Hi

I would like to know if it is possible to trade on C2 options on indexes. ( dax, ftse and nikkei).

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Best regards

GT

At this time, we support the trading of options on stocks and ETFs, not futures. (This will change in the medium term future, as we add support for options on futures contracts.) However, in the meantime, you can look for an ETF to serve as a proxy for your index, and trade options on that ETF.

2Replies

Or SPX options .

Rather than add additional options on futures, please consider adding the ability to place simple options strategies such as spreads rather than having to put them in as separate orders. There are a number of deficiencies in how C2 option orders are currently handled - I would rather see them addressed before just adding more options that will suffer from the same limitations.

As for options on indices, I believe that you already have SPX options (although in reviewing them it is not clear where C2 is placing ITM versus OTM - please review). There are currently no options for RUT (perhaps the second most heavily traded index options).

Yes, please fix the options trading you currently do, before moving on to adding others: basic spreads as one order, etc.

thank you

OK, Kevin - point made. 

Since you've raised this suggestion twice - asking that C2 support more advanced option trade-entry - I'll just comment and say that things are not as simple as I wish they were. In the case of options, it's not just a matter of allowing you to type in spreads (i.e. it's not merely a web user-interface project)... for spreads (and all multi-legged options trades) to work, we need to support them at each individual broker who is an autotrade partner, and each of those brokers have different APIs that need to be supported flawlessly. Some don't even support spreads natively via their APIs at all, in which case we need to write some kind of workaround. So there's no magic wand I can wave to support multi-legged trade entry quickly and easily - rather, it's a complicated project.

All software development projects, complicated or not, need to be prioritized by evaluating potential payoff versus cost. I'm not telling you it's not important, or that it won't or can't be done, but I am saying (in the interest of transparency and expectation setting) that it is not an immediate project, and that there are a few other things that are in the works which will get done first. (And these are projects which I suspect you will like very much.)

So first things first.

Anyway, I'll try to look more into option spread/complex-trade entry as soon as I can. 

As always, I really do appreciate it when members of the C2 community tell me what they want to see, and what they need, but I also think it's important that I should say what is likely to happen in the near term, and what will take longer.

Thanks Matt. I appreciate your candor and now better understand the challenges. Hopefully this can be worked out as it will be a big improvement to the site.

MatthewKlein:

ptions on stocks and ETFs, not futures. (This will change in the medium term future, as we add support for options on futures contracts.) However, in the meantime, you can look for an ETF to serve as a proxy for your index, and trade options on that ETF.

Hi Matthew,

I'd like to backtest on the SPY and QQQ etfs but cannot find them on the tracking list. Can you help me?

Sebastian:

I am not 100% certain I understand your question.

Are you asking if C2 itself supports options on index ETFs (such as options on the SPY and the QQQ)? Then the answer is: yes. If you are a trading system creator, you can trade any option on ETF symbol you like in your Model Account, and your subscribers will follow your trades.

If, on the other hand, you are asking about Seetu, our new backtesting and strategy development language, then the answer is: Currently, during this beta test, Seetu does not support options symbols. It currently supports: stocks, some popular futures, and popular forex pairs.

We'll add options support in a later version of Seetu.

If I still have not properly answered your question, please clarify and I'll give it another try.

Matthew

MatthewKlein:

king if C2 itself supports options on index ETFs (such as options on the SPY and the QQQ)? Then the answer is: yes. If you are a trading system creator, you can trade any option on ETF symbol you like in your Model Account, and your subscribers will follow your trades.

If, on the other hand, you are asking about Seetu, our new backtesting and strategy development language, then the answer is: Currently, during this beta test, Seetu does not support options symbols. It currently supports: stocks, some popular futures, and popular forex pairs.

Thanks so much for your answer. You have resolved my doubts about backtesting SPY and QQQ ETFs, which is what I'm interested in. 

So, in Seetu am I able to specify backtest on options? Seems farfetched since that would require major option pricing history databases.

Sebastian

"Currently, during this beta test, Seetu does not support options symbols" So no you cant .