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  • From FFS on Trade 169 Week Ending 14th ♥ February

    Fantastic. I’ve been reading your posts since 1999 on the now defunct fool.co.uk site.
    Thanks for sharing.

    On this trade, the potential loss is quite sizeable, as it contains a naked call and put. How would you manage this trade if the index was at 7500 right now (20-Feb)? The short calls would both be ATM, with considerable time value.

    PS – what software do you use to model the P/L for a trade like this. I have Option Net Explorer, but it doesn’t handle the FTSE index.

    2020/02/20 at 12:49 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 169 Week Ending 14th ♥ February

      You are 100% correct you do have a naked element on both sides, but given the powerful theta in this last week, premiums will be dramatically crushed for the short options.(Remember we SOLD Feb options and BOUGHT March) Say for example you found FTSE at 7520 at expiry- the short calls would be worth 20×2, but the long March call 7550 would certainly be more than 50. In extremes, you’d be looking to sell more options in the new month,and adjusting dynamically. FWIW I backtested this many years ago and came to the conclusion that in the last week FTSE never does more than ±3.6%.So, I placed a similar trade and FTSE went up 4%. That is a 1 in 200 event, and Sod’s law it would bite me. Back then I lacked the vision to see how I could adjust the position.I should have carried on with it.
      I occasionally use http://optioncreator.com/stuskul
      And ALWAYS use https://www.cmegroup.com/tools-information/quikstrike/options-calculator.html?utm_source=LINKEDIN_COMPANY
      When I post these trades I do only give a few minutes thought, I have my own rules andstrategies which do sometimes coincide with the posts here.
      Delighted to receive comments, always.

      2020/02/22 at 11:35 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 169 Week Ending 14th ♥ February

    Trade 169- paid 27……. now it’s 45. Anyone else making >50% in a day? Thought so. options give you wings to quote. Nothing else comes close.

    2020/02/18 at 9:23 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 168 Week Ending 07February

    Trade 166 now looking at healthy profit minimum 36
    Trade 167 that straddle- 185, profit 208.5-185 =23.5
    168 profit 1.5+4.=5.5. This was not what we were looking for but closed out as the panic did not materialise. Ideally we need a move of 70-80 for these to yield 20 or more.

    2020/02/11 at 1:37 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 164 Week ending 10 January

    Trade 162 looking AMAZING!!!! Who expected that? Cost of 6 to close giving a mahoosive 43.5. Next up our rinse and repeat Trade 164 now 52 – a tiny profit on 39.5 but hey 30% -the stuff of dreams for stock traders

    2020/01/15 at 9:48 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 160 Week Ending 06December

    You couldn’t make it up. Remember for fun we kept an alternative Trade 158- that butterfly is now 32.5. Winner! Up 50%
    Trade 159
    7450 call 46, 7500 call 29 7550 call 17 7600 call 9 7650 call 4.5
    Now 23 (-11+5) + (5-(2.5×2))= 7. Bit of a fiddle around but it made 7 for zero cost
    Trade160- that was already a modest win despite trying to find the worst trade! (Had we held on it would be a loss of 18). Exit is everything-but had we held it…… we’ll see what Monday brings but my own conviction was to saty on the sidelines. The exuberance may fade quickly.

    2019/12/13 at 3:37 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 160 Week Ending 06December

    So…… you have to laugh- the most horrendous trade selection the 7250 straddle is now about 142, sold for 158.5
    I repeatedly say I am not a good trader and this is dumb luck. But….. it’s another example of being wrong and being profitable. Personally I thought the trade was bad as there could have been an exogenous event by a political extremist- or even some truth coming out about Boris’s children!
    The markets love Boris and really really hate the old chap, the nice one with his allotment

    2019/12/12 at 11:23 am
  • From Gary on Trade 160 Week Ending 06December

    Hi,

    I found myself on your website, (cant remember how i got here) but have found it interesting, but i need to learn a lot more, and reasonably quickly as im 58 now….

    Can i learn here, or a starting point/ book etc you’d suggest?

    As you say, charts can mean all sorts to all sorts of people, in all sorts of timeframes .

    Apologies, as i know you would have had same question a thousand times

    Regards Gary Simmons

    2019/12/10 at 8:25 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 160 Week Ending 06December

      Have emailed you from Gmail

      2019/12/10 at 10:32 pm
  • From Trade 159 Week Ending 29November - Options Investing : Options Investing on Trade158 Week Ending 22November Still Winning

    […] Terrapin Trader says: November 26, 2019 at 8:20 pm […]

    2019/11/30 at 4:53 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade158 Week Ending 22November Still Winning

    How did we do with Trade 158? 57.5-22.5= 35 minus 13.5 = 21.5
    Another fantastic winner-because options strategies work. With 5 contracts you’d have £1k in your bin by end of day- a managed risk trade- had it gone the other way, we’d have some juice left in the calls to buy put protection- but we don’t get to see that.
    The butterfly as you’d expect -indifferent now 21- a bit rubbish really, though if you’d sold a put to finance it? Peachy.

    2019/11/25 at 7:25 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade158 Week Ending 22November Still Winning

      It’s 25 now but that butterfly? 22 but if you’d sold a dip OTM put to part finance it, then it would have been an ok trade too. My own approach is basically never pay a lot for anything -options should be like LIDL!

      2019/11/26 at 8:20 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 157 Week Ending15 November

    Well- you could knock me down with a feather. Trade 157 SMASHED IT!!!!!
    We paid 9 -remember?
    We close out for 7450 call= 61, 7550call= 26, 6700 put= 7 Giving us 28- or 200%.
    But we know better than to boast about our wins. This is about a modest trade, and the market giving us a peachy exit. Did we know the FTSE was going to have such a day? Of course not-we have no expectations we just like the odds in our favour, our costs low, and our risk super manageable. This trade needed some margin so the 200% is kind of academic-but be honest what else would you be doing with your cash? We like these little sniper sytle trades and we must always be ready to take a profit. FTSE smashed down too, after smashing up. Perhaps we can get some volatility when we’d most like it.

    2019/11/19 at 6:56 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade156 Week Ending 08Nov

    trade 156 hit a massive 60 as Nigel Farage duly obliged- I owe you a pint,sir! Details to be published in next issue

    2019/11/12 at 7:48 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 151 Week Ending 04October

    Feel free to ignore my previous response! That trade is now a get out of jail for zero! You’d lose the 19 premium, but as I have repeatedly said a calendar trade should be given its room to perform and we have another 6 trading days to go.Bad trader, bad trader!( I may have mentioned that before ) Please remember this site is about options not about this idiot’s terrible views and opinions

    2019/10/10 at 4:25 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 151 Week Ending 04October

    Ok a bit late but this week we could have closed out Trade 150 for a loss of around 50 on tuesday- but with 19 debit already paid this represents a 69 loss. Our heaviest ever. This could however be mitigated by adjustment/ rolling over. We can look at this in the weekend update

    2019/10/10 at 11:47 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade149 Week ending Friday 13th

    LOL! Trade 149- already lost 10, or 12.5%. But would you sell so near to expiry?

    2019/09/17 at 9:50 am
  • From zxcv on Trade146- Yes, Panic! Orange Alert

    I actually opened the 6950/6850/6750 fly today based on the one you mentioned (couldn’t do the 7000 strike as I already have short puts at that strike as part of another trade) for 7.

    Just a little flutter in case the FTSE decides to go downhill.

    Will keep you updated.

    2019/08/27 at 4:28 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade146- Yes, Panic! Orange Alert

      I have often been surprised by butterflies-you think they are so loaded with comms they won’t do much. If I was trading the US with comms at <$1 I'd be doubling my activity-it shouldn't be this way but there are so few UK options traders. I'm doing 30- 60 lots per month- I know it's rude to mention size. Happy trading

      2019/08/28 at 7:35 am
  • From zxcv on Trade146- Yes, Panic! Orange Alert

    The Put fly (trade 146) looks interesting. I’ll see how it is priced when the market opens on Tue, and use modelling software to see what the P/L diagram is like, esp if the FTSE rises back up a little.

    Thanks and happy trading.

    2019/08/25 at 10:54 am
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade146- Yes, Panic! Orange Alert

      nice to get feedback- in all honesty I set myself a limited amount of time to select trades but I am not a methodical trader with spreadsheets and the like. I just look at the options chain and the prices often suggest a trade. Trump may change course on tariffs now so we may see a bump up.
      Enjoy. T1

      2019/08/25 at 5:04 pm
  • From BestDena on Alpha and Beta

    I see you don’t monetize optionsinvesting.co.uk, don’t waste your traffic, you can earn extra cash
    every month with new monetization method. This is the best adsense alternative for any type of website (they approve all sites), for more info simply search in gooogle: murgrabia’s tools

    2019/08/17 at 9:22 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Alpha and Beta

      No- it is for free- I share my options knowledge sotraders can stop doing sumb things like forex!

      2019/08/18 at 9:44 am
  • From zxcv on Trade145 Week Ending 16 August- Don't Panic!

    Loving the site Terrapin (you’ll remember that name from the Fool site years ago 🙂 ).

    Keep trading, keep winning.

    2019/08/17 at 7:23 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade145 Week Ending 16 August- Don't Panic!

      Cheers zx- how I miss the Fool- my trading buddy owned the domain name so I just started blogging and here we are 145 trades in, with a tiny handful of small losers. Not because I’m smart but because options are the best trading vehicle. I once beta tested a system that had 14 consecutive losers,though overall it made money, nobody can deal with that mentally. Small wins are fine, but for us doing multiple lots we can make ££££ without the terrors of directional trading. Hope you are doing well

      2019/08/18 at 9:48 am
  • From https://weheartit.com/riskhome87 on Trade109 Week ending 07 December- Ouch!

    certainly like your web-site but you have to take
    a look at the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome
    to inform the reality on the other hand I’ll definitely come again again.

    2019/08/14 at 3:20 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade109 Week ending 07 December- Ouch!

      Proof reading is not my forte- eyesight diminishing with age-my spelling is not as bad as my typing. Thanks for the feedback-hope my latest is of interest. We are about education and nothing works as well as success. 95% of traders are just fodder for the market as being directional is way too hard for small accounts. Sadly the UK does not accommodate small accounts for options. America is spoiled rotten in comparison.

      2019/08/17 at 5:26 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 143 Week Ending 02August

    That butterfly now 29 so if you like a 50% profit,take it! By the way I hope our trusty followesr understood this was a put butterfly. sometimes I miss out the key words just to keep you sharp.
    We win again

    2019/08/09 at 12:28 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 143 Week Ending 02August

    Meant also to mention this guy:
    Vance Harwood@6_Figure_Invest

    The VIX futures term structure as shown on (link: http://vixcentral.com) vixcentral.com (using the “wide” setting” ) is very flat and closing $VIX value is right on top of it. That’s unusual, typically this close to backwardation $VIX is well above VIX futures prices. Seems that VIX is underreacting.

    2019/08/03 at 2:49 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 142 Week ending 26July

    Trade 142 -winner and closed out
    Here’s what we did: Market smashed up,so what do we do when in a losing trade? That’s right we ADD to it. Again- we ADD to it.
    We bought the 7500/7400 put spread for 11.5. Now we are in for 28, owning a big old 7500/7300 spread. Today we sold for 43.
    About 50% profit in 4 days. All will be explained further at the w/end. Reason for closing? Nice profit and the beach beckons…

    2019/07/31 at 9:16 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 142 Week ending 26July

    I said volatility via Bollinger Band width presaged a big move- of course like an imbecile, I’m pointed the wrong way -I have to ditch my stopped clock downside bias- I’m just fighting the tape and that way is ruin.

    2019/07/29 at 8:12 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade140 Week Ending 12July

    Trade 140- I think we close for a small credit of 8.5 giving us 17. In real money that’s £170, but if we were doing our standard 5 or 10 lots we’d belooking at about £700. The reason for closing out was the fact that we had 2 up days andthose tend to suck the volatility out ofthe near month. The market had moved over 1% and these only make money on moves of about 1.5%. Sorry this is late but yesterday was a tad frenetic in my other life. We’dbook this as a winner but out of curiousity let’s see how it unfolds

    2019/07/18 at 7:21 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 138 Week Ending 28June

    TRADE138- win and close- we’d have done 5-10 lots. So from a cost of 0 the trade went to 34 for the calls and 7 for the puts= 27. Even on a modest 5 lots after comms this would be about £1200 in the back pocket. (720 Duchy Original golden ales!).
    The market may do more but these are ‘box of frogs ‘ trades -hop in and hop out

    2019/07/01 at 7:45 pm
  • From punjabi on Trade 137 Week Ending 21June

    Great post and trades Windlesham. For the Iron Fly (trade 136), what’s the expiry?

    Cheers

    2019/06/25 at 7:44 pm
    • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 137 Week Ending 21June

      Hi and thanks-always trade the near month- July for this one- I should make that clear. My aim is to educate and I should be communicating in a way that is easily understood. Keep watching, and please comment -we love interaction.

      2019/06/25 at 8:03 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade131 Week Ending 10May

    Trade 131 closd out for a very creditable 14 today. The Friday expiry is a lottery and I’d hate to se it go to zero. I closed out a put trade for 23 on Tuesday when the market looked bleak, and that has gone to zero. So all in, some good exits. Onwards and upwards with June expiry

    2019/05/16 at 7:18 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 129 Week Ending 26April

    trade 129 paid 58 now 68.5 and improving all the time. Might be a better trade than first thought,and certainly has a lot of wiggle room

    2019/05/02 at 10:46 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 128 Week Ending Friday the 19th.............

    The 7350/7350 call ratio spread bought for 8.5 could now close out for maybe 14. I’m inclined to hang on a bit. The put butterfly now around 17, nothing to do-these always have to run close to expiry.

    2019/04/25 at 3:28 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 124 Week Ending 22March

    MASSIVE APOLOGY TRADE 124 IS A DEBIT OF 34 NOT 24 – OPTIONS TRADERS ARE SMARTER -RIGHT?
    I WILL STAND IN THE CORNER FOR ONE HOUR

    2019/03/25 at 9:13 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 123 Week Ending 15March

    Trade 123 feeling bad as I have no ‘skin in the game’ and this can be an influencer. As expected this trade has done little to date

    2019/03/21 at 10:44 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade122 Week ending 08March

    Trade 122 closed out for 32-RESUUUUULT!

    2019/03/16 at 2:35 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade122 Week ending 08March

    Trade 119- yes that’s a nice 41
    Trade 120 now 42 and 207 =165 looks like 46 was top dollar here

    2019/03/14 at 9:33 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade122 Week ending 08March

    Trade 121 made a lofty 18 this week as FTSE danced around and actuall flirted with a drop on tuesday- yikes! A drop???? Trade 122 is this morning making coin- possibly 7.
    Trade 119 -could be as much as 40- no sensible prices currently
    Trade 120 the calendar straddle, paid 122 now 46 against 216 =170. I think that’s a lot of sweat for a modest profit-oh wait that’s not so bad 40% and low risk too.
    Trade 118 -well that was the jackpot for I.C.

    2019/03/14 at 10:33 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade113 Week Ending 04Jan2019

    trade113- take a quick profit today? Cost of 4 to close out -but nah, we’ll stick with it. Of course yo can always take half off-so a 10 lot would mean closing out 5 at 7.5 or £375 for about an hour’s work.

    2019/01/07 at 7:50 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade110 Week ending 14December2018

    Trades 105 and 106 again would have made the full 50 if held to expiry

    2018/12/21 at 10:36 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade110 Week ending 14December2018

    Trade110 made a whopping 60 at expiry -rounding off a very solid year while so many funds failed to make money (only 22% in profit). If people still don’t want to trade options they may wish to park their money in premium bonds-because that is the only othergame in town. Crypto’s are dead, gold and oil, nowhere and bonds are just too big for most of us.
    Again I do NOT claim to be a great or clever trader- clearly I am not-it is solely due to the power of options that these trades continue to make excellent returns based on the simplest analysis

    2018/12/21 at 10:33 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade109 Week ending 07 December- Ouch!

    Trade 107 now valued at 76 to close out (Thurs 13th) so a small profit of 10. These are very low risk,with pre- limited margin requirements, the width of the strikes. However we risked a loss of 13.5 to get 10. We’d have margin of 100. I think that’s a win.

    2018/12/14 at 9:42 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade109 Week ending 07 December- Ouch!

    Trade 109- currently about 24 to close out- that is a very good win- and most likely the risk to the downside has been abated for now.

    2018/12/11 at 2:53 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 108 Week Ending 30 November

    I think that we have been very lucky with three by one ratio trades in the past- in the last two months these might have got very ugly. While we learn nothing when we fail to make mistakes, these trades are for demo purposes to show the workings not the outcomes. Though the wins are a happy outcome and demonstrate how flexible options are -our core function is to show options trades warts and all.

    2018/12/01 at 5:08 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 107 Week Ending 23 November

    As expected not much movement with trades 105/6/7 but they show a small profit now.

    2018/11/27 at 10:55 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 106 Week Ending 16November

    Trade 106 another bite… credit to open 118,cost to close 84, so a nice 34 to trouser for a clueless trade! I don’t think it ever looked like a loss from the open.
    Trade 106 pretty much even money currently
    Futures? You might have got stopped out, run 100 points up, I really have lost track of how this might have been tradeable having no method. These reversal days are complicated and suit option traders perfectly, IMHO.
    Dixons Carphone 164.4 -creeping up a tad.

    2018/11/23 at 10:55 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 105 Week Ending 09 November, Politics and Markets

    That call ratio spread-enter for credit of 2.5 close for credit of 6. Nice little turn around. Win again. so- we should equate this to the futures trade we got 8.5 on margin of about £1500, 6% return but with zero downside risk and very little upside risk too. That future was all risk, we just got lucky. Future now 7033. Each to their own but I’ve had years of trading futures and did ok but it’s not what you need if you wish to avoid stress.

    2018/11/15 at 12:01 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 105 Week Ending 09 November, Politics and Markets

    BOOM! The FTSE future went smashing up as the dumb money typically floods in from the weekend. So…we opened at 7095 and we were long. The future went as high as 7156, so to be kind let’s say we actually plucked 50 points there-that’s £500 in old money. A great return on margin 14% in an hour. would we have traded it well though? I would never contemplate holding along future over a weekend-you never know what’s in the news. Anyway this trade beat us in terms of time and profit…. to date. We would of course have to repeat this a few times,be right on direction and be disciplined enough to have a trailing stop. The stock buy- well that I’m sure will now get slammed as the Apple news is not great.

    2018/11/13 at 9:14 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 104 Week Ending 02 Novembrrrrrr

    This was not a trade to take into expiry unless it was deep ITM. Premiums decay faster than a toddler’s teeth these days. Had you run it until today you’d break even- or in our world, lose money!

    2018/11/09 at 12:32 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 103 Week Ending 26 October

    trade 103- a handsome win again!!!! What does it take to have a disaster? I think you could close out the 6900 straddle for 190. Adjust? What else could we find? er this trader couldn’t se any reason to keep this trade alive- so close out,and take your monster profit.

    2018/11/09 at 12:29 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade102 Week Ending 19th October

    was anyone watching? The call spread made 10, on the downside we still have a tiny risk but could close out the whole position for 2.5 -so that’s about 39.5 in all -a very good win I’d say/ A better trader might have smashed it on the upside with those silly intra day moves up and subsequent fades

    2018/11/07 at 7:42 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 104 Week Ending 02 Novembrrrrrr

    trade 104 now 25- we intend to hang on for more but even so if you bought a stock for £17 and sold for £25 you’d be fund manager of the year!

    2018/11/07 at 7:33 am
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade 103 Week Ending 26 October

    I honestly don’t know where these trades come from- it’s certainly not genius!

    2018/10/27 at 7:14 pm
  • From Terrapin Trader on Trade102 Week Ending 19th October

    get ready below! Market is in selloff mode -stay awake

    2018/10/24 at 8:18 pm