An understanding of volatility is crucial in the success of trading options regardless of account size. We will look at strategies that incorporate volatility in a tastybites size account.
The ETFs VXX and UVXY are two common volatility products. They have liquid options and are ideal for short term volatility plays in the market (both will experience a natural drag and are not meant to be held for long periods of time).
VXX is an ETF that replicates the return (on a daily basis) of a portfolio made up of the two front-month VIX futures contracts. UVXY is very similar to VXX. It tries to replicate 2x the move that VXX does. UVXY also has a large drag. Part of the reason for the drag on VXX and UVXY is because of contango. Due to the illiquidity in UVXY, we would prefer to trade VXX with twice as many contracts if we wanted the amplified return UVXY offers.
Selling a naked put requires a large amount of capital in the VXX and the UVXY and other leveraged products. By defining our risk we can lower the reduction of our buying power and increase our return on capital (ROC).
Instead of selling a naked put we can sell a type of put spread that will accomplish our goal. An example was given of selling a naked put and selling a put spread in VXX and UVXY. The strike, expiration, credit received, buying power reduction and return on capital (ROC) are listed.
Watch this segment of tasty BITES with Tom Sosnoff and Tony Battista to learn how we can maximize our buying power while selling premium. This is especially important for small tastybites size accounts.
This video and its content are provided solely by tastylive, Inc. (“tastylive”) and are for informational and educational purposes only. tastylive was previously known as tastytrade, Inc. (“tastytrade”). This video and its content were created prior to the legal name change of tastylive. As a result, this video may reference tastytrade, its prior legal name.