Watch These (Top 10) YouTube Videos to Master Options Trading: Beginner to Advanced

Our editor's countdown the 10 tastylive videos every trader needs to watch

10 - Start here: your intro to an options crash course from a finance Ph.D.

Meet the best options trading teacher you’ll ever have. Dr. Jim Schultz has a doctorate in finance from The University of Memphis and taught finance at Winthrop University. His newest feature-length options crash course has won the praise of thousands of new options traders. If you want an easy and understandable take on the basics of options quantitative analysis, this is the video for you.

9 - An introduction to covered calls

Covered calls are the most intuitive beginner options strategy for those comfortable with buying and trading stocks. tastylive’s introduction to the subject has been watched by more than a quarter of a million traders. Before watching the video, review this basic overview of a covered call:

• Covered calls are a beginner strategy in options trading that involves buying stock and selling call options against it to enhance positions and reduce cost basis.
• Covered calls have the same risk profile as short puts, and both strategies have a bullish assumption.
• Traditional investing often focuses on buying stock, but selling options can enhance stock positions and provide a higher probability of profit.
• Selling covered calls can reduce cost basis, increase probability of profit and provide downside protection.
• Covered calls can be adjusted based on market assumptions, such as selling at-the-money or out-of-the-money calls for higher premiums and more effective cost basis reduction. They can also be profitable even if the stock doesn't move.

8 - Finding a strategy that’s right for you

Trading is like skiing. You don't know what the conditions will be like until you're on the mountain top. But this video featuring legendary traders Tom Sosnoff and Tony Battista helps viewers understand market conditions well enough to make it down the mountain safely (and profitably). 

7 - Portfolio management for $100k+ accounts

Portfolio building is more than just picking stocks. It's about understanding product indifference, capital efficiency and strategic allocation. In 2022, traders Tom Sosnoff and Tony Battista managed a $100,000 options portfolio live on air, showing the audience how they adjusted and managed positions in a large account. Before watching the full series, take a look at their four tenants for successfully managing a large portfolio. 

1. Portfolio building and product indifference: The Top Dogs series emphasizes the importance of being indifferent to specific products and focusing on building a diversified portfolio. 
2. Core portfolio with strategic investing: The objective is to operate like a hedge fund manager by creating a core portfolio that avoids correlation and includes both long and short positions in various products.
3. Risk management and capital allocation: The first episode will cover the allocation of capital within your portfolio. Sosnoff and Battista explain the use of exchange-traded funds and futures instead of individual stocks and the importance of consistent capital allocation.
4. Setting realistic expectations: Set realistic expectations and understand that monthly returns may vary. Throughout the series, traders will learn to manage risk and maintain awareness of potential losses in months when the market moves against the portfolio. Top Dogs, like tastylive as a whole, is about product indifference and on long-term portfolio management.

6 - 0DTE options strategies

Are you considering selling zero days to expiration (zero DTE) options? Then make sure you watch our research first! While best-case scenarios may seem mouthwatering, the tastylive research team conducted multiple industry-leading studies of risk and proper trade management with zero DTE options. The video above is linked to our series on the subject. 

5 - Selling put options for smaller trading accounts?

We’ve had more than a decade to crunch the numbers on nearly every variable an options trader can consider. If you believe a stock is going to go up, but you don’t have much capital to put toward your trading, don’t just buy stock. In one of tastylive’s first viral research pieces, we break down why selling put options may be a better long-term strategy for traders with limited capital than simply buying a stock at the right time. 

4 - Former engineer/lawyer becomes a full-time trader with these three criteria

Over the years, nearly 40 traders that tastylive calls "Rising Stars" have met with Tom Sosnoff on the network. The one in this video—we'll call him Thomas—has some powerful insights for traders. His disciplined focus on three simple criteria helped him become a full-time trader after his career as an engineer and lawyer. To hear about his leap into trading, watch the video above. 

3 - How a software engineer grew $2,500 into $200,000 in a few years

Last year, our interview with Nishat, a "Rising Star" who parlayed $2,500 into $200,000 caught fire with tastylive’s audience. Nishat’s trading strategy focuses on mean reversion and swing trading, primarily using debit spreads on options. His passion for trading doesn’t stop at his returns, though. It’s a lifestyle and a passion he shares with his daughter. To learn Nishat’s story, watch the video above. 

2 - Don’t make these beginner options mistakes

Ever heard the saying 'Take the money when you can, not when you have to?" This Tom Sosnoffism is one of four pieces of advice explored in our video on options trading mistakes. To put the odds in your favor, watch our tastybites episode on trade traps linked above. 

1- How to build a portfolio using complex options strategies

Tom Sosnoff’s Trade Talk on complex options strategies offers an exclusive look at the nitty-gritty information traders typically hear only at a tastylive event. For Sosnoff’s exclusive guide, watch the video above.  

Eric Villa is a YouTube specialist at tastylive. 

For live daily programming, market news and commentary, visit tastylive or the YouTube channels tastylive (for options traders), and tastyliveTrending for stocks, futures, forex & macro.

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