Semage77, I studied a bit of Gann some years ago but didn't go as far as the astro side of it so that's out of my area! Often option open interest and volume can give some clues when there are changes coming in direction. One thing I used to watch each day were the 4 biggest banks and BHP for option exercises. A large number of call exercises with no other reason such as dividends, expiry, etc I have noticed can sometimes signal a top is near. Same with put options being exercised near market lows. I learned that the hard way when I had some multi-layered calendar spreads on and the market went down causing the put spread to go ITM. I was assigned on some of the short puts on the day BHP made a significant low - so it's something worth checking. If you don't have something like Iress, it can be accessed from The Trading Room, then click on Quotes and Charts, then use the arrow to click on "course of sales". I think I had to register (it was free) to access course of sales. It's best done a bit after 7am because once the market starts trading, it can take forever to try and scroll to those first sales recorded for the day. EP = Exercise Puts and EC for calls. Obviously, if all those stocks which have a fair control are exercising calls (with no dividend) or puts, it gives another tool in the toolkit that there is something going on behind the scenes.
I think I originally only suggested looking at a butterfly instead of a far OTM put spread as it was closer to the action. It's not necessarily a winning strategy in it's own right to put on every month as easy income, but can have it's place when the conditions are right. A far OTM put spread is fine as long as it is treated as a lottery ticket and knowing that the tiny debit might be lost. Of course, if the market falls out of bed there can be a decent percentage win. Similar thing with butterflies - they are a somewhat low cost strategy to put on with a reasonable reward if they work out and, on the occasions I put them on, I am aware that the debit paid could be lost, so its' a case of using sound money management.
If the market moves away from the butterfly, there are adjustments that can be done, but sometimes that can also increase the risk amount if the market doesn't go back to the centre of the fly before expiry so they need to be done with care and with full knowledge of any increased risk. Hoadley is good for those sorts of experiments and I found it helped me to define risk. I really the ability of the software to compare strategies. For example, say copy the original strategy to the comparison area, then apply the adjusted strategy to the top section and scroll down to see how it compares and where any new risks might be lurking.
Interesting today, the XJO 5400 Feb call strike had over 5,000 trades today. If those are sold calls, it could indicate a down move is on the cards. No guarantees of course, but time will tell...lol
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