Anyone have a decent reference cheat sheet for option pricing and which strategy is best to deploy depending on circumstances volatility etc.
Any resources greatly appreciated as some information I find on the internet is factually incorrect. Quite interested in spreads of all types and ratio spreading I know optionvue has some decent info but is it the best software put there for modeelling.
Say for instance I am looking for the best strategy when IV is high yet I want to take a directional play in that I believe price is moving down. I would like to be able to profile the different strategies too see the best one from a risk return perspective . generally a bear call spread is better than a bear put spread but I wondering if anyone has modelling software recommendations for this or recommendations ?
The following user says Thank You to leinster for this post:
Do I get this right: You are asking for a software with which you can model an idea before you implement the strategyy in the market?
Let's say you have an Iron Condor in your head, as the chart shows in your time frame a side way market. Now you want to test how and when you want for example leg in with the call credit spread after you have implemented the put credit spread.
OpVue7 is an excellent tool to test such ideas and offers a lot in that direction. You even can test different kind of synthetic strategies with futures and options. The use of the matrix is a bit complicated and not all tricks are described in the manual when it comes to the point of testing any ideas. Ask for help about this in case you buy the software.
If OpVue7 is of no need for you, you may have a look at the following link which offers some basic tools to model some ideas: Custom Option Strategies
And if this is also of no use, then try to do it with an Excel sheet. You would have to Google for this or there is may some body here in the forum who knows how to develop such an Excel sheet. Here and idea how such a sheet can look: As I did not program it as it was a present from an option pro for me, I have no idea how it is done.
Thanks Stan for that i was wondering from what i read was optionvue was the only tool out there. I will have to download and play around with it.
I guess its all about making the `righter` choices when it comes to option selling etc between strategy and implementation. For me i am looking more at exact R:R for strategy and if im taking the wrong strategy from a R:R it would be better i work it out quicker (for my longterm financial health)!
Can you just input the options you are looking at with option vue and out spits all of the potential strategy R:R or is it custom strategy 1 by 1 ?
The following user says Thank You to leinster for this post:
You are welcome. Regarding OpVue7: Yes, download it and test it for two weeks. In case you want to buy the software, speak with them and you may even can test it for an extra two weeks.
On the option matrix you see all the strike levels from your derivative you trade. There is a bottom which is called: Format. Here you choose what you want to see as Legend. Choose what ever you like, but choose 'Ex pos' and 'Trade'. Now you choose your strike level and put in the amount of units you want to trade. Then you press "Analyze" and you will have your option strategy picture. Now you can play around with Existing positions and with new legs. This just the absolute basic tools. It would take to much time to explain all steps you can do there.
An other tool you can use is the "Trade Finder". Here you can choose from different strategies in any specific market and you will get a lot of ideas how to implement this strategies. Analyze the results and choose what ever you like.
As told: Test it as much as you can to get a feeling and an idea about the software. If you just want to trade plain credit and put debit and credit spreads in your future option trading and nothing else, it may is a bit too much. If you use a platform from an option broker, you may also will be served by what they offer on there platforms. Check for safety also this possibility. Stan Dan (Sorry about my limited English)
1. QuikStrike - Homepage There is a free package, a $25/mo package, and packages at $100/mo and up. All kinds of option sheets, volatility and open interest charts, and an easy to use strategy builder. The parameters in the builder can be adjusted, of course, but can also be saved and you can watch your spreads or adjust them further as time goes by. No scanner or screener, though.
2. Trading and Investment Tools | Hoadley Costs about $140 USD equivalent (the company is in Australia). This lets you build your own with literally hundreds of forumulas/functions or you can use the included templates or the Option Strategy Evaluation Tool. Handles stock options better than futures options. It looks a little clunky - it was developed a decade ago - but you can change most of the formatting and colors to suit you. It's a very powerful and well-documented tool. I should have bought it sooner; I especially like some of the probability, GARCH and Monte Carlo features.
3. OpVue is a decent choice, they've been around a long time, but I think they've been resting on their laurels for a while. It can get expensive if you buy all the data and add-ons for back-testing, screen/scan and portfolio management. Fortunately, they now offer a lease program and I believe you can use data feeds from Interactive Brokers and Think or Swim - that brings the cost down a lot, and as long as they don't lock you in for a year, you can see if it's right for you without spending $2000.
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truely fantastic resources i like quickstrike except its just been taken over by cme so no equities there.
thanks for that.
i attempted to get optionvue download but they are yet to respond and do think ill probably go that way anyway from what i have read but these onthefly tools look good i must play around with the excel tool etc.
its amazing how many sites list option prices but no volatility metric beside them!
The following user says Thank You to leinster for this post:
Yep, thats a problem for those who seek information for free over the net. But that's what the option industry in the USA want. They are not interested to give away for free such information, as this is part of there profit making. Sell when IV is high and others do not realize it and buy when IV is low. In option share trading this is a real disadvantage for the retailers, specially when they want to trade events. Otm, atm and itm options are in different ways affected from IV. Understanding this in details helps at least a bit. Take care / Stan Dan
Fortunately, it's a lot better than it used to be. Popular discount brokerages with in-house platforms that include volatility information and some level of scanning and modeling (payoff diagrams) include:
1. Think or Swim
2. OptionsHouse
3. TradeMonster
4. TradeKing
5. Interactive Brokers (they've recently added some "Option Lab" components)
A couple more sources of low cost option info that includes IV and scanning:
1. ivolatility.com (OptionsHouse, TradeKing and Scottrade use some of the ivolatility.com tools). Lots of choices, all of them low cost, all offer a two week trial.
2. Optionistics.com. About $25/mo. I've looked at this but never subscribed or used the trial.
3. LiveVol which recently added a 'basic' package at about $80/mo or you can sign up for their LiveVol securities and get it for free. The last time I looked, the clearing choices were Interactive Brokers and APEX.
Regarding the Quikstrike comment, it's true that their service covers CME futures options only, but as far as I know, they remain an independent company. They probably have some sort of deal to develop and maintain the free, basic product on the CME site, but they continue to sell their more advanced packages to little fish and big fish.
The following user says Thank You to CafeGrande for this post:
A lot of tools Leinster got now from you and me. But in the final end: All those tools will not make the trade. The outcome of any trade still will depend on our deeper knowledge on any of the option strategies we use/trade, HOW and WHEN any of those tools are used in combination with what the market actually shows on the chart in the time frame our option strategy is implemented. Take care / Stan Dan
So i took optionvue for a spin last night and spent around 6 hours on it (going through all the menus etc and features as indicated in the help tutorials).
I was well impressed with it i must say. Some of the drawback was the crashing but continue works pretty well (doesnt completly die).
Having used many other tools i think even at the price optionvue is cheap, so ill probably sign up for it (i get my data from IB anyway so that is okay even if there not the best for options ill be taking baby steps).
Ill probably knock together my own spreadsheet extending some of the concepts stated here and when done ill post it up. Like a basic cheat sheet. As in so i know exactly what to do when IV is 100% and HV is 30% and i have a directional bias.
I would be curious to hear how things go with IB's data feed. You can save a lot of money with it compared to buying one of the feeds from OptionVue, but it's also known for having some quirks and being a slow-loader when it comes to options chains. That's the view from the guy that wrote the Hoadley Tools, anyway. He tells people that have an account with both IB and OptionsXpress, to use the OX feed or basically any feed but IB for loading chains.
I hope your experience is different because I might give OptionVue another look if the IB data works well in it.
An excel based scanner I came across time ago and might do what you are looking for is OptionStar ( Options Analysis Software). It has some delayed free feeds and realtime Interactivbrokers datafeed. See if it will be of any benefit to your style and needs. Price is also reasonable and it is in many ways similar with Hoadley Tools.Regards!
The following user says Thank You to Faux for this post:
Trading: Equities, index options and futures options
Posts: 175 since Apr 2010
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I use OV and agree on the issue of Data. I tried to use IB quotes at first and had lots of problems with slow or missing prices in OV. After talking to them I switched to feeding OV with quotes from TOS and the problems were solved. I still use IB to trade but if you want to save money on data for OV then go with something other than IB.
The following user says Thank You to Bookworm for this post:
Another option is to use backtrader in OV. You get 30 min delayed quotes but more importantly a way to test different option strategies under different market conditions.
Just read the thread - some interesting observations and comments which I've appreciated reading.
I've not long started dipping a toe in the options pool, but spend a lot of time gnashing my teeth and cursing IB. I spent quite a lot of time initially going through a pile of the material on the TastyTrade site and learned a lot - some really good stats there - and before I knew it I felt I was pretty familar with the TOS platform which I found very intuitive. Now IB on the otherhand I find totally unintuitive and clunky and that's with their recent big revamp. Bloody longwinded, awkward and slow! To think they've had TOS as an example for a decade or so! The irony is that I can't get the TOS platform because 'for regulatory reasons' TD's UK/European affiliate broker doesn't offer it. What those regulatory reasons are that don't seem to apply to anyone else like IB I've no idea (BS I don't doubt like all the mindless risk disclaimers that have to go infront of every webinar etc and yet all the retail FX brokers can merrily offer 500:1 leverage on retail accounts!) Sosnoff now has their new 'Douigh' platform out and it seems pretty good, but again since it's tied in with a TD account and they aren't likely to release and API for any other broker you're FCUKed here in the UK!
Apologies if that was a bit of a rant, really just wanted to suggest to Leinster that he might find some useful info on the TastyTrade website on strategies (Market Measures is perhaps the best place to start looking). For me the biggest issue with selling premium is knowing - and feeling confident that I know! - how to defend a position when it (invariably) gets challenged. There's loads of info out there on strategies but a real paucity of info on how and when to defend them!
Best of luck!
SS
"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws."
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744 -1812)
I have not see anybody mentioning Optionnetexplorer ( Options Trading and Analysis Software). It has live feed API integration with TOS, IB, Trademonster, OptionHouse. I have been using it (I am with IB, it does work well with IB, but just like in case of OV TOS will be a faster feed) for 2 years now and could not live without it. Software gets better year on year, for me having used OV before OptionNet is a much more intuitive platform at a fraction of the cost. It currently does not support futures (only stocks, indexes, ETFs) so that's a downside for futures options traders but I am sure this will be remedied soon.
The following user says Thank You to Tradelog for this post:
ONE (as they call it ) is a nice piece of software. This is what OV should have looked like. As you said though it cannot do future options and that is a big minus for me.
Regarding Option Net Explorer (ONE), I *think* it's only in the last year or so that they started actively marketing it as a standalone product. For a while, I believe you had to subscribe to one of Dan Sheridan's mentoring programs to gain access.
I just glanced at the pricing page and it's about $70 USD per month if you buy a 12-month subscription (it's priced in British pounds). That seems like a decent price if the data connections work well and it has the features you're looking for.
On a related note, I think OptionVue might be feeling some competitive heat:
OV's leasing program and its "bring your own data" program are both relatively new (in the last 2 yrs?) and helped to bring the annual cost down to under $2000. The prices shown on the link above are even better; the least expensive option is a 12-mo lease for $850 or $70/mo.
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) is a nice piece of software. This is what OV should have looked like. As you said though it cannot do future options and that is a big minus for me.