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43 Comments
  1. Durai Raj SUBRAMANIAM says:

    Dear Gavin

    You have a big heart and a great blog.
    I read in one of your blogs that you don’t like to play earning. Nonetheless I wanted to as you how you feel about an earnings play.

    The idea revolves around the concepts of

    1.max pain
    2. increasing iv preearnings protecting the premium on long options that expire after the earnings date and
    3.decaying time value in near term options that expire preearnings.

    The concept of the max pain and the damped harmonic oscillator seems reinforced preearnings when stocks tend to form a flag type consolidation preannouncement.

    So I thought why not align the 2.
    So let’s say announcement is on the 27 of April
    I would sell the weekly at the max pain strike and for both the call and put for the options expiring on the 23rd of April and buy the 30th straddle at the same strike. I WILL EXIT the entire trade on the 23rd, before any earnings crush.

    I get the data for maximum pain from the free website with the same name.

    DURAI FROM SINGAPORE!

    1. Gavin says:

      Thanks Durai, much appreciated. Yes that idea makes sense, I would suggest backtesting using Option Net Explorer.

    2. Fred M DukeDuong says:

      You konw what the best way to trade ER is? Learn how to trade UOAs. If you can catch a whale 2 days prior to ER then that is a forsure win. Last week with EXPE. Found a buyer of 6000 call spread 2 days before ER. The two strikes were very very specific and sure enough during ER expe went from 107 to 130

  2. Jason says:

    Dear Gavin,
    I joined and also confirmed the email; but could not download any. When I clicked the link, it looped back to join popup window. Any help?

    Thanks

  3. David says:

    I joined and also confirmed the email; but could not download any. When I clicked the link, it looped back to join popup window.

    1. Gavin says:

      I think you have it now David, but if you still didn’t get it, let us know.

  4. John s Dao says:

    I am currently trading/testing the covered call system involved a Neutral Delta of two Indexes, one is the j Bearish index and another involved a Bull stock indexes. These two move at 98% of the time in opposite direction with same (Profit / Loss) percentage. The amount of dollars of the stocks should be very close to Zeros. My intention is to profit from Time decay and IV )Please let me know if you have good success in this strategy and want to my personal coach, I can be reached at (909) 6187170 or [email protected]

    1. Gavin says:

      Hi, we’re not doing personal coaching right now.

  5. Kenny H says:

    Hi, Wanted to confirm your email.
    Thank you, Kenny

  6. Ben says:

    So much free info, this is what we need to bring beginners into the market. Love this info using it well to make my goals happen!

  7. carlos anaya says:

    thanks so much for this great resource!!! worth billions!!!!

  8. Larry says:

    Fantastic. Just what I Ned to read to analyze and refresh my intellect..

  9. Enrico says:

    Very Helpful! Thanks

  10. Gavin (As well) says:

    Hey Gavin!

    My name is Gavin too haha!
    I got a question on options that has to do with the bid ask spreads. Wanted to get your take on it.
    Normally from what I’ve seen in options is that the Asks are higher than the Bids. In the case of finding an options trade where the Asks are lower than the Bids, would a buy put or buy call trade automatically profit from the difference of the spread between the two?
    Strike price = $22.50 / Change: +$0.00 / Bid = $0.85 / Ask = $0.05 / Vol = 1 / Int= 314
    Strike price = $20.00 / Change: +$0.00 / Bid = $0.20 / Ask = $0.05 / Vol = 145 / Int= 1,331

    Something like these two? where you would buy the contracts for $0.05 each and then the current price the contracts would be selling for are $0.20 for the $20 strike and then $0.85 for the $22.500 strike —

    Just curious as I starting out in options and see than all of them are where the Ask is higher than the Bid and wanted to know what would happen for an options trade where the Ask is lower than the Bid

    1. Gavin says:

      Hi Gavin. That seems like a strange scenario. Have you seen that in practice, or is this just theory? Very unlikely that you would be able to buy for $0.05 and then immediately sell for $0.85. There’s no free lunch.

      1. Gavin (As well) says:

        That was my initial thought too. I mean i understand scalping profits by trading with the market makers. As much as market makers don’t like when traders scalp off them being that they have to trade into stock distribution a specific way to where they can actually have enough liquidity and activity on the other side to trade into and out of their positions..
        It’s made me all the more curious as to why they have left these options open. And I have been backtest trading them in a simulated, real-time trading environment and all of these have been pulling in profits that i can’t seem to believe is real and aside from the notion that there is no freebies in the market, I nor anyone has not been able to find a credible reason as to why they are like this nor as to how this much profit would is being made… which is more of my second question to this whole thing, but the more important of the two..

        If you would want to take a further look into it and see if there is anything I’m missing that would be greatly appreciated.
        The two examples I gave from above are actual options trades that can be made right now which was:
        For Plantronics ($POLY): Buy Puts
        Strike price = $22.50 / Change: +$0.00 / Bid = $0.85 / Ask = $0.05 / Vol = 1 / Int= 314
        Strike price = $20.00 / Change: +$0.00 / Bid = $0.20 / Ask = $0.05 / Vol = 145 / Int= 1,331

        Then there are also:
        Nektar Therapeutics ($NKTR): Buy Calls
        Strike price = $21.00 / Change: +$0.00 / Bid = $1.25 / Ask = $0.05 / Vol = 10 / Int= 194
        Anaplan ($PLAN): Buy Put
        Strike price = $42.50 / Change: +$0.00 / Bid = $1.25 / Ask = $0.10 / Vol = 8 / Int= 117

        In the last month and a half of seeing these and trading them in a simulated environment each trade has been making profits anywhere from around 300% up to 6500%.. There were one or two others i was trading too but over time those contracts prices have been bought up and then do not reflect the setup that i am looking at anymore.

        1. Gavin says:

          What expiration dates were these for?

          1. Gavin (As well) says:

            Hi, Just wanted to reach out again and to say that just a few days shy of the futures expiration dates on the ones i was talking about still stand for these:

            $POLY Buy Put @ $22.50 – Ask:$0.05 Bid: $0.85 Last price paid: $0.03 (5/20/22 exp)
            $POLY Buy Put @ $20.00- Ask: $0.05 Bid $0.20 Last Price paid: $0.05 (5/20/22 exp)
            $NKTR Buy Call @ $21.00 – Ask: $0.05 Bid: $1.25 Last Price paid: $0.05 (5/20/22 exp)

            $PLAN no longer has any mismatched options setups like this
            $TEN no longer has any mismatched options setups like this

            Put in a $NKTR trade again today and its up 1,150%

          2. Gavin says:

            Very nice, well done.

        2. Jim says:

          Hello Gavin. My name is Jim. I am very interested in your comments about the Bid/Ask differences.
          How has your success been since these original posts?

  11. Gavin (as well) says:

    For all of these the past expiration period was 4/22/22 and then then the $POLY and $NKTR options spreadsheets both still have these kinds of setups on them for the 5/20/22 exp period.
    Through both periods i have continue to test these and others I have found too like this and and I continue these same results.
    AS of now the $PLAN BUY PUT @ $42.50 has adjusted to where the ask is now $2.50 and the bid is $1.25.
    Along with my $NKTR $21 buy calls, I was doing a $NKTR buy call at $22 strike price when it was an ask of $.05 and a bid of $.10, but closed it out even in that scenario cause the prices of the bid ask flipped to normal

    So you can better see what I have been testing I’ve made a copy of my trade history + performance history. Less than 150 trades total. Its much easier to see with all the numbers and such. I also included other screenshots of example spreadsheets that i have taken over time too..

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1x1rJgo3K6ZOYeRGe4CxcLMPEUuevvJz2?usp=sharing

    Let me know if this link works for you.. Also feel free to email me if you want to continue discussion not in the comments section on your site haha

    1. Milo says:

      Hey Gavin
      My name is Milo< please get back to my email [email protected] to discuss on the bid ask questions and jow you are doing

      1. Gavin says:

        Sent you an email

    2. Jason Poelman says:

      Hello Gavin I’m Jason. Your messages from last year have me curious and I’d appreciate the opportunity pick your brain. I’m new and been struggling. Thanks for taking the time to read my message and thank you in advance for any help you may have to offer.
      [email protected]

      1. Gavin says:

        Ok I will email you.

  12. Bobby Goforth says:

    hello requested 4 diff topics, as well as iron condor course, never recvd confirmation email for any of them, email address [email protected] was correct??Help

    1. Gavin says:

      I’ve sent you an email with the details.

  13. Tom says:

    Gavin,
    Must I know everything about Delta Dollars to trade a normal covered call? I read this recent section and don’t really understand it without reading it very slowly. So, what I need to know is to how to stay away from it.

    No matter how good I may get – I don’t need a “problem” to arise that wipes me out in one trade.
    Thank you for your work on making options easier to understand!

  14. Tom says:

    Interesting question (I hope).
    I sold a KO (Cocoa Cola)Put Option expiring on 1/20/2003 – STRIKE $52.50. As the seller, I can buy back the option anytime for the expiry date. Right now, the open market value is not that great but I know I keep the initial premium plus any proceeds from a sale prior to expiration.
    Is there a way (or allowed) to exercise the option myself? Sounds crazy but it fulfills one of the reasons to sell an option in the first place – BE ABLE to buy the stock at a discount. Hard for my mind to grasp.

    In my mind, I can wait until the expiration date but how do I pay the value ($52.50 per share to get a stock that could be worth $60 to $90 per share in nearly 3 months?

    Would greatly appreciate any clarification. Thanks!

  15. ISIDORE THUMMMA says:

    thank you

  16. Harjvan Toor says:

    Thanks

  17. William Seelig says:

    Thank you your stuff is really good.

    1. Gavin says:

      Thanks William, I appreciate the feedback.

  18. Neil says:

    if you think the QQQ will make about a 3 week move starting now what would be your favorite strike price and expiry for the best time premium vs return vs time decay trade?

    1. Gavin says:

      Depends what strategy you are talking about. You didn’t mention a strategy.

  19. Giuseppe DAngelo says:

    This The Best source of educational information trading option. A World OF Thanks Gavin.
    Giuseppe DAngelo

    1. Gavin says:

      Humbled to hear that. Thank you.

  20. William says:

    Wooooow, what a GREAT website. I can’t thank u enough for allllllll this info. I’m new to options & actually have 2 covered call trades atm & was wondering how the option price is going down while the price was increasing. I downloaded & opened alllll the links do I can go thru them to better understand what’s going on. You r a GREAT person for doing this. This site needs to b the VERY first site that pops up when searching for IV understanding. Thank u again.

    1. Gavin says:

      Hi William, you welcome and thanks for the kind words. It depends on the stock, but perhaps if earnings have just been released there could have been a big IV crush which could explain the price of the call going down even though the stock has risen.

  21. Mark says:

    Hello Gavin, I just purchased your book on Kindle and I can’t seem to get the link to the trading log and journal. Any help will be appreciated!

  22. Herman Jackson says:

    Do you have anything, aTraining Course, Text Examples, Etc.
    , on “Trading the VWAP” that you could send to me?
    Thanks. Herman

  23. John says:

    Quite insightful, thank you.

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