Four Types of Options Trades

While I’ve been on vacation, the market has been rather sluggish — trading between 2800-2825 in the S&Ps (for the most part).

While I prefer an explosive, directional market (who doesn’t!?), I also appreciate premium selling strategies, and more conservative, directional takes like butterflies and unbalanced butterflies.

You have to think of the market like the weather. When it’s 100 degrees and sunny, you’re going to want to dress lightly and add some sunscreen. When it’s 32 degrees and snowy, a jacket and hat are probably required.

In the stock market, I like to trade these varying weather patterns with varying options strategies.

That’s why today I’m going to talk about several different strategies that you can add to your trading game, so you can be actively trading no matter the market.

I’ve put it in a nice fun download as well (so yay, another exclusive ‘Five Star’ community download).

Check it out in this issue near the bottom…

So sometimes, we’re in a strong, trending market. Other times, like right now, this meandering sideways action can be taken advantage of with specific strategies.

These strategies are also especially helpful while on vacation. When I know I can’t watch my screens for the 6.5 hours that the markets are open, I can stick with more conservative options strategies.

Right now, I have butterflies on in ADBE, NFLX, and BA, allowing me to trade these conservatively and still hit the beach.

My more aggressive plays in COUP, the Dow and again, ADBE, allow me to make more but don’t have too much risk on to the point where I can’t enjoy my day.

Here’s the download I told you about earlier — it’s my PDF of my Top Four Options strategies.

Learning setups in the stock market are critical to success, like those taught in my classes like the Five Star Setup (as taught in my Ready, Aim Freedom class), but a successful trader must also learn a variety of options strategies to weather different market conditions (and vacations).

But, now I want to hear from you.

What kind of options strategies do you want to learn more about? Stacking butterflies has been my favorite, as of late. Drop a comment below, and I’ll write about the strategy next time.

Up Next...

The Break Out Move in DELL

Friday, September 11, 2026 Hi Traders, Today, I wanted to take a look at a ticker that has recently experienced a phenomenal move: Dell. This is because trading and investing are all about patterns. Recognizing those patterns and repeating those patterns is how we continually improve our edge. While I was bullish on DELL with … Read more

Charts Over the Calendar: Eyeing a Nasdaq Break Out

Thursday, September 10th, 2026 Hi Traders! The Nasdaq futures were a little soft on Wednesday, but the price action still looks constructive, with squeezes appearing all over the place. I love consolidation because ultimately, it leads to momentum breakouts, which, of course, I love to trade! The Nasdaq futures have been sideways, stuck just below … Read more

The Memory Bottleneck Trade: DRAM

Friday, September 4, 2026  DRAM is the cleanest way to own the entire memory complex in one ticker: Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, plus the storage names (Sandisk, Seagate, Western Digital, Kioxia). It launched in April and has already become one of the fastest-growing ETFs in history because the market finally realized memory, not just GPUs, … Read more

Subscribe Today!

Want my up-to-date analysis, setups, top trading tips, and more? Be a Five Star trader, and join my free newsletter today!

Sign Up Now