First and foremost, let me go out and say it: I'm glad I'm not in the APR butterfly right now.. Look at this 30 day st. deviation chart, for about a month we have had 1 large day just about every other day.. This means a lot of adjusting to stay in the trade, in fact, the position I considered entering this week would be already undergone a cut and roll.I'm in the process of re-evaluating all my trading, pros and cons, and the fact that with the newborn baby I want to spend some time with my family. I'm a firm believer that your trading style needs to match your lifestyle and personality. With a new baby and additional responsibilities at work, I'm finding the simple cash-secured put/covered call strategy a blessing from the sky.. :)
A reader posted a few good questions on my last posting, so let me repeat them here and address them to all:
What type of returns do you look for in your naked puts?
About 1 to 1.5% over the value held in margin. For a current position, I've sold the 72.5 vall on COST for about .70c, it is a bit below my goal, but since I was assigned COST last month, I wanted to start writing the calls anyway.
Overall, I'm looking to get about the same or better results as the market, with reduced volatility by selling the calls and puts to bring money into the bank when the stocks are moving side-ways.
Why naked puts over just buying the stock?
I start with selling a naked put, then I let it be assigned into stocks. Once I own the stocks I start selling the covered call. First of, you need to select the stocks you would like to own right away. Then, but selling extra premium with options you bank some money every month and reduce your down-side risk on the stock.
Isnt the margin and downside risk almost the same yet your participation on the upside is capped?
Yes, it is, the upside is capped, but I'm not looking to do this strategy on fast-moving stocks. My goal is to select a few stable stocks that I won't mind owning and keep selling premium every month, so while it seems the upside is capped, because you "refresh" everything, you essentially bring money every month regardless of what the stock does.
