Humble

AMZN produces very good results if you hold till expiration (close 45 days after earnings). But if you close early (which is always my preference), then the results are pretty poor.

@cuegisYou used slightly different parameters for AMZN - close 45 days after earnings, compared to 35 days with FB. Which basically means you held AMZN till expiration, but closed FB 10 days before expiration. I believe this would explain most of the difference. Change FB to 45 days - and you get similar results. @SBatchYour test assumed holding till expiration as well, right? If you close 35 days after earnings (10 days before expiration), I think selling 30 delta produces better results.

If the stock goes to 98, put does not expire worthless - it is $2 ITM and is worth $200 at expiration, so you have to buy it for $200 (or be assigned the stock). The call expires worthless, so you lose $100 on the call anyway. if the stock goes to say $95, the put is worth $500, so you lose $300 on the put and $100 on the call.

To create a strategy, type a symbol, click enter and select combo options in the pop up window. Did you have a chance to watch Executing Orders in Interactive Brokers presentation?

It is not a guaranteed profit. For example, if the stock goes down to $98, your call loses $100 and your put is breakeven. If the stock continues going down, you are losing extra $100 for each $1 it moves down, in addition to $100 loss in the calls.

Correct.

Yes level 4 is sufficient. In fact even level 3 should be fine.

Tradier Brokerage Special Offer

You do the straddle first, then sell the strangle. More details: Short Strangles

From what I hear - they are good, but since they accept US residents only, I cannot join at this point.

This is just one advantage of IB. Another one is their Smart Routing: "Unlike smart routers from other online brokers, IB SmartRouting never routes and forgets about your order. It continuously evaluates fast changing market conditions and dynamically re-routes all or parts of your order seeking to achieve optimal execution and maximize your rebate."

I agree - and I told them that I think this requirement is ridiculous. But I think you can easily go around this requirement by buying a cheap far OTM call to make it a spread. Just select a call which is far enough and cost 5 cents or so.

Clarification from Tradier: "This $100,000 requirement only applies when someone wants to write a naked call. Naked calls are considered the most risky option strategy and that is why there is such a large account requirement. As long as the customer is trading a short call as part of a spread, there is only a $2,000 account requirement."

They take the mid of the spread. For example: Calls are 2.00/2.20 Puts are 2.00/2.20 The straddle is 4.00/4.40, so the mid is 4.20. Now you place a buy order at 4.20. The bid/ask becomes 4.20/4.40, so they present the new mid as 4.30. But the real mid is still 4.20. Trading and getting fills with Interactive Brokers

Thanks for sharing. That's definitely a great start (covered almost 5 years of subscription fees in one month). Generally speaking, I always recommend starting small - this way the mistakes are less expensive, and there is always a learning curve, even for the most experienced traders. Without the mistakes you made, the account would be up around 10% including commissions, which is actually better than our official performance. Well done!

We will notify all registered members when we have available spots.

Just to clarify - the new forum was been created, but it is not visible to members, and will be accessible only to those who qualify as Accredited Investors.

Please create a forum account. We will notify all registered members.

This is true, but as others mentioned, your account has to be a personal account. if it is under any kind of limited partnership or corporation, they automatically consider it "professional".

Not sure, you should ask them.

This is what I currently have: You might not need all of them. Just try and see what is missing, it will tell you if you try to get a quote for something you are not subscribed to.

You definitely don't have to check on computer. If you follow appropriate forums/topics, you will get email notifications, that can be forwarded to your phone. There are also Twitter notifications.

Probably next month. As for other strategies - every strategy has its unique goals and characteristics. Anchor Trades is designed to protect a long portfolio against market crash. Most members are very happy to get double digit returns while being fully protected in bear markets. Steady Condors are for members who look for less maintenance and less volatility. Again, most are very happy with 16%+ CAGR and low volatility, while doing only 2 trades per month.

We will notify all registered members when we have available spots.

It's really up to you. I'm always looking for new strategies to incorporate into our official model portfolio, and if members come with new ideas that look good, I'm always open to try them.