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Trading ETF Options

Exchange-Traded Funds, or ETFs, are index funds that trade just like stocks on major stock exchanges. All the major stock indexes have ETFs based on them, including: Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA), Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq 100 Composite (QQQQ).

In addition, just about every major industry has an ETF for investors who wish to select an entire industry rather than individual stocks.

ETFs differ fundamentally from traditional mutual funds, which do not trade during the normal trading hours of the day. Traditional mutual funds take orders during Wall Street trading hours, but the transactions actually occur at the close of the market. The price they receive is the sum of the closing day prices of all the stocks contained in the fund. Not so for ETFs, which trade instantaneously all day long (just like ordinary stock).

Since ETFs trade all day, options are available on them.  These options provide interesting opportunities for certain strategies, including what I call the 10K Strategy, which is the major strategy offered by Terry’s Tips.

For the most part, at Terry’s Tips, we use broad-based ETFs as underlyings (SPY, DIA) for our option portfolios because they do not fluctuate wildly like individual stocks often do (our strategy works best when the underlying stays flat or moves only slightly in either direction).

We have had good luck with one ETF that is not broad-based, but made up of 84 companies in the banking and financial services area (XLF). 

The 15 most important components of the Financial SPDR (XLF) and their weights are:

1  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)  11.80% 

2  Bank of America Corp. (BAC) 8.90% 

3  Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) 8.60% 

4  Citigroup Inc.(C)  5.60% 

5  U.S. Bancorp (USB) 4.20% 

6  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) 3.10% 

7  Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) 2.90% 

8  American Express Co. (AXP) 2.60% 

9  MetLife Inc. (MET) 2.20% 

10  Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER)  2.20% 

11  Travelers Cos. Inc. (TRV) 2.00% 

12  PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) 1.90% 

13  AFLAC Inc. (AFL) 1.80% 

14  CME Group Inc. (CME) 1.60% 

15  Morgan Stanley  (MS) 1.60% 

A hedged strategy:The options strategy I use with XLF is a hedged strategy. In many respects, this strategy involves taking less risk than if I had just purchased XLF stock. Half the options are “long”, meaning they benefit when XLF moves in one particular direction, while half are “short”, meaning that they benefit if XLF moves in the other direction.   No matter which way XLF moves, half the options benefit from the change in stock price.

XLF options can be better than XLF stock. I must admit that I am an options guy, not a stock guy. No matter how much I like XLF (and I do), I know that I can make a whole lot more with the options than I ever can with the stock. And I can do it with a strategy that is “hedged”. I can make money with XLF even if the stock does not go up. Usually, I can even make money when it goes down, (just as long as it doesn’t go down too much, too fast).

If you trade actively in options, and particularly if you are hedged (meaning that you are putting on many different positions rather than speculating with the simple purchase of puts or calls), it is important to look at the options market for the underlying security. Option markets for individual companies, except for a very few extremely active stocks, often have large spreads between the bid and asked price. In many cases, a single market maker sets the prices, and it is difficult to get good executions when you trade.

This means that every time you buy an option, you pay more than you would if the options were more actively traded, and when you sell, you receive less than you would in an active options market. The options market for XLF is liquid. Bid-asked spreads are small, and you can successfully execute spread orders and count on getting decent prices regardless of whether you are buying or selling.

Why is XLF better than trading individual companies?It has nothing to do with the company.  Rather, it has to do with the price behavior of most individual companies.  The 10K Strategy does best when the stock does not gyrate wildly.  At certain times, most individual companies are subject to sudden wide swings in their stock prices.  Earnings are announced, and the company either exceeds (or fails to meet) expected results, and the stock moves accordingly.  An analyst upgrades (or downgrades) the stock unexpectedly, and the stock makes a big move.   Sudden price changes in the stock can result in losses when using the 10K Strategy, so we prefer to trade on a basket of stocks (like XLF) rather than an individual company.  That way, if one company has a big swing in stock price, the effect on the total basket of stocks is usually minimal.  (If the companies are all in the same industry, sometimes one company’s gain is another’s loss, so the net effect on the basket of stocks is zero).

I call my system the 10K Strategy.  It is somewhere between a boring buy-and-hold strategy and day-trading.  It is not a marathon – you do not have to wait forever to see results.  Neither is it a sprint, dependent on short-term increases in the price of the stock.  Like any race, it takes a little effort to execute.  But the extraordinary profit potential makes it all worth while, at least to my way of thinking.

A Simple Options Strategy:The 10K Strategy is based on the simple fact that all options become less valuable every day (if the stock stays flat), but short-term options go down in value (decay) at a faster rate than long-term options.  I purchase slower-decaying long-term options and use them as collateral to sell faster-decaying short-term options to someone else.  If the stock stays flat, I always win.  Guaranteed!

But as we know, all stocks do not stay flat.  Some good stocks, like XLF, actually go up much of the time.  Having a good feeling about a stock (and being right) makes the 10K Strategy even more profitable than just enjoying the option decay advantage.  If the stock goes up, I can make more with the 10K Strategy than I ever could with the stock alone.

If the 10K Strategy is so simple, why doesn’t everybody follow it?First of all, only Terry’s TipsInsiders know about it.  That’s a pretty small, but growing, universe.  Second, it really isn’t as simple as the basic underlying concept makes it seem.  The strategy consists of calendar spreads at several different strike prices (both above and below the stock price), with differing numbers of spreads at different strikes (depending on your personal risk tolerance), often involves puts rather than calls (even if you are bullish on the stock), and is governed by a strict set of Trading Rules that determine when adjustments need to be made.

Does the 10K Strategy make money all the time?  I’m afraid that nothing could be quite that good.  But it is close.  In March 2009, I set up the XLF portfolio using the 10K Strategy (we call it the Marco Polo portfolio).  This portfolio was set up in an actual brokerage account all by itself, and the positions (and every trade) updated each week for Terry’s Tips Insiders.

In the first 7 months, the portfolio gained 35% after all commissions (60% annualized) in spite of some extreme mid-month volatility.  Several times, the stock fluctuated by over 30% in a single month, something that our strategy has the most trouble handling.  To check how the portfolio has performed since that time, go to our Track Record page.

It all sounds too complicated – can you manage the 10K Strategy for me?  Unfortunately, I can’t manage your money.  I publish an options newsletter, and am not a licensed investment advisor.  But through a mechanism called Auto-Trade, you can mirror any of our portfolios, without having to place the trades yourself.

How Much Does It Cost to Learn All About the 10K Strategy?  The White Paper (included in our subscription) costs less than a meal for two at a decent restaurant.  It gives you all the information you will need to execute the 10K Strategy, and set up, and maintain, a portfolio that matches the degree of risk that you are comfortable taking.  Complete Trading Rules for every risk level portfolio are included as well.

And there is more.  First, you will receive a free Stock Options Tutorial which will acquaint you with the basics of option trading, including a simple explanation of the often-intimidating “Greeks.”  Second, you will receive a membership to our Insiders Newsletter, where you can watch our actual portfolios unfold each week (and receive Trading Alerts whenever a change is made in a portfolio).  If you wish, you can mirror one or more of these portfolios in your own account, or sign up for Auto-Trade.

And there is still more, like a list of 20 “Lazy Way” companies which allow you to make two trades at the beginning, and do nothing more for two full years.  At the end of this period, you will have earned a minimum 100% on your investment, mathematically guaranteed, if the stock stays flat or goes up by any amount.  In most cases, it can even fall by 5% and you make at least 100%, and it can fall by 25% and a small profit still results.  (You can figure out all these numbers precisely, before you make the investment.)

Once you have become an Premium Insider, you will have access to several valuable reports on a variety of option strategies, many of which you will not be able to find in any books on options.

All this for less than the cost of a meal for two at a decent restaurant.  And once you put the strategy to work, you might well be spending many pleasant evenings at better-than-decent restaurants for the rest of your life.  Who knows?  In could happen.  It did to me, and I want to pass on my learning experiences to you.

So here’s my offer:

Become a Terry’s Tips Insider, pay only $97, and receive my updated 2020 White Paper which describes 4 unique trading strategies with complete Trading Rules for each, including the 10K Strategy that earned an average of 103% for 8 portfolios in 2005, and get all these additional benefits absolutely free:

  • My Stock Options Tutorial Program service, fourteen separate lessons which provide a sound background for options trading (a $29.90 value).
  • A list of 20 “Lazy Way” companies which make 100% mathematically guaranteed in 2 years if the stock stays flat, goes up by any amount, or falls by less than 5%.  The “Lazy Way” strategy involves making two trades up front, and then sitting back and waiting for 2 years for your 100% to come in.
  • Updates on all our actual portfolio accounts with every trade ever made in each one.  Each account is a real-time unfolding of one of the basic strategies developed in the White Paper.  Different underlyings or investment amounts are used for each portfolio.
  • If you would like, I will email you with every trade I make in each of these accounts, so you can make those same trades yourself if you wish, maybe at even better prices.

Here is the link that could change the way you invest your money for the rest of your life – https://www.terrystips.com/signup.

If you are not convinced that now is the right time to make this investment in yourself, at least sign up for my free newsletter. You will receive my free report, “How to Create an Options Portfolio That Will Outperform a Stock or Mutual Fund Investment”.

For more information about the “Lazy Way” strategy to double your money, click Tip #5.

For more information about how you can use the 10K Strategy in your IRA, click Tip #4.

For more information about options in general, click Tip #1.

But the most important link is right here – https://www.terrystips.com/signup. That is where you can order my White Paper and maybe change how you ever thought about investing for the rest of your life.

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TERRY’S TIPS STOCK OPTIONS TRADING BLOG

May 22, 2023

May 22, 2023

Dear [[firstname]],

I didn’t send a newsletter for the past couple of weeks because I didn’t like how the trades were setting up early in the week. One moved against us, so it didn’t look as attractive. The other moved in our direction, so there wasn’t enough credit available for a viable trade.

It’s not right to send a newsletter for the mere sake of sending a newsletter. If the trade is good, I’ll give it to you. If not, I’ll hold off. And you’ll just have to go without our incredible offers for a week or two!

With that said, here is your Option Trade of the Week, as included in this past weekend’s Saturday Report for our Terry’s Tips Insider Members. This is a post-earnings bullish trade on a gaming company that looks better today than it did over the weekend. In fact, you should be able to get an extra 10% in credit. Good luck with the trade!   

But first, our Honey Badger portfolio is on a huge roll. I know I keep saying that every week, but it’s now up a mammoth 45% for 2023. Of course, don’t forget that our portfolios beat their underlying stock performance by an average of 22% in 2022.  

Don’t miss out on the profits. For our loyal (thanks for that, by the way) newsletter subscribers, I’m keeping the sale going that saves you more than 50% on a monthly subscription to Terry’s Tips.

You’ll get …

  • A month of all trade alerts in our four portfolios, giving detailed instructions for entering and exiting positions.
  • Four to five (depending on the month) weekly issues of our Saturday Report, which shows all the trades and positions for our four portfolios, a discussion of the week’s trading activity and early access to our Option Trade of the Week.
  • Instructions on how to execute the 10K Strategy on your own.
  • A 14-day options tutorial on the opportunities and risks of trading options.
  • Our updated 10K Strategy white paper, a thorough discussion of the strategy basics and tactics.
  • Full-member access to all our premium special reports that can make you a wiser and more profitable options trader. 

To become a Terry’s Tips Insider Member, just Click Here, select Sign Up Now and use Coupon Code D21M to start a monthly subscription to Terry’s Tips for half off. You can cancel after a month but, of course, still keep all the valuable reports.

We look forward to having you join us! Now on to the trade …

Chip off the Old BLOX

Looking back on recent trades in this space, we’re a little heavy on the bearish side of the ledger. Without forecasting where the market is headed (I don’t do forecasts), I feel that we need a put spread to inject some bullishness.  One name that recently popped up is Roblox (RBLX), an online entertainment platform provider.

RBLX reported earnings last week that were mixed. The company suffered a wider loss than a year earlier, which came in lower than analysts were expecting. But revenue came in higher than estimates. One important metric for RBLX is bookings, which grew 22% for the quarter and beat the analyst forecast. The stock jumped 10% in the ensuing two days, pushing it above both its 20-day and 200-day moving average. The shares have traded sideways since then and currently sit between the 20-day and 50-day moving averages.

Analysts mostly cheered the earnings news, giving the stock a couple of upgrades and a few target price increases (there was one decrease). But overall, analysts are lukewarm toward the shares, averaging between a buy and hold. The average target price is also underwhelming, sitting just 6% above Friday’s close. But I’m OK with that because it tells me there’s ample room for upgrades. That’s evident from the two upgrades we saw last week even though the company fell short of the earnings estimate.

This trade is based on RBLX benefiting from its bookings strength and perhaps some more love from analysts. We’re going with a neutral-to-bullish put spread on RBLX with the short put strike (green line) below both the 20-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages. If you agree that RBLX will stay atop these trendlines, consider the following credit spread trade that relies on the stock staying above $37 through expiration in 6 weeks:

Buy to Open the RBLX 30 Jun 34 put (RBLX230630P34)
Sell to Open the RBLX 30 Jun 37 put (RBLX230630P37) for a credit of $0.65 (selling a vertical)

This credit is $0.02 less than the mid-point price of the spread at Friday’s $40.01 close.  Unless RBLX surges at the open on Monday, you should be able to get close to that price.

The commission on this trade should be no more than $1.30 per spread. Each spread would then yield $63.70. This trade reduces your buying power by $300, making your net investment $236.30 per spread ($300 – $63.70). If RBLX closes above $37 on June 30, all options will expire worthless and your return on the spread would be 27% ($63.70/$236.30).   

Any questions?  Email Jon@terrystips.com. Thank you again for being a part of the Terry’s Tips newsletter.

Happy trading,

Jon

May 17, 2023

The phone has a 6.7-inch 60Hz AMOLED panel, and it features an Exynos 9825 chipset with plenty of power and a 64MP camera that takes great shots. The standout feature is the gargantuan 7000mAh battery with 25W fast charging. The F62 costs more at ₹23,999 ($325), but then again, you are getting a lot of phone here. On average, my smartphone lived on a single charge for 7-8 hours of active screen in 120 Hz mode.

  • Xiaomi isn’t positioning this phone as a camera-focused option, and that is evident in the resultant shots.
  • However, this is not solving all of the problems and as of now, there is not a global solution.
  • The main one is 50 megapixels in resolution and has an f/1.8 aperture.

Other than these two things the rest of the hardware design is identical to that of the Poco X3 NFC. This means, the same camera module layout along with the snappy fingerprint scanner built into the power button. The IR blaster is still there on the top rail along with the headphone jack on the bottom. And yes, that reminded me about the haptics on this phone.

volver a rom stock poco x3 pro

Other phones may get the Snapdragon 860, but they don’t have it at the time of review. The Poco X3 Pro lost ground in the camera section of this review, but it makes up a good deal of it with its chipset. That’s the Snapdragon 860, a processor that should interest many of you. The Poco X3 Pro can take nice photos, better ones than the Microsoft Surface Duo (original cost $1400 / about £1,075), which we tried recently.

  • The brightness is almost always enough, but the auto brightness does not work quite correctly and often you have to move the slider manually.
  • The Poco X3 Pro supports LDAC, SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptxHD Bluetooth codecs.
  • They offer excellent battery life, along with a decent camera setup.
  • Color reproduction is on the saturated side, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
  • The marquee feature on the POCO X3 Pro is the Snapdragon 860 chipset.
  • I’m actually more impressed Poco included support Stock Firmware for 26W USB-PD that’s almost as fast and works with more plugs.

The form factor is similar too, but this time Poco has worked on the weight and thickness, as X3 Pro is 9.4mm thick compared to 10.1mm on the X3. Since the X3 received a lot of criticism about its weight this time X3 Pro weighs about 213 grams as per the brand. But in our testing, it came out to be 215 grams, which is slightly lighter when compared to X3 with 225 grams. So, I would say Poco has definitely worked on the feedback, but the phone still feels bulky and heavy in hand, I hope Poco works to refine it more in the next model. By default, the phone delivers 12 MP shots that contain a good amount of detail and natural colours.

May 15, 2023

Free sites spend less time verifying accounts and eliminating bots and scammers, and have less robust matchmaking, meaning you’ll need to look for a match yourself. Finding the perfect international dating site can be a challenge. Some are filled with scammers or fake profiles, while others have poor matchmaking algorithms or may not be suitable for what you want. JDate is best for Jewish people looking for Jewish partners. While most people on the site are looking for a serious relationship, finding people interested in hookups or a more casual dating experience is also possible. One important feature that makes JDate the best international dating app for Jews is its intensive screening process to prevent harassment and abuse. Elite Singles welcomes individuals of any race, gender, or sexual orientation, which many other international dating services fail to offer. The site works best for people who aren’t interested in casual dating or hookups and prefer forming serious, deep connections.

  • Talking about girls / women in Romania is very difficult, as there’s always a risk to generalize when it’s not the case.
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina is a wonderful nation with really kind people.
  • Many people know about Romania thanks to Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula and his Brukenthal Palace located in Transylvania.
  • It is a predominantly mountainous country that is known for many thermal spas.
  • You will lose a few points if your bride feels that you are taking her for granted.
  • One of these names is sure to inspire any nature lovers out there.

AnastasiaDate is equivalent to a goldmine of single Romanian https://topinternationaldatingsites.com/ women and Romanian brides. There are over 1.5 million profiles, with the most popular age group being years old. Its matching algorithm has a 65% accuracy, with a high reply rate (98%). It definitely your best chance to meet Romanian women online. Romanian girls are hardworking and very family-oriented, thanks to their culture. The girl you date will have strong maternal instincts, and if you decide to build a life together, she’ll put her heart and soul into raising and taking care of your future family.

Personal Attitudes

Hence, their mission is to create a comfortable atmosphere in their houses to please their men in various ways. As a rule, girls are polite, quiet, and respectful towards their husbands. Race and even nationality often become important factors in online dating. In turn, girls from many Asian countries exclusively prefer white men, especially Americans. It is the basic feature of the website to start dating Cambodian women. Check the communities on the matter of them and enjoy cheerful minutes with pretty brides. There are some dating sites to meet Cambodian brides online. Cambodia is the place for pleasure and enjoyment on the edge of sunny Asia.

Romanian Ladies Interesting Data and Misguided beliefs

One of the top-rated dating sites, AsianFeels, is a great choice for those looking for support and simple human relationships based on love and honesty. The site has a good potential and success rate with dozens of advanced search filters, quality profiles, and complete privacy. Fine Cambodian women like to laugh and have a good time with friends. Although these ladies are not party girls, they welcome guests with pleasure. They are also friendly to their husbands’ friends, relatives, bosses, and co-workers. Yet, why do Cambodian women like white men when they have many locals with the same views at their fingertips?

Use Dating Online to Find Your Ideal Bosnian Singles

Therefore, Cambodian brides do not want to live in poverty and use every opportunity to leave their country for good. There are a lot of ways to get Cambodian mail order brides, but only one is effective. Online dating websites are for reaching your desired results. In contrast to the previous two dating communities, this one has a great number of users. So, you have the ongoing and increasing chances to meet your love there.

To sum up, Cambodian brides are charming, gorgeous, stunning, and simply kind Asian ladies. A lot of women looking for American men on online dating websites. They started dating shortly after they met and have been together ever since. Kim and Sovann’s story is just one of many cambodian couples who have found love through online dating. Cambodian dating sites are a great way to meet eligible singles from all over the country. There are many single Cambodian women on dating websites. They seek love and happiness with men from the USA and other highly-developed economies to build families and raise children in a stable and favorable environment. Online dating helps girls match potential partners, avoiding pressure to be “a perfect woman for a man,” typical for Cambodian society.

Additionally, Barcode Bar, Temple Club, and The Angkor What? Bar are the greatest places in Siem Reap for night-time entertainment. Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and the biggest city in the country, so there is no way we could have skipped it when creating this list. Phnom Penh is a city where you can do something new every day and never run out of ideas. But if you want to know where to meet Cambodian singles in Phnom Penh, we have a few suggestions. The Malis, Topaz, and Digby’s restaurants are very attractive to the female population of Phnom Penh, and the Sound Club, Love, and Secrets night clubs are great for a night out. As we said in the introduction, these are only general recommendations.

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