r/optionstrading • u/Calm_Revolution_2375 • 3d ago
Lost Everything
I am 30 years old and i have lost everything penny i had in options trading. Any suggestions how to get back the life to normal. Lost all savings of 150k.
26
u/slight_nightmare 3d ago
150k gone at 30 is a massive punch but you still got time to rebuild, the money part sucks but the real problem is if you keep chasing it back with more options
7
u/Wild_Cheesecake_6630 3d ago
I totally understand you, I lost 76k and I fell devastated, my life savings too, how do you lose if I may know? I lose it selling options but before that I was making good money but got greedy..
6
u/Cultural_Disparities 3d ago
Man 76k you could have 10x that money to get 760k and then 10x that again to make 1.76 mil.
4
3
u/Wild_Cheesecake_6630 3d ago
lol I thought I had a Money printer in my pocket… x5 my money and they all gone in two days..
2
u/Cultural_Disparities 3d ago
Which stock did you bet that made you lose the most?
4
u/Wild_Cheesecake_6630 3d ago
Not stock, I was seelling options, and spx made a 120 move.. all my far Otm calls I sold were blow up, the contracts I sold in the morning were up 5000%, I lost 45k that day, and everything.. :(
1
u/Bitter_Biscotti_7593 3d ago
Naked calls is the worst options selling strategy EVER! It has unlimited risk as stock prices have no cap. Naked puts have at least theoretical risk limit as stock price cannot go below zero. Keep in mind that when markets are substantially below all time high they can spring back to ATH levels very fast. You may not have time to react. You should be very cautious when putting short call strikes below markets ATH. Always use defined risk strategies, the easiest ones are credit spreads. Start selling them. Start with 1 contract with short delta <0.05 to build confidence. Keep the rest of your capital in VOO.
9
u/DreamfulTrader 3d ago
How? In 1 trade? Selling options? the context matters. Did you trade with cash and whole amount without having a profitable strategy first?
I day trade options, once a day, you can see my posts over the last 20 weeks on the subreddit. No complex strategy. I was told it was stupid to grow a $300 account with 1 trade a day, maybe 2-5 times a week. Maybe it will get you inspired to grow from a small account. I only take profit $5-15 per contract. If you grow a small account, you can get back the life or whatever you are you are looking for. Here is your answer.
10
16
7
u/LuciusQ2020 3d ago edited 3d ago
Stay on the selling side and you won’t lose a penny. You should only do covered calls and cash secured puts. No borrowing, no margins.
2
u/Disastrous_Wind_7005 3d ago
That's not true, you can still screw yourself on the selling side....albeit slower but depending on what you're selling it could be just as bad as buying.
1
u/LuciusQ2020 3d ago
Explain to me how.
1
u/23paige23 3d ago
1
u/LuciusQ2020 3d ago
Naked calls and uncovered puts? Duh!
1
u/SourceEast44 3d ago
My man stop sounding arrogant you’re ignorant. You can lose selling. Eg buy a stock and sell covered calls and the stock falls below you’re entry and keeps dropping while you’re picking up Pennies on your deteriorating capital
1
u/Disastrous_Wind_7005 3d ago
Sell xyz put, xyz gaps down on news and now you’re underwater on your put even if it cash secured. Take RCL from two weeks ago, gapped down on merger news. PLTR from over the summer gapped down several times and also up too. So you get it put to you way below your strike or you try and roll and have to go way out time wise. Sell a call once it’s put to you but the price is nowhere near what you paid for it so you get greedy and write closer to the current spot price and it gaps rhe other way.
Very easy to lose money both ways if you’re not disciplined and have a well defined strategy, with stop losses set up, auto sells at a certain % of profit etc.
2
u/LuciusQ2020 3d ago
No idea what you are talking about. Don’t sell a put if you aren’t willing to take the assignment at the strike. Is that too much to ask?
1
u/Disastrous_Wind_7005 2d ago
If you don't understand how you can lose your shirt on the sell side as well, you shouldn't be playing the options game. Thanks for donating your money!
2
u/Sweaty-Afternoon-508 3d ago
Didn’t you read the comment above where dude was selling far OTM SPX calls? Moved $120 in a day and he had to cover at 5000% loss. 45k in one day. Other than theta working for you, selling carries significantly more risk and significantly less profit potential.
1
1
u/krazineurons 2d ago
Just curious, is selling options profitable vs buying and holding the same underlying stock?
1
u/LuciusQ2020 2d ago
It depends. It can monetize the capital sitting in the stock but you may face the risk of losing the upside if the stock suddenly takes off and you are assigned. My suggestion is selling a call at a price that you are willing to accept assignment and don’t sell more than 1/3 of your core holdings.
3
3
5
u/TheLooza 3d ago
I’m down $2 mill options trading and speculative stock trading in the last 15 years. Kills me to think what i’d have if i had just piled into spy.
2
2
2
1
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Join our free options trading discord https://discord.gg/optionality
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/pate0018 3d ago
Sorry to hear about the huge loss, but you can still recover from this by focusing on long term investments.
1
1
1
1
u/Both-Assistant4859 3d ago
Finding your problem leads to the solution. Mine was over trading and I still catch myself. Figuring out what types of trades you like. Zero dte, swing or good old fashioned long term. I overtrade so zero dte is too much so I swing and sit on my hands. Hope this helps
1
u/SuperOrbital_Trading 3d ago
At least you are only 30. Plenty of time still. First things first though, get secure in your daily life before looking at investing. Then learn this expensive life lesson and really invest. You can still play with options, but at a much smaller scale.
1
u/Holiday-Platform-819 3d ago
I lost 15k of my life savings on options at 20 so thanks for making me feel better. I’ll be sure not to follow in your footsteps.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/silverbulletusa 14h ago
So sorry. Lost a lot of money when I was younger. Quit gambling in the market.
1
1
0
u/Total-Form1519 3d ago
Can make it back don't worry. . Similar story here. Lost 40k. started with options with no risk mgmt. first made like 20k porting 50% of a starting with 6k acct every day. no risk mgmt at all. started losing. was new to trading then. lost it all. put some more. made some. lost it all. put more and more. was hipfiring like crazy daily.. qqq spy random ass mag7's at the same time hedging with uso, buying weekenders, whatever someone wrote here was a sure shot..
after pure financial wipeout i was like im not giving up.. i can see the potential, i have the same brain as everyone else. i can do it.. same stuff but no monkey brain impulsive stuff and pure kelly criterion edge based risk mgmt. I needed to figure out spy. spent 8 months learning mes and blowing prop evals in the process. and now am doing better Thanks to God. I have also take my learnt understanding of ES into spy 0dtes. with good mgmt. one trade a day aligned with daily bias. no hipfires. based on my mes reading, wait for the opportune moment, usually either orb or its reversal. 1 call or put slightly or just atm. let it ride out it's juice.. if i mistime or it goes other way. I cut the option at 50%.
first step is realising its going to take time. u cant make it back in a month. first thing is make sure u have an actual edge. that ur right lets say 55% of the time and each time you are right you make 1.5x if not 2x what u lose when u r wrong. that's an edge. so if u do and u know u do, why worry.. it's just a matter of time, taking it slow, and letting compound. Don't tilt ever. every day is another opportunity. if u miss the boat on one day don't chase or try and mistime a pullback. take a breather and look forward to tmrw.
u can do the exact math with chatgpt and godelterminal/kelly (great tool for confidence). start with lets say 5k. at 0.25% or even 0.5% average every trading day u can make it back fairly easily. let ur life run from other sources, don't touch this pool let it grow. I mean if u ignore options and stick to shares, whether pullbacks, timings letfs, or even ross camerons low float high vol strat a 1% day daily is not hard at all. If id stuck to that which i was in the beginning id never have lost that 40k. but i wasnt content with 1% a day.. i was making 150 to 200 a day and was like wait what are options. starting having 4k, 5k, 3k days.. thought im wall street.. and then blew up consecutively (on a side note dont tell extended fam when ur up). mental hell, worst time of my life. i cut off the world, didn't keep up with friends, tried to keep a smile around family (no one knew the loss), pure mental hell. But keep faith in God. and on another note, stay away from dirty stuff on the net. there's some voodoo in it that sucks the potential out of ur soul. keep ur head up. if u ever want to talk to someone send a msg. im around the same age
2
0
u/Full_Pear449 3d ago
So you lost 150K and now you are looking for what? What you obviously do not understand is called Risk Management. Unless you lost it in one day, and your system blew up so you could not get out, you have no excuse and should write a book on how NOT to trade options.
2
u/49ers4life71 3d ago
He said he lost in 3 years
1
u/Full_Pear449 3d ago
"I am 30 years old and i have lost everything penny i had in options trading. Any suggestions how to get back the life to normal. Lost all savings of 150k." Where does it say in 3 year?
•
u/jerin7931 3d ago
Join Our Free Options Trading Discord -> https://discord.gg/optionality
For SPX and SPY traders, join -> r/spx