What Option Traders Don't Tell Their Wives

By Morris Puma

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.

Investors using Condors as their main strategy understand what I am saying here; especially if you are investing in the Iron Condors which most schools and written materials preach. If you are investing with this option spread this year, you most probably aren't earning much. This is because that the Iron Condor is just as directional as the other option spreads only that it's direction is sideways. To most, it's just as difficult to forecast a non-move in the market as it is to forecast market that will be moving.

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 precisely why I don't preach the normal style of Iron Condors. If you are a couple days from expiration, and the RUT is right up against the sold contract, subsequently you are investing in the same manner as the average investor does. I'm speaking of the one who has very little investor education, and because of this, shortly you'll be telling your buddies a similar story. However, it's a very different story that you'll be telling your wife! You smile today at this, but you won't be showing your pearly whites during a time when it happens in your own trading. Another serious problem with this aggressive style of investing is that the anxiety level can be so elevated that it really destroys your well-being on a daily basis. Many of you reading this know what I am talking about.

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.

Our safer method of trading speaks for itself, but we have also developed another method that is very exciting to share with you. For most option strategies we trade, we now have a way to lock-in the profits and stay in the trade to make more. This is a great technique to use 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, 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. - 26221

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