Topic
Strategies
Step-by-step walkthroughs of common options strategies, with worked examples and trade-offs.
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Bear Put Spreads: Profiting From a Fall With Limited Risk
The mirror image of the bull call spread, for a moderately bearish view.
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Rolling Options: Extending a Trade Without Starting Over
What rolling means, when it helps and when it only delays a loss.
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Bull Call Spreads: A Defined-Risk Way to Be Bullish
Buy one call, sell a higher one, and cap both your cost and your risk.
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Iron Condors: Trading a Range-Bound Market
Sell a call spread and a put spread together to profit when prices stay in a range.
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Protective Puts: Insurance for Your Portfolio
How buying puts can cap losses on shares you hold, and what it costs.
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Cash-Secured Puts: Getting Paid to Wait for a Better Entry
Sell a put on a stock you want to own and collect premium while you wait.
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Calendar Spreads: Trading Time Instead of Direction
Sell a near-term option and buy a longer-dated one at the same strike.
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Covered Calls: Earning Income From Shares You Already Own
How a covered call works, when to use it, and its trade-offs.
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Butterfly Spreads: Low Cost, Precise Targets
A three-strike strategy that pays most when price finishes at a chosen level.
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Straddles and Strangles: Trading Big Moves
Buying both a call and a put to profit from a large move in either direction.