Intro

Welcome to the Equity Options Trading blog. I am a software architect by profession but a passionate stock options trader. I've been trading off and on for about 7 years. I worked for an investment bank that didn't allow options trading except to cover your positions, so I had to give it up for a while, even though I was a lowly software guy (and I don't cover positions, I trade speculatively). My best trading period was earning 300% return within six months on a decent sized account (low five figures). With the exception of my retirement accounts, I have only made one or two actual equity trades, everything else has been stock options. I enjoy the risk, leverage, and the potential returns on relatively small sums of money in a short period of time. This blog will post my commentary on the world of options trading, recommendations from time to time, and a small experiment/challenge I am currently doing (which will be another post). I am not a professional trader and have never held a trading position of any type. I trade in my spare time and for the thrill.

I welcome anybody's advice, questions and ideas. I don't pretend to know it all and generally do what works for me. My trading pattern is fairly basic, for the most part I buy either calls or puts. I've done other strategies (butterflies, spreads, etc) but most of my trades are directional guesses.

Options trading is an excellent way to generate income for those of us who are not risk adverse. Don't be fooled: options trading is very risky and most do not fare well. You must be prepared to lose. If you decide to get into this type of trading, start with an amount that you are comfortable parting with, possibly fairly quickly. The upside to options trading is that you can earn a rate of return you couldn't possibly with simple equity trading and investing. A trade can generate 20% return in a single day or a 100% return, the sky is literally the limit.