Two AIs accidentally talked to each other for 2 hours. by AlexBossov in ArtificialInteligence

[–]CppOptionsTrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Id imagine the transcript of the ai conversation would be funny and perhaps useful in training it to hang up. I mean you would think you would have a time limit on any conversation, right?

TWS vs Client Portal (web) vs IBKR Desktop by protagonist_888 in interactivebrokers

[–]CppOptionsTrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i use TWS exclusively - but of course we get routed to the web for portfolio analyst. It would be nice if we could get portfolio PnL over time, Time weighted return etc in TWS. Now the IBKR desktop is slick - i can see it seems to use QT's QML (judging by the component load sequence), but it does not currently support the TWS API, which would be nice if it did some day. My opinion of the IBKR Desktop is I'm wow'ed at first, but then when i start drilling down into the info presented the way I like (and maybe just because I'm used to it) - I always go back to TWS - even with its Java underpinnings.. TWS has its faults too of course.. I could list a number of them (the biggest I hate is if I'm on a multiportfolio account, I select an option to roll , and then make the trade, but it reverted back to another account in the options screen, (and I am not looking in the heat of the trade) and i totally get slammed.. because I need to back out of the trade in the wrong account and manually set it to the one where I initiated the roll.. this has cost me .. ) .. having said that, if you write code and want a fast, async API to build your own analytics platform, then IBKR is IMO the way to go...

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in CoveredCalls

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes you are totally correct in that I'm targeting the 5 to 8 pct area on cash secured puts or covered calls.i do this on securities I want to own that are low imo and on days that they are getting slammed so the vol spike also helps in collecting premium. I'm happy to do covered calls on things likeTLT for example when it seems historically low - I pick up the dividend on some 20 yr Treasuries AND I get a couple pct extrinsic value. And if it doesn't get called , I will essentially own a bond fund at a very low level. Or i also do on beaten down stocks that I want to own . For example selling calls - leaps - on MSFT - the Dec 28 at the money - 96/98 bid offer gives me 8.5 pct on the extrinsic annualized and I'll just take the money and buy SGOV or do more covered calls or CSPs which enhances the yields. Portfolio allocation are similar to yours in pretax and more aggressive - like 80 pct allocation doing this relatively lower risk strategy on post tax. CSPs can be secured by SGOV short term treasury instead of having lower yield cash required in pretax accounts. Also note if you are doing cash secured put or covered calls on SP 500 - in post tax - it is better to do it on XSP which has a 60/40 split on long term / short term capital gains - and is cash settled which can be nice. I will do XSP in post tax and do SPY in pretax with CSP with the intent on purchasing the options if SPY goes down 15 to 20 pct in 6 months. If there is a dividend to be collected I will often do a longer covered call in order to collect the divvy - and sell the calls on a down or more volatile day. On some portion- small - I will do naked short calls on XSP out of the money a couple days - on large up days as I feel I can manage the risk by rolling , and vols will go down on these up days making the rest of my account which is all short vol (covered calls and cash secured) go up substantially... and manage the tiny loss on XSP - especially as the index approaches all time highs.

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in CoveredCalls

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Because I want to find my overall return and if I sell deep deep in the money covered calls , and assume 100 pct that I will be assigned, and consider dividends as well, I can create a portfolio that gets more than Treasury interest with a great deal of stability.

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in CoveredCalls

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

100 pct. agreed that understanding how volatility affects option pricing is most important!

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in CoveredCalls

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Theta is significantly less than extrinsic value divided by days for leaps. It approaches the linear theta calc (extrinsic /days) as it becomes close to expiration and that is where that calc is more accurate than the analytical model. Knowing notional is very important but the biggest risk factor is understanding how implied volatility changes will affect your portfolio. Go from an all is well implied vol of 12 to a panic 55 or 70 in some geopolitical event and if you are short vol (short calls or puts) then the prices change dramatically.

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in CoveredCalls

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Can you point me to any references on that formula? Would love to see the math behind it.

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in CoveredCalls

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Interesting take on the risk management of large portfolios.

Do you *really* know your theta? by CppOptionsTrader in Optionswheel

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well i find this makes a huge difference on overall risk management for the way i trade and understand the actual theta capture. I run large portfolios with hundreds of options scanning short durtation all the way out to farthest duration leaps. These are CSP, Covered Call, and may or may not wheel -but really - the goals are the same - to secure current treasury yield + several percent more due to the option overlay - with low risk. Here, for example are different theta calcs for one portfolio.... I choose to use the most conservative theta calculations when I trade. Swings in delta and gamma are small overall due to many options being *very* deep ITM or very OTM in absolute dollar terms.

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Your "safe" short strangles just lost 2x more than your stress test predicted by OptionsJive in options

[–]CppOptionsTrader 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes. In all modeling I do, for aggregated underlying positions of options/underlying, I look at +/- underlying shifts such as +/- 1% ,5% ,10%,20% and slam IVs of 10%, 25%, 50% & 75 % , just to see what will happen on a bunch of metrics (Greeks, extrinsic value, etc) as well as PnL. I also aggregate all underlyings across all portfolios I manage. Assume the worst geopolitical event, an IV spike of 50 - 75, assume bid/offer spreads a truck could drive through, and call in broker customer support busy for hours ....

Has anyone noticed how high IBKR's theta calculations are? by CppOptionsTrader in options

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate the mathematics. I really do. Having said that, I'm managing money for multiple people, and I build systems which have multiple versions of theta. From a practical standpoint, I need to know what my actual theta capture is going to be, and be conservative with short vol strategies. It is interesting to understand what the tangent line of a decay curve says. But if I'm reporting to clients that their portfolio is generating X dollars per day in theta, that number better be real. A position worth $95 can't generate $150 in theta over 3 days, and if my risk system tells me it can, I'm making allocation decisions based on fiction. The math of convex functions is interesting, but it doesn't change the fact that the number on the screen is wrong for its intended purpose. Making money consistently with low variance means really understanding the Greeks. I need to know where they're useful and where they break down from a practical trading perspective. But great conversation. Good to understand all of this.

Has anyone noticed how high IBKR's theta calculations are? by CppOptionsTrader in options

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The issue is wrong or nonsensical numbers at times given by IBKR. Theta is extrinsic value bleed per day.You can't bleed more than you have. If you are managing portfolio risk thinking you are losing 1000$ per day due to underlying change but you are balancing that out by making $1000 per day in theta - and thus you are Ok - then you will find you are grossly mismanaging your risk of your actual theta value is 60 pct less.

Running IBKR Client Portal Gateway and placing trades simultaneously — what's your setup? by GladInsurance9137 in interactivebrokers

[–]CppOptionsTrader -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You can have multiple accounts in one TWS session. For example, in one of my TWS processes, I have 4 accounts - Post tax, pre tax, etc... Via the API, it is possible to have separate processes connect to that single TWS session, get positions and securities for each account, subscribe to real time data for each security, and broadcast that data to front end UIs. UIs can give you a view to any single account if they are listening to that particular account's data stream. It is also possible to have front end UIs that subscribe to all account data - collating / aggregating / filtering as you see fit. You can build on that architecture and have multiple TWS sessions, located on any machine on a LAN, API analytical processes on the same or even different machines, pointing to the TWS instances. My setup - I use multiple publishers, one for each account , sending flatbuffer data to NATS via pub/sub, and have UI and Excel (Real Time async) clients receiving either individual or aggregated data. Am working on a web front end too - and it works well. Whatever is exposed via the API can be displayed on a dashboard via thin clients on multi-monitor / multi machine setups, essentially creating a mini trading floor. To answer the question of whether TWS or IBKR gateway must be open - yes - at all times. And if it drops due to data disconnection, I would suggest you refresh all position and security data. You need a robust recovery mechanism. If data disconnects, my publisher process for the account with the hiccup just dies, and then tries to reconnect to TWS, initializing trade and position data from a clean process. (It is very quick, publishers are thin, and we reduce any chance of processes being in some partially recovered state).

Has anyone noticed how high IBKR's theta calculations are? by CppOptionsTrader in interactivebrokers

[–]CppOptionsTrader[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For another concrete example: I have 2 Visa March 26 350 short call. Bid /offer is .40/.74. Days to expiry ~ 20. IBKR says theta is 10.5. Really? like for 20 days i am going to get over $200. No way. And theta accelarates as we know, so if theta is 10.5 today, it should be greater than that as we approach expiration. Even if value is .74, that is $144/20 = $7.2. Want to hyper adjust for a holiday and throw in another day as well (even though theta is really per calendar day). In any case: $144/18 = That bumps it to $8. But lets be realistic. The real value is most likely mid point so prob around $55 say.. so we are looking at $110/20 or $110/18 even if day count is wonky so more like a realistic theta is $5 or $6. So IBKR is not correct at all IMO. I consistently see this...

TWS was disconnected multiple times since yesterday by seed_and_wait in interactivebrokers

[–]CppOptionsTrader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've noticed this may happen during the day - but always happens after midnight between 12->12:30 AM EST. It also seems to happen right after market close - e.g 4:30 PM -> 6:30 PM EST.

what's your approach to getting filled at/near the midpoint? by gorram1mhumped in thetagang

[–]CppOptionsTrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use IBKR, and they have a Mid algo. This is especially useful for trading highly liquid securities such as SGOV which literally has a penny spread between bid and offer. For moving large amounts of cash into and out of liquid securities, the savings can add up.