Understanding HIGH & LOW VIX

VIX at 16: If you check today's IV behaviour, they were not spiking much even with decent delta move in BNF. The movement was subtle, giving some time to adjust. So someone having good adjustment mechanism can stay in the game longer.

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A THREAD

Topic: Why triple straddle has no real benefit.

A triple straddle is essentially an ATM Straddle & one or two step away straddle on either side. The position is almost neutral strategy just like any other neutral straddle or strangle.

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We can also view the position as an ATM straddle, a strangle & inverted strangle.

For example

Nifty: 14700

Triple straddle: 14600,14700,14800

Another view:

14700 straddle
14800-14600: strangle
14600-14800: Inverted strangle

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So the real question is what is the advantage of an inverted strangle over it's otm counterpart?

The answer is none.

They both have same premiums/theta. Only that slippages will be high in inverted strangle when we do the required adjustments plus liquidity issue.

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So isn't it better that instead of a triple straddle, we can just do ATM Straddle & 2* OTM strangle.

So in the above eg. the position will be

14700 ATM straddle
2* 14800-14600 otm strangle.

Same premium received, similar range just that there's no nuisance of ITM options.

4/

The question arises:

Why trade in an ATM straddle & 2* OTM Strangles? Why over-complicate?

Options are in itself a complicated instrument. Wouldn't it be better to stick to one straddle or a strangle & adjust accordingly?

Lesser the strikes, more there will be clarity.

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THREAD ON IRONFLY

These days the most preferred strategy for option sellers due to improved margins is IRONFLY. It's essentially a short straddle with long strangle. Long strangle acting as 'WINGS', which help in capping the unlimited risk associated with a short straddle.(1/n)

You can also view the position as a combination of Cal & Put credit spreads, if that makes it more easy for you.

There are 3 important things to understand while trading this strategy:

1) Initial size of the Wings
2) Risk Management
3) Adjustments

(2/n)

Since we are selling an ATM straddle, the 1st question is how far our wings should be? Ideally i sell .50 delta straddle & buy .20 or .10 OTM strangle, depending on my view on volatility. So the distance of wings depends on the IV setup. Higher the IVs, greater the distance.(3/n)

If you don't understand greeks, then ideally with 30 days to expiry (dte), wings should be around 300pts either side. If your trading in weekly then it should be not more than 200pts. Higher the premiums, higher the distance as we have more cushion of theta. (4/n)

It is important to understand that we need to reduce the distance of wings with time so as to manage our RISK in gap openings or sudden volatile move. So for eg. if you started with 300pt wings with 30dte, the wings wouldn't give the same protection when there is 7dte. (5/n)

AN ESSENTIAL THREAD ON OPTION ADJUSTMENTS

Adjustments can be done in variety of ways & depends totally at the discretion of the trader. To get a clear mind we need to know the following:

1) What to follow,
2) How to make the adjustment,
3) When to make the adjustment. (1/5)

1) We need a way to measure the imbalance created by a delta move in an option strategy. We can measure through premiums, distance from index or delta of greeks (i personally use delta). So basically whatever way of measure we use, both sides should be equal in it. (2/5)

2) Adjustment can either be done by selling extra quantity of profitable side, buying the quantity of losing side or shifting both the sides. I personally shift the sides because with extra quantities our Gamma gets imbalanced & the risk increases if market reverses. (3/5)

3) While the first 2pts are objective, when to make an adjustment is totally subjective. It can be fine tuned through experience. It also depends upon what strategy u are using. For a short strangle the adjustment required is faster than a ratio spread or an IC. (4/5)

Straddle/strangle require faster adjustments because they are more vulnerable to delta or IV spike. Any other strategies like ratio spreads, ironfly, butterfly have some bought option, which can negate the spikes for a while. So we need a defined system as to WHEN to adjust.(5/n)

A THREAD

Topic: HOW TO TRADE IN RISING PREMIUMS SCENARIO

Option sellers specially Straddle sellers feel that rising premiums give them excellent opportunity to make easy money. So what they are seeing is the theta aspect of options & ignoring the delta/gamma/vega forces.

1/

With rising premiums come high delta moves. There is a reason why premiums are all increasing up in the first place. High uncertainty & fear is what's controlling the markets during such times. So a volatile 200 point move in nifty is always on the cards.

2/

Adjusting during such delta moves involves high slippages. Such costs go in our system & are irrecoverable. So if the ATM straddle is around 400 & after 200 point downmove, the next straddle is at 450 & the loss is not just 50points but compounded much more.

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Also there are chances that there is no decay throughout the day. So a straddle seller has to take that heavy risk of carrying it forward & chances of gap openings are high during such times. If converted into Ironfly, then the cost of the wings is too expensive.

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Thus cutting down the initial credit significantly.

There will also be very few instances when premiums don't fall till expiry day. So with each delta move the cost of holding a straddle gets accumulated & pressure keeps mounting for the stubborn option sellers.

5/

stoploss & slippages : a thread to understand how to avoid big slippage when you get stopped out #Qunat #AlgoTradeing #Nifty #stoploss (p.s. this is just an effort to educate & example is for illustration only.) hope this helps.

1. NSE maintains two orderbooks one which has all the bid & ask offers till its full depth 2. is stoploss orderbook which is not available for anyone to lookup unlike the 1st one.
you can place two type of stoploss orders one is SL-Market & SL-limit

These SL orders gets recored in SL-Orderbook in 1st come 1st basis for that mentioned trigger price
ex. 1) 9:20 -> SL order trigger at 100 qty 500
2) 9:45 -> SL order with trigger at 100 qty 500
3) 11:30 -> SL order with trigger at 100.5 qty 500

Now when price is dropping and as soon as it starts hitting the trigger prices mentioned in SL-Orderbook .. these orders get released in pubilc bid ask orderbook. in this case for our ex. trigger execution order will be 3,1,2

for this particular day market opened gap-up, for lot of traders this becomes bullish bias .. with this bias market was in very narrow trading zone giving everyone opportunity to enter .. majority of ppl will keep SL below nearest swing low.

It's the weekend!

Grab a cup of coffee, in this thread I will explain

1. Peter Lynch's Six Categories of Stocks
2. How to identify the type of stock you own?
3. How to think and decide about the runway for growth of a company?

Lets dive right in.

For those who do not know (I doubt there will be many), Peter Lynch is one of the most successful fund managers of all time.

He managed a fund called Magellan at US Investment Giant Fidelity Investments and during his 13 yr tenure, he delivered an average CAGR of 29.2%.

Sadly the fund couldn't keep up post Lynch's retirement and his successors weren't able to keep up with his returns.

That's how good Lynch was!

In 1989, a year before retirement, Lynch wrote and published a book called 'One Up on Wall Street'.

Almost 32 years later, the teachings of the book remain relevant.

(Highly recommended read)

Chapter 7 of the Book Titled
"I've Got It, I've Got It - What is It?"

talks about the need to classify stocks.

Peter's argument is that you need to know what kind of stock you hold in your portfolio.

Not all stocks are the same - and he is right!

(1/n) Some notes from my trading journal – A thread
With this thread I shall attempt to explain how I select my trading picks.

I have learn't this concept from @markminervini 's books. Hope it helps.

#Trade #Investment #invest #StockMarket #stocks #india

(2/n) Stock trading above 200 and 50 DMA

Buy high to gain higher. CMP above 50 Day Moving Average (DMA) and 50 DMA above 200 DMA signifies the stock to be in an uptrend. This is an uncompromisable rule. @ZerodhaVarsity @zerodhaonline
#stocks

(3/n) Volume

Volume is the key factor. The stock should show clear signs of accumulation. Generally, accumulation should happen over multiple periods of time. Attached image in the case of #BALAMINES can be used as an eg.
@ZerodhaVarsity

#stocks #StockMarket

(4/n) Surge

A stock should be bought either when it’s in stage 2 or when it’s forming a base after a surge. Surge is an upward move in a stock. The best trades are those when a huge surge happens in a very short time frame. Eg #FILATEX
@ZerodhaVarsity

#stocks #StockMarket

(5/n) Consolidation

After a good surge, a stock generally consolidates. This means the stock is in its resting period and will trade only in a range. This phase will be coupled with volume dry up. Tight range with low volumes are the best setups. @ZerodhaVarsity
#stocks