Still don't get why I end up losing on Iron Condor on NQ

#21

You really dont want to do an IC on the NQ with less than say $160 in premium ($200 is ideal). Monday morning ones are a little bit trickier because Nadex of course doesnt start offering spreads/binaries on the Indices until 3am.

Keep in mind, that your breakevens are based on if you were holding it all the way till the 4:15 expiration

If the market moves in one direction by a large margin, the losing side will lose money quicker than the winning side is making the money

I stopped doing ICs a week before the Oct FOMC meetings. Way to much volatility for my taste. Then my Mom had one of her knees replaced. So I moved back home for a bit to help her out. Even though I had more free time, because I took a couple weeks off of work as well. It had to be based on her schedule, not mine :wink:

And Apex came out with some new toys to play with, so I have been in and out of demoing directional trading with those.

Also its kinda nice only having to wait 30 mins to make 40 pips vs 10+ hours (on occasion) (also out of a losing trade quicker if it hits a stop loss)

#22

So i had $196 total premium last night for NQ. I sold before US open and got $40. I looked into the IC cause it seemed like easy money while you sleep. Then i wake up at us open, sell my IC’s and trade NQ IZSS.

So if the break evens are based off of expiration, what would be the advantage of setting them if the majority of people exit the IC before the US market opens? If that’s the case, say for example you are down money just before us open on an IC, would it be smart to hold onto the IC till 4:15 so you break even?

Sorry about your mom! I wish her a speedy recovery. And thanks for your help so far!

#23

$40 per contract?? Way to go!! Always go for as much premium as you can get. Even if that means watching it for a little bit, or just skipping doing the trade all together.

Unless the market is crazy volatile or you just get unlucky with premium resets, generally you will have some profit before the US open or if its a loss… shouldnt be a whole lot.

Generally its recommended that you use a 1:1 risk to reward ratio for any IC. Which basically means sometimes you wouldnt even have to set a stop loss for the trades, if the premium was high enough.

However, it just comes down to you being able to stomach such a loss (hopefully your account can) Personally I just felt I would hit max loss holding on to a trade till 4:15 more often, than getting close to the max profit… That was just me though… There have been a few posts of people actually getting very near max profits on these overnight IC… So it does happen.

Also some people just wake up and close it before they leave for work as well. Hence the selling before the US open.

As for waiting to sell if you are down money before the US open… All comes with what you are comfortable with. There is a chance that the market rebounds and becomes profitable. Or like today… The market takes off in one direction and just keeps going in that direction.

But if you are trading directionally once the US opens. Then it might be better to close the IC for either a profit or loss. And then hopefully add to the gains or make up for any loss. Plus you wouldnt have to possibly be holding on to a trade until 4:15 (if you didnt want too) Since you would make/lose money quicker if trading directionally.

Thanks for the wishes about my mom… It was totally elective. Lots of pain to start, but she is doing a lot better and is actually scheduled to return to work on Dec 12th… Already planning on having her other one done next summer probably :neutral_face:

And you are welcome for the help. I’ll try when I can :slight_smile:

#24

Yes $40 per contract for NQ last night.

I guess i should clarify better. Say for example the market hits my break even trigger on one side, if i left the opposite side till expiration at 4:15 would i then be break even on the trade?

#25

I would think it would be about break even. However I have never tried it, so I dont know.

The only problem with that is you run the risk of the trade going back in the opposite direction.

I only had the market hit breakeven on me once, and then it reversed against me by something like 24 ticks shortly later.

.

#26

So it would be the most safe to sell the opposite side once one of the breakevens are hit?

#27

I think it comes down to if you wanted to risk it or not. This is just me, but I would probably make sure both sides were closed for the loss and just come back again the next day, But thats because I always wanted to get out before the U.S opened.