reset.no.regret

Hi, I'd like to ask a couple of questions to full time traders in the US. 1. How do you go about paying yourself ? So you can prove income for a loan, taxes, court, etc. 2. Are you setup as a business enitity or an individual? I plan to talk with a CPA and/or Tax Lawyer but would like to know what has or hasn't worked for others. Thanks.

I did try options house for about a week and dropped them because of the platform. I've been using trade monster for the past month and went with them over some cheaper brokers because I like the platform and tools offered.

You can use a desktop macro recorder to create a mouse click/key stroke marco that starts the session and screen capture recorder. I used one a few years ago that allowed you to schedule the macro's to run. I don't recall the name but google will get you going.

thanks Tams, maybe it's just me but you always seem pissed off, here's a smile for you have a fun weekend. I love your sig. It fits in with one of the philosophies I use "There's 3 sides to every story: your's, mine, and the truth; you have to know your's and mine to know the truth."

Do you like their platform?

I've heard good things about TOS but also that service has dropped since they were bougth out. I'd love to hear who people are using for options and your experiences. thx.

looking forward to this thread! :thumbs up:

I was suggesting buying back the put as a risk management technique opposed to letting the option expire and being assigned - that was the only point I was trying to make. Depending on the critera used to exit he could/would still lose money buying it back; but not nearly as much as being assigned a dropping stock. I'm not trying to argue the points being made, I think all the things mentioned are valid in this case; however, they are also valid is most cases: underlying instrument moves against you, gapping down hard overnight, profit rapidly eroding, etc. Ultimately, I think we are saying the same thing - know your risk before entering the trade and have an exit strategy in case things turn against you.

Thanks for the replies. What I'm trying to figure out is where I am in that learning curve. I've achieved #1 in my examples but not #2. Those numbers are completely arbitrary to illustrate my question. As Maelstorm said "profitability is subjective and means something different to everyone", which is why I asked the question. I think Siuya's quote is the best advise I've read on the 18-24 learning curve and paints a clearer picture then the term "profitability"...for me at least.

There is always the option of buying back the put if the stock go against him.

I'm referring to the use of the word in the context of beginning traders and the 18-24 months to profitability standard. :haha: so please, no dictionary definitons. What is meant by profitable: If I start the month trading with $1000 and end the month with $1001 If I start the month trading with $1000 and my living expenses are $500 a month and I end the month with $1500 Mathematically both are profitable but I'm interested in what is generally meant with the 18-24 to profitablility I see all over the forum. Thanks.

Instead of setting a time line for paper trading, you might be better to set a result; such as paper trade until you are seeing a profit before using real money. If your paper trading is not successfull there is no reason to think real money will be.

You didn't mention what you learned and not to be harsh but you're missing/ignoring some of the most important ones - mainly protecting your captial. You know waiting to see is a bad idea so why are you doing that? :crap: Your research/analysis should give you an idea of what is probable for the stock as well as identifying the entry,exit and stoploss; place your stop loss when opening the position; buy channelling stocks if your intention is income from writing covered calls - unless the stock is a long term investment. That's just my opinion and I may be wrong

I can only answer your last question, it may not be the case in this instance but a possiblility: Material he wrote that was never published may have been uncovered and later implemented by the company that owns the rights to his material. Or they think tanked it to improve or continue their product line.

Thanks. I think an example would help me understand. I understand gaps and some of the things that can cause them, but not how to trade them. Because of that, if I see a stock that is gappy I move on. Its actually one of my written trading rules. But only because I don't know how to handle them.