Double Calendar: What Goes Down Must Go Up

Even though Double Calendar Spreads can be utilized in various stock market circumstances, they function finest in low volatility situations. Increasing volatility levels help these trades, while sinking volatility winds up hurting them.

Mainly because calendar spreads churn out profit the fastest at neutral to rising volatility levels, some calendar spread traders will wait to make a trade right up until an underlyings volatility either reach the lowest level of their average range, or until they move into the lower third area of their normal volatility range.

By waiting for these lower ranges, the calendar spread trader is increasing his or her odds that the volatility levels will either remain wherever they're and not go much lower which could wind up hurting the trade, or will start to rise back up which could put their calendar trade into significant earnings pretty swiftly.

Typically volatility levels move down because the marketplace heads upward and volatility levels go up because the marketplace moves down. This is why calendar traders will usually put on calendar spreads when they have a bearish view on the stock market or on the underlying asset they are trading.

A popular method for option investors with a bearish outlook is to place a calendar spread slightly below where the market or stock is trading at, with the expectation that as the market or stock does head downward, not only with the underlying move directly into the sweet spot of their calendar position, but the volatility will also rise, super charging their calendar trade into a very good profit.

This method can also be used with double calendars, and in fact many option traders would argue that it would be preferred. Using a double calendar could increase the probability of taking profit from the trade as it could be placed with a skew that would not only create a wider sweet spot inside the profit tent for the underlying to get caught in, it could also supply an extended profit tent coverage over the area where the underlying is trading at when the trade is first initiated, providing a safety net if it turns out that the traders speculation on direction turns out to be incorrect.


To find out more about double calendar , visit Ted Nino's site on how to correctly enter, exit, manage and adjust a calendar spread trade for consistent income.


Author: Ted Nino

Tuesday S&P 500, 900 PUT Option Report

This morning we find the S&P 500 down again. I had previously made the comment that it would drop to between 1275 and 1250. It would appear the forecast is coming true. It is now the time to do a little more shopping. I'm thinking of SELLING another 900 PUT option. Perhaps in the same month, September. Margin/maintenance is under 1K and time is on my side. The vote on the new budget deal has passed the House and is now in the hands of the Senate. It's not much of a "Deal" and I believe the markets are reflecting their opinion also. But it is what it is. I think IF the Senate votes positively on the "Deal", the markets will rebound again and keep climbing to around 1400. That is unless another "Monkey Wrench" gets thrown into the gears. That being said, here's today's numbers. Margin Requirement $959.00. 

The "Geeks" of it all:

Greeks / NBBO

Symbol	Bid	Ask	IV	Delta	Gamma	Vega	Theta
SPU1900P	0.40	0.55	42.18	0.01	0.00	-0.10	0.04

The underlying Futures Contract is at: 

SPU11 FUTURES

1269.40 Last

-10.30 Change

1269.40 (1) Bid

1269.60 (1) Ask

3,795 Vol

8:39:55 AM ET Time

A Recent Article I Wrote

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How to Make Money Trading the S&P 500 Index

Not For Beginners

The method of trading described below is an advanced trading technique and is definitely not for beginners. Although the technique is relatively simple in design, if one is not knowledgeable in all of the different aspects of options trading and the repercussions that can occur, bad things will happen. That being said, let's move on.

Enlightenment

I had been trading Commodities for about 15 years when I accidentally stumbled upon this strategy being used in a large investment firm with dozens of professional investors using dozens of strategic maneuvers to lure investors into their firm. One of the trading techniques stood out like no other. Although I made a few modifications to his strategy, the principal is basically the same.

Fact

We all know how NASDAQ, the DOW and S&P work. Follow the charts and they go up and down on a regular basis. If you took an overlay of all 3 and laid them on top of one another you would see they all follow the same paths similarly. Economy goes up, the chart goes up. Economy goes down, chart goes down. The part of the fact I like is as the charts go up and down, it is almost steadily climbing upward. This gives the trader an opportunity to prosper.

The Idea

What we want to do is pick a low point in the S&P 500 where it hasn't been in quite some time. A point that has some higher volumes of trading going on in the options chains and has a low initial margin/maintenance requirement for selling PUT options. Currently the S&P is at 1334 and moving. We want to be WELL low of where it currently is.400 points out of the money is a good place to start your search. We also want to be about 60+ days into the future. There we start pricing PUT options that we are going to sell.

Research

Now we know what we are looking for. Let's look at a current chart and see what we can see. I am sure if you are an active trader you have resources of your own for checking charts, graphs and pricing options. If not, I like using this chart because it goes back to 1960.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/spx1960.html

Now to find an put option that meets our criteria. If you don't have current resources, try this:

http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/equity-index/us-index/sandp-500_quotes_globex_options.html?exchange=XCME&foi=OPT&venue=G&productCd=SPU1&underlyingContract=SP&floorContractCd=SPU1&expMonth=201109

The 900 PUT option falls into the criteria we require for a successful trade. Again, your brokerage firm should have the calculations or calculator to find the initial margin/maintenance requirements.

The Trade

Entered Trade

Sell-1 (SPU1900P)
Price:------------------------------ 0.45
Cost:--------------------------($112.50)

Requirements

Total Cost--------------------($112.50)
Initial Requirement---------- $811.25
Maintenance Requirement $649.00

Total Requirements--------- $811.25
Estimated Commission------ $12.99

Breakdown

What did I just do?
Sell-1 (SPU1900P) = Sold one S&P 500, September 2011, 900 Put option.
Price-0.45 = The cost of the option = $250.00 X 0.45 = $112.50.
Please notice that the total cost is in parenthesis. This usually means a negative but since I sold it, It now becomes a double negative which makes it a positive.
Initial Requirement $811.25 = Money I needed to have in my account to place the trade.

Maintenance Requirement $649.00 = Money I need to maintain the trade. Cannot have less than that amount in my account.
Estimated Commission $12.99 = The cost to place the trade.
The final total of this trade is = I just made $99.51 on less than $1000.00.

Now What?

The option I just sold will expire on September 16th, 2011. If the S&P does not drop to 900 in the next 60+ days, the option expires worthless and I do it again. If the market moves up, the cost of that option moves down, along with that is the time value. It gets worth less every day as it gets closer to expiration. Most of the time even if the market moves down towards the option, the margin remains the same due to the devaluation of time. You can also buy the option back at any time if you wish to close the trade. Say the "Doomsday" report just came out. Of course, we're ALL in trouble then.

Summary

Well that's it. Actually pretty simple, pretty basic. If you have access to all the tools required, paper trading is always the best way to start. The way I do it now is to wait another 30 days and put another trade into place. It is better to wait until the market is on a down swing when doing this for you may pick up a few more dollars or you can move down farther in the option chain and make the same amounts. Either way, it works.