Strategy Guides
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SPX 0DTE Options: The Complete Playbook for Same-Day Expiration Trading
SPX 0DTE options now account for nearly half of all S&P 500 options volume on a given day. If you trade options, you need to understand how they work, even if you never plan to trade them. Key Takeaways 0DTE SPX options expire the same day they are traded. Gamma is at its peak, theta…
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When to Close a Winning Options Trade: Profit-Taking Rules for Premium Sellers
Knowing when to exit a winning options trade is just as important as knowing when to enter one. Most options education focuses on strike selection, expiration choice, and premium targets. The exit side gets far less attention, yet leaving money on the table and getting caught holding through a reversal are two of the most…
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Short Straddle Options Strategy: Maximum Premium, Maximum Risk, and When to Use It
The short straddle collects more premium than any other single-expiration structure. It also carries unlimited risk on both sides. That tension is what makes it worth understanding precisely. Key Takeaways A short straddle sells an ATM call and ATM put at the same strike and expiration, collecting maximum premium. The profit zone is narrow: you…
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Day Trading Options With a Small Account: Strategies Now That the $25,000 PDT Rule Is Gone
The $25,000 minimum is gone. If you’ve been watching from the sidelines with a $5,000 or $10,000 account, the rule that stopped you from day trading options doesn’t exist anymore. But that doesn’t mean you should just start firing off trades. The new framework changes what’s possible. It doesn’t change what’s smart. This guide covers…
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Why a Stock Beat Can Still Crash Your Options: The NFLX Q1 2026 IV Crush Case Study
Netflix beat earnings. The stock dropped 9%. And a lot of options buyers lost money even though they got the direction right. That’s IV crush, and understanding what happened with NFLX in April 2026 is one of the clearest real-world examples of how implied volatility mechanics can overwhelm a correct directional bet. Key Takeaways NFLX…
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How to Trade Options Around Bank Earnings: Reading the Big Bank Setup
Bank earnings week just ended. JPMorgan beat estimates and Dimon called the economy’s chances 50-50. Wells Fargo missed. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both posted record quarters. That range of outcomes, from miss to record, in a single week is exactly why bank earnings options setups reward preparation and punish guesswork. This guide covers…
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How to Trade Options Around Earnings: Straddles, Strangles, and the IV Crush Problem
Implied volatility spikes before earnings because no one knows what the company will report. The moment the report drops, that uncertainty collapses, and so does the IV. If you bought options into earnings without understanding this, you can be right about the direction and still lose money. That is the IV crush problem, and it…
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Bear Call Spread: How to Profit From a Bearish Outlook With Defined Risk
A bear call spread lets you profit from a bearish or neutral outlook while collecting premium upfront and capping your maximum loss before you place the trade. If you already understand how a bull put spread works, a bear call spread is its mirror image: instead of collecting credit below the market, you collect credit…
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Trading Options Around Bank Earnings Season: A Q1 2026 Playbook
The week of April 14, 2026 brings the most concentrated earnings event of Q1: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup all report within a few days of each other. For options traders, this is not the same setup as a Tesla or NVIDIA earnings play. Bank earnings behave differently, and the…
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Calendar Spread Strategy: How to Profit from Time Decay Without Direction
A calendar spread gives you a defined-risk way to profit from time decay without needing the stock to move. You sell a short-dated option and buy a longer-dated option at the same strike, collecting the difference in premium. The near-term option decays faster, and if the stock sits still, you keep that decay as profit.…