Dancing Lemur
Hoopy Frood
Are you guys really arguing over the definition of bullish and bearish?
As @bxr140 said above, it's a spectrum. Why not talk about how to quantify it instead? Sorry if this is too basic to be discussed for a lot of you experienced options traders, but it's some advice I wish someone had given me before I got slaughtered back in the day.
Going back upthread to a key point in this good post:
That addresses monitoring the theta of your positions (the rate of option price movement based on time). Additionally, tracking the delta of your positions (the rate of option price movement based on the price of the underlying stock) gives you a basic understanding of how price and time currently affect your holdings.
The proffered advice is just that: If you trade options, monitor the delta and theta of your positions, both individually and across all holdings for the underlying.
If nothing else, it'll give you something besides the ticker to stare at. You can add it to your "positions" tracker in most any brokerage's software. There are other Greeks that you can monitor too (the derivative's second derivatives, as it were), but I use delta and theta to inform every trade, and watch them obsessively.
I currently have 10 TSLA positions; stock, 8 sets of long calls at different exp/strikes, and short calls covering some of those expiring this week. The positive theta of the short weekly calls more than makes up for the negative theta of the other 8 long positions. That number changes based on the current stock price and time to expiry, so watching it will give you a better feel for how that three-dimensional curve looks, at least intuitively.
Similarly, the delta of my current positions is a solidly positive number, and that will change based on stock price and time, too. Watching, and managing, the interaction of the two is how I think of my TSLA portfolio, rather than worrying overly about any one of those individual components.
So, if you don't have it already, I suggest you add the delta, theta (and IV while you're at it), to your portfolio positions tracker page and watch how they change over time and price movement. Then you'll have some numbers to determine how "bullish" or "bearish" a position is.
As @bxr140 said above, it's a spectrum. Why not talk about how to quantify it instead? Sorry if this is too basic to be discussed for a lot of you experienced options traders, but it's some advice I wish someone had given me before I got slaughtered back in the day.
Going back upthread to a key point in this good post:
[...]
Otherwise, selling ~short(ish) expiration calls against leaps is a great idea! I find them very useful for damping out the negative impact of decreasing IV and time decay.
[...]
That addresses monitoring the theta of your positions (the rate of option price movement based on time). Additionally, tracking the delta of your positions (the rate of option price movement based on the price of the underlying stock) gives you a basic understanding of how price and time currently affect your holdings.
The proffered advice is just that: If you trade options, monitor the delta and theta of your positions, both individually and across all holdings for the underlying.
If nothing else, it'll give you something besides the ticker to stare at. You can add it to your "positions" tracker in most any brokerage's software. There are other Greeks that you can monitor too (the derivative's second derivatives, as it were), but I use delta and theta to inform every trade, and watch them obsessively.
I currently have 10 TSLA positions; stock, 8 sets of long calls at different exp/strikes, and short calls covering some of those expiring this week. The positive theta of the short weekly calls more than makes up for the negative theta of the other 8 long positions. That number changes based on the current stock price and time to expiry, so watching it will give you a better feel for how that three-dimensional curve looks, at least intuitively.
Similarly, the delta of my current positions is a solidly positive number, and that will change based on stock price and time, too. Watching, and managing, the interaction of the two is how I think of my TSLA portfolio, rather than worrying overly about any one of those individual components.
So, if you don't have it already, I suggest you add the delta, theta (and IV while you're at it), to your portfolio positions tracker page and watch how they change over time and price movement. Then you'll have some numbers to determine how "bullish" or "bearish" a position is.