The Best Option Traders Lock In Their Profits
Today, I had an interesting conversation with an option trader who is still searching for the magic formula to making consistent returns with option trading. He said many things which were so familiar to me.
One thing that stood out was when he said “Non-directional option trading doesn’t mean we can make money in any direction. It means that we make money if the underlying doesn’t move in any direction. In other words, it’s still a directional trade, sideways.” This is correct, and most people advertise that it’s easy to make money with options because we can make money on any direction. This is true in some respects and not true in others.
Those of you trading Iron Condors know what I am talking about; especially if you are trading the Condors that most courses and books teach. If you are trading this strategy in 2009, you probably aren’t making anything. The reason being that the Iron Condor is just as directional as most option trades only that its direction is sideways. For some, it’s just as hard to predict a sideways move as it is up or down.
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 the reason why I don’t push the popular Iron Condors, Bear Calls or Bull Puts. If you are a couple days from expiration, and the RUT is really near the sold strike, then at that moment you are in a very risky position. I’ll remind you that this is the same risky method that many other investors are using to manage this option spread. Shortly all of your friends will be hearing the same story, but you won’t be sharing this news with your wife! You smile at the moment, but you won’t be if it happens to your trading portfolio. Another sad thing about this investing style is that the fear level is so astronomical that it really hurts your personal life. It makes it tough to sleep or even just relax each day.
Well, we’ve addressed this aggressive trading style at San Jose Options Mentoring. We’ve redesigned Condors and Credit Spreads. Our technique gives the underlying more room for the price fluctuation, giving us breathing room in our trading as well as in our lives. We find the less adjustments we have to make, then the more we bring home at the end of the month.
Constructing safe trades to begin with is a priority and will improve anyone’s trading skills and returns, but another strategy that we’ve been working hard on lately is locking in profits. We have techniques to lock in profits on nearly all the trades that we do. It’s one of the best things you can possibly learn as an investor.
Also, when we do have a trade go against us, well, we have ways to get a free trade from it. This is another important technique that we teach to our students. While many traders exit with a loss or never exit and sustain a huge loss, we exit and get a free bonus trade that can always lead to returns at a later date.
So there you have it! Whether it’s a winning trade or a loser, we have really developed some nice trading tactics that can improve your personal trading immensely.
Ready to lock in those profits? Improve your Option Trading now 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!
