Guides
Plain-English explainers for the strategies behind the calculators — written by an active trader, no jargon for its own sake. Grouped by where you are in the journey, from first principles to day-to-day discipline. Comparing the strategies head to head? Start with the strategy comparison.
Beyond the basics: the three that decide if you profit
Once you know the strategies, three practical realities separate one that works on paper from one that actually pays - and most guides skip them. Read these three together.
- How much buying power options use - the capital each structure ties up, and why low margin is leverage, not safety.
- How to tell if an option is liquid - the spread, open-interest and volume checks, and how illiquidity quietly eats returns.
- What to do when a trade goes against you - the defense playbook: triage, then roll, take assignment, or close.
Data studies: what the strategies actually returned
Backtests on real market data, not sales-page numbers - cash-secured puts and the Wheel vs buy-and-hold, what QYLD's 12% "yield" really pays, and whether timing by IV rank works. See all options data studies →
Start here — the foundations
New here? Start hereWhat the core income strategies are, and what assignment actually means. Read these first.
The Best Options Income Strategies for Beginners
The best options income strategies for beginners, ranked: why cash-secured puts come first, then covered calls and the wheel, and which to skip for now.
Read the guide → · 8 min read
BeginnerReading an Options Chain: A Beginner's Walkthrough
An options chain lists every strike and expiration for one stock. Here is what each column means, what to look for as a seller, and the mistakes to avoid.
Read the guide → · 7 min read
BeginnerCovered Call vs. Cash-Secured Put: Which Should You Sell?
Covered calls and cash-secured puts are almost the same trade at the same strike - the real choice is about capital, dividends, and what you already own.
Read the guide → · 4 min read
BeginnerThe Wheel Strategy Explained: A Full Cycle Walkthrough
How the wheel strategy works cycle by cycle - selling cash-secured puts, handling assignment, writing covered calls, and tracking your real cost basis.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
BeginnerWhat Happens When an Option Is Assigned
What assignment means for an option seller - what happens to a cash-secured put and a covered call, early and ex-dividend assignment, and what your choices are.
Read the guide → · 5 min read
Greeks, time & volatility
How options are priced — the forces that decide whether selling premium pays.
The Greeks for Option Sellers: Delta, Theta, Vega
The Greeks measure how an option's price moves. As a seller you care about three of them, and the way they interact decides whether trades survive bad weeks.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
IntermediateTheta Decay Explained: How Time Pays the Option Seller
What theta is, why it accelerates in the final weeks before expiry, and how option sellers harness time decay as a structural income edge in every trade.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
IntermediateIV Rank vs IV Percentile: Timing When to Sell Premium
What IV Rank and IV Percentile measure, how they differ, and how options sellers use them to identify when premium is expensive enough to sell with an edge.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
AdvancedSelling Calls vs Selling Puts: Volatility Skew
Equity puts at a given delta usually pay more than equivalent calls. Volatility skew - the market pricing crash risk - is the reason, and it shapes the wheel.
Read the guide → · 5 min read
Setting up a trade — what, when & which strike
Choosing the underlying, the timing and the strike before you click sell.
The Best Stocks and ETFs for Selling Cash-Secured Puts
How to pick the right underlying for a cash-secured put: quality, liquidity, IV range, price, and the ETF option for traders who want simpler exposure.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
BeginnerThe Best Stocks and ETFs for Selling Covered Calls
How to pick the right stock or ETF for a covered call: shares you would hold, moderate implied volatility, deep liquidity, and upside you can afford to cap.
Read the guide → · 4 min read
BeginnerThe Best Stocks and ETFs for the Wheel Strategy
How to choose a wheel-strategy underlying: a stock or ETF you'd hold for years, with liquid options and moderate IV, since the wheel cycles you in and out.
Read the guide → · 5 min read
BeginnerHow to Choose Stocks for Cash-Secured Puts
Sell puts only on a stock you'd own at the effective purchase price - strike minus premium. The eligibility checklist that comes before you check the premium.
Read the guide → · 2 min read
BeginnerHow to Choose a Strike Price When Selling Options
A practical guide to picking strikes for cash-secured puts and covered calls - moneyness, delta, probability of profit, and the premium-versus-safety trade-off.
Read the guide → · 4 min read
IntermediateHow to Tell If an Option Is Liquid (Spread, OI, Volume)
How to tell if an option is liquid: a tight bid-ask spread, real open interest and recent volume - and the illiquidity that quietly eats a seller's returns.
Read the guide → · 8 min read
IntermediateWhen to Skip a Cash-Secured Put
Fat premium isn't a reason to sell a Cash-Secured Put - it's a reason to dig. The red flags that make me skip a Put even when the income looks great.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
BeginnerHow Much Money Do You Need to Sell Options?
How much money do you need to sell options? A cash-secured put needs strike x 100, a covered call 100 shares, and spreads far less. With worked examples.
Read the guide → · 4 min read
IntermediateWhen to Sell Options: Support, Trend and Moving Averages
How to time a cash-secured put or covered call entry using trend direction, moving averages, and chart support — practical filters that improve your odds.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
Advanced0DTE, Weeklies, Monthlies: Which Expiration to Sell
Theta accelerates near expiration, so shorter-dated options look richer per day. The gamma risk and the operational cost rise with them. Here is how to pick.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
IntermediateShould You Sell Options Through Earnings?
Earnings premium looks rich and the IV crush after the announcement looks like easy money. The realized moves and gap risk often tell a different story.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
Managing & comparing your trades
Taking profits, repairing losers, and choosing between strategy variants.
What to Do When an Options Trade Goes Against You
What to do when an options trade goes against you: triage the thesis first, defend it (not the loss), roll only for a reason, and know when to take the loss.
Read the guide → · 8 min read
IntermediateThe 50% Rule: When to Close an Options Trade Early
Why closing a winning options trade at 50% of max profit—rather than holding to expiry—can improve your annualised returns and reduce risk per trade.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
BeginnerWhat Happens When a Covered Call Expires In the Money?
If your covered call expires in the money, the shares are called away at the strike and you keep the premium — the if-called return, your maximum profit.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
IntermediateShould I Roll My Option or Take Assignment?
Roll or take assignment? Accept assignment when the outcome is one you chose; roll only when your thesis is intact and the roll pays you a net credit to wait.
Read the guide → · 4 min read
IntermediateHow to Roll a Losing Cash-Secured Put, Step by Step
The mechanics of rolling a cash-secured put: when to do it, how to execute the buy-write order, which direction to roll, and when rolling is the wrong move.
Read the guide → · 7 min read
IntermediatePoor Man's Covered Call vs Covered Call Compared
How the Poor Man's Covered Call and the standard covered call differ on capital, risk, return, and when each approach makes more sense for your account.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
AdvancedIron Condors vs Strangles: Defined-Risk Income
How iron condors and short strangles compare on premium, risk, capital and when each makes sense — a practical guide for options income sellers.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
Risk, psychology & the business of selling
Position sizing, mindset and the operational habits that keep you in the game.
How Much Can You Make Selling Covered Calls?
How much can you make selling covered calls? A realistic look at the monthly and annual premium income, what drives it, and why the gross yield overstates it.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
BeginnerAre Covered Calls Worth It?
Are covered calls worth it? On shares you are happy to hold and sell higher, yes; on a stock you expect to run or only bought for the premium, no.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
BeginnerCan You Lose Money on Cash-Secured Puts?
Can you lose money on cash-secured puts? Yes, the premium cushions but does not remove the risk. Here is exactly how a loss happens and the most you can lose.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
IntermediateIs the Wheel Strategy Profitable?
Is the wheel strategy profitable? It can be in flat-to-rising markets, but it lags in crashes and strong rallies. What really drives wheel returns, explained.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
IntermediateCan You Make a Living Selling Options?
Can you make a living selling options? Possible but rare: realistic returns mean a full-time income needs a large account and the nerve to survive drawdowns.
Read the guide → · 3 min read
IntermediateHow Much to Risk Per Options Trade: Position Sizing Basics
A practical framework for sizing cash-secured puts and covered calls — portfolio percentage limits, diversification, the Kelly Criterion, why smaller is safer.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
IntermediateHow Much Buying Power Do Options Use? Margin for Sellers
How much buying power do options use? A cash-secured put ties up strike x 100, a naked put far less on margin, and defined-risk spreads least of all.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
IntermediateTrading Psychology for Options Sellers
Six mental traps that damage options sellers — FOMO, revenge trading, panic-closing, anchoring, over-sizing, recency bias — and how a rules-based system helps.
Read the guide → · 8 min read
IntermediateSeven Options-Selling Mistakes That Quietly Erode Returns
The seven recurring errors that reduce options income over time — from selling cheap premium to over-rolling losers — and how to avoid each one.
Read the guide → · 6 min read
IntermediateBuilding a Repeatable Weekly Options-Income Routine
A weekly and monthly process for managing option positions, scanning for new setups, and building consistent income through systematic premium selling.
Read the guide → · 7 min read
IntermediateA Tax Primer for US Options Income
How selling options is taxed in the US: short-term gains, assignment cost basis, wash sales, and Section 1256 contracts — educational, not tax advice.
Read the guide → · 7 min read
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