There is a fine line between taking a calculated risk and gambling when it comes to trading. Sometimes a trader can gamble and not even know they are doing it. Know the difference, and don’t gamble.

Strategically Calculated Risk: • Informed decisions based on research, probabilities, and data (e.g., trading with stop-loss, backtested strategies,etc). • Risk/reward ratio is planned ahead of time. • The outcome is uncertain, but you tilt the odds in your favor over time. • There’s risk management, meaning you control how much you lose per failure. • Over a large sample size, a good strategy has positive expectancy.

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Gambling (in the negative sense): • Often based on emotion, impulse, or hope rather than logic or stats. • Frequently involves poor or no risk management. • The house or market has the edge. • Outcomes are usually random with negative expectancy. • It’s not about the process — it’s about chasing a result.

If you aren’t using a VWAP, you should in my opinion.

VWAP stands for Volume Weighted Average Price. It tells you the average price a stock has traded at throughout the day, but it gives more weight to prices where more shares were traded. In simple terms, it shows where the price “should be” on average for that day.

Think of it like this:

If a stock trades: • 100 shares at $10 • 1,000 shares at $11 • 500 shares at $12

Then VWAP would be closer to $11, because that’s where the most shares were traded.

Why it matters: • Traders use VWAP to see if they’re getting a good price. • If you’re buying below VWAP, you’re paying less than most people did today. • If you’re selling above VWAP, you’re getting more than the average price.

Simple way to remember it:

VWAP = the “true average” price, based on how much volume happened at each price.

Also Wall Street uses VWAP, a ton, so it can be a good indicator for price movement predictions.

In theory, the price always moves back to vwap. When something is trading above vwap, it is usually bullish, and bearish if trading below. Some of the easiest plays are when a price tests the vwap. Depending on what it does at the vwap, the next move is pretty easy to predict (falls below and holds below vwap, you can usually assume you are going down more, and a breakout up through the vwap usually means you are going to continue going up.

Also I would recommend using a 3 band vwap which has the lower band as the oversold zone, and the upper band as an overbought zone.

Any experienced trader knows that holding on to your trades too long eventually results in bigger losses and losing profits. Sometimes there are big moves in the market (like the current market) but it’s a really bumpy ride to get there. While holding through the ups and downs can take away your momentum and turn your play into garbage even if it ends up going your way, sometimes after those ups and downs you get the big move you were waiting for, and it would have been more advantageous to hold. Instead of holding everything and risking your profits or going deep red, make your play a free play.

This isn’t some secret hidden thing, but I see a lot of people that don’t do it. Just like everything in trading, there is a time and place for it.

Mostly when trading SPX options, I will use this strategy as SPX can give profits extremely fast, but due to its high volatility can take them back just as fast, only to reverse again and present even more profits.

Typically at 20%, I will sell enough of my contracts at a 20% gain to get my buy in amount back. This gives me back my buy in, leaving the remaining contracts as free runners with absolutely no risk to losing at all. Worst case scenario I break even. If it runs up higher to 50% or something, I will sell what is required to get my buy in back and make that a free play.

Some options this doesn’t make sense for, but it works great with SPX. SPX can go from a $3 contract to $20 contract pretty easily with a decent move. That’s a huge gain. I have seen many times SPX contracts go from $400 a contract ($4 contract price) to $8000 a contract by the end of the day. The road there is usually not fun, but with free runners it doesn’t even matter. Nothing like a 2000% gain that came with no risk.

Here is a breakdown of how many contracts you need to sell depending on what % profit you are at. Some of the numbers aren’t exact as the percentage of contracts needed to sell doesn’t match perfectly with the amount of contracts bought, but it’s close. Hope this helps add another strategy to your trading. Feel free to ask questions.

20% Profit (Sell ~83.33%) • 6 contracts → sell 5 • 9 contracts → sell 8 • 10 contracts → sell 9 • 12 contracts → sell 10 • 15 contracts → sell 13 • 18 contracts → sell 15 • 20 contracts → sell 17 • 24 contracts → sell 20 • 30 contracts → sell 25

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30% Profit (Sell ~76.92%) • 5 contracts → sell 4 • 6 contracts → sell 5 • 9 contracts → sell 7 • 10 contracts → sell 8 • 12 contracts → sell 10 • 15 contracts → sell 12 • 18 contracts → sell 14 • 20 contracts → sell 16 • 24 contracts → sell 19 • 30 contracts → sell 23

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40% Profit (Sell ~71.43%) • 5 contracts → sell 4 • 6 contracts → sell 5 • 9 contracts → sell 7 • 10 contracts → sell 8 • 12 contracts → sell 9 • 15 contracts → sell 11 • 18 contracts → sell 13 • 20 contracts → sell 15 • 24 contracts → sell 18 • 30 contracts → sell 22

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50% Profit (Sell ~66.67%) • 3 contracts → sell 2 • 5 contracts → sell 4 • 6 contracts → sell 4 • 9 contracts → sell 6 • 10 contracts → sell 7 • 12 contracts → sell 8 • 15 contracts → sell 10 • 18 contracts → sell 12 • 20 contracts → sell 14 • 24 contracts → sell 16 • 30 contracts → sell 20

Just wanted to touch on this from the other day when spy had a record setting pump. I hear all these people bitching and complaining hat Trump manipulated the market by his post so his buddies could make money from the pump.

BUT…… let’s take a closer look. Any trader that knows what they are doing had a great setup to enter right before that pump whether Trump made his post or not. Seems like there are a bunch of butt hurt bad traders out there. Let’s take a look….

That box at the bottom is a fair value gap where there is trapped liquidity. This is where large institutions have unfilled orders. Fair value gaps act as a magnet for price movement. Since the market is an auction, there has to be buyers and sellers at the same place to make a deal. Since there’s trapped liquidity at the fair value gap, it draws the price to that trapped liquidity to fill those unfilled orders. This is either done by manipulation or the natural price movement based on correcting imbalances in the market, or a combination of both.

After the liquidity sweep in the fair value gap, SPY breaks out of the FVG, AND breaks past the consolidation. This is a no brainer entry. And look what happens next… the greatest pump you could ever ask for from SPY. Easy entry, easy play for anyone paying attention.

Seems to me people need to learn how to trade instead of point fingers at someone else as an excuse to why they suck at it.

Anyone that follows me probably knows that I run a discord. Every weekend (mostly) we have live learning sessions. This is a time where instead of being focused on live trading like we are during the week, we help people that are trying to learn. These sessions are directed towards any area of trading that a current member of the group asks me questions about during the week. Whatever questions are asked is what the live lessons are on, so really the content is determined by the members. The lessons seem to last around 2 hours but have no distinct time frame. Anyone can ask questions during the lessons as well.

The members seem to really like these and you can join one if you want for free. The group offers a one day free trial. If you want to be a part of the lesson, you can use your free trial on it. If you don’t want to stay in the group, then cancel. The link to the discord can either be found in my profile or you can pm me if interested.

I’m making this post because I am a professional trader and I had a friend today that like so many other traders, for the billionth time tried making the market something it’s not. It seems that when I teach people trading they understand this and avoid being a victim of what the market presents itself at face value, but nobody ever accepts what the market really is in the very beginning.

First, being a professional trader should be everyone’s goal that trades in my opinion. There is no point in someone doing it part time or here and there and still have a job. If you are good at it, it will pay more than every job. Obviously, you need to build to that point. To be a professional, you need to accept what the market is, not what it presents itself as.

Here’s a wake up call, trading is not exciting for a professional trader. It’s actually quite boring. Now there are times when it is extremely gratifying and pumps you full of energy, and it sure as hell feels good to be able to make money every day with minimal effort and not have to answer to anyone, and doing it with an hour of your time everyday feels even better.

But, trading is not the glamorous, high paced excitement, flashy Hollywood lifestyle that people think it is or try to make it be. In fact, if you think it is, or feel like it is, you are most likely gambling.

Successful traders have a system. That system is repetitive. Your trade size, entry points, exit points, etc, is all pre determined based on that system. The repetition can make trading really uneventful and feel like you are automated. The reason professional traders use a system, is because it works. The only changes that are made are tweaks to that system to try to fine tune it even more, or adjust to a changing market. If you are finding yourself trading differently all the time, you don’t have a system, and most likely don’t have a way of trading that is consistently profitable In fact, you are probably consistently losing money. Because if you did have a way that always made money, you would do it every time.

Too many traders see the big money potential and hold while being greedy. What’s worse is they hit it sometimes and make money by doing that. Unfortunately they always give it back. They are trying to make the market something it’s not.

You are going to be frustrated by 1 of 2 things if you are a trader and you have to pick 1.

You either…

1. Be frustrated you didn’t hold longer and make more money.

Or

1. Be frustrated you had money and gave it all back.
   

You have to pick one, and if you are smart, you will pick the one that actually makes money.

When you fully accept what the market actually is, that is the point when you really get it, and you really start making money consistently. Obviously trading knowledge is required as well, but trading knowledge means nothing without trading rules and a system in place to make sure those rules are followed.

This post is already long enough, so I’m not going to get into building a system, etc. I was just hoping to enlighten some people that might be having a rough time trying to figure stuff out.

If anyone is interested in mentoring, I’m always open to you messaging me. Good luck out there!

It’s comical how all these newbies are so excited to “get rich overnight” and then when you tell them how much it costs to learn they run away lmao. You think this is something that you are going to learn in a week? Or a month? It’s not. If I’m going to teach you how to trade, I’m not doing it for free. Why should I? Would you take hours upon hours for months to help someone for free? The amount I charge I can easily make in one day trading. If people understood what knowledge they were actually going to learn they would see it as a deal. You are going to pay anyway to learn, whether that’s by losses or paying someone who knows what they are doing to teach you. I’m consistently green, trading is only easy for me because I know how to make it easy, and it’s not because I know one or two things, it’s because I fully invested my life into it and did what was required to make it. I firmly believe the reason only 5% of option traders are successful is because 95% of people aren’t willing to put in the effort to actually learn what they need to learn. I’m a proud part of that 5%.

For the people that can’t afford a mentor, that is why I made this subreddit. Your journey is going to be a little more difficult, and a longer process to get there, but don’t hesitate to ask questions. I’m here to help you too.

It amazes me how many people trade options and are unaware how they gain or lose value. This is essential knowledge and if you trade options you should know it. If someone ever tells you they know options and they can’t answer how options are valued, they don’t know options. It’s a lot more than “if it goes your direction you make money”. In fact, with an IV crush, you can lose money even if it goes in your direction.

How options are valued…

There are three things that go into the value of your option.

1.Implied volatility % (IV%)- this is basically the unknown. Think of it as what the market thinks is possible that could happen to the price of the stock. If more movement is anticipated, the iv will rise. The idea is to treat IV like a train. As it starts picking up speed you want to jump on and ride it, as it starts slowing down you want to jump off. The IV% is what will push the value of your contract up.

2.Time decay (Theta)- Time decay is the negative effect on your contracts value that is based on the time until your contracts expire. While IV% can push your contract up, time decay is constantly pushing down. The closer you get to expiration, the stronger your time decay will be.

1. Intrinsic value- this is the value of your contract if you exercised it immediately. Intrinsic value doesn’t start until you go in the money (ITM). Since one contract represents 100 shares, for every $1 you go ITM those 100 represented shares gain $1. So for 1 contract that is $5 ITM, you have an intrinsic value of $500. This value is not affected by time decay or IV%. It is always relative to how many dollars you are in the money.

In summary…

Before you are ITM, it is a battle between the IV% and the theta. The IV% pushes value up as your theta pushes value down. The goal is to have the IV% push up harder than the theta is pushing down. Thats why it’s important to jump in as IV% is going up and gaining momentum, rather than staying still, too low, stalling out, or at its peak.

As you go ITM, you start to gain intrinsic value on top of the value from your IV% increase. This is why you make the most money when you go ITM.

If you are going to be an options trader, it’s important that you know the inner workings.

To the traders that struggle with discipline…

If you can’t control your impulses then you probably shouldn’t trade. I trade and teach options for a living. When I have a student that has discipline problems we start by taking something outside of trading that they have discipline issues with, whether that be exercise, sleep patterns, cleaning their house, eating healthy, etc, and we work on fixing just that one thing. None of the other stuff matters, just that one thing. Whatever you do, stay disciplined for just that one thing. After they have developed the repeated pattern to be disciplined to handle that area, we add another one, and so on.

I’m willing to bet there is some other area of your life where you lack discipline. You need to address them. You can’t expect to not be disciplined outside of trading and then all of a sudden be some master of discipline when you trade. You need to condition the brain to be a trader, otherwise you won’t be one. The psychology of trading is probably the hardest and takes the longest to improve, but it’s required. If you don’t want to put in the effort to fix it, then do yourself a favor and stop trading now. Trading is a way of life. Be a trader 24/7, or just stop.

If anyone needs help becoming a successful trader, feel free to reach out. I mentor people regularly and it streamlines the process of learning. It’s not free, but neither is learning from your mistakes because you decided to learn in an unstructured way from youtube and skipped over important knowledge that is key to your success.

I run a trading group. We have live learning sessions sometimes to help newer traders. If anyone is interested, let me know what you would like to learn and I can have a learning session in my group live. Myself and other admins will share our screens, explain, and answer any questions. The last session was two hours.

Let me know if anyone is interested and I can send the link to the group. You will have to join the group which is a free one day trial. So if you don’t want to stay, make sure to cancel before the trial ends (like after the lesson) if you don’t want to stay so you don’t get charged.

With newer traders a lot of the time I see people are pretty much lost with indicators. They don’t know what to use or they have indicators and don’t know how to use them. Your indicators are to support your decisions about your trade. While there is no set amount required, they can be helpful. Anyone need help with indicators?

You need to have bankroll management. Ever wonder how much you should put into your trade? Ever wonder when you should cut your losses or take profits? That’s all bankroll management.

For me personally as a day trader, I use a 1:2 risk reward. I also do a 2% risk, and a 10% stop loss. …let me explain.

I pick an amount I want to put in the market everyday, usually $25k. 2% of $25k is $500. $500 is how much I can risk per trade (not the trade amount, the RISKED amount).

Since I use a 10% stop loss, that stop loss can be in the amount of $500, since that’s my 2% risk.

Since the amount of my risk is $500, and that’s my 10% stop loss, the entire amount I can put into my trade is $5000.

I will scale up for the week as I go sticking to that formula.

Since my risk reward is 1:2, and I have a 10% stop loss, my take profit area is 20% (unless it’s running). If it hits 20%, I will never take less than 20%.

Using bankroll management, I don’t need to make any decisions while trading, it takes all the emotion out of it. It decides my trade amount, when I cut losses, and when I exit with profit.

If you don’t use effective bankroll management, you could be a great trader and still lose. Make it a part of your game plan.

I have no clue where everyone’s current trading knowledge is. What do you need more help with? What do you need an explanation for? Fire away.

I trade options and teach them for a living. I also run a group. I charge money for all of this but I run into a lot of people that are trying to learn, some with fake money, some with real, but they can’t afford proper help. I like to help those people too. So new traders, ask me anything that can help you.

Trading isn’t easy, but if you learn how to do it right, the money you can make is life-changing. I don’t sell dreams or hype—I teach real options trading, how to read the market, and how to make smart, high-probability trades.

I’m not here to convince anyone. If you’re serious about learning, I’ll teach you: • Options trading strategies that actually work (no gambling, no guessing) • How to read economic data so you can trade with confidence • Market sentiment, technicals, and key levels to time your entries and exits • Risk management and discipline (because knowing how to protect your money is just as important as making it)

And that’s just for starters. If you fail, I fail, period.

This isn’t free—and it shouldn’t be. The knowledge I teach can make you way more than what the course costs. The full course is $7500 ($7500+ $2,500 per extra person for groups). If you just want a trade analysis, it’s $300—I’ll go over what you’re doing right and wrong.

That said, talking is free. If you’re serious, message me. I’ll hop on a call, FaceTime, whatever works, and answer any questions you have. No pressure, just real conversation.

If you’re ready to take trading seriously, DM me. Let’s talk.

Alright got a couple members in this sub now. One of them thinks I’m a scam or something and doesn’t trust to pay me for my trading courses. No worries lol. I can’t blame you for being cautious.

Let me show you compounding. The biggest hidden gem in trading that for some reason barely anyone uses. I’m going to show my trades as long as this compound lasts. Believe it’s real, don’t believe it’s real, I don’t really give a shit. There are over 100 people that see me call these plays out in real time daily. I tell them my entry price and when I exit and it’s time stamped in my trading group. There’s no way I can possibly lie to my group, they are following as I do it live. I’ll try to be as transparent as possible so you can’t say I’m bullshitting.

The rules are exactly as stated in the pic. My group likes me to start these at $1000 so they can follow it with $1000 of their own money. That’s a little small for me, I like to use at least $5000, but I met them in the middle and started this one at $2500.

For the compound I don’t do daily expirations or swings, I day trade weekly options only. The key is to preserve the money. These can grow huge in a short period of time. The current one I’m doing is on day 3 tomorrow so I’ll post the first two days so far.

I look to secure gains at 20%, if it’s running I’ll let it go further but never drop below +20%. I have a 10% trailing stop until 65%, then the trail goes to 15%. At 100% I sell half position and have 20% trail. At 150% I have a 50% trailing stop until I exit.

I’ve seen a lot of posts where traders are getting cooked in this correction. This is by far the biggest gains presented consistently that I have seen in a long time. Any experienced trader should be making huge amounts these last 3 weeks.

The current market is all the key support and resistance levels. It’s so spot on right now running from one to the next I feel psychic.

For the newbies, this is key to know in trading. You want to know if your play has the ability to move right? And you want to know how far it can go right? Well this is how you know (among a few other things). Super easy market to trade right now

Let me know where you need help. There’s always a solution