Back when I was taking my first options course, I remember the instructors emphasizing how important the Greeks were in trading options.
The truth is that, at the time, they didn’t look so important to me.
Well, after reviewing a lot of losing trades as well as some small winners, I found that most of my losers and those winners were I made very little, were due to not matching the right strategy with the market conditions; basically, the root of the problem was not watching the Greeks when placing the trades.
The majority of my problems came from trying to fit the wrong strategy for the market conditions at the time. Like selling credit spreads on a low volatility environment; buying options or debit spreads on a high volatility period; Using Iron Condors when the market was running hard. Using debit spreads on a squeeze; using Calendars or Diagonals on decreasing IV periods.
I wonder how much money I would have saved, by just looking at the damned Greeks!
What about you guys; do you watch the Greeks before placing a trade?