I probably don’t have to tell you why options are often superior to trading stocks. 

Options can be better because they:

• Provide Leverage— you can make more money with less capital
• Can Improve Your Odds—some strategies can give you as much as three different ways to profit
• Reduced Risk Exposure— most strategies allow you to define your risk
• Versatility—why settle for betting on direction only when you can profit off volatility and time decay

It doesn’t matter if you’re conservative and are low on time, or are aggressive and can spend all day in front of the screens…

There Is A Strategy For Everyone

But before you start slinging option contracts, take a second to answer some of these basic questions to discover which type of options trading is most suitable for you. 

Once you find what works, you’ll be surprised at how quickly the money can pile up. 

 

How often do you trade?

 

Let’s be real for a minute. Even with many of us working from home, we can’t all be in front of the charts all day long.

Then again, there are some of us degenerates who eat, sleep and breathe trading. We wake up and look at charts on our phone before the sun creeps into the room.

For folks that like the thrill of a quick trade but don’t have a lot of time, you only need one sold setup per day.

A good example is our Daily Deposits with Ben Sturgill. His service is designed to give folks one awesome options trade in the SPY each day.

And it fits quite well with his lifestyle. With kids and a busy schedule, that’s pretty much what he has time for some days.

For folks who like to trade a lot but have a little more patience, long option plays work quite nicely. 

Understanding implied volatility is a crucial element there for success. Otherwise, you can get the trade idea right and watch time decay turn it against you.

 

Do you suffer from mouse click syndrome?

 

I know I’ve found myself in trades I had no business being in just because I couldn’t help myself.

Jason Bond calls it the dopamine drip.

Many traders the world over catch a case of clickeritis – the disease that creates fear of missing out (FOMO) in our minds.

Crazy as it sounds, there’s a great options strategy for that.

I give you spread trading – specifically ones with expirations several weeks out at minimum.

Spread trading is a defined risk strategy where you know your maximum potential profit and loss before you set the trade.

And the best part is that you can set your exit orders pretty much from the get-go or each day as the charts progress.

You see, these aren’t fast-moving trades. So, you can slow down and take your time. Not a whole lot will change minute to minute.

It’s one of my favorite strategies to trade in Total Alpha, not just because it allows me to do other things during the day.

But, you can manage them to partial profit and get some sick win-rates!

 

Can you adhere to stop losses?

 

This is one of the biggest challenges for newer traders. 

They get into trades early or it blows way past their stops. Then it’s one rationalization after another as to why they should stay in the trade.

Some traders never get past this point and that’s ok.

That’s why options trades like short iron condors are amazing. 

Many traders take a mechanical approach to these. Unlike strangles or uncovered options trades, these don’t have as much directional risk.

That means you can create some basic management rules such as taking trades off at 50% of maximum profit.

In fact, you can enter your exit orders right after the entry fills in some strategies.

 

Is math your thing?

 

Do you enjoy the intellectual challenge of math but hate reading charts?

Delta neutral management with short strangles might be up your ally. 

This type of options trading aims to profit off of declines in implied volatility as we as theta decay while removing directional risk.

In simple terms – you adjust your trades based on math to retain a neutral bias.

This strategy is a little more complex. 

But what’s really cool about it – you’re doing basically what market makers do!

Think about it – they sell options and then trade the underlying instrument to offset their risk.

The only difference here is you can do it with leveraged products like futures on the S&P 500.

 

Want even more options education?

 

There’s still time to sign up for my Total Alpha Options Masterclass.

Here, you’ll get some of my favorite techniques for trading the markets, ones that I use to this day!

I’m talking portfolio allocation, choosing the best option contract, and more.

Don’t miss out!

Click here to register for my Total Alpha Options Masterclass.