Thank you for reading this article on trading options. Today we will be concentrating on the risks of trading Iron Condors.
Condors can be very rewarding, but at the same time, they can result in catastrophic losses to a trading account. One of the most dangerous ways to trade them is just before expiration.
In this article you'll find an embedded video. This video is a good demonstration of how not to trade Iron Condors. Specifically, this video is on trading an Iron Condor on the SPY with less than one month to go for expiration. The problem with this strategy is that the underlying symbol does not have very much time, does not have very much credit, and does not have very much wiggle room. Often times the option trader will bring this type of trade into the last week of expiration, and the underlying will be right next to the short strike which is extremely dangerous. This is a typical Iron Condor that is taught in 99% of the courses on the Internet. This is Iron Condor that can ruin your life.
As this option spread gets closer to expiration it becomes more volatile and more risky. Even though the trade might be yielding a profit, the option trader can lose all of the profit and more in one single day. This is because of the option Greeks. The Gamma is extremely high which causes the Delta position to change in an uncontrollable manner. Please watch the video at the six minute mark to understand better what I am talking about.
To end this article I'd like to hope that you've learned something new about the Condor trade. You should know that it can certainly make you some money, but it can also lose you much more if you do not know what you are doing. Furthermore, this can be a very stressful trade if you do not know how to manage it properly. There are some ways to trade this strategy that expose your account to less risk, but most option traders do not know these secrets.
By Johnny M Junior