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Options Trading

Options trading utilizes leverage with the ability to control stocks in 100 share increments at a fraction of the holding price of the actual stock. Options trading is similar to the concept of rent - as in renting shares without full ownership yet taking advantage of the potential appreciation of the entire stock movement.

How To Trade Through Earnings With Options

The easiest way to make a directional bet around an earnings release is to buy a call option to be bullish or buy a put option to be bearish. The trouble with that approach is there are more factors that go into the performance of those trades than the directional... Read more… read more

When is it time to close an Options trade?

Knowing when to close out of a trade can be challenging when the markets are constantly moving back and forth. Holding on to a trade too long or not long enough can lead to inconsistent returns. When buying long call or long put options the key to remember is you... Read more… read more

When to Sell Your Call Options & When to Hold On

Knowing when to close out of a trade is one of the most difficult questions traders have to wrestle with on a weekly basis. With options contracts, it is no different, and the decision to write, hold, sell or exercise can be confusing – especially because options contracts are impacted... Read more… read more

Option Premium 101

An options premium refers to the current price of the option that would need to be paid by the buyer to the seller. When looking at the prices quoted in your broker platform, you will notice they are quoted per share. Each contract however represents 100 shares of stock. For... Read more… read more

How To Trade Options Around Dividends

If you trade options for any length of time you will run into stocks and ETF’s paying dividends. It’s important to know when these dividends will require you to adjust or close a trade. What is a dividend?  “A dividend is the distribution of a portion of the company’s earnings,... Read more… read more

Options Trading FAQ’s

Last updated on May 14th, 2020 We held our live 2 day Options Trading For Income Crash Course this past week where we walked through how we use our entire options toolbox on a weekly basis. If you missed that training (free) I have included links below to the material... Read more… read more

Is the market bottom in place?

Last updated on June 18th, 2020 After a big wave lower in stocks due to the initial reaction to the coronavirus spreading, markets have recovered off the lows in a big way. We saw stocks rally 25% over the last 2 weeks on hopes that the worst of the virus... Read more… read more

Best Moving Averages For Options Traders

Last updated on July 3rd, 2020 My preferred style of trading is swing trading using various options strategies. I consider a swing trade holding a position for a period of 2 days on out to 4 weeks. That is the sweet spot that I have identified when using many types... Read more… read more

Why We Don’t Like To Use Stop Orders When Trading Options

Last updated on July 3rd, 2020 I have heard all of these statements repeated during my nearly 20 years of trading options and markets in general: “Let your winners run, cut your losses quickly.” “Keep your losses small” “You have to use stop orders” Traders get so concerned with getting... Read more… read more

Placing Option Orders In Volatile Markets

Last updated on April 4th, 2020 Options traders love volatile markets. I would much rather trade in active market conditions with big moves back and forth rather than a slow market like we saw for most of 2019 and early 2020. However, with volatility returning the last month, it does... Read more… read more

How Big Of An Account Size Is Necessary To Trade Options?

Last updated on May 14th, 2020 ‘How big of an account size is necessary to trade options?’ Over the past 20 years I have had the privilege of working with thousands of traders looking to trade in the options markets. This is one of the top questions I get. The... Read more… read more

5 Market Internals To Watch

Last updated on July 2nd, 2020 The main work space that I look at throughout the day to get a feel for market strength or weakness is what I call my Market Internals work space. In this article, I am going to discuss that market internals I use on a... Read more… read more

Buy Call Options Or Sell A Put Spread?

Markets continued their historic run of extreme volatility this past week due to the spread of the coronavirus. We are in the midst of a global economic slowdown that looks to be in place for the next few months at a minimum. While talk of a recession is no fun to go through,... Read more… read more

How Important Is Volatility When Trading Options?

Last updated on August 4th, 2020 It’s easy to turn on financial media these and get scared away from the markets due this high volatility that have been seeing the last 3 weeks. As options traders, we have the opportunity to use the volatility to our advantage as it can... Read more… read more

How To Get The Best Price On An Options Order

Last updated on May 12th, 2020 The last few weeks as the coronavirus crisis has evolved, have produced some of the most volatile markets we have ever seen. 5% moves in the S&P 500 used to take days and are now taking a matter of a few hours. As a... Read more… read more

Options Trade Of The Week – VXX

Over the last 2 weeks we have seen global markets get crushed due to coronavirus. We are in the midst of a historic move lower in equities and move higher in the volatility products. Markets are pricing in extreme fear due to the spread of the coronavirus. To take advantage... Read more… read more

Navigating Coronavirus Volatility With Options

Last updated on May 12th, 2020 We just completed one of the most volatile weeks of trading that markets have ever seen due to he fear of the unknown due to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19 ). Panic has completely gripped the financial markets.   VIX & Market Volatility... Read more… read more

Monthly or Weekly Options…Which should I trade?

Last updated on June 3rd, 2020 When talking about stock options there are many common questions that come up. Which strike price should I trade? Should I buy or sell the options? Should I use monthly or weekly options? The reason these questions can be tricky is that there is... Read more… read more

Using Options Basics to Increase Profits

Last updated on June 3rd, 2020 Turn on any type of financial media or have a conversation with a long time money manager and you will hear that trading Options is a very risky endeavor. You will hear stats thrown around that 95% of traders fail in making money long... Read more… read more

Options Trade Of The Week – DIA

Last updated on May 14th, 2020 To take advantage of a potential move lower in the market, we are looking at buying Put Options on DIA for our Options Trade Of The Week. Buying Put Options is an aggressive trade looking for a move lower. It’s a break from the... Read more… read more