Credit Spreads and Iron Condor Paper Trading

Paper trading using one of the many virtual trading systems provided by option brokers, and now CBOE, is so important if you have never traded options. Credit spread trading has special characteristics that must be fully understood before trading with your own funds. You must practice entering Bull Put and Bear Call spreads on one or more Indexes. You must fully understand an Iron Condor trade and the requirements for making sure your broker only applies margin to one side of this 4 legged trade. And most important you must practice closing these spreads and rolling to new spreads.

I paper traded for six months using OptionsXpress’s virtual trading system before using my own funds. This is the system now used by CBOE so you no longer need to apply for a brokerage account to paper trade.

I am encouraging all my new subscribers who have never traded options to paper trade all my trades during their 60 day free trial. And if they still want to paper trade longer I am extending their free trial another 30-60 days, or however long it takes. I am very committed to helping everyone learn the basics to this trading strategy before using their own funds.