Author: The INO.com Team

Options Trading - Diagonal Put Spreads Part 2

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Leveraging a minimal amount of capital, mitigating risk, and maximizing returns are paramount as the markets rotate out of the depths COVID-19 sell-off. Options trading offers the optimal balance between risk and reward while providing a margin of downside protection and a statistical edge. Proper portfolio construction and optimal risk management are essential when engaging in options trading as a means to drive portfolio performance. The Q4 2018 and the COVID-19 pandemic are prime examples of why maintaining liquidity, risk-defining trades, staggering options expiration dates, trading across a wide array of uncorrelated tickers, maximizing the number of trades, appropriate position allocation and selling options to collect premium income are keys to an effective long-term options strategy. A risk-defined diagonal put spread optimizes the risk management aspect of an options trade while maximizing return on investment.

Minimizing Risk and Maximizing Return

Leveraging a minimal amount of capital and maximizing returns with risk-defined trades optimizes the risk-reward profile. Whether you have a small account or a large account, a defined risk (i.e., put spreads and diagonal spreads) strategy enables you to leverage a minimal amount of capital which opens the door to trading virtually any stock on the market regardless of share price such as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Chipotle (CMG), Facebook (FB), etc. Risk-defined options can easily yield double-digit realized gains over the course of a typical one month contract (Figures 1, 2, and 3).

Options Trading
Figure 1 – Average income per trade of $190, the average return per trade of 7.3% and 95% premium capture over 41 trades in May and June
Continue reading "Options Trading - Diagonal Put Spreads Part 2" →

S&P 500 First To Trigger Weekly Exit

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The S&P 500 issued a new red weekly Trade Triangle today. Could this be the first step in a larger pullback for the market, and could it be signaling the end of the bear market rally?

How soon before the DOW and NASDAQ follow suit? Leave a comment and let me know.

S&P 500 Red Weekly TT

Did you get your email alert letting you know that the S&P 500 triggered a new red weekly Trade Triangle? See mine below: Continue reading "S&P 500 First To Trigger Weekly Exit" →

Options Trading - Diagonal Put Spreads

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Balancing the trade-offs between risk and reward is front and center even as the markets recover from the depths COVID-19 induced sell-off. Options trading can offer the right balance between risk and reward while providing a margin of downside protection and a statistical edge. Proper portfolio construction and optimal risk management are essential when engaging in options trading as the main driver for portfolio results. One of the main pillars when building an options-based portfolio is maintaining a significant portion of cash-on-hand. This cash position provides the ability to rapidly adapt when faced with extreme market conditions such as COVID-19 and Q4 2018 sell-offs. The COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example of why maintaining liquidity, risk-defining trades, staggering options expiration dates, trading across a wide array of uncorrelated tickers, maximizing the number of trades, appropriate position allocation and selling options to collect premium income are keys to an effective long-term options strategy.

Minimizing Risk and Maximizing Return

Leveraging a minimal amount of capital and maximizing returns with risk-defined trades optimizes the risk-reward profile. Whether you have a small account or a large account, a defined risk (i.e., put spreads and diagonal spreads) strategy enables you to leverage a minimal amount of capital which opens the door to trading virtually any stock on the market regardless of share price such as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Chipotle (CMG), Facebook (FB), etc. Risk-defined options can easily yield double-digit realized gains over the course of a typical one month contract (Figures 1, 2, and 3).

Options
Figure 1 – Average income per trade of $184, the average return per trade of 7.4% and 95% premium capture over 38 trades in May and June
Continue reading "Options Trading - Diagonal Put Spreads" →

Indexes Trigger Monthly Trade Triangles

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The DOW, S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Bitcoin all triggered new green monthly Trade Triangles signaling a move to a long-term uptrend. The move higher was on the back of a historic and surprising gain in U.S. jobs that raised hopes that the economy is starting to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. employers added a shocking 2.5 million jobs last month, the largest gain on record, while the unemployment rate slid to 13.3%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled by the Dow Jones expected a drop of more than 8 million jobs and the unemployment rate to nearly reach 20%, which would have been the highest since the 1930s. Continue reading "Indexes Trigger Monthly Trade Triangles" →

COVID-19 - An Agile Options Strategy - Part 2

Posted on by The INO.com Team

COVID-19 was the black swan event that culminated in bringing the worldwide economy to its knees. The spread of the virus globally, along with intermittent spikes, has crushed stocks and decimated entire industries such as airlines, casinos, travel, leisure, and retail while others are battling to remain in business. COVID-19 was the linchpin for the major indices to drop over 30% over the course of 22 days. This COVID-19 induced sell-off has been the worst since the Great Depression in terms of breadth and velocity of the sell-off while inducing extreme market volatility that hasn’t been seen since the Financial Crisis.

Although options trading provides a margin of downside protection and a statistical edge, when hit with a black swan event, no portfolio is immune from the wreckage. Thus, proper portfolio construction and optimal risk management are essential when engaging in options trading to drive portfolio results. One of the main pillars when building an options-based portfolio is maintaining ample liquidity via holding ~50% of one’s portfolio in cash. This liquidity position provides the ability to adjust when faced with extreme market conditions such as COVID-19 rapidly. An agile options based portfolio is essential, and the COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example of why maintaining liquidity, risk-defining trades, staggering options expiration dates, trading across a wide array of uncorrelated tickers, maximizing the number of trades and selling options to collect premium income are keys to an effective long-term options strategy.

Maximizing Return on Capital

Options can be sold with defined risk while leveraging a minimal amount of capital to maximize return on investment. Whether you have a small account or a Continue reading "COVID-19 - An Agile Options Strategy - Part 2" →