Frequently Asked Questions

Which services are free?

Our options trading education is 100% FREE!   We have developed a comprehensive course of 50 lesson modules ranging from the beginner level to the more advanced – which covers everything you need to master options trading at your own pace. All you need to do is create a login ID and password and voilà . . . you’re all set to go.

Which services cost money and how much are they?

We share our trades with our Members in real time (by email and/or SMS) for a monthly or annual fee. The monthly fee is $69. If you prefer to pay annually, then the membership is $700 which represents a 15% discount (c. $58/month). If you cancel before the end of the billing period (whether monthly or annually) you will retain access until that period is over. We do not provide refunds, but you will never be charged any cancellation fees or any other hidden fees. Our goal is to make sure that you are 100% satisfied with our service.

Will the membership fee increase overtime?

All existing Members are grandfathered and will never experience any increase in fee. Only newcomers (or former Members that have previously canceled and wish to rejoin) will be subject to the new increase in fee if any.

Do you offer a trial period or refunds?

No. We run a simple business where our interests are aligned with those of our Members: your success is our success. That is the reason why we give away all of our education for free. If you decide to join as a Member and follow our trades, we are confident that you will find plenty of value in the paid membership.

Do you offer discounts?

Yes. If you choose to pay annually, then you will save c. 15% over a 12-month period.

What are my secure payment options?

If you choose to join us as a fully-fledged Member you will have the option of 2 secured payments processing platforms: PayPal or Stripe. Your financial details will be held securely by the financial platform that you opt for, not by us.

Do I have to sign a contract or commit beyond my initial subscription?

There is no contract to sign, nor any requirement to renew your membership. You can cancel or pause your account at any time for any reason. If you cancel before the end of the billing period (whether monthly or annually) you will retain access until that period is over. To cancel or pause an active subscription our Members can access these options on their Your Account page under the “Subscription” tab.

Can I cancel my subscription online?

Yes, you can cancel your subscription online at any time, for any reason. If you cancel before the end of the billing period (whether monthly or annually) you will retain access until that period is over.

How long does it take to complete the educational course of 50 lessons?

It depends! Each lesson is different in length and complexity but would typically take between 20 and 60 minutes to complete. However, if you are already familiar with options you may decide to only review a portion of the course. If you are a true beginner then we recommend that you take your time to fully assimilate each concept.

How long does it take to become fully proficient in trading options?

This will vary depending on the individual. Learning our free courses and following our trades as part of your training will help you get there, although we cannot guarantee any individual performance. Typically, you will need at least a couple of months of consistent trading to start grasping the key concepts of options and having a good feel for how they work. Options are not complicated and consistency matters.

Do I need any specific skills before following and replicating your trades?

No, you don’t. We teach traders of all levels. However, we recommend that you complete our free three-level course before starting to trade so that you become familiar with the world of options. Our own trades are not shared as recommendations but rather as real-life examples to continue and perfect your training.

How much money do I need to start trading options?

The Option Expert teaches a wide-range of Members, from those with a few thousand dollars to those with multi-million dollars in disposable income. Some of our trades require only a few hundred dollars while others are more capital intensive. Our email alerts clearly state how much capital is required for each of our trades. We trade off of a benchmark portfolio of $100,000 which we “reset” every calendar year. We typically recommend having at least $10,000 in your trading account. The more capital at your disposal the more trades you can replicate. However, remember that our trades represent our own sentiment, are not recommendations, and do not take into account your specific financial standing or views. Therefore, it is your responsibility to choose only those trades that match your views or suit the capital at your disposal. You can also consider our trades as a starting point and adapt, for instance, the number of contracts or strikes to reflect your own risk appetite or funds available to trade.

You should always read our email alerts to understand the goal and rationale behind each trade before deciding to replicate it or not. Some trades may require more capital than you have available and may represent too much risk relative to the size of your portfolio. If you are in any doubt, it is best to check with your broker.

How many live trades do you typically have on at any one time, and how long do you hold them for?

This will depend on the market conditions and volatility. Typically, we aim to open 4 new trades a week. If the market is conducive to more active trading then we might share new trades with our Members daily.  We believe in quality not quantity.

Time is of the essence and a scarce resource to most people including ourselves, consequently we prefer to limit our number of open trades to 5 – 15 at any one time. Depending on market conditions, this range may fluctuate but remains our target. We usually hold the trades for the short term (a couple of days to less than a month) but sometimes take a longer view if we believe in the underlying for instance.

How do you recommend to start using The Option Expert?

We recommend that you initially complete our free 3-level education program before starting to trade so that you fully understand the key concepts and mechanics of options. In particular, learning how to read and interpret the “Greeks” which are to options what dashboards are to cars: they help you understand the risk and return profile of a trade, and how they might evolve with respect to volatility, time, and direction of the underlying.

Whenever you are ready, you have the option to subscribe as a Member and we will share our trades with you. We suggest that you start with small positions and increase the allocation gradually as you gain in confidence. Our trades are for educational purposes and not recommendations, so you should use your judgement to decide which ones to follow or not, and how to adapt them to your own situation.

Which strategies do you use? What is your trading style?

Back-testing has shown that implied volatility often overestimates the expected move of a stock’s price. Option premiums are partially based on implied volatility, and are overpriced most of the time. For this reason, we lean towards selling options. Being a net seller of options also puts time on our side since short options gain value (all else being equal) as time elapses.

We also buy options but predominantly as part of multi-leg strategies, which allows us to participate in the upside of calls (e.g., ratio spreads) or have downside protection with puts (e.g., hedging a long position with protective puts).

We usually express a directional view through our trading whether bearish or bullish (particularly through spreads). We are typically long-term bullish on the market but can trade bearish positions in the short or medium term depending on volatility and market conditions. Most of the time we trade along the trend, rather than try to fight the market.

Although we trade a large range of underlyings, we typically have a preference for equity (stocks and ETFs) in the healthcare and technology sectors.  We believe that risk management techniques are best achieved through options themselves rather than sector diversification as sector correlation tends to converge during market turmoil.

Due to the larger notional value of European options such as RUT, NDX, and SPX, we mainly trade American options. However we may occasionally enter a European type option as a spread to limit risk.

We are very fond of the “Wheel Strategy” whereby you initially sell a put (and get paid upfront), receive the stock/ETF in case of assignment, and then sell a covered call (and get paid upfront again). We usually do this with underlyings that we don’t mind holding for the longer term if necessary.

We have also developed a few unique strategies that have been successful and that we only share with our Members.

Most importantly, we believe that trading small and nimble is essential: nothing is more important to your long-term trading success than protecting capital and preserving confidence.

When do I receive the trade alerts?

Trade alerts are sent during market hours and as soon as possible after a trade has been executed.

By default you receive alerts by both email and SMS, but you have the option to unsubscribe according to your preferences. We highly recommend receiving both as SMS alerts tend to arrive faster, and emails provide additional information.

How much should I allocate to any given trade?

As mentioned previously, we believe that trading small and nimble is essential: nothing is more important to your long-term trading success than protecting capital and preserving confidence. Taking large positions can jeopardize your ability to trade options in the long-term and a few bad trades could hamper your confidence that you might ever become a successful trader.

At the end of the day, size is up to you and should be based on your risk tolerance. 

How much can I expect to make if I follow your trades?

One of the advantages of options is that you can set your own ROI (return on investment) target for each trade (e.g., 5% in 30 days). However, be aware that the more aggressive the target, the greater the risk involved. Therefore, it is important to set realistic expectations for yourself. Although we cannot make any guarantees on performance, our free education program will help you become a better trader if you study it thoroughly and consistently. Our historical trading performance provides a general idea of our success rate, although past performance is never a guarantee of future results – you can consult it under ‘Portfolio Performance’.

How do you calculate your performance?

We use a model portfolio of $100,000 and determine performance on the overall portfolio (including cash and commissions) at the end of each month using fair value (mark-to-market accounting). We believe this is the most conservative and faithful approach since only a portion of our overall portfolio is at risk at any given time (the remaining balance being in cash).

I have a very busy life. Will I have time to trade options? What should I do if I missed the alert and the price has now moved, will the trade alert still be valid?

Most likely yes! Once you are familiar with the mechanics of trading options (thanks to our free 50 lessons), entering a trade on your broker’s platform should take no more than a few minutes. Our service is built with the intention of reducing your time commitment: you do not need to sit in front of your screen waiting for our alerts. Trade alerts are sent as soon as possible after we have executed a trade by SMS and/or email so that you are notified in a timely fashion. If you missed the alert but you can execute the trade for a similar price then the alert is still relevant. Remember that trade alerts are not recommendations. They are meant to share our own trading activity and for educational purposes only.

Are you available to answer questions?

We are always available for you and you can contact us via the online form. We do our best to respond as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. Please be patient.