Trading/Strategy Questions FAQ

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Can your strategies be used in an IRA account?

Yes, all the portfolios we maintain may be traded in an IRA account through many brokers.

Do your portfolios trade on margin?

No. The portfolios we maintain do not require the use of margin.

What is the minimum amount required to trade?

If you plan to mirror one of our portfolios (or sign up for Auto-Trade with thinkorswim), the minimum amount varies between $2000 and $10,000 depending on which portfolio you choose and its current value.

Under what type of market conditions do your strategies work?

The majority of our portfolios are designed to make a profit in a flat or up market.

Do your strategies make money in down markets?

One of our portfolios, the 10K Bear, was set up to provide protection in case of a lower market. It is designed to make money in a flat or down market. The other portfolios are designed to make money when the market stays flat or moves up slightly.

Do you have a strategy that allows for monthly profit-taking?

Cash withdrawals will be made from most portfolios in increments of 3% of starting portfolio value. For example, for a portfolio with a starting value of $10,000, on the Monday following each monthly expiration, $300 will be taken out of the account if the account balance is over $10,300. If a gain of over $600 is made in a month and the portfolio balance is over $10,600, $600 will be removed that month. The goal is to remove $3600 from the account over the course of a year and continue to maintain the $10,000 starting value.

Where can I find a listing of your current positions?

The latest positions for each portfolio are reported each week in the Saturday Report, which may be found on our Insiders page.

Will I receive notifications when you place trades in your portfolios?

Our Basic and Premium members receive notification of all trades made in any of our current portfolios at the end of the day. Premium members also may opt to receive real time alerts for the portfolio(s) of their choice.

How many trade do you place each week/month?

This varies based on the portfolio, the movement of the underlying stock/index, and the time of the month. Most trades are made during expiration week, though trades are also placed whenever they are called for by our trading and adjustment rules.

Do you use puts or calls in your portfolios?

We use both puts and calls in our portfolios. Some portfolios are set up to use either puts or calls exclusively, while others involve the use of both puts and calls.

How risky are your strategies?

Options are leveraged investments and involve a higher degree of risk than most conventional investments (otherwise, the high returns that we have enjoyed would not be possible). However, since all of our strategies involve being both long and short options concurrently, we have some protection against the market moving in either direction, and since our long positions always have a longer life span than our short options, there will always be a residual value in our portfolios no matter what the market does (i.e., it is not possible to lose the entire amount invested as long as you are mirroring one of the Terry's Tips portfolios). 

How do you manage risk?

We have a well-defined set of Trading Rules to manage risk. In addition, each week in the Saturday Report, we publish a graph that shows the loss or gain that will result in each portfolio at the next expiration at a large range of possible underlying stock prices so that subscribers can visually see the risk profile of each portfolio on an ongoing basis.