Entry Guideline updated

To expand on my previous post Two Out of Three, I have updated my Entry Guideline with more details.

Entry Guidelines
A. Position

B. Price

C. Time

Conditions for Entry

1. Implied Volatility (IV) is higher than Historical Volatility (HV)

2. When the volatility is spiking up (that is, a down day)

3. Sell put on a down market; Sell call on a up market

A. Position

1. Strike outside Straddle range

2. Strike outside One Standard Deviation

3. Strike outside previous highs and lows

4. Delta 10 or lower (not more than 12)

B. Price

- minimum of 0.20 credit or greater

- minimum 12% return on margin

C. Time

- Days To Expiration (DTE) 6-8 weeks (42-56 days)

- DTE not lesser than 49 (consider if volatility takes a huge jump before day 42)

This is also updated in the Trading Plan.

Two Out of Three

The following are ideas from the book "Profiting with Iron Condor Options", by Michael Benlifa.  I am summarizing the idea and trying to put in into practice in my Trading Plan.  Most of the time you cannot get the perfect trade three out of three considerations below.  You got to choose just two out of three.  Which two?

The three considerations when selling Iron Condors are :

1. Position : Delta 10s, outside previous highs and lows
2. Price: Credit of 20% of margin
3. Time : Expiration is in 4 to 5 weeks

Michael suggest the first two : Position and Price, leaving Time negotiable.