
This is exactly why I don't teach traditional Condors and Credit Spreads. If you are a few days from expiration, and the RUT is right at your short strike, then you are trading the way most people trade this strategy, and soon you'll be telling the same story to your best friend, and you'll be hiding the truth from your wife! You laugh now, but you won't be when it happens to you. Another problem with this style of trading is that the stress level is so high that it really ruins your life.
Well, San Jose Options Mentoring has really changed the Condor and Credit Spreads that the usual investor is attempting to trade today. While others come into expiration sweating it out, worrying about the market moving past their short strike, we are relaxed, sleeping at night, and trading options in a much safer environment.
Besides teaching a safer way to trade Condors, we've also developed techniques to lock-in our profits on them. Most option traders exit their trades when they make a profit, but we can lock-in our profits and stay in the trade.
Furthermore, if we ever have a Condor move against us, then we have developed yet another technique which gives us a free bonus trade! So, even though we may have a bad month once in a while, at least we get an excellent, free trade from it where most traders just take the loss and move on.
So, finally I'd like to say that whether we have a winner or a loser, we have some excellent adjustment tricks that will be sure to greatly improve your personal trading skills.
Article Source: FxTradingStock.com
About the Author
Ready to lock in those profits? Better your Option Trading Skills today by visiting San Jose Options Mentoring online at www.sjoptions.com. Visit now and receive a Free Option Trading Video on Option Greeks, a $200 value absolutely free!
by: Donald Scott
Total views: 50
Word Count: 574
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2010
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