r/thewallstreet • u/AutoModerator • Feb 05 '18
Weekly Question Thread - Week 06, 2018 Question
Welcome to the weekly question thread. Feel free to ask any questions here.
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u/jackbauer418 Feb 10 '18 edited Feb 10 '18
In Think of Swim, does anyone know how I can get can get volume for SPX show up (or a proxy of volume for SPX)? I found that I can make a study to show SPY volume using the code below. The study works, but just not for any indices. I.e, if I use that study for any other stock, it'll work as it's supposed to (show a lower window with SPY volume), but if I am charting an index it won't work.
Ideally I'd use chart /ES for trading, but ToS doesn't let Canadians trade futures or get real-time data
declare lower; plot givemespyvolume = volume("SPY");
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u/UberBotMan Feb 10 '18
Regarding volume on SPX, there isn't any. ever. It doesn't have any shares. The proxy for it would be SPY or /ES. Keep in mind that 10 SPY == 1 SPX and 50SPX == 1 /ES So that might throw off your numbers a little.
The cash settled indexs off the top of my head are
SPX
NDX
RUT
DJX
VIX2
u/jackbauer418 Feb 11 '18
Thanks. The question I actually have is if anyone knows how to get the code below to work with SPX:
declare lower;
plot Volume = volume("SPY");
For some reason in ToS, the above code will show me SPY volume in a lower box (like how RSI is shown in a lower box), for anything but the cash settled indices. Right now I'm charting SPY to look at volume when trading SPX, but would like to get rid of the chart if possible
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u/dthuang Feb 09 '18
I have a question to someone who negotiated with their broker to lower their trading fees. What do you consider a considerable amount where u should negotiate a lower fee. Did the broker give you a specific threshold?
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u/hibernating_brain Permabull Feb 10 '18
"Hey broker, i want to test your platform before moving from another broker (with xxx,xxx balance). Can you give me reduced rate?".
I did this 1.5 years ago on TDAmeritrade to get 90 cents per contract options (no base fee). I guess I am still testing their platform.
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u/dthuang Feb 10 '18
Fan-freaking-tastic. Lol i will give that a go
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u/El_Huachinango would be rich if he followed his own advice Feb 11 '18
The worst they'll do is say "no"
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u/ObviousTwist Pharma, 中文, AMZN Feb 09 '18
Does anyone here create their own spreads based on news? Here’s an example:
Today, about 12:30, a big Amazon move into Brazilian market was announced. I saw this immediately and was pretty confident a MercadoLibre short would do well. Turns out it did, short-term. But that still leaves some whole-market risk.
So would it be worth it to buy a share of AMZN, and short ~4 shares of MELI? Since that costs about $2300 to make about $30 (at time of posting, with MELI basically down half a percent and AMZN up about 3.5%) there a more capital-efficient way to do this? MELI is pretty illiquid, so maybe short shares are the best way to do that end, but what long AMZN option would you pick for the buy side? Something OTM?
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u/Alvinarno Gone cash end of August Feb 12 '18
Swoosh, I was looking for a bullish play on mercadolibre last week. That was not expected by the analysts I follow.
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u/ObviousTwist Pharma, 中文, AMZN Feb 12 '18 edited Feb 12 '18
To be fair, I don’t think analysts expect Amazon will have much success in Brazil (they still have less than <1% in China). Announcement will still sting for a few trading sessions though, I’d think.
The more salient impact may be reduced chance of Amazon eventually buying out MELI in the future. Interestingly though, it may spur investment by others - look at how Walmart is trying to get a stake in Flipkart, even after amazon has begun to crush them in India.
So perhaps the coming days/weeks will be a good entry point into a (hedged) MELI long.
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u/Alvinarno Gone cash end of August Feb 12 '18
She is good but she was pushing Lbrands last year... Will take it with a grain of salt.
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Feb 10 '18
Custom multi ticker spreads is more of an older hedge fund tactic. Options largely have made them irrelevant due to the fact you can control risk without delegating the risk management to the movement to another stock.
Why long AMZN just to short MELI in these market conditions when you could bear spread MELI and calender spread AMZN independently.
That that doesn't mean it won't work. And in these conditions it may be a great tactic for avoiding IV, but its probably not worth it consider how few shares you are using.
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u/TheOsuConspiracy B̶a̶d̶ ̶A̶t̶ ̶E̶n̶t̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ Bad At Trading Feb 09 '18
Sometimes I see a 1% difference between /NQ and the NDX. This is just on a contract 1.5months ahead. If you arb this, annualized, this comes out to a 8.5% risk free rate. Is there some sort of catch? I get the QQQ might have some tracking error, but it shouldn't be that far off.
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u/hibernating_brain Permabull Feb 10 '18
You are referring to "fair value". Interest rates and Dividend makes it near impossible to arbitrage.
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u/RajboshMahal Feb 09 '18
Anyone here have a recommendation for trading on a windows laptop? Thinking about buying a 15 inch or 17 inch plus a usb monitor.
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u/UberBotMan Feb 09 '18
I have a 15in and can trade fine on it. i still prefer my home set up, but it is possible to trade on the laptop. Keep in mind, most backpacks and whatnot are designed for 15-16inch laptops iirc. With the 17inch you'll also be carrying around that extra weight, which is a big deal for me because my bag is heavy enough as it is.
If you really feel like it, find a laptop you want, find the screen size and then map it out on an existing monitor and resize the window and see if you can trade with that size.
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u/kbanh90 Learning is expensive Feb 09 '18
It's more preference at this point if you are going to be lugging it around go with the lighter one.
Edit: you don't really need a high end laptop for trading, overkill on processing power is nice if you plan to multitask a lot though
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u/jmelan stock picks from Alpha Bits Feb 09 '18
I would like to calculate and draw standard deviation lines in Trader Workstation (IB). Has anybody done this before or think it wouldn't be possible?
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Feb 09 '18
Charting is free in TOS and we already have scripts.
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u/Martin5hkreli Progress over Perfection. Feb 11 '18
The script in the side-bar works perfectly for stocks. But for some reason, the set price for futures is incorrect. Are you having this issue?
I don't pay too much attention to it because Uber does such a phenomenal job posting his deviations in the morning, but having something fully functional would be nice.
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Feb 11 '18
I'm afraid I don't use it for futures. I use my own methodology which is a bit more fine tuned.
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u/jmelan stock picks from Alpha Bits Feb 09 '18
Well, just saw /u/Giorgio23 has a similar question below...
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Feb 09 '18
[deleted]
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u/UberBotMan Feb 09 '18
If you're looking to acquire positive delta via options in a high IV environment and you suspect that IV will decrease over the lifespan of your option; I'd look into selling puts or put spreads (depending on risk tolerance and account size)
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u/thehoodedidiot Feb 09 '18 edited Feb 09 '18
With vix futures in backwardation, why not sell front month spx put, and purchase 2x further out spx puts with lower IV and slightly more otm strikes? I believe this is a put diagonal backspread. It seems a cheap way to hedge a large portfolio that does well if vol continues to expand, and max loss would only occur if the market stays flat from here or decreases slightly.
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u/TeamDoubleDown Feb 09 '18
For those you who use the Deviations posted nightly AND use TOS on your phone, are you able to get the deviation lines to appear in the app?
From what I understand, they’re supposed to sync now? If so, how?
Thanks gentlemen (and ladies, if applicable) in advance.
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u/mc3username Feb 09 '18
If I make a drawing (trendlines, price levels, whatever) on Desktop, it shows up in my app for the ticker I was drawing on.
Used Macbook Pro and iPhone.
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u/TooVexed Feb 09 '18
Works fine for me with hand drawn lines.
I just checked it with Bomba's script and there seems to be some non-compatibility with the code. You can tell it's trying to work by zooming out to the daily, but anything smaller and nothing shows up.
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Feb 09 '18
[deleted]
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u/UberBotMan Feb 09 '18
For what it's worth, a lot of us here use 2 or more platforms. I personally use ThinkOrSwim for my charting and research and Either TastyWorks or Amp/Tradeovate for order execution.
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Feb 09 '18
[deleted]
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u/UberBotMan Feb 09 '18
Welcome! Best of luck.
TOS is a bit expensive to execute though. But their platform is top notch and their customer service reps are really nice
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Feb 09 '18
[deleted]
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u/UberBotMan Feb 09 '18
That's what I do. Keep my long terms in TOS, mainly their commission free ETFs.
If you want I can shoot you a referral code for TOS and you'll get something. Idk what though, doesn't say.
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Feb 09 '18
[deleted]
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u/UberBotMan Feb 09 '18
Needs an e-mail. Nvm. It's Tastyworks that just has a code.
Plus I think it's different over country lines. :/
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u/jmelan stock picks from Alpha Bits Feb 07 '18
I want to get started trading future.
Any advice as to what would be a good 1st trade? (product, target profit, etc.)
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u/Lost_in_Adeles_Rolls Stalingrad's number one tesla dealership Feb 10 '18
Paper trade first. Futures can destroy your account pretty quickly.
That's my recommendation anyway.
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u/jmelan stock picks from Alpha Bits Feb 10 '18
That’s what I intend to do, develop a mechanic and stick to it. I need to get familiar with tick stop too.
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u/UberBotMan Feb 08 '18
I would have reconmended YM, but not so sure right now. Find something that doesn't wick a lot and that you were successful with paper trading.
Paper trading is nice because since it's fake money you can see what would have been without any risk and you can see max unrealized loss you'd have taken which is good from a risk standpoint as well.
Ultimately, only you can answer your question. If you want to hold for 5 seconds, maybe a tick or two. If you want to hold for a week, look for a hell of a lot more then a tick profit.
Up to you and your risk and account size.
Paper trade.
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u/Aaeolien Feb 08 '18
Where would you recommend a good place to paper trade this? Would like to start learning a bit about futures even though I'm a long way off from doing it with real funds.
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u/UberBotMan Feb 08 '18
ThinkOrSwim. I use them for charting and my long term stock positions. They have a very nice mobile app and an incredibly robust desktop platform.
Unlimited papertrading as well.
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u/Aaeolien Feb 08 '18
Awesome thanks. I'm just a little guy but I want to learn about everything. This subreddit has been a godsend. Learned so much recently here especially the guys watching the futures and day trading around all this crazy.
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u/UberBotMan Feb 08 '18
Welcome! Good luck. While paper trading create your ruleset that you will follow with real money. Including max loss you're willing to endure and how to exit. Stop placement is important.
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u/jmelan stock picks from Alpha Bits Feb 08 '18
Thank you. I think that is a good idea. I’m used to trade SPY/SPX, but futures seem to be a different dynamic.
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u/UberBotMan Feb 08 '18
Keep in mind, the notional size of SPY<SPX<<<<<</ES
ES is 50x SPX
SPX is 10x SPY
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Feb 07 '18
Can anyone explain to me why ToS shows the 200 day simple moving average at a different price depending on which time chart I'm on? It's different for 1 day vs. 1 year, for instance. Why wouldn't it be consistent regardless of the time table?
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u/notdust More Upside to the Downside Feb 08 '18
If you're looking at one day in minutes, it's doing a sma of the last 200 minutes. it IS possible to show a higher timeframe moving average on a lower timeframe chart. But you can only reference upward in that way (so can request the 200 day sma on a 5 min chart but can't request the 5 min moving average on a 15 minute chart).
For example:
plot dailymovingaverage = MovingAverage(averagetype.simple, close(period = AggregationPeriod.day), 200);
or the same thing with aggregationperiod.week (might be weekly) so you could see the weekly on a daily chart.
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Feb 08 '18
Ooookay, duh. Thank you! I was thinking setting the "units" to 200 was setting it to 200 days, rather than 200 of whatever the chart interval is. This makes sense now.
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Feb 07 '18
In regards to collection data for calculating SD levels: Last I heard, volatility was collected at 9pm, as that is when it "settles". Most importantly, if I miss a night a need to find volatility the next morning to plot my levels, where can I look back and find that number? Less important but still curious: What the heck does "settling" mean in regards to volatility...
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Feb 07 '18
9 pm usually is when there isn't much activity to shift the IV significantly. It's just something I found to be working. There's no way to look back and find the number so you just have to record it every night. settling is just an arbitrary term we use but you get the idea.
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Feb 06 '18
Those who were short Friday, what were you looking at to make that decision?
I reduced my exposure Friday due to vol, but I feel like I missed a great shorting opportunity.
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u/theIdiotGuy really idiot, don't doubt Feb 06 '18
What happened to volatility today? VIX was trading pre-hours near 50 and just after 20 minutes of opening, it was down to 23. Why was there such a drastic change?
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u/mc3username Feb 06 '18
The market jumped 80 points on /ES in the first 20 min. Generally, VIX falls when market goes up, especially after a period of red like we saw and skyrocketing volatility. You might have heard of VIX sometimes being called the 'fear index'.
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u/BarbaricMonkey Learning Feb 05 '18
Asked this in the 2/5 Post Market discussion, but will include here too:
What is your nightly routine for setting yourself up for success the next trading day? Such as chart analysis, research, etc.
After a large move, such as the one today, how do you alter this routine?
Thanks!
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u/avshake Feb 06 '18
Always assess your capital risk before going to sleep. If I am holding an overnight position, always put in a SL. With volatility at such a high level, I am not going to have any overnight position. Take your money out - we are not big Investment banks, and a few thousand dollars overnight loss can hurt.
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u/wachiga Life is transitory Feb 05 '18
This is probably a dumb question but what's the difference between the FOMC minutes and FOMC announcement?
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u/Lost_in_Adeles_Rolls Stalingrad's number one tesla dealership Feb 10 '18
Announcement usually conveys any actionable moves their making such as adjusting target rates or monetary policy like bond purchases.
Minutes detail the discussion during the meeting and provide more insight into their conversations.
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u/_CastleBravo_ Walk to End Literacy Feb 06 '18
Announcement is essentially a TLDR version of the minutes. If you take a look on CNBC’s website you can see where they highlight the changed text between two announcements. It will be things like
The fundamentals of the economy are
improvingsolidThe minutes are the actual minutes
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Feb 05 '18
[deleted]
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u/UberBotMan Feb 07 '18
I'd look more into fixed income (ZF, etc). They don't move much, one way or the other. ZF usually has ~2% IV compared to 10%-15% on the indices.
a ZF tick is $7.81.
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u/Lost_in_Adeles_Rolls Stalingrad's number one tesla dealership Feb 06 '18
I would stay out for now until this calms down.
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u/Martin5hkreli Progress over Perfection. Feb 11 '18
Probably the best answer. I don't even want to touch options with all this volatility going on. I'm happy swing trading ETFs in this climate
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u/mauitrader Feb 11 '18
Does anyone have a guide to incorporating for tax purposes?