Options
What Happens When an Option Expires? Four Cases, With Real Examples
Out of the money, an option expires worthless. In the money by $0.01, it turns into 100 shares. The four cases, the expiration day timeline, and three real trades.
Methodology
My Risk Rules After a 47% Drawdown
My options strategy fell 46.8% from May to August 2026. What a drawdown is, why my 2025 rules did not stop it, and the seven rules I trade by now.
Options
Covered Call vs Cash-Secured Put: Which One to Sell for Income
Two ways to earn income from one stock. A real TTWO trade shows when a covered call wins, when a cash-secured put wins, and how to choose.
Track Record
September 2026 Recap: Down 28.9% This Year, and What I Changed
September closed at +2.69%. The year is down 28.9% after a 46.8% drawdown from May. Monthly returns vs the S&P 500, what went wrong, and what I changed.
Options
The Wheel Strategy for Options, Tested With Real Money
I have always been sceptical of the wheel. So I am running it with real money on one TTWO put, and I will report the result either way.
Analysis
Amex Beat Earnings and the Stock Fell 4%. The Answer Is One Expense Line.
American Express beat earnings and the stock fell 4.3%. Three months earlier it beat by more and fell the same amount. The answer sits in one expense line almost nobody reads. The five quarter series shows a step that already happened, not a cost problem that is still growing.
Analysis
The Manufacturing Recovery Is Real. It Barely Weighs Anything.
Freight spending is up 11% while shipments fall 4%. Manufacturing sentiment is expanding while output barely moves. The gap between these numbers explains where the economy is actually growing.
Options
How to Buy a Call Option: A Real Trade Walkthrough
What you are actually buying when you buy a call, how the pricing works, and how one contract compares to owning the stock.
Methodology
How to Analyze a Stock for an Options Trade
Target price, catalysts, timing, and structure, worked through a single trade that did not go to plan. The third piece in the methodology series.
Methodology
How to Structure an Options Trade
The core directional and hedging structures, when each one fits, and the trade offs they carry. The second piece in the methodology series.
Methodology
How Equity Options Work
A working knowledge of options pricing, the Greeks, and what most retail traders miss. The first piece in the methodology series.