Yes Cordier's book is heavy on fundamental analysis.

Carley Garner has some books too. Videos too.

Twitter is a good source of info if you follow the right people. John Kemp for oil news for one. Dow Jones if you have access to it. Hightower daily reports. Bloomberg News. Reuters.

I have never looked at SaxoTrader.

Hi Ron,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry in advance for the constant newbie questions!

1. If you had to start over, would you still recommend the Cordier’s book over DeCarley’s. And specifically which of Decarley’s books would you advice for option future strategies/understanding to your style of trading.

2. Whats your opinion on MRCI reports. Recommended?

Thanks

Newbie questions are OK.

I suggest Cordier's book because it gives more about fundamentals and selling options.

For a Carley book you should start with this one A TRADER'S FIRST BOOK ON COMMODITIES (new edition not 2009 edition)

I use SeasonAlgo for data and charts. It has more flexibility. MRCI has more recommendations for trades. Depends on what you need.

I agree with Ron.

One nice thing about MRCI is that they show charts for the seasonality of volatility. These charts help to avoid selling options just before a critical phase of the underlying, eg. the blooming period of coffee.

As far as I know you can have a look at Season Algo as well as MRCI free of charge.

Best regards, Myrrdin

1. Thanks Ron and Myrrdin. I’ll have a look at both, from my understanding both provide recommendation for trades? (Of course your own analysis is required).

2. I’ve also enquired with opening a DeCarley account. I also have accounts with Saxo. Commission /costs of trades is quite important for selling options. From your analysis how do these Saxo prices compare to the Broker’s you are used to: cannot post link. So google, ‘saxotrader commission options’ > ‘Pricing Overview’ > ‘CO- Contract Options’ > ‘Rates and Conditions’.

3. For paper trading which service/broker do you recommend. Saxo’s demo accounts usually expire in 20 days which is quite inconvenient.

Once again thanks!

Commission /costs of trades is quite important for selling options.

No it isn't. The most important thing is getting the lowest margin. That will affect your ROI more than cost.

Highest ROI is the goal. A higher amount of money you have left after a trade is done is the goal.

Cost factors in, but not as much as margin.

Slightly higher margins might help to some degree in that they can help decrease the number of positions
and risk that we might take on. ROI is somewhat arbitrary depending on the type and size of margin.

After 4 trading days, the S&P 500 is up 2.6% YTD.

When the first 5 days are up >2%?

Since '50, S&P 500 is higher for the year 15 out of 15 times. Average return is +18.6%.

The highest ROI per trade is your number one goal