Learning To Trade Options in the Trading Room

On June 21, 2003, we started an on-line options trading community with a singular purpose of helping retail stock and options traders and investors separate fact from over-hyped sales pitches so that they could learn how to use options to protect and grow their investment and trading capital. The success that we have experienced in doing that has provided us with a wealth of knowledge on the subject, which we continue to share within our community.

The curriculum offered through TheOptionClub.com focuses upon the use of options as a hedging tool, investment and trading vehicle for monthly income, long-term capital growth, and speculative trading.  Our goal is to provide you with resources so that you can learn what options are, how they work, and how you can use them to protect and grow your investment and trading capital.

You will not hear us tout incredible or unbelievable profit claims.  This alone separates us from the vast majority of other options educators serving the retail public.  Instead, we focus upon risk.

It is quite easy to earn profits as an options trader, but profitable trades are not the problem faced by most retail options traders.  The most significant obstacle standing between you and options trading success are the losses you will inevitably take on some trades.

All traders will have their share of losing trades, but not all traders suffer large losses.  The reason we focus upon risk is because the only way a trader can hope to achieve long-term success and profitability is through effective risk management.  Once this concept is fully understood it can have profound impact upon the way you approach trading and the long-term impact upon your investment and trading portfolio.

TOC Trading Room

While we offer a great deal of material at no cost, we have saved the best materials and have reserved most of our attention for a small community of members who choose to join us in the TheOptionClub's Trading Room.

The TOC Trading Room is a subscription based service that provides access to an ever expanding educational trading library, live training events, trade alerts, and more. 

Options Foundations Course

Options are complex and sophisticated financial instruments. In this course we reveal exactly what an option is and how it functions in the market.

• Discover how options are valued.
• Learn what market forces effect an option's valuation.
• Uncover how to identify and manage risk within your own portfolio.

This course delves deep into the option pricing formula, without getting bogged down in complex math.

• Explore the "Options Greeks" in detail.
• Develop a solid foundation upon which to build your options trading career.
• Gain an understanding of how and why volatility will effect your option positions.
• Learn the skill of identifying an options strategy that places you in the best position to minimize risk and earn a profit.

The "Tradingology" Course

Tradingology is the name of an advanced options trading course produced by David Vallieres.  We licensed this video course because it provides insights into constructing and managing a portfolio of monthly income trades while incorporating other long-term and speculative positions.  This is a central theme in our curriculum - diversifying risk across different securities, different price levels, and different time frames.

Tradingology sells as a stand alone course for as much, even more than, the total cost of joining the TOC Trading Room, but you may download the entire course as part of your paid TOC Trading Room membership.

The course is available to Trading Room members with active accounts. 

Learn more about the Tradingology Course by David Vallieres.

SPX Iron Condor Trades

Starting in 2011, every month we have been reviewing market conditions and planning an iron condor trade on the SPX.  You may attend these live planning sessions during our member's only web-cast training sessions or download the video re-play of the planning session, which is typically availabole within 24-hours of the live broadcast.

The goal here is not to provide you with trades, but to teach you how to do the work yourself by letting you watch as we work through the intricacies of a monthly income trade.  Detailed trading plans are then posted to a member's only forum, with complete visual analysis of the market and the planned trade.  Those plans are updated to reflect changing market conditions, position adjustments, and to address questions that you and other member may post.

E-mail alerts are issued every time an order is placed to open, adjust or close any part of the trade so that you can get a feel for when and how these trades and adjustments are executed.  This includes our use of sophisticated hedging strategies and refined position adjustments. 

Access the private message board where you may post and receive responses to all of your options trading questions, download full resolution videos from our ever-growing video library, and join us for live training session available only to Trading Room members.

As the trade evolves we review the position during live follow-up sessions.  The overall objective is to allow you to see how the theory and the concepts are applied in live market conditions.

Live Weekly Web-Cast Training Sessions

Most every week - we do take some holidays off - we host a live training session.  These typically last between 60 and 90 minutes and focus upon one or two subjects. 

The subjects addressed during these trading sessions are selected based upon your requests and those of your fellow members, or are intended to bring other timely information to your attention.

Portfolio Design and Construction

This is not a "one trick pony" sort of program.  We do not focus on just one type of trade because there is no one option strategy that is well suited to all market conditions.  They all have their strengths and benefits, and they all have their Achilles' heel.

Long-Term Portfolio

Our objective is not to tell you how to invest or trade.  Instead, our aim is to provide you with the tools and the insight that you can then use to make intelligent decisions about how best to deploy your capital in the market to address your specific financial objectives.

The long-term portfolio typically represents the largest part of an investor's or trader's capital.  This is the money that is being set aside and managed for long-term growth.  We share our philosophy and identify those strategies and approaches with which we have had our greatest success.

Monthly Income Trades

Whether you like butterflies, calendars, iron condors or other types of monthly option premium selling strategies we are prepared to show you the "in's and the out's" of each.

What makes our approach somewhat unique is 1.) we are willing to "pull back the curtain" and let you watch as we trade positions, and 2.) we focus upon integrating the monthly income trades with the long-term portfolio so that they two complement each other.

Short-Term Speculative Trades

We all like to "roll the dice" from time-to-time and make bets on short-term changes in market prices or volatility.  While we do not advocate any one short-term trading strategy over another, we do emphasize incorporating a risk management protocol to prevent aggressive short-term trades from damaging what you are attempting to achieve in the long-term and monthly income portions of the portfolio.

Do I Need A Big Portfolio?

No!  You don't.

Our curriculum is designed to work for you whether you are starting with $5,000 in your trading account or $500,000. 

If you're starting with a small account we emphasize building good habits early, building the account over time while managing risk, increasing the size and number of your trades as your skills develop and your capital allow.

Those who have larger accounts are cautioned to "go slow" and take the time needed to learn the material and develop the necessary skills.  Nothing is more discouraging that turning a big account into a small account - and it is completely unnecessary...

My Spouse Thinks I'm Gambling!

Options scare people.  In the hands of someone who does not understand them or who lacks strong risk management skills it is quite possible to lose significant amounts of money. 

In the hands of someone who has a strong foundational understanding of what options are and how the work, and how has developed the necessary risk management skills options offer one of the best and most effective means of reducing risk in your investment and trading portfolio.

The Report That Will Ease Your Spouse's (And Your) Mind

Our goal is to make sure you are the person with a solid understanding and strong risk management skills.  In fact, included in our library is a report that details a process that will allow you, once the fundamental concepts have been learned, to transition from a theoretical knowledge of options to a practical application in live market settings without exposing yourself to significant market risk. 

I Need Extra Help To Learn This Stuff...

No Problem, We'll Just Go One-On-One

Okay.  Why don't we schedule an hour to tackle what's giving you the most trouble...

Generally I charge $250.00 per hour for consulting, but it's different for my TOC Trading Room members.

Once you have been a member for a few months and have taken the time to work through the training courses, videos, and made use of our private member's forum - if you need a little extra help I'm here for you.

We will schedule a 1-hour one-on-one live coaching session at no additional cost to you.  I will be on my computer.  You will be on yours.  Show me what's going on and we will talk through the problem together.

I typically offer members one complimentary coaching session each year and if they want additional sessions I will schedule them at a significant discount from my customary rate - a benefit ONLY available to my members.

Joining The Trading Room...

The cost of the Trading Room is straight forward and right now incredibly affordable. You will pay just $247.00 which will provide you with access to all of the videos, all of the presentations, everything that we offer for a period of 45-days...

You will not be asked to upgrade or pay extra for the "magical trade adjustment secret" or to gain access to more or better features. You get everything we have.

Want it for more than 45 days? I don't blame you because I would, too.

After the initial 45 days your membership converts automatically to a monthly charge of just $30.00. That's like 98 cents per day. Less than the cost of a cup of coffee each morning, but it let's us keep upgrading our curriculum, providing you with new resources, a support forum, weekly webinar presentations, etc.

Need a guarantee? No problem...

My Guarantee To You...

Sign up and log into the Trading Room. If you are not satisfied with what you see, just let me know within 48-hours of subscribing. The full purchase price will be refunded and you will not be charged anything further.

After that first 48-hours, you may cancel at any time you choose and not be charged anything more. There is no long-term contract or commitment. When you're ready to leave just let me know that you would like to cancel your membership, you won't get billed another dime, and I will keep your membership active for its full remaining term.

While you are a member, I also guarantee that your monthly fee will not be increased. That means that no matter how much our site grows, what features are added, your monthly fee will not change so long as your membership remains active.