Despite my passion for the markets, I pursued a career path that has provided me with a multitude of wonderful experiences. From a young age, I studied music and toured full-time for many years as a classical organist performing solo concerts in over 50 cities every year. Another passion, aviation, pulled me in a different direction and provided me with the opportunity to fly the Canadair Regional Jet as a captain for SkyWest Airlines. During that time I also passed the Series 7 and Series 65 exams and worked as a financial advisor for Royal Alliance Associates.
I started trading options when I was 21. I worked with several stockbrokers that considered themselves “options experts”. We would purchase options on stocks that we believed were poised for a large move up or down. Even when I was directionally correct, the stock rarely moved enough to generate a profitable trade, let alone one that would cover the twenty dollar ticket charges. After losing lots of money, I decided to take a break from trading. I continued to study the markets and options trading, eventually realizing that the only way to consistently make money in the options game is to be a net seller of options, not a buyer of options. This knowledge coupled with the significant decrease in commissions and availability of online trading platforms convinced me that the time was right to try trading again.
I am not a professional trader. In fact, I do not trade full-time, nor is trading my sole source of income. Options trading is definitely not a “get rich quick” scheme. However, by following conservative trading principles, there is the potential to generate healthier returns than provided by passive investing (buy and hold). I have made lots of mistakes and lost lots of money on my path to becoming a better options trader. The purpose of this site is to share the lessons that I have learned in trading and possibly inspire others to give it a try.