wilmott.com

Anybody? Any ideas? What does he look at? Is there a framework or a set pattern in which he follows?Thanks!

he wakes up.. scratches his head, sells some gamma, goes to bed.. wakes up at 2pm, gets a sandwich, has a smoke. watches the close, hedges some gamma, goes for dinner, then goes and gets pissed out of his mind.. this goes on for about 5 days, then he buys the ATM straddle back for 50% of its value..

ROFL - very funny

i think this should be discussed in "off topic" forum !!

QuoteOriginally posted by: sgelbhe wakes up.. scratches his head, sells some gamma, goes to bed.. wakes up at 2pm, gets a sandwich, has a smoke. watches the close, hedges some gamma, goes for dinner, then goes and gets pissed out of his mind.. this goes on for about 5 days, then he buys the ATM straddle back for 50% of its value..In my experience, the critical emotion experienced by the very best option traders I have known is boredom.Waiting for decay. Waiting for expiration. Waiting some more.Matthew

ahhh boredom.. of course..the best traders (options or fp) put on a huge position (close to max VaR), then basically forget about it.

sgleb:You're giving away all of my 'proprietary techniques!'

Seriously, it depends on what your mandate is. 1) Market - maker:The firm's customers are going to get you into positions; your jobs is to figure out what you want to stay in or trade your way out of.2) Position trader:Your job is to decide how you should be positioned and then execute this plan.3) Hybrid: Many traders are mandated with some mix of 1 and 2.Any way you cut it, you must have a view on not only the absolute levels of vol but the skew and term structure. Secondly, you must understand how to best express that view. That's about it!

QuoteOriginally posted by: sgelbahhh boredom.. of course..the best traders (options or fp) put on a huge position (close to max VaR), then basically forget about it.Yes, that's basically true. But occasionally they remember and laugh a little bit.Matthew

yep.. pretty true.. gotta stick to your guns..

Also there is a lot of just dull admin that will be filling the quieter part of your day

arent dealing with attractive PA's smewhere in the timetable.....

Yes if your systems suck.. you will be spending a lot of time doing silly PnL and position reconciliation.. (yuck).