Learn options, from the contract to the strategy
Start with the options contract or move straight into a strategy. The Academy connects clear fundamentals, a glossary, 30 strategy profiles and a finder built around market phase and goal.
Where would you like to start?
- 1Market phase
- 2IV rank
- 3Goal
Step 1 of 3: Market phase
Check the events before choosing a strategy
Market phase and volatility are only part of the setup. Use the calendars to spot scheduled catalysts before you plan an entry.
All market events in one calendar
Start here for the complete week across earnings, dividends and other scheduled events.
Earnings calendar
Check report dates and timing before trading company-specific volatility.
Dividend calendar
Review ex-dividend and payment dates when assignment and distributions matter.
Start from the market phase
Clear uptrend, expected to continue
5 strategiesBasing out, or a quiet upward drift
10 strategiesRange-bound, no trend, price oscillating between levels
20 strategiesTopping out, or a quiet downward drift
5 strategiesClear downtrend or an outright crash
5 strategiesBig move expected, direction unknown (event, coiling at the edge of a range)
5 strategiesAfter a volatility spike, with a return to normal expected
8 strategiesStart from your goal
In-depth strategies
Are you willing to hand over the shares at the call strike - even if they keep running afterwards?
After a 30% drop, would the strike still be a price you actually want to pay?
Would you buy and hold this stock even without the option premium?
Do you want a credit against an obligation - or would you rather pay a debit?
How far outside the expected move to expiration does the lower strike sit?
Is the range you expect genuinely narrower than the move the market has priced in?
Does the upper strike sit above the lower strike plus the debit you paid?
What does this insurance cost you per year, as a percentage of the position?
Does the move have to be bigger than the one the market has already priced in?
Will the move go far enough past your break-even - and get there in time?
Does price fall fast enough and far enough below your break-even?
Is the upper strike a realistic price target inside this expiration?
Is the lower strike a realistic downside target inside this expiration?
Is the expected move large enough to reach one of the two break-evens?
Why are you giving up the protective wings of an iron condor?
Would your account survive a 30% gap the wrong way?
Could you carry a 40% overnight gap up - financially and psychologically?
Do you have the buying power to actually take delivery of the stock at the strike?
Will you accept a hard ceiling in exchange for a hard floor?
Do you have a precise price target - not just a direction?
Which version is cheaper to get filled right now - the call or the put construction?
Will price really sit near the strike, or are you just selling expensive premium?
Is the near-term expiration expensive relative to the far one (a term structure in backwardation)?
What is your plan if the near-term short leg gets exercised early?
Does the skew even justify a put diagonal instead of a plain bear put spread?
Which side can you genuinely rule the big loss out on?
Is the credit genuinely larger than the width of the call spread?
What happens if price runs far past the upper strike?
Are you expecting a genuine breakout - or just a move up?
Why not just buy the stock? (The answer has to be capital efficiency or tax treatment - not 'less risk'.)
The complete options strategy cheat sheet
34 clearly structured pages: decision tree, comparison matrix, one dedicated page for each of the 30 strategies, plus glossary and risk notice.
The 7 no-trade rules
These seven sentences are a filter, not a rulebook to memorise. If even one of them is true, the strategy does not belong in a trade yet — however good the payoff looks otherwise.
- You do not know your maximum loss. If you cannot explain the max-loss formula in one sentence, you do not know your risk — however good the position looks right now.
- You could not buy or deliver the underlying on assignment. Any short option can be exercised early. If your capital or your holdings cannot cover that, the position is too large for your account.
- You have not checked the calendar inside the expiration window. Earnings, rate decisions, ex-dividend dates and major economic releases can all change how the underlying moves while your position is open. Trading without checking means taking a risk you cannot see.
- You cannot explain what your profit depends on. Direction, time decay, volatility, movement — every strategy has one primary driver. If you do not know yours, you also do not know when the position starts working against you.
- The spread makes the risk-reward unusable. A wide bid-ask eats the premium before you have even opened. Work with the price you can realistically get filled at, not the mid.
- You have no plan for expiration and assignment. What happens on the last trading day, on an exercise over the weekend, or on a gap after the close? Without an answer, there is no exit plan.
- The position adds to a risk your portfolio already carries. Neutral on its own, not in context: if you already hold several short-vega or short-gamma positions, the risk stacks — even when each individual position looks defensible.
None of these rules asks you for a market view. They only check whether you understand the mechanics of your own position before you take it on.
The lesson on trading psychology helps trace an unplanned change back to observable evidence. A trading journal then keeps the plan, change and outcome separate.
Understanding strategies is the start. Journaling is what makes the difference.
Log your option trades and connect strategy, sizing and emotion to what actually happened.
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This material is general information about option strategies, written for a general audience. It is not investment advice, not a recommendation, and not financial analysis. Options can lose their entire value, and uncovered positions can lose more than the amount committed. Anything said about tax is general in nature and is no substitute for professional tax advice. Last reviewed: 2026-08-06.