Even after discussing and outlining the general process for how to pick the right stock options strategy in previous podcast and videos, I continue to get members who are confused about how it should work and the steps one should take. I ultimately believe that in most cases you might be over-thinking it, especially when it comes to choosing tickers and market direction.

Today's podcast should help clear the air while also giving you concrete examples using a simple Iron Condor strategy. Finally, we'll talk in-depth about the new requirement to have a dynamic approach to your trading via our Trade Optimization Software to tweak and perfect your entries.

Key Points from Today's Show:

• As a trader today, your approach has to be much more dynamic in the market.
• We have access to a lot more data, which requires a mindset shift.
• There is a big misconception that cheap premiums and limited profits lead to small returns.
• Limited profits and small returns do add up, as long as your trade setups are optimized.
• Your settings need to be adjusted and tweaked based on the market parameters.

General Framework for Picking the Right Strategy:

Start with liquid stocks and ETFs

• You cannot focus your time on securities that are not liquid.
• If it is not liquid, it will not generate enough consistent returns and trades.
• Pricing is not reliable when the security is not liquid.

Pick a stock, then pick a direction

• Question: is this security good for my portfolio?
• Goal is to get a good mixture of underlying securities.
• There is no perfect mixture; depends on how you want to set it up.
• Pick a direction: bullish, bearish, or neutral.

Find the implied volatility level

• Use software like Thinkorswim to determine implied volatility.
• Take the highest implied volatility setups first.

Pick a day to expiration timeline

• Decide upon an expiration date.
• Choose monthly, weekly, etc. cycles.

Enter data into the optimizer software

• Plug in direction, account, and optimization factor — returns or Sharpe ratio?
• The optimizer determines exactly how to set up the trade for a given ETF.
• In different market situations, you might have different strategy setups.

Stock Options Strategy Example

Iron Condor Scenario 1:

• 40 days until expiration, IV rank at 50.

Best setup: sell the short strikes at a 20 Delta with $10 wide wings.

Iron Condor Scenario 2:

• 60 days out, IV rank at 25.

Best setup: sell the 25 Deltas at each side with a width of $15 strikes wide.

*Little tweaks in your strategy can cause a 2X increase in returns.