I have a discussion topic that I have wanted to post for a while?

What instrument is your white whale?

Here I am using the Moby Dick (white whale) metaphor as being the thing that extremely difficult to attain, defeat, or acquire.

Which instrument have you always wanted to trade, but have been unable to trade successfully? I have a number of them, but here is one of my white whales:

Sugar #11
It gaps like crazy, has a lot of commercial involvement, and can be difficult to apply a system with any sort of consistency. I have gotten close to the whale, but have never slayed the beast. (yeah, I get the irony that refined sugar is white, though #11 is raw).

What are your white whales and why?


~vmodus

vmodus 

I have a discussion topic that I have wanted to post for a while? What instrument is your white whale? Here I am using the Moby Dick (white whale) metaphor as being the thing that extremely difficult to attain, defeat, or acquire. Which instrument have you always wanted to trade, but have been unable to trade successfully? I have a number of them, but here is one of my white whales: Sugar #11 It gaps like crazy, has a lot of commercial involvement, and can be difficult to apply a system with any sort of consistency. I have gotten close to the whale, but have never slayed the beast. (yeah, I get the irony that refined sugar is white, though #11 is raw). What are your white whales and why? ~vmodus

GC/NQ

for me those two are something that I always struggle with, some weeks/months I trade them very well and then the next i get slaughtered. Haven't been trading the NQ much but its one of those things when it works it works sooo well

-P

I'm not sure if it counts as white whale, but there is one stock called Reliance in my country which whenever I trade takes turn against me.

Its not anything out of ordinary in terms of movement from others, some people trade on my view and make money, but its just my money grabber. It was also the stock that took 1/3rd of my account on my very first badly hedged option trade in first quarter of 2017.

It was easier to get over my first breakup than this.

QQQ weekly call options without a doubt.

MiniP 

GC/NQ for me those two are something that I always struggle with, some weeks/months I trade them very well and then the next i get slaughtered. Haven't been trading the NQ much but its one of those things when it works it works sooo well -P

I totally agree with you on NQ. I consider it to be breathtaking in every sense of the word. Sometimes, it just knocks the wind out of you.

~vmodus

LastDino 

I'm not sure if it counts as white whale, but there is one stock called Reliance in my country which whenever I trade takes turn against me. Its not anything out of ordinary in terms of movement from others, some people trade on my view and make money, but its just my money grabber. It was also the stock that took 1/3rd of my account on my very first badly hedged option trade in first quarter of 2017. It was easier to get over my first breakup than this.

Ouch, yeah, that sounds like a white whale to me. In the novel Moby Dick, the white whale takes Captain Ahab's leg. You can make your own inference from there.

~vmodus

suko 

QQQ weekly call options without a doubt.

Yeah, I have had no success with figuring out QQQ, let alone trading it. I just walk away from that.

I love your quote from Jocko. My favorite quote of his (by way of Aristotle) is "Discipline equals freedom".

~ vmodus

I always post this factoid.

According to my favorite option scanner, CML, the machine-learned result for a strong bull
market is that the near the money QQQ weekly calls yield up to 4000% per year.
This is over twice the amount to be made from VXX puts and UVXY puts with similar
parameters. I guess this means long gamma trumps short vol.

If the market is choppy, QQQ calls will destroy your account.



This is my favorite options graphic, long gamma in weekly options

suko 

I always post this factoid. According to my favorite option scanner, CML, the machine-learned result for a strong bull market is that the near the money QQQ weekly calls yield up to 4000% per year. This is over twice the amount to be made from VXX puts and UVXY puts with similar parameters. I guess this means long gamma trumps short vol. If the market is choppy, QQQ calls will destroy your account. This is my favorite options graphic, long gamma in weekly options

Very nice graphic, thanks for sharing! Long ago, when I started my commodities and futures journey, I studied options. It did not really appeal to me, so I just stuck with futures. Maybe one day I will dip my toe in that pond.

~vmodus