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Trading Options For Income

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48 Comments
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Tom Reynolds
Guest
February 10, 2011 12:26 pm

I have traded the Trading Options For Income- Spreads recommendations for nearly 1 year and it has been very profitable for me!

C.J. is very professional and his insight is spot on. Highly recommended!

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Eric D. Brown
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February 14, 2011 2:01 pm

Trading Options for Income

CJ at Madeira Trading Newsletters (aka Trading Options for Income) is a great options trader.

I’ve been using the service for 4 months now and am currently looking at 80% returns on money invested to date using the Spreads Strategy and about 25% returns on the Puts / Calls Strategy (have only invested in all the Puts/Calls strategy for about a month). Performance year-to-date is outstanding (~75% on Spreads and ~71% on Puts/Calls as of Feb 14 2011).

The service is great. Communication is great. CJ’s afternoon market review is extremely insightful. What makes this service even more unique is the autotrading capabilities – I can setup my investment allocation at ThinkorSwim and the strategies are autotraded….very nice for someone like myself who can’t spend all day in front of the computer.

This is one of the very few services I’ve tried that I’d recommend to everyone.

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Tom Broman
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Tom Broman
February 15, 2011 1:55 pm

I have been trading for 4 years and with Trading Options for Income for 8 months.

This is by far the best newletter advisory I have found and I have traded some 15 newsletters and looked at a great many more.

CJ Mendes is a very skilled trader and I trade both Spreads and Puts/Calls but mostly spreads.

The website reporting is very clear and completely accurate..I have checked the trades with my Interactive Brokers statements to verify their reporting and it is perfect.

CJ is also very responsive to client questions and the daily updates are very informative as he works through the open trades and provides overall market commentary.

I am always searching for more systems for diversification but havent really found anything comparable in my opinion.

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Lou Blanch
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Lou Blanch
February 25, 2011 8:42 pm

I am a banker by trade and have little to no options trading experience. I was referred to the Trading Options for Income newsletter by my trader when I mentioned an interest in options trading. He gave this newsletter and CJ a nice recommendation and I was able to have their results verified by an independent service(pro-trading-profits.com). I am able to auto trade the newsletters recommendations and I have earned substantial returns over the last 11 months using both strategies. I would highly recommend this service. On the occasions that I have had to call in with questions, their service has been quick and courteous.

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Paul S
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Paul S
April 1, 2011 5:11 pm

I am a subscriber for a year now. The service is profitable. I have abandoned buy and hold investing and in my search for a reasonable trading approach, I came across this service, which so far I am impressed with the results. In one of Mr Mendes’ daily updates, he said he hates risk and dislikes volatility, which tells me he takes a conservative approach to a potentially risky investment vehicle. This is what you want. Those who swing for the fences will kill you. Consistent singles is what you want and he has delivered that. Regardless of how you trade options, it is inherently risky so be prepared for some draw downs (yes, he loses some trades) and allocate a small portion (no more than 25%) of your total portfolio.

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Bryan
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Bryan
April 8, 2011 1:28 pm

I’ve tried several different autotrade options services, and this is the best one that I’ve tried. I’ve been with him a year and a half. He has 2 strategies. Trading deep in the money puts and calls and trading spreads. He has changed his strategy for spreads over the years. As you’ll notice, in 2009, he had a very poor year for the spreads, but his strategy then was mostly iron condors. Now, he does only directional spreads, so when looking at his performance focus on 2010 and 2011.
Performance-He does have some losers, but overall, he’s been solid. In 2011, so far, he is 45-13. He does go on streaks. Last fall, he knew a reversal in the market was coming, but he timed it wrong, and lost quite a few trades. This year, he was wrong for a period of time. In 2011, he’s been more picky with his trades. Now, he will only trade 3 etf’s at a time(6 total for the 2 services), and the time frame is very short, with most trades opening and closing within a week. This year, he has been very good with an exception of a short period where he lost several trades. In my account this year(Jan 1 to April 8), I am up $6,400 with a starting balance of $10,000. After commissions, I’m only up $4,800.
Commissions-He doesn’t include commissions in his results. 🙁 The puts and calls strategy has very low commissions. The average trade price is about $1100 per option. I have an account at TOS, and I pay $1.25 in commissions per option, so this is very cheap. The average price of a spread is around $200, so for every $1000, you have to pay $12.50, so it’s 10 times as much in commissions.
Customer Service-Excellent. I can send him an email, and I almost always get a response within the hour.
Price-It’s not cheap, but it’s a fair price for what he gives you.

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Wilson
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Wilson
May 17, 2011 9:41 am

C.J is not helpful nor welling to accept other ideas. Very narrow minded and rude some times !
Regarding his signals, they are every where and no consistency nor discipline !
If you want to lose your entire account then join the service. the results posted are all false and made up to mislead people !
Avoid Avoid Avoid

Kent
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Kent
May 17, 2011 3:36 pm

This service employs 2 strategies, spreads and straight puts and calls. I subscribed in early March after seeing quite good results for 2010 posted on their website which I believed (and still do) to be truthful, though somewhat incomplete. I have been autotrading both strategies. March and April were up about 23% combined in both accounts but May so far has been a disaster with my accounts down about 50% from when I started. This service has been on the wrong side of nearly every trade on gold, silver, energy, and others. The problems go beyond just making bad trades but also holding onto losing positions far too long without using any kind of stops or hedges. Very poor money management in my opinion.

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Pissed
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Pissed
May 17, 2011 3:40 pm

I read all the reviews and even e-mailed one guy to ask how he like this service. he said it was pretty good. I signed up for the service and every trade Trading Options for Income did in May was a BIG looser. I auto traded so I could get a good fill. What a mess this guy is. He bought a GDX call and it went down so he bought again and then it went down and he bought again. Then he bought ERX ( 3X Energy Bull )and when oil inventory was up and ERX went down, you got it , he bought ERX again and then it went down AGAIN!!!.
I don’t know what chart this guy is looking at. His money management is nonexistent. No stop loss…..Just big Losses. I lost $1600 in three days and that includes the $200 I made on TNA.

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oilandice
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oilandice
May 18, 2011 10:00 am

When I first read the reviews the service was doing well and I was convinced to join. Although it was pricey I figured it was worth the expense. What a mistake my account on auto trade is down 50% in a short time. Thank goodness I allocated very small amounts otherwise I would have nothing left. Some trades make sense others especially the fact that every publication I read said the commodity run was over,he was still going for ERX,GDX,OIH get the picture? No one is perfect but everyone said to be cautious and he was not.If you join DO NOT AUTO TRADE.Decide what is right yourself or better yet do not make him any richer because he makes money whether you do or not. OILANDICE

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Disappointed
Guest
Disappointed
May 21, 2011 12:15 am

Good news is that the record presented on the webpage is true, at least for the period I subscribed. Also customer service is very good, they are quick to answer and polite. However I was expecting some response to my comments on their trading style, which I did not get.
In April/May I traded the Puts and Calls service with poor results. As described by other reviewers the timing of the picks seems to be a random guess without having any clue about short term market direction. To me C.J. seemed to be in a very bullish mood. So he made his picks only because the market went up for a period of time. Or he bought because the market corrected a bit. What may work in a strong bull periods was a disaster during the market consolidation we experienced in the last few weeks. Especially when trading options.
What is very nice about the service is the auto trading capabilities, even if I did not use it. Extremely useful feature if one could rely on the picks… In the end I was only down some 20% because I did not use auto trading and did not buy all recommendations.

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oilandice
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oilandice
May 23, 2011 9:36 pm

I subscribed in April because of the very good track record.
In just 6 weeks my account lost 50%. Although he seems very smart
his trades were risky and went against general market opinions at the time.Unfotunately I trusted him and autotraded my account away,thankfully I had small allotments or I would have nothing.
The service is expensive and not worth the risk.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY CJ MENDES

Kim
Member
Kim
May 24, 2011 10:04 am

It is amazing what one month of bad performance can do. People are just so focused on short term performance and ignore three years of excellent results. Can you recommend a service that did better in the same period of time?

A comment to previous reviewers: if your account was down 50%, it means that your position sizing was way too large compared to your account size.

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Bob
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Bob
June 6, 2011 1:17 pm

Mendes doesn’t seem to be right more than half the time. But worse, when a trade goes wrong he tells you to double up, and then when it goes further wrong he tells you to double up again. The result is that when the trade goes right you make a modest amount of money and when it goes wrong you lose a huge amount of money.

Robert
Guest
Robert
June 8, 2011 9:34 am

Yes, he autotraded 50% of my capital away within a single month! And Bob’s right, he seems to be always trading against the market forces. 50/50 chances of being right, with losses being way more than winners. Just 1 month of losses would take an entire year to BE back! Very dumb of my to have left my account on auto-trade. Be careful!!
And… the monthly subscription is expensive! and the performance is terrible. Just look at the performance page and you’ll see how much losses inured. Random picks would have been better

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Kim
Member
Kim
June 9, 2011 12:08 pm

Robert, if you lost 50% of your account in one month, that means your position sizing was too big. Looking at his track record, I can see 65-70% winning ratio, way higher than 50%. People are just too focused on short term performance and miss the big picture.

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Mr. Sad
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Mr. Sad
June 10, 2011 9:33 am

I agree with Bob and Robert. Mendes seems to be too bullish for my taste. In his recent commentary he remains bullish. Mendes said “ In, fact, I was not aware that many Global markets are trading at the 150 day smoothing mechanism as well.” Wow, in what world does this guy live in? All the markets trade the same direction. When the Asian market opens lower, United States opens lower. All the markets are in synch with each other. He also likes to trade against the current trend. For example, he was bullish on Oil, while the market was trending lower because of a stronger dollar. He doubled up on ERX calls. I eventually stopped adding more calls. I cashed out and took a small lost. If I would of listen to him, I would have lost more. Recently he was bullish on UYG calls. I looked at the 60 and 30 min chart, followed by the daily chart. According to my chart UYG looked bearish. Plus the financial sector has been trending lower for a while. I decided not to buy any calls. It was the best move, otherwise I would have lost about $3.00 per contract. I do not auto trade. I allocate a small portion of my account to options. Bob and Robert are right, when the trade goes right you make a modest amount of money and when it goes wrong you lose a huge amount. Not sure which charts he looks at. But my current charts show a downtrend in the market.

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Matt
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Matt
June 15, 2011 12:12 pm

I was a subscriber in April-May 2011. CJ does not want to admit that his thesis was wrong and rides loosing positions down, down and down some more. If you’re wrong get out or change your trade direction for goodness sake. Small profits and large losses. He also raised his prices if you auto-trade. $99 for each service vs $99 for both previously. There are better places to put your money to work.

Bigbelly bo
Guest
Bigbelly bo
June 20, 2011 3:20 pm

These are auto-trades (copied directly from my broker account) that CJ Mendes of Trading Options for Income placed with my broker:

ERX ($6,525.29)
FXI ($132.89)
GDX ($44,564.83)
GLD $2,964.11
OIH ($35,760.04)
QLD $2,514.10
SLV $1,404.42
SSO ($50.00)
TNA ($1,631.41)
UYG ($3,247.16)

Total Losses $85,029.99

The loses took only 2 months.

I was a fool to give CJ Mendes control of $80,000.00 of my hard earned money. He lost 106% of the account allocation which forced me into a margin call.

And the loses would have been greater had I not gotten out of his most recent trades.

He portrays himself as a professional trader. Pro’s don’t trade
like he does.

These are some of Mendes comments as the markets were tanking:

“The current open positions are exactly what I would be buying today had we come in to this market fresh out of the street with new cash ready to trade. When we get caught on the opposite side of a trade as we are at the moment, the pain can be magnified by all the hoopla on the financial media channels. Hindsight is 20/20 and it is obvious that we would have been better served elsewhere on this recent round of trades. The reality is that we have to act based on the fact at hands and not on the short term hysterics of the market. Many of you do not have experience trading and have suffered by making hasty decisions in the market. Buying high selling low or allowing emotions to rule your day to day investment decisions. Many times this is what has brought you to trade with a newsletter in the first place.

We are not going to change course here because the treading is a bit rough and painful. At least not while our studies say otherwise. To do so would be caving in to emotional impulses and not what you have paid a subscription fee for. For that you could trade markets based on CNBC’s daily barrage of talking heads.

I may be wrong here. No one is infallible and I expect to be wrong sometimes but I don’t see a solid opportunity going against what has worked at this juncture.”

And this: “I wanted to share this most recent market report from McClellan which was published on the 17th of May. I have read their work for many years now and find that often their short term analysis support some of my short term models and trades.”

They confirm some of what I have been seeing in my studies regarding the commodities trade and even confirm the near term stock market outlook.”

Traders who do this to peoples hard earned money are not prosfessional and should not
be in business.

The man can’t go short, has no hedging trades at all, has no money management, and rides losers to expire at max loss.

Stay away from this service at all cost.

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Embarrassed
Guest
Embarrassed
June 20, 2011 5:48 pm

I have a similarly upsetting experience during the past couple of months. When the market was moving upwards the profits were great. Once the market turned south, the picks remained very bullish. I think that CJ is indeed brilliant; however, he does have a serious problem by not being able to give up on bad trades (i.e. take smaller rather than consequential larger losses). I would’ve much preferred that he not make any trade alerts at all and rethink the market first. He seems to be compelled to produce frequent trade alerts rather than show enough discretion beforehand. I started out with twice as much money in my account to exercise all of the alerts, and now I’m unable to fully trade all of the allocations available. I’ve lost more than half of the account money. I’ve become even more cynical about trading in general and was hoping that by paying a professional to trade for me that I would get better results than my own methods. It may be the case that I am better than the professionals which really sucks because I lose money (just not as fast as the ‘professionals’). I feel like I’ve been raped.

The key element here is that CJ’s system is highly dependent on market direction. If the trade conflicts with the market direction, then his unwillingness to let go of the bad trade causes greater losses than during the times when his trades are in line with market direction. It is difficult to blame him directly for this because I do know personally just how tough it is to give up on a losing trade, or to switch from being a bull to a bear (or vice versa). I was just like all of those other folks who saw their accounts cut by more than half with the fall of the Lehman bros. I would watch day by day as the money disappeared and yet was unable to push the sell button because I was ever hopeful that it would turn around.

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