SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)

[Hugh Jass]

with these options, using stop-losses can make you lose out on a lot of gains... it is nothing for SPY calls, for example, to drop 5-10%, then continue higher. If you use 1% stop-loss on these options, you will most likely sell immediately after you place the order.

Today the Aug 114 calls went from 0.87 to 1.25... then dropped to 1.09ish, then back up to 1.25... if I had a 1% trailing stop on those calls, I would have gotten stopped out at 0.89 or so... instead of the 1.18 I ended up selling them at...

I know what you're saying though... it's just hard to set stop-losses on options due to their volatility.