Four principles
Fixed
The same four for every options position, whichever structure is chosen. They decide what we are willing to trade at all.
Loading
Principles and methodologies
Options
Fixed
The same four for every options position, whichever structure is chosen. They decide what we are willing to trade at all.
Run every time
Market view through to exits. It decides how the principles become a specific options strategy.
Options principles
What we trade
What it rests on
What we trade
01Buying and selling are both trades
Neither is superior, and selling is not the mirror image of buying.
Treating one trader’s loss as the other’s gain is where most options thinking goes wrong, and it leaves the trader permanently undecided about which camp to belong to. We use both. Which one appears in a recommendation is decided by the evidence, not by allegiance.
02Leverage is leverage
It is neither a virtue nor a vice.
Whether it helps or harms is settled entirely by how it is used — the size taken, and the loss accepted before the position is opened.
What it rests on
03The Greeks are not the market — price is
They describe how a position will behave; they do not say where the underlying is going.
The Greeks are derivatives of price. They inform a decision we have already framed on the chart. A position taken on the Greeks while the price action is ignored has the relationship backwards.
04Chart reading is under-rated
No position of ours is taken without the price action supporting it.
Options are the sharpest instrument available for tactical positioning, whether the purpose is speculation or a hedge, and what makes them precise is the chart.
Options methodology
One follows a view on the underlying, the other follows an event. Each is chosen a different way, and every recommendation says which it is.
View-driven
Where the underlying is going, and what volatility is expected to do while it gets there.
View on the underlying
Event-driven
The event, not the trend, is the reason for the position, and the date it resolves is known in advance.
The base both kinds rest on
Each stage has to be answered before the next one is reached, and the recommendation is only published once the last one is. Whether the position came from the matrix or from a dated event, it has been through all six.
The thesis, and what would invalidate it.
Holding period, catalyst timing, expected path.
The pricing environment and the calendar.
Suitable families, trade-offs, maximum risk.
Liquidity, capital use, diversification.
Follow-up actions and exit conditions.
What it produces
A suitable strategy family, defined-risk and payoff context, expiry and execution considerations, and a follow-up plan before publication.
Options questions
Execution, strategies, follow-ups, exits and risk, explained in one place.
No. Each recommendation gives an estimated entry range for the net debit or credit. We expect the entry price to be available for almost all recommendations, but market prices can move quickly and a few opportunities may pass. Check the live price and all the legs before placing your own order. If the quoted terms are outside the range, wait for them to return or skip the trade. Do not chase it.
Recommendations and follow-ups appear in your dashboard, and we send email notices. You need to be able to review the terms and place or adjust orders yourself when you choose to act. We aim to publish most recommendations before the US market closes, but the time varies. If you cannot act while an entry remains suitable, you can skip it.
No. We do not recommend intraday trades in either service. Each Options recommendation is labeled short term (1–4 weeks), medium term (4–12 weeks), or long term (more than 12 weeks). These are intended horizons, not guaranteed holding periods; a follow-up can change the plan.
The strategy depends on the opportunity and can include purchased options, debit or credit spreads, covered or hedged positions, and diagonal, calendar or butterfly spreads in traditional or modified forms. Most recommendations involve a net debit. We do not recommend naked short calls or puts. Every recommendation identifies its legs, entry premium range, expiry, purpose and risk.
A follow-up is an instruction about an existing position. It may add or reduce exposure, adjust a leg, roll a position, change a risk level, or recommend an exit. It appears with the original recommendation so you can read the sequence of decisions in one place. We also send an email notice.
Our adviser monitors published recommendations during market hours and aims to send follow-ups promptly when a change is needed. You remain responsible for monitoring your own brokerage position and executing any order. We do not place or manage trades in subscribers’ brokerage accounts.
We send a follow-up specifying the action and price terms for each affected leg, or a collective closing price where appropriate. A position is shown as closed only after all its open legs have been accounted for. There are no automatic Target 1 or Target 2 exits for Options.
An Options recommendation may specify a stop based on the underlying price, rather than the option premium. Read the rule shown with that trade: a touch basis applies when the underlying trades through the level; a closing basis applies only if it closes through the level at the stated daily, weekly or monthly close. Not every Options position has a stop-loss level, and a stop does not guarantee the price of an exit.
Where both maximum profit and maximum loss can be estimated, Reward:Risk compares those two amounts at the stated entry assumptions. For example, 2:1 means the estimated maximum profit is twice the estimated maximum loss. It is a model comparison, not the probability of success or a promise of either outcome. Some strategies have no fixed profit cap or no single expiry payoff; in those cases a finite ratio is not shown. The open position's risk picture can change after a follow-up.
The recommendations this methodology produces, what each one contains and the follow-through after entry.
Options involve risk and are not suitable for every investor. Read the risk disclosure before acting on market information.