Iron Condor Weekly Expiry

For FTSE 100 weekly Iron Condors with 50-point wings, you need roughly £300-500 margin per contract (defined-risk margin is approximately the maximum loss). However, a recommended starting capital is £30,000+ to size positions sensibly (several contracts) while keeping risk controlled. This lets you risk only 3-5% per trade while still holding a meaningful position.

Yes, weekly Iron Condors are suitable for working professionals. Enter positions Monday or Tuesday morning using limit orders, set alerts for adjustment triggers, and plan exits for Thursday. The strategy doesn't require constant monitoring - check positions 2-3 times a day. Most brokers let you place conditional orders for automatic exits.

If price breaches your short strike, losses increase but are capped by your wing (the further-OTM option you bought). Maximum loss = wing width minus premium received. For example, with 50-point wings and 19 points of premium, max loss is (50-19) × £10 = £310 per contract. You can exit early to limit losses rather than holding to the maximum.

Monthly FTSE 100 options are more liquid and give you more time to manage and adjust, which makes them easier for beginners. Weekly options offer faster theta decay and more frequent opportunities but trade in thinner volume with higher gamma risk near expiry. Start with the monthly to learn the mechanics, then add weeklies once you are comfortable managing the faster timeline.

You receive credit because you're selling more expensive near-the-money options and buying cheaper far-out options. The premium from sold options exceeds the cost of bought options. This credit is your maximum profit potential. The bought options serve as insurance, limiting your loss if the market moves against you.

Consider rolling when: 1) The tested side can be rolled for a credit, 2) Market shows signs of reverting, 3) More than 2 days to expiry remain. Close instead when: 1) Rolling only possible at debit, 2) Loss approaching maximum, 3) Less than 2 days to expiry (limited benefit from rolling). For weekly options, closing is often better than complex adjustments due to time constraints.

Target 50-65% of maximum profit for weekly Iron Condors. This balances capturing sufficient theta while avoiding holding through the high-gamma final day. If you entered Monday with 20 points of premium, aim to exit when you can close for 8-10 points (50-60% of the credit captured). Don't hold for 100% profit - the risk-reward deteriorates in the final hours.

Higher IV percentile means options are expensive relative to history - you can place strikes further OTM while still collecting adequate premium. At 70% IV percentile, 0.12 delta strikes might yield sufficient premium. At 30% IV percentile, you might need 0.20 delta strikes. Always verify absolute premium meets your minimum threshold regardless of delta.

Generally adjust only the threatened side. Moving the unthreatened side closer creates unnecessary risk exposure. If price moves toward your calls, roll the call spread further out while leaving the put spread intact. Exception: if the unthreatened side is extremely profitable and near-worthless, you might close it to reduce commission on the full position.

Gap openings require quick assessment. If price gaps beyond your short strike but within breakeven, evaluate IV - a gap often increases IV, which can offset some directional loss. Consider closing immediately if: the gap puts you past breakeven, the VFTSE spikes significantly, or there is no clear catalyst for mean reversion. Don't hold hoping for recovery if max loss is approaching.

Place the put spread closer to the money (where IV is elevated due to skew) to collect richer premium, while keeping the call spread further OTM. Alternatively, use wider wings on the put side. Example: with the FTSE at 8,500, sell the 8,400 PE (100 points, higher IV) but sell the 8,650 CE (150 points, lower IV). The asymmetry captures the skew while keeping risk manageable on both sides.

Track: win rate (target 65-75%), average winner vs average loser (expect losers 2-3x winners), profit factor (>1.5), Sharpe ratio, maximum drawdown, win rate by VFTSE regime, win rate by day of entry, and win rate by delta selection. After 50+ trades, analyse which conditions produce the best results and refine your rules accordingly.

FTSE 100 options are European-style and cash-settle to the EDSP - an auction-derived value on the Last Trading Day - so there is no early assignment and no transaction tax to worry about. The risk is that the EDSP auction prints away from the last screen price. Close any short option where the index is near the strike before the close (a near-the-money short can settle ITM if the auction moves against you). Genuinely far-OTM positions can be left to settle out of the money.

Use weekly Iron Condors inside monthly Iron Condor ranges for enhanced premium capture. The monthly structure provides a wider safety net while weekly sells capture accelerated theta. Ensure weekly short strikes are inside monthly shorts. This hybrid approach smooths P&L while maintaining defined maximum risk from the monthly wings.

Stagger entries and allocate risk evenly across expiry dates. Enter one Iron Condor on this Friday's weekly, one on next Friday's weekly, and one on the third-Friday monthly, keeping total risk under 10% of capital. This gives several independent settlement dates while limiting any single-expiry concentration. Because every position is on the FTSE 100, the diversification is across time, not across uncorrelated markets, so keep overall size conservative.