Options Trading Specialist Shares His Story and Strategies

Hi everyone, it’s Chris Vermeulen here. Over the years, I have covered a lot about investing, swing trading, and technical analysis in these articles. Today I have exciting news and fresh trading content you are going to love. Many of you trade options around the free trades and setup articles I post, and today options trading will become a big part of the analysis and trading because so many readers keep asking for options.

I have partnered up with an options trading specialist, and it’s time you learn more about who he is and why you need to start trading options with us.

I will let Neil introduce himself, and show you why options are so exciting!

I am Neil Szczepanski and I am an options trader and coach that is teaming up with Chris Vermeulen and the Technical Traders to offer options courses and trading strategies. A little bit about me – I’m a native of Indiana but grew up in Colorado and I’m a big sports fan. When I’m not looking through charts, I’m probably watching a game or coaching sports teams. In addition to watching sports, I like to play them.

I graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in Economics and Marketing and been a professional in technology for 20+ years. During this time as a professional, I loved to trade and always traded as a hobby. I learned to trade in the late 1980s in a Junior Achievement class in junior high school. In the 1990’s I learned how to trade options and started trading options in 2002. I became interested in options when I learned that I could leverage what small capital I had into large trading positions. I also learned that I could employ a great risk management strategy using a defined risk in options spreads. I discovered that I could sell the rights to stock I never owned and profit off it.

Most people who invest are taught to buy and hold and that can work but in a raging bull market like we have just seen but it is hard to buy at what looks like a market top. This is yet another reason why the time is right to start trading stock options. Whether you are a beginner or experienced in trading options it can be simple in theory but not always easy. Some of the best options trading strategies are some of the simplest. I really like to trade the covered wheel strategy where you can get into long stock positions at discounts and get out of those same positions by selling your position for more than market price.

The first question people always ask me when teaching options is ‘Why do you trade options?’. Here are the 5 reasons why I prefer to trade options over stocks:

1. MAKE BIG $$ WITH SMALL ACCOUNTS: Options give the average trader more ways to break into the trading world because of how much they are leveraged. A little investment can go a long way with less risk than buying the stock outright. For example, when an underline stock is over $2,000 or even $3,000 a share to control 100 shares becomes very expensive and for some not possible. Conversely, it is possible to control 100 shares for a specific period of time for dollars as opposed to thousands of dollars by leveraging options.
   
2. SWING TRADING OPTIONS, THE PERFECT SIDE-HUSTLE: I love teaching and technology and knew early on that these were the things that would drive my career path. At the same time, I have 6 kids to feed so I needed to supplement my income to support my family. I achieved this through swing trading options. This allows me to focus on my career and family while making consistent income without having to be glued to my screen every day as trades last a few days or weeks.
   
3. REDUCE RISK: Less risk – yes options can be far less risky than trading regular stock. You can define your risk 24/7, and not just during market hours with a stop loss like stocks. In very volatile markets risk management becomes even more important and your exposure to unlimited risk can destroy your account very quickly. The most successful traders are good at maximizing their winners, but more importantly, they are even better at minimizing their losses on losing trades.
   
4. FLEXIBILITY TO REACT TO MARKET VOLATILITY: You don’t need to always be right on direction. With options, you can put on a position and adjust and move with the market minimizing your losses or turning a losing trade into a winning trade. You can sell premium with options and make money when the underline stock goes nowhere. You get paid for the time that you sell the rights to the stock that you can either own or not own. With stocks you can either buy more or sell and take your loss if the price goes against you, that’s it.
5. CONSISTENT RETURNS WITH LESS DRAWDOWNS: Consistent return and far less drawdowns can be achieved with options strategies than just buying stock. I usually only allocate 50% or less of my overall account into options positions and achieve better returns than if I invest 100% into stocks. I also don’t have near the drawdowns or the risk that one would take by being 100% in the stock. Holding cash also allows me to pounce on opportunities if a black swan event were to hit I have cash available to buy in while all stocks are on sale. So I can still get a better return, with less drawdowns and be ready to pounce on buying opportunities.

I am really excited about sharing my knowledge and strategies with you. I will be writing another article this week that walks you through my simple strategy to consistently generate profits from the market. I will be walking through a few trades with you so make sure you don’t miss out.

Thank you, Neil, for sharing this information. I am very excited to add proven options strategies to our trading accounts and to post more educational articles here about how to trades options!

Well, that is all for now. We will share Neil’s next article and walk you through some winning strategies in our next post!

Sign up now to receive information about all things options… and if you want to see how Neil can help you make money and answer all your questions, visit: https://www.thetechnicaltraders.com/ots-cyhuo/

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.

Chris Vermeulen
Founder & Cheif Market Strategist
www.TheTechnicalTraders.com