July 14th Option Update

The S&P 500 is down a little more today. After examining the charts I would guess that it will bounce around on it's way down until it gets to anywhere between 1250 and 1275. Just a guess. We'll see. The margin/maintenance requirement for our 900 PUT option today is: Maintenance Requirement     $887.00.

Although the cost of this futures option is now at $200, (I could have MADE a few extra bucks) we can now see that I should have waited (patience being the key word) until the market has dropped. But what would have happened if it kept going up??? You see you really can't tell. That's why we want to make sure we are way "out of the money" when we put these type of trades together.

Another good resource book that has basic and a few advanced techniques is Starting Out in Futures Trading. It is an older book published in 2001 but it contains valuable information that the futures trader will require. That's all for today. See ya in the pits!