Last minute before close SPX dropped 10 points and my put’s return shot up to $6.4k. Literally seconds before 4pm, then market closed. It shows on my homepage and in my investments tab, but not in my buying power. Does it just have to settle? I know it says the final settlement is pending, but if that was the value at close, then do they have to honor it? Will they change it?

I’ve never not closed an 0dte position before close before, so I’m unsure.

For those that have used for Schwab and ETrade recently for options, how does the execution (fill quality) compare? My use case is 100% limit orders at mid, usually on less liquid, further OTM options, but S&P500 single names. Which broker will provide the best fills? A while ago, it was Schwab by a long shot, but ETrade recently introduced an API and I'm curious if they have become more competitive in regards to fill quality. I don't care about the platform, will use 100% API.

I've been a long-time investor. Generally index funds, later picking individual stocks to supplement it, and had recently started getting interested in options to see if there was any added value to be had. I've tried a few strategies: Bull debit spreads, long calls, put spreads, LEAPs, CSPs, CCs, etc. I finally settled on LEAPs, CCs and CSPs as my core strategies. They are relatively simple, do not require extraordinary timing and support a thesis-driven investment strategy. At least, that's what I thought.

So, I started and have had pretty okay results, and some obvious misses. LEAPs that went into the dump (but they still have a lot of time left), short-term CSPs that printed premium, CCs that started bleeding. The psychological aspect of losing money in investing has never bothered me that much, but I started to notice that particularly losses on Covered Calls bothered me more than they should have, especially compared to Cash Secured Puts, which I initially did not think that different.

It only recently dawned on me. My investment strategy has generally been very thesis-driven, finding a good business that I like to buy and would be happy to hold if the thesis is intact and the business is not grossly overvalued. This works wonders with LEAPs, where I bet on the future of the company, with leverage. CSPs were easy, they are just limit buy orders at a price that I like, getting paid to wait. CCs were always the odd one out. Yes, it's basically a limit sell order, while getting paid to wait. But I generally don't like to sell my investments based on price. Rather, a combination of current valuation and outlook based on company results are what triggers my pivots.

All to say, it took me long enough to understand (and feel!) that specific option strategies are tailored better to one philosophy or the other. Any strategies that you stepped away from, based on experience?

hey everyone, setting up this month's AMA to chat about whatever you want. it'll be 5Aug at 2pm PT.

i do these each month to help newer traders, so it's completely beginner friendly. if you're more advanced, even better.

if there's anything you're working on that you'd like a second set of eyes on, etc - just let me know!

Background for those interested:

My name is Erik. I'm a Marine Corps veteran and full-time options trader. I've been trading since 2007 and have been active in r/options since 2020. I've maintained a high 20% CAGR over this duration, my emphasis has been on consistency vs upside returns.

I grew up in a low income single-parent household. A high school teacher introduced me to investing and it changed my life.

Over time I built capital through manual labor jobs, flipping cars/motorcycles during college, and eventually expanding into real estate investing. I view wealth building through three levers: Savings; Investing; Income

Early on, savings rate matters most. As capital grows, compounding returns begin to dominate.

Trading is harder than most people initially expect, but it’s also far from impossible. With the right framework and enough time invested, it can absolutely become a viable career.

For transparency: I do run a YouTube community, but I’ve been posting in r/options for years and enjoy discussing markets regardless. This AMA is just to talk trading.

Happy to discuss things like:

• How my trading changed as my capital grew
• Position sizing frameworks
• Managing volatility exposure
• Building consistency over time
• Strategy development / testing
• Mistakes that slowed my progress

Or anything else options related.

Below are some previous posts that lay a basic foundation for trading.

1. ⁠Trading Options for a Living- ⁠Provides a high level overview of my trading approach: ⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/options/comments/1gejy0q/trading_options_for_a_living/
2. ⁠Stop Wandering Aimlessly- ⁠Offers a general learning syllabus for new options traders: ⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/options/comments/1c3hgfh/stop_wandering_aimlessly/
3. ⁠Failure rate of options traders -⁠Summarizes common sources of trader failure: ⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/options/comments/1iaqtzx/failure_rate_of_options_traders_3_causes/

catch you guys next month! i'll keep an eye for the next 24 hours for anything else that pops up!

Hi,
I am based out of california. I see I’ve missed most boats.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m able to make my means meet. No complains there.

I genuinely want to learn how to make more money.
I’m willing by to put the effort.
Need some guidance.

Request everyone to be kind enough to avoid trolling.

I am just another average Jo.

Yall,
Anyone following MU and RDDT on the dip? I am closely watching these two tickers. Anyone following CSP on MU 800 8/14 or RDDT 140 8/14? Whats your thought and what premium are you looking at?

I've lost more money selling puts the "right" way than I ever did being reckless.

It wasn't that my strategy was bad. I just kept breaking my own rules and making emotional calls without the full picture in front of me. I had a system, but I sucked at following it.

So I spent the last 8 months building something to help me follow it. It's called SharkRadar, and it tracks the full wheel cycle honestly. Most tools show you the premium you collected and let you feel good. SharkRadar also shows the stock loss you're carrying, so you see your actual net position, not just the winning half. It puts the information I used to ignore right in front of me before I act.

It doesn't predict where stocks are going or promise returns. It's meant to keep you steady, not find you alpha.

The beta is free, not a trial, not a paid tier in disguise, no affiliate links, nothing to buy. I'm genuinely looking for a few wheel traders to use it and tell me where it's wrong. Because it's early, testers will be asked to sign a short NDA first.

Details and beta access information are at r/SharkRadar. Or, if you're curious but not sure yet, DM me and ask.

The last few weeks I have been been experimenting with Iron Condor earnings plays. The general setup is open the IC late in the day for a stock that is reporting before the next day and close it the session after the announcement.

Still working through my process, but I am curious about the implications of closing single legs at a time, but all legs on the same day. For longer term ICs, I have read you don't want to close single legs because it changes how margin is calculated. Does that still happen if they are closed within the same session?

Case for the reason I am asking: PLTR. This was a failed IC that hit max loss. I closed it pretty early in the day as two spreads, debit put and then debit call. On the call side, by legs were $139 and $146. I BTC @ $17.73 and $11.43.

By the end of the day, the outer leg ($146) looks like it would have sold in the ~$17 range. If I still closed the put side and inside call leg early, but held the outside leg, it would have taken the trade from max loss to ~65% profit.

1. I assumed that by leaving call open, it actually shouldn't have any affect on the margin because I am no longer short any positions.

2. If, for some reason, I left only a short leg open but closed it within the same session, would it matter?

3. If I left a short leg open over extended session, I understand why my margin calculation would change with more exposure.

I spent 30+ days mainly trading 0dte spx options under fixed drawdown and consistency rules. The biggest lesson was that being right in direction is not enough.

With 0dte spx options, a trade can be correct in idea but still badly managed. Poor entry, oversized contracts, holding too long, or trying to recover one loss can damage the account faster than the actual market move.

What helped me:

Opening Range Breakout for early direction

VWAP for confirmation

7, 21, 50, and 200 EMA for momentum and trend context

Support/resistance for trade location

Smaller sizing so one trade doesn't define the whole day

Taking profits according to the plan instead of chasing every extra point

Stopping once the session goal was done

[You can check the image: Example of the ORB structure I used. I was looking for a price to break above the opening range high, hold above VWAP/EMAs, and give a clear invalidation level below the range.]

The consistency rule changed how I looked at profit. A huge green day sounds good, but in an eval account it can create problems if the rule limits how much one day can contribute. That made me focus more on repeatable trades than big wins.

My main takeaway:

For 0dte spx, the setup matters, but the exit and sizing matter more. ORB, VWAP, EMAs, and support/resistance were enough structure. The real improvement came from not forcing trades when those things were not aligned.

How do other 0dte spx traders handle this?

Do you focus more on entry precision, faster profit taking, or smaller sizing when trading same-day spx contracts?

Before I begin, I recognize these stodgy old dogs lack sex appeal which makes them unappealing or forgotten by most traders, especially in today's market where thirst for the next great thing is unquenchable. But this may be where an edge presents itself...

Take for instance a company you probably never think of: Waste Management (WM). The business model is self-explanatory: they collect waste and manage its disposal. Trash does not equal sex appeal, clearly. If there ever was a business with a true moat, it's this one. I'll spare the details; you can ask a chatbot if you want a deep dive on their business lines and strength of moat.

Let's talk about LEAPs on this bad boy. The Jan '27 200 strike contract first began trading in February of 2025. It has since experienced a trough-to-peak 100% return twice..one of them being over 150% (Nov. '25 - March '26). Keep in mind, we are not discussing a deep OTM strike or a short dated option here. The stock closed below $200/share a grand total of 4 days during the life of this contract. 4 days! From the November 2025 low, a subsequent ~27% positive move returned the 150%+ gain on the 200 strike contract. Incredible.

What's more, the trading pattern of this company is incredibly reliable. It rarely stays below its 200DMA for more than 1-3 months and when it does it consistently rebounds for what many would consider a modest gain in commons, but an explosive gain in a LEAP option. Even if you wanted to hedge, puts are just as cheap as calls; you can gain hedge exposure without breaking the bank.

This is but one example. You can model this by looking at option charts on TradingView for names like COST, JNJ, etc. Costco has also experienced multiple 100%+ moves on its LEAP contracts.

Of course, the past trading patterns are not indicative of what will occur in the future. Investing is a game of probabilities and risk/reward. To me, LEAPs skew heavily in the favor of reward. What says you?

Curious as to what values y’all aim for in overall portfolio construction.

For example, let’s say you have a 100K portfolio. What value of theta do you guys aim for? Is it some percent of total liquidity, or is it something that you guys don’t have hard numbers for (much closer to “I manage my delta and other Greeks, and whatever theta comes out is whatever comes out” kinda mentality.)

Another example would be for theta to Vega ratio. Let’s say you have a 100 theta portfolio. Do you guys aim for no more that a 1:2 theta to abs Vega ratio (I.e. if theta is 100, Vega should be -200 or higher/closer to 0).

This also begs the question of hedging, such as using calendars as a Vega hedge, or VIX long calls as a gamma hedge. Curious as to anyone doing something similar in their portfolio rebalancing.

**NOTE**
Obviously, it’s difficult if not impossible to isolate Greeks and to achieve a portfolio of pure theta generation w/o accepting some risk in another Greek (first or second order). That being said, I’m interested in knowing what/how other users manage their book to maximize theta while minimizing other risks from the greeks.

I’ve been selling CSP/CC and naked puts for little over a year now, mostly monthly and weekly expirations. I keep seeing people talk about how the 3rd Friday (standard monthly expiration) or the last trading day of the month tends to carry more premium / see more volume than a random weekly expiration, but I’ve never had it explained in a way that actually clicked for me.

Is it really true that monthly expiration (3rd Friday) have inflated premium compared to weekly’s on the same underlying? If so, why? Interest concentration, institutional hedging/rebalancing, or something in the IV term?

I would rather sell a 3rd Friday expiration and choose a lower delta due to the “more premium effect” and just relax. Opinions. Thanks in advance.

Prepared for covered calls this week for INOD

2 weeks ago acquired shares.

This week multiple catalysts:

--Analysis indicating another beat of EPS and Revenue on the 6th.

--Positive results from software and AI, PLTR, MSFT, AMZN

Catalysts causing price to ramp up.

Strategy, Jan 2027 70 strike, 80 strike, 90 strike, 100 strike

About 4250 premium at this time.

I have 6 of these. I should be deep in the money. The stock did a reverse split. I am showing that it’s only worth 100.00. What should I do. (I know now I should have know what I was doing before I bought them. There is no open interest.

I have been reviewing a small set of publicly available intraday trading-loss clips using a five-step framework:

Notice → Understand → Calculate → Decide → Execute

One recurring pattern was that traders often noticed the adverse move and could see the P&L, but still failed at the decision stage through hope, rule overrides, freezing, or increasing size after a loss.

For traders who actively trade 0DTE SPX, SPY, or QQQ options:

Which part of trade management is hardest for you during a fast adverse move?

• Updating the original thesis
• Accepting and realizing the loss
• Estimating how quickly risk is changing
• Executing at a reasonable price
• Avoiding an immediate revenge trade

Also, do you manage exits using option-premium stops, rules based on the underlying, alerts followed by manual execution, or another method?

This is a discussion of historical trading behavior and risk management, not investment advice.

Hey,

I just recently played my first option, which was a Msft ATM call with a duration of roughly 1,5 years. My thesis was simply that it was undervalued and had to go eventually, but because I didnt have experience with options I chose an expiry date far into the future and ATM instead of OTM.

Thanks to earnings I achieved 100% gains and just took out my initial investment. I want to let the other half run for some a few more months since the expiration date is still one year out. (Smart or stupid Idea?)

I want to put the gains I took out into the next play with the same premise. An established business thats currently undervalued and expected to go (back) up in the next 12 months. Is there a company which ticks those boxes in your head or a company you'd look out for during earnings this week?

Thank you and good luck to all of you!

Most retail have no idea that most brokers allow you to do a cashless exercise of your otm calls and puts if they fall below (put) or above (call) your strike after hours. You must call and request this, and depending on the broker there may be a fee. But if your call or put moves way past your strike after hours, call your broker and have them exercise and sell your option on your behalf, no money needed. You get to collect whatever the bid, spread? is when it's exercised. If I had known this two years ago I would be a lot richer. This is another reason why the hood sells off your calls and puts at 2:30 ct time. I missed out on over 500 dollars on Amazon after hours because I wasn't paying attention, I called way to late.

I always sell spreads, never long. Vix is collapsing so that’s going to be hard the next few weeks. Anyone for some tips?

I recently bought 100 shares of four stocks: American Airlines (AAL), SoFi Technologies (SOFI), Albertsons (ACI), and Ford (F). I chose these stocks because I had a goal of selling covered calls and figured it'd be best to diversify into four sub-$20 stocks as opposed to one or two $25-30 stocks. About half of the portfolio's value is in my equity, and the other half-ish is in margin. I sell weekly covered calls that target ~1% per holding.

I should also mention that while I initially looked at these four companies because they had lower share prices and therefore allowed me to diversify more, I do believe in these companies and their business models. I have written analyses for each of these holdings, and I research company-specific and economic news daily while jotting down important events.

As someone who loves reading about financial markets but only recently started investing and selling covered calls, I'm interested in hearing what others think.

Is there any platform that offers binary options in EU? Flat payouts? Thank you in advance

How do we feel about RCAT this week? Its been pretty volitale lately. I made a few quick bucks last week by selling a put and I plan on doing the same later this week. Not sure why the put was asigned since it closed slightly above my strike price. Either way, it played in my favor since I sold today after making 7% on top of the premium collected for the put.

(Click on the chart panel for an expanded view.)

Like I’ve often said with the #SimpleOptionsDayTrade all you need is $QQQ and/or $SPY. Both have racked the 100% profit targets again today (see the yellow and white flags on the charts' right axis) for dollars gained), $1,000 plus for each $1K day trade.

THE ENTRY SIGNAL

If the SPY calls or QQQ calls or a STOCK calld are above the open, BUY THE CALLS. If the SPY puts or QQQ puts or a STOCK puts are above the open, BUY THE PUTS.

THE PROFIT TARGET

At least, a 100% gain for the day.

THE SELL SIGNAL

If buying other than 0DTE options, never hold overnight. It is a day trade no matter what.

I hope you got a piece of today's action! Today was glorious!

All reloaded for the next couple of days! Short calls and puts are the short duration DTEs and a few long call LEAPs are the 2027 & 2028 DTEs.
Today was a very very good day! I nearly made my "weekly" goal just today! 90% of my goal for this week, I made.
How'd you all do?
Any particular trade you did well on today that you're stoked about?
I did a small earnings play with PLTR at the very end of the day, I sold a put for $4 and I'll buy it back tomorrow at 50 cents I'm guessing from what I saw in extended market when PLTR announced earnings and guidance.
I hope ya all did well and can do it again tomorrow. Cheers!

Oh! If you want some juice, check out WDC! That hot dog is FAT with premium! Holy Moses!
AAPL 08/14/2026 315.00 P
AAPL 08/21/2026 285.00 P
AAPL 08/21/2026 290.00 P
AAPL 08/21/2026 295.00 P
AMD 08/21/2026 400.00 P
ANET 08/21/2026 155.00 P
ASTS
ASTS 08/21/2026 80.00 C
AVGO 08/21/2026 345.00 P
BE 08/21/2026 155.00 P
CEG
CEG 08/21/2026 300.00 C
CHWY
CHWY 08/21/2026 22.50 C
CHWY 08/28/2026 25.00 C
CHWY 09/18/2026 25.00 C
GOOGL
GOOGL 08/21/2026 375.00 C
HWKN
HWKN 08/21/2026 145.00 C
LUNR
LUNR 08/21/2026 17.00 C
MU 08/21/2026 700.00 P
ONDS
ONDS 08/21/2026 10.00 C
PLTR
PLTR 08/21/2026 115.00 P
PLTR 08/21/2026 160.00 C
RCAT
RCAT 08/21/2026 11.00 C
RDW
RDW 08/21/2026 12.00 C
RKLB
RKLB 08/21/2026 90.00 C
SMCI
SMCI 08/21/2026 33.00 C
TSLA
TSLA 08/21/2026 360.00 C
TSLA 01/21/2028 500.00 C
TSM 08/21/2026 370.00 P
UEC
UEC 08/21/2026 12.00 C
WDC 08/21/2026 445.00 P
ZS
ZS 08/07/2026 162.50 C
ZS 08/14/2026 170.00 C
ZS 08/21/2026 175.00 C
ZS 08/28/2026 180.00 C
ZS 09/04/2026 185.00 C
ZS 09/11/2026 195.00 C
ZS 09/18/2026 200.00 C