Hello everybody, I hope all is well and your current market trading activities are profitable. If you?ve been following our trades you?ll see we?re up over 40% since we began our meetings this past September?.and in a very rough market environment to say the least. This is not to say we will not have any loosing trades as I am sure we will, but its all in how you manage your losers while letting your winners play out. Later this week I will send out our progress summary on the trades we currently have in play so be on the look-out for that e-mail.

I have scheduled our meetings thru June 2009 as noted below. Hopefully this allows you time to adjust your calendars as necessary. In addition, going forward all our meetings will be held at the Sheraton East Hartford since they?ve been good to us. As you look at the dates and session topics below please note all our meetings are scheduled at the same time (Saturdays from 9 AM ? 11:30 AM) generally following the option expiration cycle each month. One word of caution however; -if you have an active interest in a particular option strategy, say Butterfly?s or Calendar Spreads, or even simple Covered Calls don?t assume attending just that session will adequately prepare you?..all of our meetings are interrelated and designed to give you a solid option trading foundation while showcasing the tools necessary to be a successful and consistently profitable option trader. With that said, I would highly encourage your participation in each session if possible but for those who can?t make all the sessions we usually begin each meeting with an option basics review. Remember, at times it may seem like your trying to drink water from a fire hose, but with repetition and interaction with other like minded traders you?ll amaze yourself at how quickly you pick it up. For those of you who are new, our Option Traders Group motto is: Learn, Practice, Do?.and that is what we?re all about. You can read books and trade on your own, but until you interact with others and learn thru practice and repetition I?ll almost guarantee you?ll loose a lot of your money!

Below are our upcoming meeting dates and session topics so plan accordingly.

1. Jan 17th ? Vertical Spreads

2. Feb 28th ? Time Spreads; Calendars and Diagonals

3. Mar 21st ? Winged Spreads; Butterfly?s and Condors including the Irons

4. Apr 18th ? Straddles, Strangles and Ratio Spreads

5. May 16th ? Synthetics

6. Jun 20th ? Putting it all together

For each session listed above we will follow the meeting format below:

1. Briefly review option trade basics (aprox. 30 minutes)
a. Option Pricing
b. Option Greeks
c. Option P&L Graphs
d. Option Trading Template

2. Describe the selected session option strategy trade objectives (aprox 30 minutes)
a. When to apply this option strategy
i. Underlying stock selection
ii. Bullish, Bearish or Non-directional stock (Index, Future, Commodity) bias
iii. Volatility assumptions; low, average or high
b. Strategy Rationale

3. Strategy Context (aprox 60 minutes)
a. Debit or Credit Trade
b. Desired Trade Time Period
c. Option Selection Parameters
i. Volume and Open Interest
ii. Strikes (ITM, ATM, OTM)
d. Option Trade Modeling (OptionVue is the modeling tool used)
i. Weigh option trades vs. probabilities against trading plan
ii. Weigh the ?Greeks?
iii. Determine Primary, Secondary Exit points
iv. Determine Max Reward vs. Max Risk
v. Determine Breakeven Point(s)
e. Exiting the trade

4. Selected Option Strategy Advantages vs. Disadvantages (aprox 15 minutes)

5. Review & Discuss current market trade opportunities (aprox 30 minutes)


One final note?..many of you have asked about our forthcoming webinar meetings. I hope to have an answer for you shortly and apologize for the delay. These internet based meetings are designed for those that cannot attend our on site meetings as well as those that wish to repeat the on site sessions.

For those on meetup.com that do not recieve my trading e-mail updates then send me your e-mail address and I will put you on the distribution list.....

See you soon,

Warm Regards,


Hal Brent
[address removed]