Condor Options

Trading and the Null Hypothesis

Over at TheStreet’s OptionsProfits, I write a daily column looking at trade ideas and volatility and all the other sorts of things you’d expect from an options trader. One kind of trade we like to look at is when you sell options, especially puts, after a major news event has caused an otherwise healthy stock to take a dip. We looked recently at the implied volatility in options on stocks like Wal-Mart (WMT) and OpenTable (OPEN) and, ultimately, decided there wasn’t an attractive…

Interview with Tadas Viskanta of Abnormal Returns, Part 1

Unless you just got your first ever internet connection yesterday, you already read Abnormal Returns on a daily basis. Recently, I got the chance to interview financial omnivore and expert curator Tadas Viskanta about his new book, Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere. First, I want to say that I wish this book had been written when I first got interested in financial markets. It covers just about every topic that matters in investing…

April Performance Review

We usually provide public performance updates on a quarterly basis, but I wanted to share this news a little early. The Condor Options newsletter strategy returned  7.2% for the April expiration cycle, bringing our YTD return above 20%, which easily beats both the S&P 500 -up 10.7% – and the closer benchmark, the CBOE Vol Arb Index (VTY), which is up 11.7%. The strategy hasn’t had a losing month since last August. As I’ve mentioned in previous quarterly reviews, it…

ETF Trend Options Now Available

In a previous post (“Combining Trend Following and Option Selling Strategies“), I explained the appeal of marrying two seemingly opposed approaches to the market within one strategy, which we’re calling ETF Trend Options. The out of sample results have been excellent so far, with a 25% annualized return since inception versus a gain of 9% in the S&P 500.  I’m excited to announce today that ETF Trend Options is now available by subscription. Here are key things…

Volatility Skew Webinar Recording

I gave an online seminar on Wednesday, April 11th on implied volatility skew in partnership with TheStreet’s Options Profits service, where I am also a contributor. It was a lot of fun, and we got some great questions from participants. If you missed the event, the link below will allow you to play back or download the full webinar. https://thestreetevents.webex.com/thestreetevents/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=5088857&rKey=52967bc2198a8c00 Volatility Skew and its Impact to Options Trading-20120411 2101-1 April 11, 2012, 5:01 pm New York…

Free Webinar on Volatility Skew – Wednesday, April 11

I’m giving a free webinar in partnership with TheStreet’s Options Profits service on Wednesday on option implied volatility skew. I’m going to review, quickly, what IV skew is, present the results of our recent study for Expiring Monthly, and work through some examples of how to use skew information in timing and structuring positions. When: Wednesday, April 11 Time: 5pm ET CLICK HERE to register for the webinar You will be able to pre-register but the presentation will not be live until…

Financial Innovation and Complexity

It’s become really popular in the financial media to rail against the complexity of financial products. For products offered to the public, those complaints seem justified. Mortgages are too complicated and trap-laden, in some versions, and the “vanilla product” idea championed by Elizabeth Warren for the CFPB seemed like a winner to me. On the investing side, the TVIX saga is just another example of why ETPs whose sole purpose is to offer access to more leverage should never…