Options Trading Tutorial

Welcome to our Options Trading hub—your complete learning path from beginner to advanced. This page collects all our options trading tutorials in one place, with organized blog post titles and direct links so you can follow step-by-step. Start with the fundamentals (calls vs puts, strike price, expiration, premiums, intrinsic/extrinsic value, and the Greeks), then progress into practical strategies such as covered calls, cash-secured puts, spreads, iron condors, and protective hedging. You’ll also find advanced guides on risk management, position sizing, volatility (IV), assignment risk, trade management, backtesting, and common mistakes to avoid. Use this page as your central directory to learn options properly, practice safely, and trade with a disciplined plan.

Options Trading: Beginner Foundations

  1. Options Trading 101: Calls, Puts, Strike, Expiry, Premium (Explained Simply)

  2. Why Options Move Faster Than Stocks: Leverage, Time, and Volatility

  3. ITM vs ATM vs OTM: What It Means and How Traders Choose

  4. Buying Options vs Selling Options: Risk Profiles Compared

  5. Options Pricing Basics: Intrinsic Value vs Extrinsic Value

  6. The Options Chain Explained: How to Read It Like a Trader

  7. Open Interest vs Volume: What Matters More and When

  8. Bid-Ask Spreads in Options: The Hidden Cost Beginners Ignore

  9. How Assignment Works (and Why It Scares Beginners)

  10. Paper Trading Options: A Safe Practice Plan for 30 Days

Options Greeks (Core Skill)

  1. Delta Explained: Directional Exposure Without Confusion

  2. Theta Decay: Why Time Is Either Your Enemy or Your Income

  3. Vega and Implied Volatility: The Real Driver Behind Premium

  4. Gamma Risk: Why Short Options Can Blow Up Fast

  5. Rho Simplified: When Interest Rates Actually Matter

  6. Greeks Cheat Sheet: Interpreting a Trade in 20 Seconds

  7. Greeks by Strategy: What Greeks You Want for Each Setup

  8. How Greeks Change Near Expiry: Why “0 DTE” Is Different

  9. The “Greek Neutral” Myth: What Pros Actually Manage

  10. Common Greek Mistakes That Cause Silent Losses

Options Strategies: Beginner → Intermediate

  1. Covered Calls: When It’s Smart (and When It Limits You)

  2. Cash-Secured Puts: A Practical Entry Strategy (With Rules)

  3. Vertical Spreads: A Safer First Options Strategy

  4. Debit Spreads vs Credit Spreads: When to Use Each

  5. Straddles vs Strangles: Volatility Bets Explained

  6. Calendar Spreads: Trading Time and Volatility Together

  7. Iron Condor Basics: How to Profit in Range-Bound Markets

  8. Butterfly Spreads: Precision Trades With Defined Risk

  9. Protective Puts: Hedging a Stock Position Without Panic

  10. Rolling Options: When Rolling Helps and When It’s Just Hope

Options Trade Management and Risk

  1. Position Sizing for Options: A Practical Risk Framework

  2. Stop-Loss for Options: Why “Percent Stop” Often Fails

  3. Taking Profits in Options: Partial Exits That Improve Consistency

  4. Managing Credit Spreads: 3 Exit Rules Pros Actually Use

  5. Managing Iron Condors: When to Adjust vs Close

  6. Assignment Risk: How to Reduce It Without Guessing

  7. Liquidity Checklist for Options Traders (Before You Click Buy)

  8. Avoiding Blow-Ups: The 5 “Never Do This” Rules for Options

  9. Buying Options Profitably: How to Avoid Paying Too Much Premium

  10. Selling Options Safely: Risk Controls for Short Premium Strategies

Volatility and Earnings (Where Options Get Serious)

  1. Implied Volatility (IV) Explained: Why Premium Gets Expensive

  2. IV Rank vs IV Percentile: Which One Should You Use?

  3. IV Crush After Earnings: Why You Lose Even If Price “Moves Right”

  4. Earnings Options Trading: 5 Safer Frameworks (Not Gambling)

  5. Event Trading: CPI, Fed, Jobs Data—How Options React

  6. Volatility Strategies: Long Vega vs Short Vega (When Each Wins)

  7. Skew Explained: Why Some Strikes Are Pricier Than Others

  8. Term Structure of IV: Why Next Week vs Next Month Differs

  9. Trading “Volatility Expansion” Setups (Without Overtrading)

  10. A Complete Earnings Trade Checklist (Entry, Risk, Exit)

Advanced Options (Pro-Level Concepts)

  1. Synthetic Positions: Recreating Stock Exposure With Options

  2. Delta Hedging Basics: What It Is and Why It Matters

  3. Portfolio Greeks: Managing Risk Across Multiple Trades

  4. Probability of Profit (POP): When It Helps, When It Misleads

  5. Expected Value (EV) for Options: The Only Math That Matters

  6. How Market Makers Think: Spreads, Hedging, and Inventory

  7. 0 DTE Options: Risk, Structure, and Safer Rules

  8. Volatility Arbitrage (Simplified): What Retail Traders Can (and Can’t) Do

  9. Backtesting Options Strategies: Common Pitfalls and Better Methods

  10. Building an Options Playbook: 3 Strategies, 1 System