[Kikib]

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[Kikib]

There is nothing to explain Teddi – I was trying to defend you. That’s all…

[Kikib]

This is the first time I have looked at the Members Forum in a very long time!

Plz look at my reply a few minutes ago – this is a strategy that when I had “money”, was great when I “thought” I had it all figured out:

My advice and why would you listen to me LOL – is:

– Do you know AAPL in this case and how it moves after earnings without Teddi’s Research?
– are you comfortable- If you take one of these trades and FULLY understand what could happen? As in a complete loss of your capital? Theta is your enemy on one side if it happens..
– I have NEVER figured out how Teddi gets the great fills on her reverse iron condor trades- patience I guess ? I need more of that all the time!
-If I do one of these trades, I look for parity Or I guess No SKEW in an ideal world and want both sides of the spread to be comparable on what it could return?

I hope Teddi knows I am not trying to take over her awesome service! Well I know she does not :)

[Kikib]

Wow – I have been a faithful member here for many years and one who used to have a relatively large portfolio but I lost it – yeah I might as well say what it was since anyone who reads this will want to know. greater than $600K but it is all relative.

I am not blaming Teddi at all – I didn’t understand/grasp what I thought I understood. Stupid arrogance on my part. I have learned humility and I believe I needed it.

As stupid as this may sound to many of you, me the “original saver”, always put every dime away first, am glad I had this experience. Fortunately, I have skills and it made me realize how to market them.

Now I mostly paper trade and nope, when I put down “real” money it is fine if I lose it but now am disciplined about risk management. Meaning I will never put down more than I can lose on one trade.

Also, I still don’t understand some of Teddi’s trades or they are not my cup of tea – take your pick. I have my own style now and for me, that means I will gradually be successful – a couple hundred here and there – that is still what Teddi does to this day!

So if you are now overextended with AAPL, I believe Teddi posted an article that applies to this situation.

I wish you the best and please don’t have to go through what I have. Psychology is a key for me and I understand where and why I made major mistakes – that is more important than anything!

Regards,

From Panama for you Teddi if you read this! You are one busy woman!

[Kikib]

Hi Teddi and all members,
I rarely post here, and this is probably not the right place, but I am responding to the most recent post.

I have been a member for over 3 years I believe?

That isn’t my point – every time I have a chance to look at the market, I read what you have to say! I was active on TWTR and know that is the best way to connect with you – intraday!

I rely on your SPX numbers and now I could actually do it myself, but I am still learning – but understand finally (actually I knew), that there has to be a correction sooner or later and “Buy and Hold” per the “FP experts”, was not the way to go!

I paid the price to learn because whenever I read what your strategies were or are, I really didn’t understand at the time. That is on me – not you!

Now I do and if I have even a doubt, I will not take the trade – everybody has to develop their own style with the help of mentors and you were my 1st!

You are a true educator of the markets – but it takes some of us longer to understand your wisdom.

Thanks from your loyal member,

Valerie aka Kikib from Panama

[Kikib]

Hi Teddi,
As a long time member, I may have asked you this or I might be able to find the answer somewhere. Sorry if this is redundant.

After all this time, I know I still need to work on patience. It’s obvious that if a short position is worthless when the markets open after earnings, to close them out for in my case under $0.05.

The patience issue comes in with the long positions. I know I tend to close them out too early only to see myself left with a long option that I try to “dig myself out of a hole”.

The MU earnings trade was a good example. I am profitable, but it took some work since after earnings, if I would have held the long puts I believe (MU dived and has since rebounded, I could have done much better).

I have been cautious about earnings trades due to this. I decided to do your IBM earnings trade (modified slightly due to when I was filled), but basically the same.

Any advice? Chart specifics to help make a decision?

Thanks,
Valerie

[Kikib]

Thanks for the reminder. In this volatile environment, that has saved me – closing when you have a good profit. Holding on to losers has really hurt me in the past – in fact I need to close out a loss today in a different trade!

[Kikib]

Thx Teddi – That helps! If the price stays around $330 at the open, I roughly calculated that the long call that I have should be worth $32.60. That should allow for a good profit on the short put and but maybe not the short call and of course the long put.

But the profits made should compensate for the losing legs. At least that’s how I see it right now.

Thanks again.

[Kikib]

I lost a bundle a few years back on BMY. I was a member but still learning and even though I thought “I had it handled”, no way!

So today was my day to recoup a little of what I lost. I followed your advice on the LEAPS but did it a little different and also sold the same Puts.

Since I know a little more about how this stock “behaves”, I think this will be a winner!

Thanks Teddi!

[Kikib]

Well I am a little biased, but as a former GE employee, what has happened to the company doesn’t surprise me at all. Glad I sold all of my stock a few years back.

The other red flag is I believe the company has had two dividend cuts in the past 6 years or so? That with the stock price down or flat, to me doesn’t make sense to keep it in my portfolio – there are better blue chips out there. I just feel bad for lifetime employees that put all their money into the company stock.

IBM is finicky. I have tried to trade it over the last year or so with mixed results. Anyone else trade it but find that it’s hard to get filled? Sometimes the spread with is large – no liquidity.

TEVA – Teddi has taught me well. It’s casino money only :)

[Kikib]

First, thanks Teddi for your continued improvements. I still don’t know how you are able to do all that you offer – my original mentor! I need to check how long I have been a part of your forum – several years now.

Also, thanks for all the comments and suggestions from members. I too like the new watchlist and what I have been doing is check the list (I can’t keep up with trades like Teddi), and see which offer the most premium or ROI – usually are the underlying that have a relatively high IV.

Those are the ones I focus on for the week (so far – new this year). As Teddi does, I set my levels and let them work. If I don’t get filled, I move on. That took me some time – this isn’t difficult but it is overwhelming at first.

Thanks and have a great weekend. Somehow I bet Teddi is working today as well :)

Valerie

[Kikib]

Hi Teddi an Rromma,
If you have the time, please read my lengthy discussion on what I believe is a similar issue.

Thx!

[Kikib]

Hi joncarol,
As promised, the details of the trade(s) I placed last week on STX – Seagate Technology.

Teddi has traded this and my plan was to sell puts the week prior to ex-div(9-19), then sell ITM CCs to either have the shares called away or take the dividend.

Thx to no closing fees, STX kept going up last week – I kept rolling up my puts for a credit. I didn’t touch some ITM calls and was confident that some would be taken away with a profit. Well best laid plans…

I am assuming after the close on Fri. STX closed above my $33.50 Put Strike since I am now Short 200 shares of the 400 I was working with- not much but I have learned to scale back because I was making large trades w/o understanding the impact until it was too late – but I persevere!

Since I am in an IRA, I will have to cover those shares before EOB Mon. I have a Sell to Cover order in now below the market price as a reminder.

If you followed all this, I am still up on the trade. Maybe I just needed to write this w/o reviewing the numbers to validate to myself, that I am finding my style.

In conclusion, at the start of the trade, I aggressively went after the ATM Put strike and did my due diligence on the technicals. Even if I have to cover at the market price tomorrow, it’s profitable and I plan before the ex-div., to pick up 200 shares on a dip to make my ITM Call Spread work.

I guess you can call this Super Charge Buy Write but aggressive – small amount of capital at risk!

Sorry for the long-winded email, but thx to Teddi, I can articulate this – I hope!

Valerie

[Kikib]

Hi Alvin,
Yes – I know my long-winded email probably wasn’t read thoroughly – but when I am passionate (in this case angry) about something, that’s how I write.

We had commission free trades with Schwab but paid the quarterly planner fee. They don’t charge you for cash in your account (as an options trader I kept around 30% – Teddi’s number), and for fixed income products. As a result, the fees we were charged were very low. I took advantage of this as an options trader and there was nothing in writing that prohibited me for making as many trades as I want.

Bottom line? Schwab was losing money on us – too bad! I joke and use the phrase “they fired us without notice” but that is exactly what happened.

Best wishes working with them. There were good people there but the company culture doesn’t allow for deviating from the corporate mission. Sounds like they had better get their act together soon – not updating cost basis properly? They could be in serious trouble.

I am aware of a class action suit filed in FL and we should have been a part of the settlement. This was another issue I didn’t mention. I don’t recall the details, but the State of FL fined them and they had to pay fines to the state and return the capital lost to all the clients that participated in the suit. We didn’t know about it.

So perhaps a class action suit? Sometimes life is too short to take that path!

[Kikib]

Thanks for your update Teddi. I know what you mean about the clearing fees – add them in!

For me, since I typically am trading in an IRA, I haven’t looked at the margin rates but yes, that’s a big difference if you are! Yes, assignment is $5.00 at tastytrade. I do appreciate your advice on IB – I don’t think I never know who you used.

If I would have known years ago putting every dime possible into tax deferred accounts I would have NEVER done it. I would have maxed out any company matching 401Ks but that would have been the extent of it.

The limitations in an IRA are absurd – Tom is actually trying to get that changed but he’s up against people that make these decisions that really don’t understand – he’s pretty vocal about it! Why can’t you sell a naked call in an IRA for example? It really doesn’t make any sense – it’s my money!

When I find the best broker for everyone, I will let you know LOL..

Back to the trenches – hoping for a good day – especially with your advice – my first and #1 mentor!

[Kikib]

I do what you suggest all the time but don’t start out planning to make a trade that way! It’s part of my defensive strategy assuming the numbers work out and they usually do.

I will sell ATM or slightly ITM calls to offset the ITM puts. Normally both get assigned but as pointed out, sometimes there could be a move that happens where you could get either assigned.

That’s my experience. I have a few on for this week so will update if this doesn’t work out as I have planned. I am only doing this on Tues (a lot can change by Fri), because of the circumstances of the underlying.

Hope this helps.

[Kikib]

Hi Alvin,
I am so glad I saw this – if for no other reason, to sympathize with your situation! If I thought I could go up against FINRA, I know we have a case. While different than yours, it was a terrible experience.

We were with Schwab since the early 2000’s, switched FPs, then went back to their Private Client program in 2012. Why we left and went back is another bad situation but mostly because of their low fees and quarterly advice that you are not obligated to accept – I read the fine print.

Somewhere during that time, I found Teddi and decided that I could do a better job than their pie charts! With this program, you can make unlimited trades for no cost if this is the same you use.

One day, I looked at our account and realized that we had been removed from their program – no notice at all! Schwab started charging us for each trade about a week before I realized this. Our local branch manager understood our situation and I believed him when he said he didn’t know. It is a big company and they have major “silo” wars going on.

He was able to get back a credit for the commissions (his department – that should be seamless to the client), for the time commissions were charged. After that, we had to pay and at the time, it was a fairly decent rate that I don’t recall but way better than the advertised rate at the time.

I was so disgusted with so many items – this is just one. Not excited about changing, but there was no way I wanted to continue with this company. We made the switch to TD Ameritrade, and it was a good experience and much better for options trading with Think or Swim (TOS). We still have money there but when the person who sold TOS to TD Ameritrade started his own brokerage firm at the beginning of this year with rates that have made most brokerages lower theirs, I knew that as a self-directed investor, it was time to move on again. The brokerage is tastyworks and the owner is Tom Sosnoff.

Once they get their platform established with more features, I will be moving everything to their firm. This should be the last change! Tom really cares about helping us little guys – in fact, I just met him in San Francisco a few weeks ago.

Hope this helps – at least with backing up your experience with Schwab.

Valerie

[Kikib]

GOOGL has been a real nail biter for me! It’s not my favorite stock to trade and once I hit a BE, I think I will leave it alone.

I also have problems getting fills. Anyone else have the same issue? Teddi – your thoughts?

Thanks!

[Kikib]

Hi Teddi and all,
I decided this would be the best place to ask this question since it is one of your reverse Iron Condors. My specific question was about $GOOGL but this will apply to other stocks using this strategy.

This also could have been answered previously but even though I have been a member for quite some time now, I still get a little confused with these trades!

You made a comment on a post earlier about if anyone wants to trade GOOGL, that you set up on Friday today, to try to get around the same spread cost.That makes sense to me since paying more than you should could make a winning trade a loser.

However, when I tweeted you I ran a few strikes through a P&L analysis and at least in this case, the width of the spread made a big difference. I should have kept track but unless I did something wrong, when I narrowed the spread widths in order to get more or less the same debit paid that you did, the underlying had a very tight range to be profitable.

In this case the expected move is ~+/- $35. I played around with a reasonable price close to the ATM strikes, but I couldn’t find one that I felt had the potential for a good profit for the Aug 18 expiry. My widths were narrower than yours which is why I assume the profit potential was less???

I did find a trade but used a different strategy. I love your Reverse ICs in these big movers, but it is so critical (at least for me), to fully understand the trade – any really trade! I had a good learning experience trying to make the trade follow yours but the timing of the trade can impact the risk placed.

I am not complaining at all – the changes you have made to the site are amazing and I must look here 3X day on average. I don’t know how you can keep up with it all!

Thanks and I hope this further explains what I tweeted and/or maybe help someone else.

Good luck to all on the earnings trades,

Valerie

[Kikib]

Correction: Using closer in short strikes which does make more sense when the trade is a net debit.

[Kikib]

You are a smart person – first for not trading CMG or retail, but also for having a data service. Your secret is same with me. :)

Well Teddi is using ATM strikes to set up her CMG trade and basically using the expected move for choosing her short strikes.

This is counterintuitive to me when premiums are high, but I have been a faithful member here for years and know that this strategy pays off if you give it enough time.

[Kikib]

Thx Pablo – it’s nice to have the real historic data. Maybe someday I will be this organized.

Based on what you sent, do you trade CMG earnings?

[Kikib]

Sorry Teddi – I guess we keep you hopping! I too would like to know how you pick the strike prices.

I use Think or Swim (TOS) and they give you the expected move of the underlying before earnings – no guarantee but it has usually worked out OK. For example, you mentioned a trade in CMG for earnings earlier. I have been stung by this one before, but I can’t seem to stay away.(:

TOS puts an expected move on CMG of +/- $23.89. I may play around with some numbers, and see how close I get to yours… we’ll see.

Thanks,
Valerie

[Kikib]

Thanks Denzil – I like it. FDX has been good for me this year – just making up for the losses last year though!

Valerie

[Kikib]

Hi Teddi,

This run up in FB is amazing – well the whole market today. I am out of any trades right now with earnings coming up on May 3.

Do you have any plans for an earnings play?

Thanks,
Valerie

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