The Anatomy of a 1,000% Options Trading Gain - Explosive Options

What is a Gamma Squeeze? | Option Alpha

Zero-Day Options: What To Know About This Risky Short-Term Trading Strategy | Bankrate

Zero-day options: What to know about this risky short-term trading strategy (yahoo.com)

Understanding Option Expiration Dates and Cycles | InvestingAnswers

A short squeeze occurs when short sellers trigger a rise in price on a heavily shorted stock. 

when there’s a massive buying of a heavily short-dated call options of an individual stock, which leads to a dramatic price surge. This can trigger investors short sellers to buy more calls to reduce loss of their short positions, which results in huge higher stock prices.

To close out their positions, short sellers are forced to buy to cover, creating heavy demand. They clamor to get out as quickly as possible. Thus, they ‘squeeze’ each other out of short positions. And as they do so, they spike the stock price higher.

The more shorts who cut losses and buy to cover positions, the bigger the squeeze.

Zero-Day Options: What To Know About This Risky Short-Term Trading Strategy | Bankrate

Trading zero-day options: How much money can be made?

Let’s run through an example to show you how zero-day options can return so much money.

Imagine you can purchase a $20 call option on a $20 stock for $0.10, with the option expiring at the end of the day. The total cost of a single contract is $10, or 100 shares * 1 contract * $0.10.

Then, let’s imagine you buy 10 of these contracts for a total of $100.

Below is a table showing the profit and loss at the end of the day for a variety of stock prices.

At every stock price below $20, the option holder would lose the entire amount staked. At stock prices between $20 and $20.10, the option would have some value, but the option holder would still have a net loss. At stock prices above $20.10 — the strike price plus the cost of the option — the option holder would begin to make money on the bet, with significant leverage to the stock.

For example, if the stock moves just 2.5 percent, then the option goes up 400 percent in value. A 5 percent move would lead to a 900 percent gain in the option.

These massive gains in a short time frame are what traders of zero-day options are hoping for. A stock’s normal daily swings may push the option into being valuable, though it’s just as likely that the stock will remain flat or even fall, wiping out the total wager.

1,000% 期权交易收益剖析

作为期权交易者，我们一直在寻找圣杯，它会告诉我们图表右边缘会发生什么。自然，我们看不到未来，但我们可以为自己准备一个大薪日，那种让我们在财务、心理和情感上都处于另一个层次的薪水。没有比抓住一个巨大的赢家并获得 1,000% 的期权交易收益更好的感觉了。这就是它的故事。

我经常被告知通用电气 （GE） 是最无聊的名字之一。这是一只古板的老工业股，在市场之外没有太多的贝塔系数（无论是上涨还是下跌，它的波动都比市场慢）。该股目前的交易价格为 20 美元左右，并且在过去一年左右的时间里几乎没有进展。自 2012 年以来，Netflix、Apple 和 Boeing 等股票飙升，而 GE 仅上涨 25%。

但是，如果您的时机合适，GE 可以为您提供一些丰厚的短期回报。您所需要的只是图表和技术，期权交易的强大工具，以及我们能达到的圣杯。

几年前，我在 GE 期权交易中获得了最大的收益之一。那时正好在到期周（大约七天后）。该股的图表看起来不错。指标刚刚开始转为看涨。价外罢工的售价为 13 美分。接受这笔交易并等待它出来的风险很小，但我对技术面充满信心。

好吧，第二天传来了一些消息，该股在罢工期间上涨了 55 美分。到当天收盘时，期权为 50 美分，这是一个强劲的收益——但还有更多时间等待。

在接下来的一周里，GE 的价格上涨了约 85 美分，这对该股来说是一个非常强劲的走势。该期权周五以 1.35 美元的价格结束——比前一个周四上涨了 1,000% 以上。该股当周上涨了约 9%。无聊的？再想一想！

这只是一个成功交易的故事，我们有点幸运，但我想说的是，运气是准备与机会相遇的地方。在 GE 股票中实现 1,000% 的回报需要 10 个生命周期，但期权交易在大约 7 天内就获得了这么多收益。我们在正确的时间出现在了正确的地点。

当然，怪物交易不太可能发生。事实上，你可能会失去 99% 的时间试图获得大赢家。期权交易的伟大之处在于，如果您发现自己处于交易的正确一侧，它会为您提供巨大的杠杆作用。你不能只是猜测和进行随机交易。相反，您必须阅读图表，准备好改变您的策略，耐心等待交易结束，并进行管理准备好改变您的策略，耐心等待交易结束，并管理您的风险。如果没有这四件事，1,000% 的收益将仍然是一个白日梦。

But, if your timing is right, GE could provide you with some great short term returns. All you need are charts and technicals, powerful tools when it comes to options trading and as close as we can get to the holy grail.

A couple years back, I had one of my biggest gains in a GE option trade. It was just before an expiration week (about seven days out). The stock’s chart was looking fine. Indicators were just starting to turn bullish. The out-of-the-money strike was selling at 13 cents. There was a small risk in taking this trade and just waiting it out, but I felt confident in the technicals.

Well, some news hit the following day, and the stock ran through the strike, going up 55 cents. By the end of day, the option was at 50 cents, a robust gain – but there was more time left to wait out.

During the next week, GE went up about 85 cents in price, a very strong move for the stock. The option ended that expiration Friday at $1.35 – it was up more than 1,000% from the previous Thursday { (135-13)/13=9.38=940% }. The stock rose about 9% that week. Boring? Think again!

This is just one story of a successful trade where we got a bit lucky, but I like to say that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. It would take 10 lifetimes to achieve a 1,000% return in GE stock, yet the options trade yielded that much in about seven days. We were at the right place at the right time.

Of course, monster trades are not likely to happen. In fact, you will probably lose 99% of the time trying to get a big winner. The great thing about options trading is that it gives you tremendous leverage if you find yourself on the right side of the trade. You cannot just guess and make random trades. Instead, you have to read the charts, be prepared to change your strategy, have the patience to wait out a trade, and manage your risk. Without those four things, a 1,000% gain will remain a pipe dream.