Options Trading Journal
One of the unique features of TradingDiary Pro which you cannot find in any trading journal software is the options strategy support. TradingDiary Pro is the perfect solution for an options trading journal and tracking your stock and futures options strategies.
What is an options strategy?
Options strategy is simultaneously buying or selling one or more options that differ in options variables. These options variables can be the strike, the expiration date, the moneyness. The aim behind these type of trading is to limit the risk and maximize returns.
A typical options strategy contains several individual positions called naked options legs. A classical options strategy is the Iron Condor. The Iron Condor consists of four naked options. The expiration date for all options are the same but each of them have different strike value.
Let’s say QQQ is traded at 70.5. You can put on an Iron Condor with the following trades:
- Buy June Call Strike 78
- Sell June Call Strike 77
- Sell June Put Strike 64
- Buy June Put Strike 63
Options trading journal
Identifying a strategy
By default after importing your trades into the software the four different legs create four different positions. The problem with that is all of them will have its own profit and loss and very hard to maintain or even follow what the real P&L is of your strategy. At this point TradingDiary Pro’s options strategy handling comes into the picture. The software scans all of the existing positions and tries to match the best strategy.
There are two ways to assign single positions to options strategy position (complex positions):
a) Tools/Assign Options Strategies menu. This feature identifies each possible strategies in the database and provides a list of them. You can select by ticking the check box in the Assign column which complex positions have to be created.
b) Select those positions which can create a complex position and right click on them. If these positions can be merged into a complex position then the Assign Strategy menu will be visible.
Supported strategies
TradingDiary Pro supports more than 20 strategies including condors, collars, all horizontal vertical and diagonal spread. You can create your custom strategy as well. Here is the detailed list of supported strategies:
• Horizontal Bull Call Spread
• Horizontal Bear Call Spread
• Horizontal Bull Put Spread
• Horizontal Bear Put Spread
• Bear Call Spread
• Bear Put Spread
• Bull Call Spread
• Bull Put Spread
• Diagonal Bull Call Spread
• Diagonal Bear Call Spread
• Diagonal Bull Put Spread
• Diagonal Bear Put Spread
• Long Straddle
• Short Straddle
• Long Strangle
• Short Strangle
• Long Call Butterfly
• Long Put Butterfly
• Iron Condor
• Covered Call
• Covered Put
• Box Spread
It’s worth mentioning that you can create custom options spread as well. In the positions view select two or more naked options by holding the CTRL button. Right click on them and click on the custom strategy menu.
Strategy adjustment
You have calculated all of the probabilities but sometimes things are going against you and the spread needs to be adjusted. The good news is that TradingDiary Pro supports it. Select the strategy which you would like to adjust. Right click on the row. If there is an adjustment candidate then the Adjust menu will be visible.
Click on the Adjust menu. In the opened window tick the adjustment column for the positions which you would like to add as an adjustment. Click on the Adjust button.
After clicking on the Adjust button the selected naked options will be added to spread position and all of the position metrics like P&L will be recalculated.