Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

We recently published a performance review of at-the-money (ATM) NDX straddles with between one and five days left to expiration. One finding was that consistent sellers of 3-Day, 4-Day, and 5-Day NDX ...

A few months ago, we explored trying to smooth out performance of consistently shorting straddles with a buying dated long straddle using NDX options. We found that a consistent strategy selling NDX 3 ...

A straddle can be considered a volatility spread, as the trader who puts on the straddle is speculating on the volatility, or degree of movement of the underlying, not necessarily the direction of ...

Everyone acknowledges that at its most basic level the stock market is driven by fear and greed. And, in the past, the immediate impact of fear has been far more dramatic than the short-term effect of ...

Options straddles and options strangles are two advanced options strategies that can be used to capitalize on changes in implied volatility (IV) and stock price volatility. Options straddles and ...

Learning how to trade options helps expand your trading choices. It’s a powerful tool you can use to speculate on and hedge against market moves. But how do you know which strategy to use in a certain ...

Options allow for greater flexibility when it comes to expressing a wide variety of market outlooks. Implied volatility tends to rise into earnings events, providing options sellers with potential ...

High volatility signals a bullish outlook and creates new buying opportunities for traders while markets remain unpredictable ...

Jack Daniel’s maker, Brown-Forman, reported Q4 2025 results this morning before the markets opened. The news was not comforting for long-time shareholders. As a result, its shares are down more than ...