SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)

[dereksas]

I'm brand new to InvestorsHub but have been posting a lot on the Motley Fool boards. Personally, I have been saying since after the late July FOMC (beginning of August) that I was feeling bearish based on the SPY price activity. Markets tend to be volatile during bear markets as well as near major tops and bottoms. Also some of the best rally trades occur in bear markets due to volatility that causes powerful moves, both up and down. I believe that traders today must be able to trade both ways, and I have done very well. In the last couple months I've made the most going down, but I am currently in a trade since Friday's close, hoping for a bounce.

Also, when trading on SPY for short term, I believe that the only way to do this is via options. Buying calls and puts, and occasionally both at the same time (straddle/strangle). Buying and shorting the actual stock returns only marginal returns, whereas an options trade can bring you 50% or 75% on a small <1% move or over 100% on a larger move. You just need make sure to stick to a rigid loss prevention strategy using trailing stops right away, unless you are playing straddles or strangles where you don't really care which way it moves.