New Options Trader on C2

Hello to all. I am new to C2 and am a pattern day trader of options using an interactive brokers linked account. I think the stats provided by C2 are valuable enough on their own to justify the monthly fees charged by C2 (kudos to them). So, I’m happy as a clam so far, even if I was never to get any subscribers. Happily though some people have already decided to entrust me as subscribers to my strategy after just half a month. I just wanted to introduce myself and ask everyone/anyone what are the most important metrics you look at when trying to decide whether or not to subscribe to a trading strategy? Thanks in advance!

—GlennConti

Greetings… To be honest with you, I’m a little dubious about Option Traders on C2.
Since I’m not an options expert, I never subsribed to one of those strategies.
Especially because in last few years almost all of the option strategies failed,
many of them with a big bang.
The only exception would be the strategy “Sage Volatility Margin

But I see that you already have a TOS badge. That’s a good start! So good luck!

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Thanks newt!

I agree with you 100% options aren’t for everyone. They do have some excellent characteristics though. I trade just single leg long calls and puts which are simpler to understand than multi leg options. Single leg options also limit the loss to the premium paid (no unlimited losses). When deployed for a very short time period, with profit or loss targets, 10% or 15% gains (or losses) for a single trade, can occur quickly so that less total capital is needed and the trading day can be shorter and not fatiguing. And, of course profits (or losses) can be created in down markets using puts.

However, there are minuses too. Options entail risk and I believe you that there are only small numbers of traders on C2 that manage it properly. It is my understanding that no matter how well I perform, as an options trader on C2, I can never obtain a C2Star certification.

I wonder if it’s the higher slippage (larger spread) of options that may result in trade leaders maybe winning, but subscribers having slightly worse results per trade (which adds up).

Hi QuantTiger.

Interesting point. I’m even more under the gun as far as spreads because speed of execution is paramount to me therefore I use market orders exclusively. Things change way too quickly for me to wait on limits. If the person selling me the option makes an extra amount, so be it (as long as I’m making profits too). I don’t begrudge spreading it around. We shall see how this strategy plays out compared to others over time.

As far as subscribers not doing as well as traders due to the spreads, my experience so far has been the subscriber do slightly better than my trades sometimes and slightly worse others. It’s all going to average out. I issue a market order then C2 issues a market order almost immediately thereafter. Subscriber fills can be better than mine has been my experience.

Hi all. Thought I’d bump this because no one really gave an opinion on their most important metrics. For me I look at maximum drawdown first and annual return second. Big maximum drawdowns scare the hell out of me. So I guess fear first then greed second. Thoughts?

I read somewhere that it’s not really an investment if you aren’t going to have a good chance to preserve capital and even better to have a good return. Preserve capital first. If you can’t do that then is it an investment or is it just a gamble?

Happy Labor Day weekend!

I totally agree. BIG drawdowns scare the hell out of me, too.
Especially when traders SELL options on C2, because of the unlimited risk.
For most inverstors on C2 that’s a BIG reason NOT to subscribe…
… because in the past they lost lots of money with option traders.

And in your strategy description you wrote that you buy and sell options.

“The strategy is to buy and sell options contracts following the momentum trend on high beta underlying stocks”

Yes I don’t know if I was clear enough. I buy long either a call or put first and then close the position relatively shortly after that by selling the position. No unlimited risks for me. My money came to me in hard fought ways so I definitely respect it and won’t risk it capriciously.

Thanks for the input. I just edited the strategy description to make it clearer.

Thanks for the clarification. :+1:
No, it was not clear enough; at least not for me. :slight_smile:

So, what kind of drawdown could/should we probably expect with your option strategy?
I mean, what was your maximum drawdown in the past?

I usually set a profit (or loss) target of about 10% on a position. If I have 4 contracts open at 7.00 that is $2800 times .1 or $280 profit or loss about per day. I doubt I would have as many a 4 down days in a row. That would be a down draft of $1120. $1120 divided by $25,000 equals about 4.5%. I did have 3.2% down draft in one day very very early on in the history of the strategy. That was because I was “off roading” (not keeping to plan). The fact that everyone was able to scrutinize every move worked against me emotionally. Now, with a bit of history in the C2 platform, the scrutiny works well for me and I love it. Disclaimer: The above numbers are in no way a guarantee on my part. No one should mirror my trades with any money they aren’t willing to lose completely. Yes, I trade my own money in this strategy so if you lose, I lose. And, yes, I very much want to win! Everyone needs to put on their big boy pants. C2 allows you to simulate strategies. Look at the strategy’s stats. Also, I am like a football quarterback that has a plan for every given play. How well will the play work? It varies therefore results will vary. I take what the defense gives me. I don’t push. I take what the market gives me.

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Congrats on your success so far. Nice to see a TOS guy with options!

And I’m the same, fear first, then greed. :+1:

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I would want to see a detailed description that gives an explanation as to why a system is better than doing something else, why the leader thinks they can beat the market, etc. I just think with the short history most leaders have I want to first believe there could be an actual edge based on the description. After that I focus primarily on seeing if the trade style is within my risk tolerance and aligns with the description well.

A high beta momentum options trading strategy could be better than a buy and hold S&P index investment strategy for the following reasons:

  • It can profit in both up and down markets.Options give you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specified price on or before a specified date. This means that you can profit from a rising market by buying call options, and you can profit from a falling market by buying put options.
  • It can magnify your gains. Options are leveraged products, which means that you can control a large amount of an underlying asset with a relatively small investment. This can lead to magnified gains if the market moves in your favor.
  • It can be more capital efficient. You can control a large amount of an underlying asset with a relatively small investment, which can make options a more capital efficient way to trade.
  • It can have a low correlation to major stock market indexes. Therefore, investing a measured percentage of your portfolio in it can actually lower overall risk through diversification.

Descriptions are nice, but as you’ll find, performance is what drives subscribers.

Seen so many cats come on here touting their backtests, all the data they have on their system, why it isn’t working, etc.

When at the end of the day a good risk/reward track record talks 100x louder!

I certainly agree that performance is what drives subscribers. I just am always skeptical that good performance even if it occurs over the course of three years is more than chance of right strategy at the right time with much worse long-term performance being likely. So I like to see a description that gives me reason to believe that isn’t going to be the case and it is worth a gamble.

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It looks like there was a 6.1% one-day drawdown today (9/12) and a 37% loss on the most recent position. Anything unusual happen today?

Yes. Early on I was in a paper profit on TSLA options. As yesterday was a 10% up day for TSLA stock, I got greedy and thought I could let the position run deeper into a profit even though my conservative indicator said sell. I believed I had a 40% chance that it would move higher. It moved against me and lost my paper profit. When I hit my loss target instead I continued to let it ride lower because I couldn’t stomach taking the loss after a profit that evaporated was in hand. I am going to be more conservative as I am stinging from the day. Compound mistakes today. I am in the process of doubling my personal investment into this strategy through the use of an investor account username GlennConti3. I am committed to it. Simulation should be the order of the day for more conservative investors.

Ok. So C2 is a wonderful platform. I will use it to maximize benefits to myself and my subscribers. How so? I am now using another username (GlennConti3) and brokerage account to live AutoTrade. The new username has subscribed to Beta Momentum V1. Now I no longer shall reach for outsized profits or risks in the main driver account (GlennConti). This will translate in to less options contracts exercised in the driver account and less risk. The mantra shall be “small ball”. Daily singles and doubles while at bat. Just get on base with a profit. Also “Best loser wins”. It’s okay to take small losses. Larger losses are not acceptable at all. And as I will no longer be “swinging for the fences” in the main driver account, larger losses should be mitigated. As this plays out in the day to day, the investor account (GlennConti3) can scale at greater than 100%.

Well I spoke with my tax accountant yesterday. My new GlennConti3 username account at C2 is AutoTraded with a IBKR traditional IRA account. His advice to me was to bank any profits between now and December. As the account trades about $26,000, the plan is to get it up to about 40% higher by then. No guarantees of course. Then convert the underlying IBKR account to a Roth IRA in 2023. The extra 40% made will be used to pay the income taxes in April 2024. By converting to a Roth in December 2023, I will get full credit for the year 2023. There is a 5 year period where the account owner of a new Roth IRA must wait before earnings become tax free. So, starting in January 2028 any profits in the GlennConti3 C2 account will be TAX FREE. Also earnings in 2024 through 2027 can be withdrawn without penalty because I am older than 59-1/2. Planning ahead. Going to do the same thing with a IBKR account for my spouse. Remember the strategy Beta Momentum V1 only trades long puts and calls so she only needs to qualify for Level 2 options trading permissions and over $25,000 minimum daily balance to qualify as a pattern day trader. So here’s to 2028; the year where (if there are profits), the tax free money will be rolling in. If only I had opened Roth accounts 5 years ago… haha. But, being an American, having the wonderful Collective2 platform and a PDT eligible account at IBKR is a potential touchdown. I thought I would share what I’m up to and my plans for the future (no guarantees that this will bear fruit). Have a great weekend!!!

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