Sold Iron Condors on SPY every week for 14 months. $75K capital. Here are the raw numbers.Setup: Wings at 16-delta, 30 DTE, $5 wide. Managed at 50% of credit or 21 DTE.Results:58 trades closedWin rate: 71%Avg win: +$285, avg loss: -$520Total P&L: +$8,940 or 11.9% annualizedMax drawdown: -$3,200 (4-loss streak in October)It's not spectacular but it's consistent. The only problem is that strongly directional months (like the November rally) hurt me.
I bought LEAPS (deep ITM calls) instead of shares for 2 years. Here's my takeaway:Pros:2-3x leverage with defined riskLess capital tied up — $15K controls the equivalent of $40K in sharesCan sell calls against them (poor man's covered call)Cons:Theta decay even at 70-80 delta, it nibblesBid/ask spread sometimes wide on deep ITM strikesNo dividendsNet result: +38% over 2 years vs +29% if I had held shares directly. The leverage worked in a bull market.
I understand the theory of options (calls, puts, expiration, strike price). But I've never actually PLACED a trade and I'm terrified of clicking the wrong button and accidentally selling naked calls or something catastrophic.Can someone walk me through the actual mechanics? Like, I open my brokerage app, and then what? What does the options chain screen mean? What's the difference between "buy to open" and "sell to open"? What order type should I use?I'm on Schwab if that matters.
I've been studying options and I'm fascinated by the strategies, but as a practicing Muslim, I need to make sure my trading is halal before I proceed. I've gotten conflicting answers from different scholars.The concerns I've found:Gharar (excessive uncertainty): Options are inherently uncertain — is this too much speculation?Maysir (gambling): Is buying an option that might expire worthless essentially gambling?Riba (interest): Do any options mechanics involve interest?I'm specifically asking about buying calls and puts (not selling naked), and using covered calls. Are there Islamic finance scholars who have ruled specifically on options?Any Muslim traders here who've navigated this?