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HIGHLIGHTS
When
you subscribe to OptionSmart,
you can expect:
• maintaining
historical returns of 10% per
trade with average hold
time of 20 days,
• high
win ratio of 90% or better,
• minimum
market exposition,
• risk
reducing strategies (preferably,
spreads) that profit in bull,
bear and sideways market,
•
weekly
newsletter with detailed pros
and cons for every trade,
•
entry/exit
email alerts,
•
auto-trading
with major brokerages,
•
an
average of 4 to 6 option trades
per month,
•
pre-determined
exit points,
•
portfolio
allocation recommendations,
•
weekly
commentary on open positions,
•
transparency
in our performance reporting
(based on actual trades),
•
little
capital of $5,000, but $10,000
or more is recommended,
•
excellent
customer service |
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Subscription Plans
Accessibility
Problems (Login/Password,
E-mail, etc.)
Payment
Options
Auto-Trading
Settings
Our Picks & Track-Records
Our Alerts
Billing Problems
Key Option Strategies
Our Subscription Plans
Q: Do you offer a trial period?
A: 10-day
free trial comes with our Basic Service
only. However, you may cancel any
service any time and receive a prorated
amount of your subscription payment
back (for recurring payments only).
To the Top
Q: Is there a certain date that I need to
have my account set up with OptionSmart
in order to meet your next trade deadline?
(I already have funded my account at
OptionExpress).
A: You can join us and set
up auto-trading any day. To the Top
Q:
Can I switch to the quarterly
billing?
A: We can’t switch
you because we have no access to your
credit card details. Please subscribe
again and notify us. We will cancel
your current monthly subscription and
issue a refund. To the Top
Accessibility Problems (Login/Password,
E-mail, etc.)
Q: I have lost my
user name and password. How can I get
it?
A:
Please retrieve your user name or password
here.
To the Top
Q: How can I change
my email address in your mailing list?
A: Email your old
and new addresses to billing@optionsmart.com
To the Top
Payment Options
Q: I
have a credit card authorization problem.
What should I do?
A: If
you are experiencing a credit card authorization
problem, or you find it more convenient
and safe to pay by other means than
credit card, please let us know.
Auto-Trading Settings
Q: When did you start
your auto-trading service?
A: We started auto-trading
with optionsXpress.com in March 2002.
To the Top
Q: How
can I auto-trade?
A: If you would like
to add additional Xecute services for
your account you must add them on your
account Xecute settings page. To do
this first log into your account, click
on the Account tab,
and then the Xecute (auto-trade)
link. Select OptionSmart as a Publisher. Select a Service. Please note you must
have an active subscription for each
service to be approved for auto-trading.
To the Top
Q: Please provide me with an opinion as to
the initial dollar amount needed in
my brokerage account for auto-trading
with your service.
A: There is no formal minimum requirements.
You can start with $1,000. To the Top
Q: What portion of my account can be allocated
to each trade?
A: It depends on the service
you choose. You can find the allocation
tips at:
a) for OptionSmarts Newsletter
http://www.optionsmart.com/SSNL.htm
b) for QQQQ Trader Service
http://www.optionsmart.com/qqq.htm
Please remember that option trading
results are very volatile. We recommend
that you put 10-20% of your money aside
as a reserve capital. To the Top
Q: Once I have an account open and funded
at OptionsXpress.com, how long does
it take to start a subscription with
you and have the auto-trading set up?
A: 1-2 days. To the Top
Q: So far, I have not seem any trades go
off in my autotrade account. I'm curious
if possibly I'm not setup correctly
in my autotrade service.
A: We have no access to your
auto-trading settings at OptionsXpress.
Please contact them for more details
on your account settings. To the Top
Q: I noticed several spread rollovers that
have come along. Is there a reason why
a rollover order doesn't activate a
new spread order if I'm not in the market?
A: All rollover signals are
executed for accounts that already have
the open spreads. To the Top
Q: What service can be auto-traded?
A: QQQQ Trader Service, OptionSmarts Newsletter
and SectorTrends Newsletter. To the Top
Q: Being new to the service, I didn't check
the "close out last trade" box (at OptionsXpress)
and now I have to close out the spread
myself.
A: Yes, you have to do so.
To the Top
Q: If I want to trade the QQQQ Spreads, with
OptionsXpress using the Xecute Auto-Trade
service, what would I set the “Trade
amount” to in the settings? I am assuming
the % of cash available.
A: We would recommend to allocate
20% per one spread (we may have up to
four open spreads) and keep the rest
20% as a reserve capital. To the Top
Q: I intend to subscribe to your OptionSmarts
Newsletter and auto-trade with it. What
features would I need to enable in my
optionsxpress account for that?
A: The procedure for customers
wishing to enroll in our auto-trading
is self-directed signup. Instructions
for sign up are available at the following
link: http://www.optionsxpress.com/welcome/faq/open_account.aspx?sessionid=
To the Top
Q: Is it possible for you to auto-trade with
Interactive brokers?
A: You may auto-trade with
OptionsXress.com, Thinkorswim.com, and
Investrade.com and other services listed
at http://www.optionsmart.com/qqqautotrade.htm To the Top
Q: I recently signed up to autotrade the
QQQQ spreads in my optionsXpress account.
Let me make sure I understand how this
all works.
I should expect to see an Alert email
that will give trade recommendations. If I have
signed up for QQQQ spread autotrade,
the spread trade will be sent automatically
to my broker. I could, however, choose
to trade (on my own) the QQQQ option
recommendation as well. Is my assumption
correct?
A: That’s correct. To the Top
Q: Since the QQQQ stock is LOW right now,
if you already issued a BUY order, will
I miss it? In other words, will I have
to wait until you sell, then buy in
again?
A: We send out alerts to ALL
active subscribers. However, you can
join any time and open position manually.
It would be your own decision.
To the Top
Q: May I open a regular account and my wife
an IRA account for the same price?
A: Yes, you may. To the Top
Q: How would number of contracts affect the
QQQQ Spreads Service? If I chose to
commit $40- 50 thousand per trade, would
it be too much?
A: There is no maximum restriction.
You can find our allocation tips at:
http://www.optionsmart.com/qqq.htm
To the Top
Our Picks & Track-Records
Q: How do you select the trades
that are in your Track Records?
A: Our Track Records include
ALL auto-traded picks with actual entry/exit
prices reported by optionsXpress.
To the Top
Q: Typically, how many trades are there per
month?
A: QQQQ Service: 3 or 4 spreads. OptionSmarts Newsletter: 5-6 spreads.
SectorTrends Newsletter: 5-6 for spreads. To the Top
Q: I have an account with OptionsXpress.
With respect to Auto-Trade, is there
a list of past trades for any (or all)
of your strategies? I would like to
see some account of Auto-Trade past
performance.
A: You can find the links to
our Auto-Trade Track Records at http://www.optionsmart.com/SSNL.htm
http://www.optionsmart.com/qqq.htm
and
http://www.optionsmart.com/sectortrends.htm
To the Top
Q:Where can I see the actual QQQQ trade that
is currently on?
A: You can find the list of
them in our QQQQ morning updates or
at
http://www.optionsmart.com/osmembers/qqq/
It is available for subscribers only.
To the Top
Our Alerts
Q: When do
you send your alerts out?
A: We can send them
any time depending on market conditions
but most likely before 9:00 am EST.
To the Top
Q: If my subscription is being auto-traded,
do I also get the notification of the
trade recommendations?
A: Yes. We send our alerts
to all subscribers. To the Top
Q: Do you send recommendations or alerts
to exit these trades as well?
A: Yes. We send exit alerts
as well.
To the Top
Q: What percentage of your picks published
in the OptionSmarts Newsletter are recommended
for auto-trading?
A: 0ne third of them. To the Top
Q: I have recently signed up to autotrade
your QQQQ spread service through optionsXpress.
I was wondering when the next trades
were due out. Is there a regular schedule
or is it simply based on when the opportunity
presents itself?
A: That’s correct. It depends
on market conditions. To the Top
Q: Where can I find your open positions?
A: Our QQQQ subscribers
can find all open positions in our daily
QQQQ Morning Updates or at http://www.optionsmart.com/osmembers/qqq/
Our OptionSmarts subscribers can find
open positions at
http://www.optionsmart.com/osmembers/ssnewsletter/
To the Top
Billing
Q: I tried to subscribe
to your service using PayPal
but failed.
A: You can subscribe
through another payment service. Clickbank.com
is available on the same subscription
page. Let us know which product you
are interested in. We will send you
the payment request via email. You also
may wire your funds in. To the Top
Q: How do I send you the 2nd payment through
Clickbank? Can you set it up with Clickbank
for automatic renewal/debiting of my
Visa Check Card info which you were
sent earlier?
A: Unfortunately, Clickbank.com
doesn’t offer recurring billing. We'll
notify you when your current subscription
expires. To the Top
More About Option Strategies
Q: I can't understand
how the total amount of capital invested
in credit put spreads comes about.
A: The invested capital for
credit put spreads is calculated as
follows:
=higher strike-lower strike-initial
credit. To the Top
Q: You suggested to close the credit put
spread, i.e to buy the short put at
0.10. But actually, can we wait for
it to expire automatically such that
we do not need to buy back anything
(and keep the extra 0.10 credit)?
A: That is possible but we
prefer to free up the capital invested.
We need it to open new positions.
To the Top
Q: How do rollovers work? Can they help to
save my money if a stock turns down?
A: Rollovers help to save money
only if the longer-term trend is still
up. This feature is the great advantage
of credit put spreads. In this case,
short-lived pullbacks can be handled
with the help of rollovers. It means
that you buy back the open position
and instantly open another one with
a more distant expiration date and the
same or similar strikes. You can find
a real example at: http://www.optionsmart.com/rollovers.htm
To the Top
Q: Why have you closed one side of the spread
with a higher strike while the other
remains open for now?
A: We have closed the short
side, i.e. we have bought back the put
option with a higher strike. In other
words, we have taken back our obligation
to buy the underlying stock at the predetermined
price. At the same time, we don’t want
to close another leg, which is the long
put option, i.e. our right to sell the
underlying stock at the predetermined
price. We are free to use this right
or not. Besides, this put with a lower
strike may be far out-the-money and
cost nothing at the moment. In this
case, there is no reason to sell it.
To the Top
Q: What is your strategy for exit? For example,
if the price drops below the breakeven
point would that mean you would generate
an exit signal or is there different
criteria for each trade?
A: That’s right, we take the
break-even into our consideration. However,
it is very important to monitor how
strong the technical signals are. That
is what we are doing.
To the Top
Q: For the QQQQ spreads, there is less activity
than the equity spreads you offer in
your OptionSmarts Newsletter, and there
is a focus on just one stock (QQQQ).
Even though your track record is very
positive, please can you explain exactly
what action you would take if a trade
went substantially against you?
A: We can roll a spread over,
if an intermediate-term trend is still
up. That is why we monitor our open
positions permanently and are always
ready to close a position in order to
minimize losses. We also may put stop
loss orders for a spread.
To the Top
Q: Seems like credit spreads have much smoother
results than buying options.
A:That’s right. Credit
put spreads are less risky because
their break-even points are significantly
lower. To the Top
Q: When you give me a credit put spread why
do you not also provide a stop in case
the trade goes the other way of your
intentions?
A:There are three reasons
why we try avoid placing stops for credit
put spreads.
1. Credit put spreads are very volatile.
We can easily be stopped out without
serious reasons for that.
2. The stop of this kind doesn't mean
a real protection. Here is why.The NASDAQ
market may open much lower your stops
on negative macroeconomic news. You
know that the NASDAQ index is very sensitive
for news of this kind. In this case
your "protective stops" don't
work.
3. We use much better technique to avoid
losses - rollovers. It works very good.
We successfully used this weapon many
times. You can open our track record
for more details. To the Top
Q:
Could you please explain the "average
1 day buy-call return"?
A: One-day return for a "buy call"
option pick is calculated in the following
way:
Profit=sell price -buy price
Return = (profit/buy price)*100%
One-day return = return/(number
of days this option was held)
To the Top
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Our
Track Records are based on actual trades
executed by major brokerages.
More... |
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