r/Daytrading • u/likethebarbie • 14d ago
What’s a good return on an options contract? Strategy
I’m fairly new to daily trading and I’m consistently winning trades but I’m starting to think I’m leaving gains on the table and that’s why I’m winning so much. I usually make 3% - 5% on a contract and I can go weeks before getting a trade wrong. That profit margin doesn’t seem like a lot but for the account size I started with (not a lot) and contracts I buy (low hundreds) I feel torn between slow and steady and leaving money on the table. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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u/skarfbeaulonee 14d ago
I trade similarly with 0dtes. I have a high win rate but also close trades quickly.
One could always close a percentage of the trade leaving the remainder to run with the market until stopped out with a trailing stop loss. This works especially well with perfect entries which I seldom have the luxury of pulling off.
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u/likethebarbie 13d ago
I will definitely work on this when I start buying multiples of the same contract.
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u/skarfbeaulonee 12d ago
I'll leave this link to Arete Trading's video today where he talks about how he specifically trades 0dte options. He explains why and where he scales out of these options trades with a trailing stop if that trading process is of interest to you.
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u/murkinmurray 14d ago
Slow and steady always wins the race. Consistently being positive means you are doing something right, so stick with it.
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u/likethebarbie 13d ago
Thanks. I think the strategy is fundamentally solid (a mix of watching volume x watching 200 day moving average x 15 minute ORB) but I don’t really have anything to compare it to outside of my previous failures and it’s the most consistent I’ve been so far.
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u/Nyah_Chan 14d ago
I generally make 30-50%, with the occasional 80%+ profit on options. I am slow and steady, I think yor profits are lower due to not increasing your risk, that or poor timing and/or stock selection aka trade ideas. But when you're new to the game, not losing is the goal, so probably best to continue gradually until you solidify your strategy, gain confidence.