From my experience the past month and a half, day trading, and option trading in particular, is a lot like golf. You take terrible shots and curse to the high heavens, but then you hit that one magical shot and it keeps you coming back for more. Also like golf, there's a **** ton to learn and fine tune because you really need to be pretty precise if you're going to be any good at it.

I'll also add, this quickly became my favorite thread on here. Everyone that participates is friendly, cordial, encouraging, etc. Just not something that happens anymore on social media.

Even when it's the bears vs bulls, it's generally pretty well natured and a lot of how I think talking/interacting would go if everyone was in person vs on the interwebs. It's hard nowadays to have general discussions online without someone you disagree with losing their **** and things escalating quickly. For evidence, go to any recruiting thread when everyone wants the best class possible.

Off the box, back to el marketo. Cheers.

Flagged for good feels

12thMan86 said:

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CGC pops after constellation takes a larger stake. Good because I just added to my Jan 21 leaps. I have 50 contracts and 40 in CRON. I'm waiting for the govt to legalize weed as a method to collect taxes. They need the income. BTW, has everyone considered how our taxes are going to increase after the Govts little spree? ROTHS just became that much more valuable !

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FYI, if Dems get Congress and the WH, they're coming for 401Ks and IRAs.

Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess

I agree with Irish...this is no place for your bullish take on us as posters and/or people! FOH with that!

khaos288 said:

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Gotcha, thanks for the reply. I was thinking there was obviously some historical data to go with that assumption, but I just didn't know what it was.

Is the thought Literally pick and choose what your 401ks are invested in?

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It's been awhile since I was really looking into it, but this is basically what their plans are. I also should say, it's progressives, most dem pols are progressives but there are also some republicans, so both are corrupt *******s.

1) They want to change the legal definition of IRA and 401Ks into "Trusts". The government would be the trustee. They will then tell everyone that they will guarantee income when you reach a certain age. Think UBI, for old people.

2) They'll use the majority of your investments to buy government bonds, for "safety". The real reason, is because of insane spending and printing of money the dollar will fall and foreign nations will stop buying our bonds.

3) Essentially, your retirement accounts would become the property of the government. You'll get a monthly stipend but you will not be able to will it to your heirs.

It's evil, and everyone needs to be vigilant in the future when congress, regardless of who's in control, starts talking about this ***** Pushback needs to be quick, loud and overpowering.

McInnis 03 said:

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12thMan86 said:

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McInnis 03 said:

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Well, unless something changes this coming week, this may be it for me and options. Told myself if I took that portion down to zero I'd be done, so I'll have to honor it, but it's NOT looking good.

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what kind of expirations are you buying? few days, longer?

Are they typically ITM, ATM, OTM?

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I'm sporadic and obviously terrible at what I do. They're ITM, ATM, OTM, Today, Monday, Next Friday, 10 Friday's for now.

Sometimes you're just bad at something and I have trouble accepting that about myself. This may be one of those things.

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You definitely have to find your "style" in this. It takes a while to learn for everybody. When I first started option trading, I doubled my account pretty quick and was like "wow this is so easy". It only took a couple days then to give all those gains back. Even a couple years into it I'm still refining how I "trade" and what types of trades and which type of trades I don't.

For me, I like further dated calls. So since today is the 1st of May, any new position I take will be 6/19 or further out. I will play an occasional lotto or closer trade if its pretty obvious with the flow. Other than that I'm looking for breakouts on charts and playing those using the longer dated strikes.

Why do I do this? Well, I've learned I can't be tied to a computer watching the price action all day, I have to get SOME work done during market hours. Those longer dated calls keep the volatility a little lower and I can check in the the morning after markets open and then before market closes to make adjustments. I don't have to worry about price action on the 5 - 15 minute time scale. I won't ever hit the quick doubles or those insane 10X you see get posted, but I'm fine with hitting the singles. Its what works for me. Honestly I'm at the point where if I could just play leaps I would.

Some people ONLY play the weekly lottos and thats a fine strategy too, but it has its own strategy you need to incorporate. There certainly is not a "one size fits all" here. Its like offensive coordinators and the offense they want to run. They all can score touchdowns but have a wide variety in how they get there.

I've also found it helps to take breaks and just walk away at times to reset. I know when I first started I thought "wow If I just make 200 a day I can make 50K in a year and I'm set" so I thought I had to play and be in it every day. Nope, it can just drive you crazy leading to bad decisions. Can certainly come in and out. Thats why I come and go in this thread. Sometimes I just don't have time for it and times like now I do so I'm more active.

You can also learn to play certain market climates. I primarily buy calls, have never been that good with puts. So I'm better when the market is going up. This last month you could have made a killing buying nothing but calls as almost everything was going up with a sharp recovery. Now that we've seen some volatility come back in, its the time to scale out as I know my trading style just doesn't fit this market climate. Another thing to learn about yourself in time.

Its certainly a process and you are constantly learning.

Couple of observations I've made.

1) You're passionate and engaged
2) You're hooked and you'll never quit, you'll just get better.
3) You're not a bad trader but you're reckless. You'll learn to control that.
4) Learn and refine your craft, because your mind will probably work efficiently long after your body won't and you'll always be able to make yourself money.


FWIW, my son is 4 but he will be able to read charts and anticipate moves before he goes to A&M. When he proves himself, I will give him a portion of his college account to manage while in college. If done properly, he'll be able to focus on his studies and use his mind and money work for him.

All bets are off if he chooses a liberal arts major, then A&M and the church will split his college fund.

Ranger222 said:

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McInnis 03 said:

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12thMan86 said:

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McInnis 03 said:

---

Well, unless something changes this coming week, this may be it for me and options. Told myself if I took that portion down to zero I'd be done, so I'll have to honor it, but it's NOT looking good.

---

what kind of expirations are you buying? few days, longer?

Are they typically ITM, ATM, OTM?

---

I'm sporadic and obviously terrible at what I do. They're ITM, ATM, OTM, Today, Monday, Next Friday, 10 Friday's for now.

Sometimes you're just bad at something and I have trouble accepting that about myself. This may be one of those things.

---

You definitely have to find your "style" in this. It takes a while to learn for everybody. When I first started option trading, I doubled my account pretty quick and was like "wow this is so easy". It only took a couple days then to give all those gains back. Even a couple years into it I'm still refining how I "trade" and what types of trades and which type of trades I don't.

For me, I like further dated calls. So since today is the 1st of May, any new position I take will be 6/19 or further out. I will play an occasional lotto or closer trade if its pretty obvious with the flow. Other than that I'm looking for breakouts on charts and playing those using the longer dated strikes.

Why do I do this? Well, I've learned I can't be tied to a computer watching the price action all day, I have to get SOME work done during market hours. Those longer dated calls keep the volatility a little lower and I can check in the the morning after markets open and then before market closes to make adjustments. I don't have to worry about price action on the 5 - 15 minute time scale. I won't ever hit the quick doubles or those insane 10X you see get posted, but I'm fine with hitting the singles. Its what works for me. Honestly I'm at the point where if I could just play leaps I would.

Some people ONLY play the weekly lottos and thats a fine strategy too, but it has its own strategy you need to incorporate. There certainly is not a "one size fits all" here. Its like offensive coordinators and the offense they want to run. They all can score touchdowns but have a wide variety in how they get there.

I've also found it helps to take breaks and just walk away at times to reset. I know when I first started I thought "wow If I just make 200 a day I can make 50K in a year and I'm set" so I thought I had to play and be in it every day. Nope, it can just drive you crazy leading to bad decisions. Can certainly come in and out. Thats why I come and go in this thread. Sometimes I just don't have time for it and times like now I do so I'm more active.

You can also learn to play certain market climates. I primarily buy calls, have never been that good with puts. So I'm better when the market is going up. This last month you could have made a killing buying nothing but calls as almost everything was going up with a sharp recovery. Now that we've seen some volatility come back in, its the time to scale out as I know my trading style just doesn't fit this market climate. Another thing to learn about yourself in time.

Its certainly a process and you are constantly learning.

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Good post Ranger, you explained what I was trying to say but more eloquently.

Touchless said:

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From my experience the past month and a half, day trading, and option trading in particular, is a lot like golf. You take terrible shots and curse to the high heavens, but then you hit that one magical shot and it keeps you coming back for more. Also like golf, there's a **** ton to learn and fine tune because you really need to be pretty precise if you're going to be any good at it.

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Definitely...thats why I always relate this to playing poker...and those with that type of mindset tend to be very good at this. I don't think its a coincidence that most of the guys that sell services also are poker players or talk about playing poker in their down time.

You realize you aren't going to win every hand. Gotta pick your spots. Or like if you are picking games during the football season realize that a 57% hit rate is actually pretty good. Same with a lot of the options trading. You are looking to hit that 57%.

But then that brings other factors in like the size of your trades and the risk you are taking on. Something to consider.

From what I have seen posted, there is no doubt the Manic trading style works, but its a lot like playing GPP tournaments with daily fantasy sports. A lot of these lottos are going to zero...but you are looking for the few that hit 10X to make you your money. You gotta be comfortable losing 20 in a row before you hit a good one. But then you really have to be good at managing your "roll" as well.

Prognightmare said:

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All bets are off if he chooses a liberal arts major, then A&M and the church will split his college fund.

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I died

It's the truth. He wants to major in stupid ****, he can finance that road to nowhere himself.