Hi Seth. I have just started doing option trading, this is a great video for me to understand what it takes to become a good options trader. Thanks for all your videos , they are absolutely awesome.
8:15, THAT’S where I’m currently struggling. I’ve had very good trade ideas that I’ve planned and prepared for, entered, stopped out, and watched run in my direction. Stopping out was the right idea at the time, rushing the entry with as much size as I did was the mistake. Discipline, discipline, discipline.
Mr Seth is a natural teacher, very well presented. The link on the top right doesn't work. I personally don't have a mentor but have been trading with real money. No stranger to being greedy and taking a loss or being a hopeless romantic thinking my play will turn around and be profitable. Far from a pro but plan to make all my losses at some point.
Thank you for providing these videos. Maturity is the key aspect that I need to work on. I trade with fidelity and they do not offer backtesting so I am opening up a think or swim account today. Thank you in advance for your feedback on becoming a mature trader.
Thanks for the video. Currently in your Options Foundation Course. Have not found my “B&B” Trade yet, but have traded Covered Calls for many years, recently cash secured puts, and most recently Verticles and Iron Condors. Learning how to Backtest in the course with Optionvue in addition to TOS. Have not worked directly with a mentor trading, just the SMB course as of now. I’ve taken some lumps, learned some lessons and moving on. Have not come close to blowing up an account due to risk management, but feel progress is too slow, due to too small of position-sizing. Reading, following, listening, chatting, watching, everything I can get my hands on to find common traits of trades and traders, from setups, to strategies, to, most importantly, psychology and risk management.
Brian, I enjoy your invovlement with our options community. You obviously have the passion and dedication to be successful. it's great that you are reading everything you get your hands on. That satisfies the passion and education requirements. Keep attending our weekly sessions. If you bring up position sizing we can talk about that. It's an important topic.
You're absolutely right about thinking you have it nailed. Just as soon as you start thinking that way, the market will devise a way to turn whatever you're working with and turn it inside out on you.
Pneumatic00: Well obviously the Options Gods is a fictional concept, but certain strategies are just streaky and so if you have a winning streak and then size up AFTER the winning streak you get pounded. I'm going to do a video about the best time to size up, actually, so look out for that :)
This video is pure gold. I come from a latino background and the spanish trading community is full of scammers. I started trading when I was 16 and I wish I would've found information like this one when I started my trading journey. If you don't mind I'd like to translate your videos into spanish so more people can benefit from such wisdom.
Bread and butter trade. This week I will endeavour to trade options using this strategy. Many parts but essentially macd cross over from below to above zero, price crossing above the twenty sma.
Greg, you may be able to shortcut the process of finding a bread and butter trade by back testing your proposed trade. If it looks like it has the potential for 30% year return, then it's worth it to forward test it on paper or a very small amount of live capital. It can get expensive to keep live experimenting with various strategies when you have not looked at their potential against actual historical data.
I just started income options trading in December 2021. I have no idea of what I am doing, I do not have a strategy as yet, am just following instructions. So far I am doing better with income options than with equity trading. I am learning the income strategy after blowing through $10,000.00 in lost, buying calls, and puts.
Watched your video and the biggest thing I am missing as a options trader is a mentor. Hard to trust many people who have claims to fame, but also hard for real trading firms to trust a trader without 10+ yrs of experience. I will keep learning and growing, looking for the right fit and tracking my trading journey ups and downs. One thing I definitely have is tenacity. Good luck out there SMB as you guys are definitely somebody I learn from and look to help me grow. Thanks for all you do for us newbie traders out there.
Thank you ! For me, the biggest things that stood out to me were #2, #3, #5, & #10 on knowing how to lose. I started trading options in August of 2016, back when i was 17yrs old. I started with a $3k account, and I just haven’t gotten anywhere. And looking back at all the trades I have done, it has come down to the losses and being inconsistent. Really appreciate all your videos! Been taking notes as much as possible on all the videos and just taking it all in and learning.
Hey Seth, My personal style is Naked Puts and Wheel strategy. These maneuvers have worked for me. In the new year I am going to work on Straddles and Strangles. I have never tried these strategies before. This video was helpful. Be well. Happy New Year. Jeff.
Sir, thank you all so much as the officers and administrators of SMB for your generous sharing of all the information and experience you have accumulated over the years. God's Speed.
There is no place for "Emotion" or "Ego" in the Stock Market. Cocky, arrogant traders or scared traders are two extremes of the same totem pole. The measured trader has a better grip on understanding Market Situations. "Slow and Steady wins the race," is a proverb that comes to mind. Great informative video, Thank you, Seth Freudberg.
I know a firm here in Atlanta they lost almost 1 billion selling naked puts. My mentor in PE told me they were looking for capital from him to survive. You have to be able to hedge or take max loss and still be profitable. Marty Schwartz took 25 million hit selling puts few months back but he was able to make it back after a few months. The key is capital preservation and making money by taking smart calculated risk. Looking forward to joining you guys in a year or two. Been trading options since July 2018 but only off and on because of forex/futures; didn't go full out options til May 2019.
Thank you for sharing this valuable insight, Seth. I am a DNA Student, slowly working through the course and have been studying and paper trading options to get a feel for how the process functions (I learn much better by doing, so paper trading has really helped without exposing myself to unnecessary losses). I now have a much better idea of how to proceed with my trading education/career. I would love to join the team eventually, but for now I will keep testing and honing my skills. There's a lot of room for me to improve.
Brian, that's really great news. Paper trading is absolutely essential as is back testing, for building your muscle memory on trading strategies and seeing how they react to real historical data. That's a very good sign that you have naturally gravitated towards those disciplines. To be successful of course you're going to need to trade live to really understand how you will react emotionally to wins and losses and whether you can stay balanced or not.
Thank you for the video. I have been trading for approximately 17 years... my bread and butter strategy is credit spreads. I have had months that I have done very well and then other times that it just does not work. I am primarily self taught, and in your presentation you nailed me in the section about being a mature trader. My weakness is knowing when to cut the loss and to be willing to preserve capital and go look for another trade and a set up that can be a winner. I am very interested in learning more and having a mentor to help me become more educated and disciplined in my approach to becoming mechanical in closing out the losing trade. Last year (2019) I was able to get a 400+% return on my account, and in 2018 I was one the same pace until October through December came along. I just signed up for the free work shop and I am looking forward to what I can glean from that. Thank you again John Slater aka roodoc
Definitely, the maturity is an issue. Lack of planning/ homework to start the day hurts as well. The lack of a mentor/ coach is what hurts me the most. The lack of experience at this game as well as a lack of sufficient back testing keep me overly cautious, wheeling my favorite stocks in and out of cash puts and covered calls my bread and butter trades for the moment. While I can glean a lot of insights from this UA-cam Channel, and ideas I can back test (so far, with no better success that what I'm doing now), I do believe the success will come as I deal with the above shortcomings; including finding that mentor.
Hi NIcholas, please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com and we can discuss some mentoring ideas. As far as improving stop losses, please elaborate on that. Can you give me an example of what you mean?
Seth, your comments touched a few raw nerves. Would you do a session on the types of records to keep. Would you also continue doing videos on the butterfly strategy.
Thanks for the video. there are a couple of things that stood out. 1. I tend to focus on weekly or 2 week out options because I'm inclined to day trade, instead of swing, especially in this volatile market. 2. Since moving to the west coast, I've struggled to keep a consistent schedule, always staying up way too late looking at tickers. This is a major gap I need to address. Just need to plan better.
Hi Alan, great points to focus on. The style of trading that we trade on our trading desk involves trades with a much longer time horizon--30-80 days typically. You can experience more consistent success with those durations in my experience. As for your schedule, you wouldn't show up late for work if you had that kind of job, right? So not adjusting your schedule and getting adequate sleep is the same as "being late for your job". The market will fire you :).
You can read a book about driving a car but the real learning happens behind the wheel. Get into the markets even if its paper trading, show up every day, ask yourself and find out why you're trade made or lost you money. The more reps you put in the better you will get. Knowledge is not power, you need to apply action.
Former Prop Trader -- Man o' Man...I miss being around the Desk. The companionship, the competition, caring about one another's successes...and working hard to correct the failures. The incredible, AMAZING feeling on days or weeks when you have just OWED the globe and everything in it. When you do ..every...little...single ..thing just right. and it all works exactly as envisioned. AND, the whole desk has the same outcome. Regardless of how well-appointed it may be...serious, professional trading from a home office SUXX! The 20 step commute is nice. Gotta have the ENERGY & the multiplicative IQ/EQ of a Desk, the Participants of which are all pulling the same direction.
I'm struggling with a “go to bread and butter strategy”. I've listened to a lot of your videos and I like the weekly SPX strategy as it's simple. Is this my “bread and butter” strategy? Thanks
I just started implementing a strategy like this using iron condors, $1k max collateral = $200-220 in net credit profit per trade. With the $SPY, you can get 3 weekly trades. Once I get enough profit, my goal is to increase my risk curve and continue using condors. You can do this with any stock with low volatility. I'm at a decent risk of losing on this Friday's condors, with earnings season crushing it, dumb move on my part, but hopeful that long term it's a decent strategy.
Hello Seth. I am new to Stock option trading. I feel a Mentor would be my immediate need. This video was very helpful and I appreciate your experience and insights.
Hello, I love you your videos and I have a question: When I place an order, for example, a Bull Put Spread, my max risk is between 1-2% of my portfolio, even knowing that is something goes wrong I will adjust and loss much less than my original max risk (sometimes even a lesser win). In your trading desk, what is usually your max risk that you would take?
Great video. I am trying to improve my "Go to Strategy" like you mentioned, and implement the use of back-testing by the use of a software (recently found out that my broker has one and will be using that).From the points that you mentioned my strongest are passion for the markets and the urgency of being prepared beforehand. I would like to see a video where you elaborate more on how you get prepared for your trading day i.e. News, scans, calendars, tweets, etc. Thanks again.
Great idea for a video, Wilkin. I'll work on that. To find your go to strategy, you need to be exposed to a number of different trading styles until you hone in on the one that resonates most with you. You should then back test the strategies that you like extensively to see if they are legitimate. After that, trade the strategy very small for quite a while, until you are exposed to numerous market conditions. do NOT make the mistake of trading live with large amounts of capital early in your trading career. That's the most important advice i can give you at this stage.
This makes great sense. How does one get started? In the past two years made 2 trades similar to those you highlight in your videos. I did make mistakes (pour setup of data causing a delay in structuring the trade - it did end up successful (gain) but not as anticipated. Do you have tools/methods/procedures/guidelines that cover this essential beginning knowledge? I am not looking for a trading gig. I am looking for solid information (lessons?) with guidelines. I understand (not at an expert level) how options work and their function. I have traded options successfully less than 50 - 60 times and lost money on 14-15 times. Any advice, help, or counsel would be greatly appreciated.
this is really informative. I wonder why they would put this information in such a free platform. I always thought option trading was like making high returns with low costs which was wrong. I'll be starting from the point 1 mentioned in this lecture.
Thank you for the kind comments Bikesh. If you are interested in the educational foundation for your trading, you might wish to attend our free 2 hour webinar on the subject. You can register for that webinar at optionsclass.com.
I find lately my best trades are Ideas I started thinking about the night before. Options gods are real. I like verticals. I have a note that says I'm never allowed to sell naked puts ever again. I have a generator in case I lose power. I am working on being a consistent green trader. I keep a journal most day, but sometimes 3 days feels like one. In all honesty I need to improve in every way. I am also a DNA student. I am 5 times the trader I was 3 months ago. I feel like Im very close to breaking through. Last week was green. seems like many weeks I would have 4 solid days and one bad one that wiped out the week. Usually form my own bias towards a stock or a random tweet from trump or Whitehouse. I don't know that Id ever be good enough to trade for SMB but it would be awesome. I was a biomed for 20 yrs then lost a contract and trying to make this my career. I wish I would have tried sooner. But I am more mentally prepared than ever before I believe. Anyways, thanks for your Videos I watch Michael , Steven and you often. Thanks for the videos.
Hello I am always watching your videos o am a complete rookie with a passion for the market, I am a hard working guy and I get along very well with people i am just looking for good solid education and guidance from your company i am willing to learn and work hard with SMB . I love options swing trading and I am looking for a chance to get to know you and learn. This is what I would love to learn in my pursuit of happiness. And I know I will make it in this industry if I get a chance from you. You will not be disappointed. One day I will be one of your best students .
Tim, most of our successful traders start out losing money initially and then slowly focusing in on their best strategies and sizing up in those strategies. I think that your development is completely normal and you well may it with us at some point in the future. Keep excellent trading records and try to find your best set-ups, the ones you feel the most comfortable with and slowly size up in those! Good luck, Tim!
@@miguelmirabal2294, I hope that your intentions are fulfilled exactly as you see them. You might want to consider going to Optionsclass.com to learn some real world options strategies by signing up for our webinar where we teach you 3 strategies that could be very useful for you. It's free and you'll learn a great deal about options and the way we apply them at our firm.
" I would have 4 solid days and one bad one that wiped out the week" There's your #1 problem. You need to work on becoming a good loser. Good traders NEVER let losers get even close to wiping out a decent profit let alone ALL your profits. You need to get to work and study on how your going to control that 1 bad losing day. Are you over trading past your loss comfort level? Work on disciplining yourself to quit on small red days and not try and redeem those losses. That was one of my main problems too is i hated leaving the desk with a loss when i *thought* i could make it back. Get used to walking away on small red days and being comfortable with it.
@@PortCapital Exactly. If you have small red days and large green ones, it doesn't really matter how many small red days you have. The problem comes in when you let the small red days become LARGE red days because of ego or lack of discipline.
conclusion: you'll never be hired by SMB unless you are already experienced & profitable in which case you don't need to trade for someone else anyway.
You dont go and apply to a prop firm because you want to be profitable. You go and apply to a prop firm because you want to be MUCH more profitable. They got much, much more capital than you likely can save up for.
Hana, if you trade profitably then you can make alot more money if you trade with a prop firm that can provide you with much more capital than the typical trader has. So it's only additive to your success.
@@PortCapital if you are already profitable and even making $500-1k x day in the first hour, going back to a 9-5 to work for someone else is pure greed
@@sistematico17 Try 10k+ and even to the 6 figures a DAY with a prop firm. Thats why ppl do it. Also trading from home gets quite lonely and its nice to have colleagues to talk to
Not sure if you guys read this, but currently a retail trader mainly trading the ES, have had constant success so far, (have only been trading for two year), but am becoming more interested in options trading more specifically on the SPX. Are there any strategy(s), that do not require as much time for managing the options throughout the trading day as I plan to continue to day trade at the same time. Or would this be too many things at once. The information in all of your videos is invaluable.
Mentor ship and mental discipline. I’ve handled a big account, lost a percentage and freaked out.. need to move up slowly. From hundreds to thousand swings daily
I am interested in what system do you use for back testing options?, also where would you get the options pricing history for intra day - or is this done end of day? - thank you .
Esoteric, there is a very fine piece of software known as Optionvue and another one known as Option Net Explorer. I use the first one for backtesting. It gives you historical data.
Hello Seth. Your content has proved extremely educational in my progress towards successful options trading. I'm looking for a mentor and a reading list; I have a basic understanding of options strategies in different market regimes.
This is interesting to know. The question I would have to ask is, hypothetically, why would you want to hire me? IOW, if my strategy is well defined enough to be coded into a _”trading bot”,_ why not just let a bot do it and not have to split the gains with a human?
I have a bread and butter trade, but I'm not sure if I should expand or focus on it more. I sell cash secured puts on SPY on 20 delta of one of the near expiry option that has relatively higher Implied Volatility, but I feel like I could fine tune it more, just not sure how.
Seth, my biggest weakness is I have never back-tested any strategy. But we are comparing apples to oranges here bc my trading style, though successful is not an income oriented strategy using index options. I am seeking an income oriented strategy to supplement my bread and butter strategy which is a diagonal. I change up the risk of the diagonal by modifying the front month delta. If I am really bullish I sell 30 delta front month, if more neutral I sell a front month 45-50 delta. If I am a nervous nilly i sell a 60 delta. My set-ups are not on idexes but are on equities based primarily on FUNDAMENTALS. If i like the "story" i ride it. NVDA, PYPL etc these are good stories that aren't going away tomorrow. If the story changes I find another vehicle. So my bread and butter isn't an income strategy per-se. When profits come I take them. I don't hope. Hope isn't a trading strategy. But there is a directional element to my diagonals. I don't trade stories I don't understand or believe in. This gives me a "Bullish" perspective. But given any week when I need to open a new position my thesis may require my front month to change even though the story is still in tact. I find this trade is easy to defend as well. I started out many years ago with the Covered call, evolved to the credit spreads and ICs etc but never liked the gap down scenario of the Hi Prob trade. I realize this is a weakness of mine and I need to add an income strategy to my arsenal but i really have no experience with back testing. I watched your video on the BWB where you have 41 wins and 11 losses and would be curious to see how that strategy would have worked if an xtra put or 2 were purchased below the long put to reduce the loss side a bit. The reason I think this way is bc if traders are making 81% on an annual basis they should be willing to give up some of those "lofty" returns to the market gods to prevent the huge losses when they do occur. I'd be happy with 50% annual return to sleep better at night, wouldn't you? If you actually think you can fool the market gods for a year and get 81% then give up some of those returns imo. Heck 30% annually would beat almost every fund manager in the universe!!! So I would love to learn to back test that thesis and trade it as much as possible. As I said I have zero experience back-testing but I am well aware of the mkt gods and am very humble. I would love to add an income strategy but really don't have the confidence to commit to them. I just lost on MU the other day. I put on a Bear call credit spread bc RSI was over 73. I lost very little bc i closed early enough. good thing bc now MU is way beyond my short call. Instead of losing $800, I lost $70. But I have no idea how I would back test an equity. I know how to take a loss and am very humble. Do I meet all 10 requirements? No. But I have the passion and desire. I trade all alone bc I have no community of friends or family into the mkts as I am. I think they are starting to run away from me when I call, lol. Every piece of news is a potential options play, up or down. Seth I like your style and philosophy. You offer a lot to us retailers so thanks so much.
hardest part for me is.. having to predict if my sell target is during pre-market or after-hours. for example. if you buy calls, and it hits your target in premarket you can't even sell. then it drops before market open and you're screwed
Yes Idek, options do have that limitation of limited trading hours for most products. If you are trading index options, you could consider using futures contracts to exploit targets hit after hours, though.
@@sethfreudberg4750 From my understanding, with "Futures" you have to buy on expiration even if you're wrong. But with Options, you reserve the right, and can sell the contracts anytime Is this correct? or do I have it misunderstood? and thank you for your insight and information
Hey Seth I messed up last week on a iron butterfly on amazon options. I lost about 3k but the options team told me how to pull the calls and let the puts expire. So I lost 3k instead of 5k. But my bread and butter was selling puts and call spreads with low delta for weekly options. I definitely need to work on pulling the trigger and fear when a trade goes wrong. I was up total of 2200 so the 3k hit did not hurt me that bad. Im not going to give up.
Maturity as a trader and having a Mentor are the two biggest "No" answers. I've been doing the "wheel" strategy for about a year and would consider it my bread and butter strategy so far. Had a great run in 2021 with a 38% return. 2022, not so much. I'm down 94%. A classic case of upsetting the Options Gods as Seth mentioned in the video. Having a good Mentor would have prevented that from happening.
I am with IB canada.Unfortunetly , i can only benefit from cross margin when strategy has equal spread on each side. i can only trade balanced iron condor, balanced butterfly and credit/debit spread. when i change strike, for instance, to trade a broken butterfly , IB consider each leg separatly and margin for that kind of strategy does not worth the investment. how will you trade with this kind of restrictions? Do you teach that at smb?
@@sethfreudberg4750 basically , my margin is much higher than my max loss because the spread are not equal width in a broken wing butterflt .IB consider each spread separately because my spread in unbalanced. Therefore, my question is do you teach balanced strategy in your course?
Just looking for a place to start, so much info i just cant seem to get on the right path. I've always loved watching the markets and looking at the graphs but have no idea what to do.
I'd suggest that you just focus on ONE type of trading that you find interesting and spend alot of time studying that ONE discipline. If you try to take everything in, you'll never succeed at any one approach.
Ive traded for 3 years and barely just now found a bread and butter strategy which I have only used for the past 2 months well. My deficiency is not making 30% returns from it yet.
Ken, great job finding your BnB trade! Now you'll need to backtest it to see that it actually has the potential for 30% annualized return. If not, perhaps there are ways of enhancing the trade to improve the return potential. We can do some mentoring to help you on that if you are looking for some help at one point in that process.
@@sethfreudberg4750 thank you seth. I am giving a serious look to SMB capital for one of my applications to trade at a desk. I missed part of your workshop last night due to family concern and schedule to attend one tonight. I dont want to send you my 3 years of trades yet because I didnt find my trade edge until 2 months ago. Its looking good live trading it. I will back test. (I use 10/50 sma for my entry/exit indicators)
@@denvercolorado811 , it's mature of you to realize that your still in the process of validating your bread and butter trade. Please keep me informed as you develop your strategy.
I have no idea about back testing few of the strategies i employ. I have no single strategy bread and butter strategy either either. Although I generally try to sell options and covered calls.
Daljit, go to Optionvue.com for backtesting software. I've been using it for years. Selling options naked is dangerous unless you are selling puts to acquire the stock eventually. It may take some time to find your bread and butter strategy. I'd suggest you attend our two hour free webinar to get exposure to many more options strategies: Optionsclass.com
I haven’t done a lot of back testing other than looking at charts and hypothesizing how a strategy might perform, Any software you recommend for that? Also I probably experiment too much looking for a holy grail strategy and veer away from my b&b strategy too often.
Seth out of the points you described, I need in-depth education and then a mentorship. How do I find quality education and mentors that just don’t sell you a bill of goods? Thanks
That is the hardest part. Alot of these Facebook groups have some decent traders. However, if your only being mentored by "decent" then logically you may only end up as decent. Ideally I would like to find multi million dollar per year or better traders for a possible mentorship. On the flip side, why would a trader of that caliber bother with mentoring? Unless they were truly bored or had an affinity for spreading success onto others it's not likely you can find these market masters. If you are a master of your craft and you see this post please take this as my plea for wanting to be amongst the best and willing to put in the work to get there. I know this takes years of diligence. I would humbly accept your challenge.
Hi Seth, my biggest problem i currently have is getting out of the trade to early. i know i have to let go of the trade when i get down into -10% of trade (total cost of the trade) but when it goes up,after being in the dip @ -9% i tend to let go of the trade when im up only 3 to 4% since the option will expire worthless.
Thank you for your Videos. Do you have any Traders that will hedge equity options bread and butter with bond futures options /zn bread and butter with tight stops?
I am very new, and I clearly need to grow A LOT in my preparation and responsibilities. I’m still learning what I need to be looking at to prepare for the market, I haven’t even thought about a disaster plan. I can easily see myself getting too interested in too many styles and having a jack of all trades issue. I really appreciate the videos you produce. I’m 33 and hoping if I’m diligent I can keep growing the money I work hard for, and be independent enough to manage my own capital, and find a bread and butter strategy that is truly mine. If you have the time, question for you: Is it reasonable to think you can master options and scalping (with years of dedication) with the idea that you can pivot in highly volatile markets to do more scalping and take advantage of the situation? Or would that be folly? Thank you so much in advance.
I have been trading options now for 9 month and my result as such is ok for me so far. I know I could do better. What I am lacking is point 2, the mentor.
Hi Thomas, I'd be willing to chat with you about some alternative ideas for mentoring if you are interested. Please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com if you'd like to pursue this.
I have been investing for a number of years now and only started trading options over the last 2. I was very successful in my beginning years of option trading but eventually took some serious loses more recently. There is no denying that I need help and believe my initial focus would involve mentoring, a bread and butter strategy ( I don't have one), proper use of stops, and getting more involved in the Option trading community.
Jamie, if you reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com, I have some thoughts on how you can move forward in the areas you've identified as areas where you need to strengthen. It's a lengthy list and it would make more sense to communicate personally by email or the phone.
I find it hard to believe you can't be successful trading options without a mentor. How did the first successful options trader become successful then? There was nobody around to mentor him, he was the first.
Another awesome video. I have been trading options every day for the last 13 months but haven't been having much success. I am trying really hard to get good enough and build a track record to apply to SMB. Would love to work at your firm one day
Keep working at the craft, Evan! You might need a little more structure to your approach. Check this webinar out and you may get some answers: Optionsclass.com
If I have a bread and butter strategy which is working in even extreme conditions can I think of scaling it up with big capital ? So that I generates big money
I find that lately i have been struggling to keep up my morning schedule routine for the markets. I need to wire my brain better and discipline myself when i mess up.
Tommy a key is to get enough sleep (we recommend 8 hours) and think of this as a business that you own and must maintain and grow to build wealth for yourself and your family. It's not a hobby, so you have to take every aspect seriously.
After reading the first 15 comments, you guys/gals have TONS of material on UA-cam to catch you up to the SMB tutorials. They never said it was easy. As a matter of fact, I do believe this video was about people that have the " qualities " to be consistent... try not to make it too obvious that you don't have those qualities.
Hi Seth, The trait I'm lacking is #2." You've Worked With a Mentor To Improve" .- I don't have a community or 1 on 1 mentor to help me develop my bread and butter mean reversion strategy. I've developed the basic framework over the past 2 years but not rigorously applied it. I feel a mentor could help with addressing some of my risk management/sizing gaps. A mentor might also help me find opportunities that I normally overlook but where my ideas could work. Thanks for any feedback you can offer
Thanks Seth. It’s so amazing that you hold your team to this type of high standard. #respect !!!!! I found mentorship and community to be super important in all of my endeavours. Do you have any recommendations on how to find mentors and finding a trustworthy community of traders? There are so many forums and random Facebook groups.... it’s noisy out there.
We actually have our own community. "Options Tribe" with hundreds of lectures and videos. We meet once a week to talk. We have a free one coming up soon! www.smbtraining.com/blog/options-tribe
On a loss of 10 percent, one should go to bull put spreads until the confidence returns. That will always be my “bread and butter,” as well as my roast beef!
I think maybe I just study way too much I tested in strategies and use different strategies I have bread and butter strategies I’m very passionate about trading I tried as much as I can because I frankly I have nothing else to do I am fully disabled in this selfie with my mind and body to stay sharp but I also have noticed that I am getting very good at it trading because I seem to have a photographic memory and that really helps with my training but I do need a mentor I’ve been teaching myself for the last five years and there’s always something to learn every day 🆘
Seth, I recently purchased the SMB Options Trading course. I am just getting started but wondering how to find a mentor? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
How about March 2020 June 2020 and 2 days ago when tech stocks crashed down ... my first year of option trading. November 2020 is going to be wild. Well... here it goes 🤞🏽
At this point, I'm only day-trading options. The crap news just keeps on coming and any amount of fundamentals or technicals goes out the window. Risk management is the only thing thats saving me. Scaled back from $1k worth of option contracts to just $100.00 worth. This isn't even funny anymore.
Jimmy, you might want to consider options income trading which is a very different style of trading and ignores the news and focuses on options pricing dynamics and time decay instead. If you'd like to learn more, go to Optionsclass.com and it gives you a solid background and actionable strategies.
I'm not making a plan before the start of the market. I'm not getting enough education. I'm deviating from my bread and butter strategy. My passion is also lacking lately.
It's important to follow your plan as long as you have backtested it and it has been sustainably successful. Journaling can be a great way to keep yourself on the straight and narrow in that regard. You absolutely have to get an education as a trader. No one succeeds without it. Please go to Optionsclass.com and we have some ideas for you there in our important webinar that you can register for there. As for your passion, that is probably a function of your failing to follow your plan and thereby losing. If you correct that, you most likely will refresh your passion.
@@sethfreudberg4750 thank you for your feedback. Right after watching video last night, I reserved a spot for Saturday. Can't wait to watch the webinar.
The thing that jumped out to me that I am clearly lacking is the mentorship part. I would love to know where to find a mentor. I don't even know one person that's as passionate as I am about the market/news that moves the markets. My wife can vouch for that. I drive her nuts on a daily basis with information that she "just doesn't understand". It's like talking in an empty hallway inside my head. And when I speak people tend to look baffled. 😄
jhamilton0607 I can help you look at your alternatives for mentorship. Please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com and we can discuss some ideas on that subject.
@@sethfreudberg4750 I am focusing on options, I jumped into Iron Condors because the name sounded cool. Now trying to study up on it to figure out if the style in general fits the way my mind works ... still new. Then swing trading in general.. 4-6 weeks in and out. Does that help? I do appreciate the response!!!
@@drewbriggs3313 You might want to consider joining our Options Tribe as a premium member. We have a chat for our members. We also provide mentoring, but that may be a bit premature prior to your gaining some fundamental knowledge: Optionstribe.com
Caleb go to Optionstribe.com and join as a premium member. I'd also strongly suggest you attend the webinar that you can register for at Optionsclass.com.
Thank you! 30% annual return benchmark is helpful. I have a position trading strategy in stocks and most of the money is there, and I'm just starting to dabble in options so even though I have a not so small account, I have a small amount allocated to options and I focus on percentages not absolute dollar amounts which are more or less irrelevant to me except from a practical asset allocation perspective. Made my first ever options trade earlier after I signed up for your weekly options income machine course. This was an awesome way to start doing options because all I have to do is follow your instructions LOL and I'd be a total effing idiot to bet against a 1 million dollar plus proven for decades AI system omfg. I used to be in IT so maybe that's why I think that. The one loss was very instructive because I could see it unfold and it taught me a lot more about how options work and I didn't even know how my broker would settle it hahaha.
Harry, the question is not the probability of winning it's the expectancy of the trading strategy. So your question can't be answered without the expectancy number.
Hi Seth. I have just started doing option trading, this is a great video for me to understand what it takes to become a good options trader. Thanks for all your videos , they are absolutely awesome.
My pleasure Sathya. You should sign up for our free webinar and learn many more strategies: Optionsclass.com
8:15, THAT’S where I’m currently struggling. I’ve had very good trade ideas that I’ve planned and prepared for, entered, stopped out, and watched run in my direction. Stopping out was the right idea at the time, rushing the entry with as much size as I did was the mistake. Discipline, discipline, discipline.
Mr Seth is a natural teacher, very well presented. The link on the top right doesn't work. I personally don't have a mentor but have been trading with real money. No stranger to being greedy and taking a loss or being a hopeless romantic thinking my play will turn around and be profitable. Far from a pro but plan to make all my losses at some point.
Tibouron I tested the link and it does work. To make it easier for you, please go to Optionsclass.com and you can register for the webinar there.
Thank you for the link. I will do just that.
Thank you for providing these videos. Maturity is the key aspect that I need to work on. I trade with fidelity and they do not offer backtesting so I am opening up a think or swim account today. Thank you in advance for your feedback on becoming a mature trader.
Thanks for the video. Currently in your Options Foundation Course. Have not found my “B&B” Trade yet, but have traded Covered Calls for many years, recently cash secured puts, and most recently Verticles and Iron Condors. Learning how to Backtest in the course with Optionvue in addition to TOS. Have not worked directly with a mentor trading, just the SMB course as of now. I’ve taken some lumps, learned some lessons and moving on. Have not come close to blowing up an account due to risk management, but feel progress is too slow, due to too small of position-sizing. Reading, following, listening, chatting, watching, everything I can get my hands on to find common traits of trades and traders, from setups, to strategies, to, most importantly, psychology and risk management.
Brian, I enjoy your invovlement with our options community. You obviously have the passion and dedication to be successful. it's great that you are reading everything you get your hands on. That satisfies the passion and education requirements. Keep attending our weekly sessions. If you bring up position sizing we can talk about that. It's an important topic.
Seth Freudberg thanks Seth, will do.
You're absolutely right about thinking you have it nailed. Just as soon as you start thinking that way, the market will devise a way to turn whatever you're working with and turn it inside out on you.
Pneumatic00: Well obviously the Options Gods is a fictional concept, but certain strategies are just streaky and so if you have a winning streak and then size up AFTER the winning streak you get pounded. I'm going to do a video about the best time to size up, actually, so look out for that :)
This video is pure gold. I come from a latino background and the spanish trading community is full of scammers. I started trading when I was 16 and I wish I would've found information like this one when I started my trading journey. If you don't mind I'd like to translate your videos into spanish so more people can benefit from such wisdom.
We have a trader at SMB who runs a Spanish branch smbtraderbolsa.com/
Camilo, let me check on that generous idea and I will get back to you. Thank you for your kind comments.
Camilo, where do you live currently?
@@sethfreudberg4750 I am currently living in NJ.
Bread and butter trade. This week I will endeavour to trade options using this strategy. Many parts but essentially macd cross over from below to above zero, price crossing above the twenty sma.
Greg, you may be able to shortcut the process of finding a bread and butter trade by back testing your proposed trade. If it looks like it has the potential for 30% year return, then it's worth it to forward test it on paper or a very small amount of live capital. It can get expensive to keep live experimenting with various strategies when you have not looked at their potential against actual historical data.
I just started income options trading in December 2021. I have no idea of what I am doing, I do not have a strategy as yet, am just following instructions. So far I am doing better with income options than with equity trading. I am learning the income strategy after blowing through $10,000.00 in lost, buying calls, and puts.
Watched your video and the biggest thing I am missing as a options trader is a mentor. Hard to trust many people who have claims to fame, but also hard for real trading firms to trust a trader without 10+ yrs of experience. I will keep learning and growing, looking for the right fit and tracking my trading journey ups and downs. One thing I definitely have is tenacity. Good luck out there SMB as you guys are definitely somebody I learn from and look to help me grow. Thanks for all you do for us newbie traders out there.
That crushed my dreams. Back to the drawing board. Six month goal now became a 3-5 year dream.
Thank you ! For me, the biggest things that stood out to me were #2, #3, #5, & #10 on knowing how to lose.
I started trading options in August of 2016, back when i was 17yrs old. I started with a $3k account, and I just haven’t gotten anywhere. And looking back at all the trades I have done, it has come down to the losses and being inconsistent.
Really appreciate all your videos! Been taking notes as much as possible on all the videos and just taking it all in and learning.
My biggest problem is position sizing. I tend to undersized my trades. It's a fear issue I believe. Thank you for any help.
Hey Seth, My personal style is Naked Puts and Wheel strategy. These maneuvers have worked for me. In the new year I am going to work on Straddles and Strangles. I have never tried these strategies before. This video was helpful. Be well. Happy New Year.
Jeff.
Sir, thank you all so much as the officers and administrators of SMB for your generous sharing of all the information and experience you have accumulated over the years. God's Speed.
Hey Seth, just wanted to say thanks for the video. Any back testing software you recommend?
There is no place for "Emotion" or "Ego" in the Stock Market. Cocky, arrogant traders or scared traders are two extremes of the same totem pole. The measured trader has a better grip on understanding Market Situations. "Slow and Steady wins the race," is a proverb that comes to mind. Great informative video, Thank you, Seth Freudberg.
I know a firm here in Atlanta they lost almost 1 billion selling naked puts. My mentor in PE told me they were looking for capital from him to survive. You have to be able to hedge or take max loss and still be profitable. Marty Schwartz took 25 million hit selling puts few months back but he was able to make it back after a few months. The key is capital preservation and making money by taking smart calculated risk. Looking forward to joining you guys in a year or two. Been trading options since July 2018 but only off and on because of forex/futures; didn't go full out options til May 2019.
Thank you for sharing this valuable insight, Seth. I am a DNA Student, slowly working through the course and have been studying and paper trading options to get a feel for how the process functions (I learn much better by doing, so paper trading has really helped without exposing myself to unnecessary losses). I now have a much better idea of how to proceed with my trading education/career. I would love to join the team eventually, but for now I will keep testing and honing my skills. There's a lot of room for me to improve.
Brian, that's really great news. Paper trading is absolutely essential as is back testing, for building your muscle memory on trading strategies and seeing how they react to real historical data. That's a very good sign that you have naturally gravitated towards those disciplines. To be successful of course you're going to need to trade live to really understand how you will react emotionally to wins and losses and whether you can stay balanced or not.
Thank you for the video. I have been trading for approximately 17 years... my bread and butter strategy is credit spreads. I have had months that I have done very well and then other times that it just does not work. I am primarily self taught, and in your presentation you nailed me in the section about being a mature trader. My weakness is knowing when to cut the loss and to be willing to preserve capital and go look for another trade and a set up that can be a winner. I am very interested in learning more and having a mentor to help me become more educated and disciplined in my approach to becoming mechanical in closing out the losing trade. Last year (2019) I was able to get a 400+% return on my account, and in 2018 I was one the same pace until October through December came along. I just signed up for the free work shop and I am looking forward to what I can glean from that.
Thank you again
John Slater
aka roodoc
400% in a year ??? Waow !!!! Hw much money can make a day ?
Definitely, the maturity is an issue. Lack of planning/ homework to start the day hurts as well. The lack of a mentor/ coach is what hurts me the most. The lack of experience at this game as well as a lack of sufficient back testing keep me overly cautious, wheeling my favorite stocks in and out of cash puts and covered calls my bread and butter trades for the moment.
While I can glean a lot of insights from this UA-cam Channel, and ideas I can back test (so far, with no better success that what I'm doing now), I do believe the success will come as I deal with the above shortcomings; including finding that mentor.
Keep at it David!
Great video!👍 If you could suggest any info on improving stop losses. Also any recommendations on mentoring.
Hi NIcholas, please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com and we can discuss some mentoring ideas. As far as improving stop losses, please elaborate on that. Can you give me an example of what you mean?
Seth, your comments touched a few raw nerves. Would you do a session on the types of records to keep.
Would you also continue doing videos on the butterfly strategy.
Simply, Thank you. God bless
Honestly I have been trading for years and I still come back to learn. It never hurts to touch base.
Thanks for the video. there are a couple of things that stood out.
1. I tend to focus on weekly or 2 week out options because I'm inclined to day trade, instead of swing, especially in this volatile market.
2. Since moving to the west coast, I've struggled to keep a consistent schedule, always staying up way too late looking at tickers. This is a major gap I need to address. Just need to plan better.
Hi Alan, great points to focus on. The style of trading that we trade on our trading desk involves trades with a much longer time horizon--30-80 days typically. You can experience more consistent success with those durations in my experience. As for your schedule, you wouldn't show up late for work if you had that kind of job, right? So not adjusting your schedule and getting adequate sleep is the same as "being late for your job". The market will fire you :).
Seth Freudberg What about the delta and theta on those, especially when volatility is high??
@@90deltaderivatives35 Yes, but don't forget with spreads you are also the seller of those same juiced up options, so positive theta is high.
I must become more proficient with the butterfly trades! Thank You!!
I have watched tons of trading videos and still lost on how earn,i ineed to establish a far more solid education foundation other than UA-cam
I earned nothing trading with video logic,I invest with pro trader Erin and i get get good profits in return,You should reach her for assistance
You can read a book about driving a car but the real learning happens behind the wheel. Get into the markets even if its paper trading, show up every day, ask yourself and find out why you're trade made or lost you money. The more reps you put in the better you will get. Knowledge is not power, you need to apply action.
I have been in the market for the past 3 months trading and improving my techniques,how do i reach Erin? I want to earn
Erinsawtell1 ( a ) g m a il
I invest and earn through Erin and i must say having a seasoned account manager like handles my trades is the best to save money
Former Prop Trader -- Man o' Man...I miss being around the Desk. The companionship, the competition, caring about one another's successes...and working hard to correct the failures. The incredible, AMAZING feeling on days or weeks when you have just OWED the globe and everything in it. When you do ..every...little...single ..thing just right. and it all works exactly as envisioned. AND, the whole desk has the same outcome.
Regardless of how well-appointed it may be...serious, professional trading from a home office SUXX!
The 20 step commute is nice.
Gotta have the ENERGY & the multiplicative IQ/EQ of a Desk, the Participants of which are all pulling the same direction.
It's a nice feeling Todd. Who did you work for?
I'm struggling with a “go to bread and butter strategy”. I've listened to a lot of your videos and I like the weekly SPX strategy as it's simple. Is this my “bread and butter” strategy? Thanks
I just started implementing a strategy like this using iron condors, $1k max collateral = $200-220 in net credit profit per trade. With the $SPY, you can get 3 weekly trades. Once I get enough profit, my goal is to increase my risk curve and continue using condors. You can do this with any stock with low volatility.
I'm at a decent risk of losing on this Friday's condors, with earnings season crushing it, dumb move on my part, but hopeful that long term it's a decent strategy.
Abu Taher why risk that much for such a small potential profit? You could easily optimize your legs to achieve the same credit with less risk.
Its not what you “like”, your bread and butter is what consistently works for you.
Hello Seth. I am new to Stock option trading. I feel a Mentor would be my immediate need. This video was very helpful and I appreciate your experience and insights.
Hello, I love you your videos and I have a question:
When I place an order, for example, a Bull Put Spread, my max risk is between 1-2% of my portfolio, even knowing that is something goes wrong I will adjust and loss much less than my original max risk (sometimes even a lesser win).
In your trading desk, what is usually your max risk that you would take?
Great video. I am trying to improve my "Go to Strategy" like you mentioned, and implement the use of back-testing by the use of a software (recently found out that my broker has one and will be using that).From the points that you mentioned my strongest are passion for the markets and the urgency of being prepared beforehand. I would like to see a video where you elaborate more on how you get prepared for your trading day i.e. News, scans, calendars, tweets, etc. Thanks again.
Great idea for a video, Wilkin. I'll work on that. To find your go to strategy, you need to be exposed to a number of different trading styles until you hone in on the one that resonates most with you. You should then back test the strategies that you like extensively to see if they are legitimate. After that, trade the strategy very small for quite a while, until you are exposed to numerous market conditions. do NOT make the mistake of trading live with large amounts of capital early in your trading career. That's the most important advice i can give you at this stage.
Great content. What backtesting software or platform do you recommend, Seth?
This makes great sense. How does one get started? In the past two years made 2 trades similar to those you highlight in your videos.
I did make mistakes (pour setup of data causing a delay in structuring the trade - it did end up successful (gain) but not as anticipated.
Do you have tools/methods/procedures/guidelines that cover this essential beginning knowledge?
I am not looking for a trading gig. I am looking for solid information (lessons?) with guidelines. I understand (not at an expert level) how options work and their function. I have traded options successfully less than 50 - 60 times and lost money on 14-15 times. Any advice, help, or counsel would be greatly appreciated.
I've been trading the wheel of fortune with success. I'm trading small, only selling one put and one call on covered call.
this is really informative. I wonder why they would put this information in such a free platform. I always thought option trading was like making high returns with low costs which was wrong. I'll be starting from the point 1 mentioned in this lecture.
Thank you for the kind comments Bikesh. If you are interested in the educational foundation for your trading, you might wish to attend our free 2 hour webinar on the subject. You can register for that webinar at optionsclass.com.
I find lately my best trades are Ideas I started thinking about the night before. Options gods are real. I like verticals. I have a note that says I'm never allowed to sell naked puts ever again. I have a generator in case I lose power. I am working on being a consistent green trader. I keep a journal most day, but sometimes 3 days feels like one. In all honesty I need to improve in every way. I am also a DNA student. I am 5 times the trader I was 3 months ago. I feel like Im very close to breaking through. Last week was green. seems like many weeks I would have 4 solid days and one bad one that wiped out the week. Usually form my own bias towards a stock or a random tweet from trump or Whitehouse. I don't know that Id ever be good enough to trade for SMB but it would be awesome. I was a biomed for 20 yrs then lost a contract and trying to make this my career. I wish I would have tried sooner. But I am more mentally prepared than ever before I believe. Anyways, thanks for your Videos I watch Michael , Steven and you often. Thanks for the videos.
Hello I am always watching your videos o am a complete rookie with a passion for the market, I am a hard working guy and I get along very well with people i am just looking for good solid education and guidance from your company i am willing to learn and work hard with SMB . I love options swing trading and I am looking for a chance to get to know you and learn. This is what I would love to learn in my pursuit of happiness. And I know I will make it in this industry if I get a chance from you. You will not be disappointed. One day I will be one of your best students .
Tim, most of our successful traders start out losing money initially and then slowly focusing in on their best strategies and sizing up in those strategies. I think that your development is completely normal and you well may it with us at some point in the future. Keep excellent trading records and try to find your best set-ups, the ones you feel the most comfortable with and slowly size up in those! Good luck, Tim!
@@miguelmirabal2294, I hope that your intentions are fulfilled exactly as you see them. You might want to consider going to Optionsclass.com to learn some real world options strategies by signing up for our webinar where we teach you 3 strategies that could be very useful for you. It's free and you'll learn a great deal about options and the way we apply them at our firm.
" I would have 4 solid days and one bad one that wiped out the week" There's your #1 problem. You need to work on becoming a good loser. Good traders NEVER let losers get even close to wiping out a decent profit let alone ALL your profits. You need to get to work and study on how your going to control that 1 bad losing day. Are you over trading past your loss comfort level? Work on disciplining yourself to quit on small red days and not try and redeem those losses. That was one of my main problems too is i hated leaving the desk with a loss when i *thought* i could make it back. Get used to walking away on small red days and being comfortable with it.
@@PortCapital Exactly. If you have small red days and large green ones, it doesn't really matter how many small red days you have. The problem comes in when you let the small red days become LARGE red days because of ego or lack of discipline.
Excellent Presentation!!!
conclusion: you'll never be hired by SMB unless you are already experienced & profitable in which case you don't need to trade for someone else anyway.
You dont go and apply to a prop firm because you want to be profitable. You go and apply to a prop firm because you want to be MUCH more profitable. They got much, much more capital than you likely can save up for.
Hana, if you trade profitably then you can make alot more money if you trade with a prop firm that can provide you with much more capital than the typical trader has. So it's only additive to your success.
@@PortCapital Also traders who trade for a prop firm are in constant contact with other high quality traders and learn and grow from them.
@@PortCapital if you are already profitable and even making $500-1k x day in the first hour, going back to a 9-5 to work for someone else is pure greed
@@sistematico17 Try 10k+ and even to the 6 figures a DAY with a prop firm. Thats why ppl do it. Also trading from home gets quite lonely and its nice to have colleagues to talk to
Not sure if you guys read this, but currently a retail trader mainly trading the ES, have had constant success so far, (have only been trading for two year), but am becoming more interested in options trading more specifically on the SPX. Are there any strategy(s), that do not require as much time for managing the options throughout the trading day as I plan to continue to day trade at the same time. Or would this be too many things at once. The information in all of your videos is invaluable.
Kalem, check out smbu.com/onedaytrade for a one day options trade we use on the desk. It's basically set it and forget it.
Mentor ship and mental discipline. I’ve handled a big account, lost a percentage and freaked out.. need to move up slowly. From hundreds to thousand swings daily
I am interested in what system do you use for back testing options?, also where would you get the options pricing history for intra day - or is this done end of day? - thank you .
Esoteric, there is a very fine piece of software known as Optionvue and another one known as Option Net Explorer. I use the first one for backtesting. It gives you historical data.
i love your videos only suggestion if you show more on chart will be much easy to understand for us .
Hello Seth. Your content has proved extremely educational in my progress towards successful options trading. I'm looking for a mentor and a reading list; I have a basic understanding of options strategies in different market regimes.
This is interesting to know. The question I would have to ask is, hypothetically, why would you want to hire me? IOW, if my strategy is well defined enough to be coded into a _”trading bot”,_ why not just let a bot do it and not have to split the gains with a human?
I have a bread and butter trade, but I'm not sure if I should expand or focus on it more. I sell cash secured puts on SPY on 20 delta of one of the near expiry option that has relatively higher Implied Volatility, but I feel like I could fine tune it more, just not sure how.
Seth, my biggest weakness is I have never back-tested any strategy. But we are comparing apples to oranges here bc my trading style, though successful is not an income oriented strategy using index options. I am seeking an income oriented strategy to supplement my bread and butter strategy which is a diagonal. I change up the risk of the diagonal by modifying the front month delta. If I am really bullish I sell 30 delta front month, if more neutral I sell a front month 45-50 delta. If I am a nervous nilly i sell a 60 delta. My set-ups are not on idexes but are on equities based primarily on FUNDAMENTALS. If i like the "story" i ride it. NVDA, PYPL etc these are good stories that aren't going away tomorrow. If the story changes I find another vehicle. So my bread and butter isn't an income strategy per-se. When profits come I take them. I don't hope. Hope isn't a trading strategy. But there is a directional element to my diagonals. I don't trade stories I don't understand or believe in. This gives me a "Bullish" perspective. But given any week when I need to open a new position my thesis may require my front month to change even though the story is still in tact. I find this trade is easy to defend as well.
I started out many years ago with the Covered call, evolved to the credit spreads and ICs etc but never liked the gap down scenario of the Hi Prob trade. I realize this is a weakness of mine and I need to add an income strategy to my arsenal but i really have no experience with back testing. I watched your video on the BWB where you have 41 wins and 11 losses and would be curious to see how that strategy would have worked if an xtra put or 2 were purchased below the long put to reduce the loss side a bit. The reason I think this way is bc if traders are making 81% on an annual basis they should be willing to give up some of those "lofty" returns to the market gods to prevent the huge losses when they do occur. I'd be happy with 50% annual return to sleep better at night, wouldn't you? If you actually think you can fool the market gods for a year and get 81% then give up some of those returns imo. Heck 30% annually would beat almost every fund manager in the universe!!! So I would love to learn to back test that thesis and trade it as much as possible.
As I said I have zero experience back-testing but I am well aware of the mkt gods and am very humble. I would love to add an income strategy but really don't have the confidence to commit to them. I just lost on MU the other day. I put on a Bear call credit spread bc RSI was over 73. I lost very little bc i closed early enough. good thing bc now MU is way beyond my short call. Instead of losing $800, I lost $70. But I have no idea how I would back test an equity.
I know how to take a loss and am very humble. Do I meet all 10 requirements? No. But I have the passion and desire. I trade all alone bc I have no community of friends or family into the mkts as I am. I think they are starting to run away from me when I call, lol. Every piece of news is a potential options play, up or down.
Seth I like your style and philosophy. You offer a lot to us retailers so thanks so much.
hardest part for me is..
having to predict if my sell target is during pre-market or after-hours.
for example. if you buy calls, and it hits your target in premarket you can't even sell. then it drops before market open and you're screwed
Yes Idek, options do have that limitation of limited trading hours for most products. If you are trading index options, you could consider using futures contracts to exploit targets hit after hours, though.
@@sethfreudberg4750 From my understanding, with "Futures" you have to buy on expiration even if you're wrong.
But with Options, you reserve the right, and can sell the contracts anytime
Is this correct? or do I have it misunderstood?
and thank you for your insight and information
Answer - Don't hold over night. Lol
@@liamchase7537 yeah, I just scalp now hahha. Usually just put a small percentage profit from that for a swing trade
I need to have a mentor. Being new to options trading, I would appreciate the help.
Hey Seth I messed up last week on a iron butterfly on amazon options. I lost about 3k but the options team told me how to pull the calls and let the puts expire. So I lost 3k instead of 5k. But my bread and butter was selling puts and call spreads with low delta for weekly options. I definitely need to work on pulling the trigger and fear when a trade goes wrong. I was up total of 2200 so the 3k hit did not hurt me that bad. Im not going to give up.
Maturity as a trader and having a Mentor are the two biggest "No" answers. I've been doing the "wheel" strategy for about a year and would consider it my bread and butter strategy so far. Had a great run in 2021 with a 38% return. 2022, not so much. I'm down 94%. A classic case of upsetting the Options Gods as Seth mentioned in the video. Having a good Mentor would have prevented that from happening.
I am with IB canada.Unfortunetly , i can only benefit from cross margin when strategy has equal spread on each side. i can only trade balanced iron condor, balanced butterfly and credit/debit spread. when i change strike, for instance, to trade a broken butterfly , IB consider each leg separatly and margin for that kind of strategy does not worth the investment. how will you trade with this kind of restrictions? Do you teach that at smb?
Ultra, not sure what you mean by "benefit from cross margin:"?
@@sethfreudberg4750 basically , my margin is much higher than my max loss because the spread are not equal width in a broken wing butterflt .IB consider each spread separately because my spread in unbalanced. Therefore, my question is do you teach balanced strategy in your course?
Just looking for a place to start, so much info i just cant seem to get on the right path. I've always loved watching the markets and looking at the graphs but have no idea what to do.
I'd suggest that you just focus on ONE type of trading that you find interesting and spend alot of time studying that ONE discipline. If you try to take everything in, you'll never succeed at any one approach.
Psychology. That's true.
Ive traded for 3 years and barely just now found a bread and butter strategy which I have only used for the past 2 months well. My deficiency is not making 30% returns from it yet.
Ken, great job finding your BnB trade! Now you'll need to backtest it to see that it actually has the potential for 30% annualized return. If not, perhaps there are ways of enhancing the trade to improve the return potential. We can do some mentoring to help you on that if you are looking for some help at one point in that process.
@@sethfreudberg4750 thank you seth. I am giving a serious look to SMB capital for one of my applications to trade at a desk. I missed part of your workshop last night due to family concern and schedule to attend one tonight. I dont want to send you my 3 years of trades yet because I didnt find my trade edge until 2 months ago. Its looking good live trading it. I will back test. (I use 10/50 sma for my entry/exit indicators)
in combination with multiple time frames
@@denvercolorado811 , it's mature of you to realize that your still in the process of validating your bread and butter trade. Please keep me informed as you develop your strategy.
@@sethfreudberg4750 will do thanks
Thank you it was more informative than I ever watch this month! 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it, Rogero!
I have no idea about back testing few of the strategies i employ. I have no single strategy bread and butter strategy either either. Although I generally try to sell options and covered calls.
Daljit, go to Optionvue.com for backtesting software. I've been using it for years. Selling options naked is dangerous unless you are selling puts to acquire the stock eventually. It may take some time to find your bread and butter strategy. I'd suggest you attend our two hour free webinar to get exposure to many more options strategies: Optionsclass.com
I haven’t done a lot of back testing other than looking at charts and hypothesizing how a strategy might perform, Any software you recommend for that? Also I probably experiment too much looking for a holy grail strategy and veer away from my b&b strategy too often.
Seth out of the points you described, I need in-depth education and then a mentorship. How do I find quality education and mentors that just don’t sell you a bill of goods? Thanks
Jamie it might be better if we discussed this offfline. Would you please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com and I"ll share my thoughts with you.
That is the hardest part. Alot of these Facebook groups have some decent traders. However, if your only being mentored by "decent" then logically you may only end up as decent. Ideally I would like to find multi million dollar per year or better traders for a possible mentorship. On the flip side, why would a trader of that caliber bother with mentoring? Unless they were truly bored or had an affinity for spreading success onto others it's not likely you can find these market masters.
If you are a master of your craft and you see this post please take this as my plea for wanting to be amongst the best and willing to put in the work to get there. I know this takes years of diligence. I would humbly accept your challenge.
Hi Seth, my biggest problem i currently have is getting out of the trade to early. i know i have to let go of the trade when i get down into -10% of trade (total cost of the trade) but when it goes up,after being in the dip @ -9% i tend to let go of the trade when im up only 3 to 4% since the option will expire worthless.
Hi Seth, How do I go about finding a mentor? Or, maybe even a competitive trading club? I know I would improve faster if there was direct competition.
Greg, please email me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com. I have some thoughts on this that I can share with you.
Thank you for your Videos. Do you have any Traders that will hedge equity options bread and butter with bond futures options /zn bread and butter with tight stops?
Note bull put spreads inherently have built in stop losses.
I am very new, and I clearly need to grow A LOT in my preparation and responsibilities. I’m still learning what I need to be looking at to prepare for the market, I haven’t even thought about a disaster plan. I can easily see myself getting too interested in too many styles and having a jack of all trades issue.
I really appreciate the videos you produce. I’m 33 and hoping if I’m diligent I can keep growing the money I work hard for, and be independent enough to manage my own capital, and find a bread and butter strategy that is truly mine.
If you have the time, question for you:
Is it reasonable to think you can master options and scalping (with years of dedication) with the idea that you can pivot in highly volatile markets to do more scalping and take advantage of the situation? Or would that be folly?
Thank you so much in advance.
I have been trading options now for 9 month and my result as such is ok for me so far. I know I could do better. What I am lacking is point 2, the mentor.
Hi Thomas, I'd be willing to chat with you about some alternative ideas for mentoring if you are interested. Please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com if you'd like to pursue this.
I need to work on backtesting my options strategies, so I know what profit targets and stop losses are appropriate for each strategy.
how is the back test going,
You said the traders need to have 5 years of experience before getting hired. How come you hire college graduates? How much experience do they have?
I have been investing for a number of years now and only started trading options over the last 2. I was very successful in my beginning years of option trading but eventually took some serious loses more recently. There is no denying that I need help and believe my initial focus would involve mentoring, a bread and butter strategy ( I don't have one), proper use of stops, and getting more involved in the Option trading community.
Jamie, if you reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com, I have some thoughts on how you can move forward in the areas you've identified as areas where you need to strengthen. It's a lengthy list and it would make more sense to communicate personally by email or the phone.
This video is great
What is the people turnover at your firm?
I find it hard to believe you can't be successful trading options without a mentor. How did the first successful options trader become successful then? There was nobody around to mentor him, he was the first.
Another awesome video. I have been trading options every day for the last 13 months but haven't been having much success. I am trying really hard to get good enough and build a track record to apply to SMB. Would love to work at your firm one day
Keep working at the craft, Evan! You might need a little more structure to your approach. Check this webinar out and you may get some answers: Optionsclass.com
If I have a bread and butter strategy which is working in even extreme conditions can
I think of scaling it up with big capital ? So that I generates big money
I find that lately i have been struggling to keep up my morning schedule routine for the markets. I need to wire my brain better and discipline myself when i mess up.
Tommy a key is to get enough sleep (we recommend 8 hours) and think of this as a business that you own and must maintain and grow to build wealth for yourself and your family. It's not a hobby, so you have to take every aspect seriously.
@@sethfreudberg4750 you know what? Now that you said that, it hit me, I'm going to write this down to remind myself everyday to keep me going.
After reading the first 15 comments, you guys/gals have TONS of material on UA-cam to catch you up to the SMB tutorials. They never said it was easy. As a matter of fact, I do believe this video was about people that have the " qualities " to be consistent... try not to make it too obvious that you don't have those qualities.
Hi Seth, The trait I'm lacking is #2." You've Worked With a Mentor To Improve" .- I don't have a community or 1 on 1 mentor to help me develop my bread and butter mean reversion strategy. I've developed the basic framework over the past 2 years but not rigorously applied it. I feel a mentor could help with addressing some of my risk management/sizing gaps. A mentor might also help me find opportunities that I normally overlook but where my ideas could work. Thanks for any feedback you can offer
Friday/Saturday, please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com and we can discuss some alternatives for mentoring.
I am looking for an options trader for my account?
Thanks Seth. It’s so amazing that you hold your team to this type of high standard. #respect !!!!!
I found mentorship and community to be super important in all of my endeavours. Do you have any recommendations on how to find mentors and finding a trustworthy community of traders? There are so many forums and random Facebook groups.... it’s noisy out there.
We actually have our own community. "Options Tribe" with hundreds of lectures and videos. We meet once a week to talk. We have a free one coming up soon! www.smbtraining.com/blog/options-tribe
@@smbcapital I'm not looking for more videos. Rather. I'm looking for a community.
Is there a chat group or a mentor available to assess my trades?
On a loss of 10 percent, one should go to bull put spreads until the confidence returns. That will always be my “bread and butter,” as well as my roast beef!
I am not educated and not sure how I can get the education, I also have minimal experience and wish to get the experience
I got 9 out of 10.
I think maybe I just study way too much I tested in strategies and use different strategies I have bread and butter strategies I’m very passionate about trading I tried as much as I can because I frankly I have nothing else to do I am fully disabled in this selfie with my mind and body to stay sharp but I also have noticed that I am getting very good at it trading because I seem to have a photographic memory and that really helps with my training but I do need a mentor I’ve been teaching myself for the last five years and there’s always something to learn every day 🆘
Karaline, trading is a great way to stay sharp! What is your bread and butter strategy?
Seth, I recently purchased the SMB Options Trading course. I am just getting started but wondering how to find a mentor? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I’d like to help in whatever questions you may have
How about March 2020 June 2020 and 2 days ago when tech stocks crashed down ... my first year of option trading. November 2020 is going to be wild. Well... here it goes 🤞🏽
Great video
Thanks Seth
Your welcome Ed, please let me know what other video subjects would be of interest to you.
anyone know of a good trading community that i can join?
At this point, I'm only day-trading options. The crap news just keeps on coming and any amount of fundamentals or technicals goes out the window. Risk management is the only thing thats saving me. Scaled back from $1k worth of option contracts to just $100.00 worth. This isn't even funny anymore.
Jimmy, you might want to consider options income trading which is a very different style of trading and ignores the news and focuses on options pricing dynamics and time decay instead. If you'd like to learn more, go to Optionsclass.com and it gives you a solid background and actionable strategies.
....................brilliant....insightful....i want to work for you....
On the account size, you mean buying power or capital?
Capital, Jaime.
My biggest problem is stopping out of bad trades that go the wrong way.
I'm not making a plan before the start of the market. I'm not getting enough education. I'm deviating from my bread and butter strategy. My passion is also lacking lately.
It's important to follow your plan as long as you have backtested it and it has been sustainably successful. Journaling can be a great way to keep yourself on the straight and narrow in that regard. You absolutely have to get an education as a trader. No one succeeds without it. Please go to Optionsclass.com and we have some ideas for you there in our important webinar that you can register for there. As for your passion, that is probably a function of your failing to follow your plan and thereby losing. If you correct that, you most likely will refresh your passion.
@@sethfreudberg4750 thank you for your feedback. Right after watching video last night, I reserved a spot for Saturday. Can't wait to watch the webinar.
@@ricanxd That's awesome. Hope that you benefit from it.
@@sethfreudberg4750 investing in yourself is always a great investment.
@@ricanxd Great point!
The thing that jumped out to me that I am clearly lacking is the mentorship part. I would love to know where to find a mentor. I don't even know one person that's as passionate as I am about the market/news that moves the markets. My wife can vouch for that. I drive her nuts on a daily basis with information that she "just doesn't understand". It's like talking in an empty hallway inside my head. And when I speak people tend to look baffled. 😄
jhamilton0607 I can help you look at your alternatives for mentorship. Please reach out to me at sfreudberg@smbcap.com and we can discuss some ideas on that subject.
I need the mentor or chat groups ... How do I go about finding good ones?
Drew, can you please tell me what trading discipline you focus on? That will help me to answer your question.
@@sethfreudberg4750 I am focusing on options, I jumped into Iron Condors because the name sounded cool. Now trying to study up on it to figure out if the style in general fits the way my mind works ... still new. Then swing trading in general.. 4-6 weeks in and out. Does that help?
I do appreciate the response!!!
@@drewbriggs3313 You might want to consider joining our Options Tribe as a premium member. We have a chat for our members. We also provide mentoring, but that may be a bit premature prior to your gaining some fundamental knowledge: Optionstribe.com
Also I don't see any women among the traders in your firm. Why?
how can i join the skype group?
Caleb go to Optionstribe.com and join as a premium member. I'd also strongly suggest you attend the webinar that you can register for at Optionsclass.com.
Thank you! 30% annual return benchmark is helpful. I have a position trading strategy in stocks and most of the money is there, and I'm just starting to dabble in options so even though I have a not so small account, I have a small amount allocated to options and I focus on percentages not absolute dollar amounts which are more or less irrelevant to me except from a practical asset allocation perspective. Made my first ever options trade earlier after I signed up for your weekly options income machine course. This was an awesome way to start doing options because all I have to do is follow your instructions LOL and I'd be a total effing idiot to bet against a 1 million dollar plus proven for decades AI system omfg. I used to be in IT so maybe that's why I think that. The one loss was very instructive because I could see it unfold and it taught me a lot more about how options work and I didn't even know how my broker would settle it hahaha.
How much capital I need for usd$3,000/month living cost with 90% probability winning?
Harry, the question is not the probability of winning it's the expectancy of the trading strategy. So your question can't be answered without the expectancy number.
You should check out wall street bets.
Lol, the options god... so true. I got burned so bad when I got too cocky.
It's a law of nature, Sushi :).