Fun with Thinkback

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Fun with Thinkback

• San Diego Investools User Group
• 6/21/08
• Marc Covitt

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What is Thinkback?

• TOS tab that allows you to
• See option data from CLOSE of prior dates
• Place a trade as of a specific date
• Step through P/L for one or more positions
• Free source for option pricing
• Can be used for testing some strategies
• NOT a full backtesting
• Some limitations but easy to use

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Lets hear from Don Kaufman
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Things to do with Thinkback

• Look at how a trade initiated on a PRIOR date
  would have performed
• Capture data to be used in Backtesting
• Retrieve some info for analysis
• i.e. What was the IV when I placed the trade?
• Amuse yourself with fun What Ifs

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Why did I do this?

• TOS teaches an Options in your IRA
• Strategy suggests selling a 2 OTM call spread
  against your long portfolio
• Don K suggested using a 2-wide spread
• JJ suggested using a 1-wide
• I wanted to see if strategy performed as
  advertised.
• But first lets just have fun..

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Jim Cramer said

• YouTube - Jim Cramer "Bear Stearns is Fine!"
  Tues, 3/11/08

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Demo

• 3 date fields. How they relate

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• Set theQuote date

3. Entering a trade will set the trade date and
P/L date. You can then adjust
2. Enter the trade
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Demo

• 3 date fields. How they relate
• Data limitations
• 2003 forward
• Cash settled indexes
• Futures
• Some initial data corruption and missing data
• Cannot easily export data
• But it is FREE!
• Any ?s