Options Traders Blow Up Accounts and Don't Know Why

“I've been trading stocks and options for a while and understand technical analysis and trade setups. However, my biggest challenge has been timing and keeping up with macroeconomic events, sector rotations, and other market-moving news. With a busy career and family, I'm looking for an experienced, research-driven trading group that does the heavy lifting and provides high-conviction options swing trade alerts. Ideally, I'm looking for: Holding periods of 1 week to several months , i”

“I used to open credit spreads and figure out the exit later. Too often that meant holding a loser into expiry hoping it came back. Now I jot the take profit and max loss down before I click. Some days I still override it. Do you set the exit up front or manage by feel? submitted by /u/AmoebaTrading [link] [comments]”

“Hi Guys, So disclamer, I am relatively new to options selling, I have done some directional option buying but wanted to learn more about selling/spreads etc. The resouces on Tasty trade are really good in this regard. Anyways, I was looking at some of the analyst trades posted in there and they dont make any sense to me. This analyst bought a TLT 78 $ Call and covered it by selling another call but its way OOM at 100 $, what's the poind of this, you get just 1 cent premium and ur not really”

“So I'm a 76 yo male who's been trading options for roughly 10 years now and I've made enough that money is no longer a concern. I'm limited in what I can do due to a medical condition I've been dealing with since February. Trading has kept me from getting totally bonkers during this time up until now. I find my self just going through the motions and not really into trading anymore so I've started closing out my positions although I do still trade It's less and less l”

“I've often read to cut your options trades when you've lost some predefined risk tolerance (e.g. 50% of debit/credit). But if you use fundamentals and technicals as the basis to put on the trade, how do you manage if the thesis fails? I use Schwab and set my options trades to close out (market order) based on the price of the underlying. Some say option Greeks can cause you to lose more, but a bullish trade selling a bear put spread has lots of positive delta when putting on so going aga”

“If you don’t mind sharing, what has been your overall average % return? Mine has been 10% since I started 6 yrs ago, 17% the past 3 yrs. How have your losses been during downturns? I’m seriously considering 90/10 or 100/0”

“Does anyone trade options on NQRES or GC or any other futures? I have had success selling, puts on in queue and profiting off of the decay of the contracts. What strategies have you guys use trading options on futures? submitted by /u/Nategotputs [link] [comments]”

“Hi all. I am starting soon as a graduate quant trader at one of SIG, IMC, Optiver, or Akuna, and I will be trading equity options, that's all I know. My background is just math, so I am comfortable with probability and stats, but I have little knowledge on finance and programming. Questions: A. what do option traders at these quant firm do? I have no clue how they make money. B. I have a list of ideas for how to prepare. What I do not have is a sense of which ones are worth the time: Reading”

“I've been trading in ES options for a while now and have had no issues with it. For some reason I now find myself in a position to switch to SPX options* and in my initial, shallow experiment I noticed that selling an SPX option attracts way higher margin than when selling 2x ES options (1 lot SPX = 2 lots ES) when selling a PUT option at the same strike, same expiry, 1x SPX option charges $80K margin, while 2x ES options charge only $60K margin. In another instance, SPX charges almost twice”

“B, but for a boring reason: it has a transaction you can charge for on day one. A workshop has a price, a date, and a seat count. You take a cut of real money moving between real people. A is advice, and advice is brutally hard to sell because the buyer can never tell if it worked. The blind spot with B is supply: hosts and venues churn, and you need density in each city before the marketplace feels alive. I would start with one city and onboard hosts manually.”

“I have been trading equities, options like a maniac in the past 8 years. Total loss of close to 100k. It was brutal. I felt bad, helpless, crazy at times. I came across boggleheads and I was like “this is relaxing”. VT and chill here, VOO and chill there. So I started reading a bit and after sometime I realized this is the way. Now I think of all the losses I took. With 3k that I am able to take on my taxes, it would probably take close to 33 years lol. I thought about this and I came with the f”

“I've been working two trades that illustrate an important point about options trading: I don't use the same strategy on every stock. For Intel ($INTC), I'm using an Iron Condor . The idea is to trade a defined range and collect premium while keeping the risk defined. Intel's Q2 2026 revenue was $16.1B, up 25% YoY, while Data Center and AI revenue increased 59% to $6.3B. The Premium results we're tracking are approximately: ~$558 over 30 days ~$974 over 60 days The second trad”

“u/maestro-5838 You can't "buy naked calls". You can either "buy calls" (risky) or "sell naked calls" (extremely risky). I assume you meant "buy calls", but still you could lose the entire investment if the stock goes down and is a lower price on the 2027 expiration date.”

“I’ve been trading 0DTE SPX and SPY options for about 6 months, but I'm struggling with fear and cutting winning trades too early. I constantly exit at 2% gains out of fear, only to watch those same contracts run 100%+ right after. How do I fix this mindset/execution problem? submitted by /u/Alternative-Hall5186 [link] [comments]”

“My event driven option trades (earnings report) are correct. EX say that a company will move more than 7% up after their quarterly report. And I’m right so I buy the option but IV crush completely kills my trade. How do you trade options around events, when you are right in the direction and time but still lose money via IV crush? Basically how do I trade around IV? submitted by /u/Disastrous_Cold3705 [link] [comments]”

“I have been trading options for 10+ years, and admittedly, I have only scratched the surface in my knowledge. From time to time, I check out this sub and other options groups on social media. The one thing I have found is that there are a lot of "experts" out there who know very little. They post a few opinions, get a few upvotes, and it goes to their head. All of a sudden, they think they can advise every newcomer to the thread. If you are new to options and asking questions like, &qu”

“As someone who is trying to make money from trading options, should I be focusing more on selling options like the wheel strategy or buying options? It seems like selling options has a higher probability of profiting. submitted by /u/Nategotputs [link] [comments]”

“So you work 40 hours a week at your job and 10 hours a week day trading. Pretty clear cut that you aren’t a professional trader.”

“Thanks for all the advice I got yesterday guys. Any folks who make consistent gains buying options ? Let me tell a bit of about myself. I started 2 months back and have grown my account significantly buying options. Should I scale down or is this what most traders use to make a decent return in each trade ? Not trying to brag, I made a little over $100k YTD in gains but have also lost close to $53k (due to intraday trading micro cap stocks). Most of my losses were tied to stocks going down more”

“Zero day options seem like one of those things where having a plan matters a lot more than usual. I understand the appeal of 0DTE. The moves are fast and the capital required can look pretty small. But that can also make the risk look smaller than it really is. For people who trade or study zero day options, what are the main rules that actually keep things under control? Things like position size, stop loss, liquidity, spreads, and knowing when not to trade seem especially important. I am also”

“Are you in the business of prediction? Are you a gambler? I leave that to the trading discords and social media options gurus. As you know 80-90% of options traders lose money. I sleep well at night by understanding that I have the probabilities in my favor. My edge is because realized volatility typically comes in below implied volatility. By doing the little things correctly, trade after trade, week after week, month after month, I am playing the percentages and achieving consistent results. I”

“This almost always ends worse when the "investor" makes big money with options right out of the gate, because they convince themselves they know what they're doing, and they will continually make bigger and bigger bets until finally one of them will go tits up and wipe out all their gains. This WILL happen (if it hasn't already, and he just won't admit it).”

“Been trading stocks and crypto for a while, and something's been on my mind. I can see my P&L clearly on any given day — up ₹X, down ₹Y. But I realized I have almost no visibility into the actual pattern behind my losses. Like: Do I take bigger risks right after a big win? Do I hold onto losing positions way longer than I should, hoping they recover? Do I overtrade or revenge trade after a bad day? Most apps I've used just show P&L, win rate, charts — the "what happened&quot”

“Assuming one can handle a market drawdown for a couple of years what are some of the best leverage products you have used in your option trading strategy for example like selling covered call? I found some online but wanted to ask experience with these products. 3× index ETF/ETP - e.g. UPRO, TQQQ, QQQ3/LQQ3 Micro index futures submitted by /u/shandeep92 [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys, so I’ve been getting my feet wet in options selling last couple months. Rather than paper trading, I decided to do live trading but on a small account that would not affect me even if it got wiped. I’ve been mainly playing it safe, selling PCS since my capital is low, and my main moneymaker has been selling them on SPY. I would like to branch out, so I’ve been looking into other opportunities to sell PCS on individual stocks. I’ve been listening to a lot of Tom Sosnoff, and he seems to”

“Greater risk offers greater rewards. I doubt anyone will sell you a JISA where there is anything close to lose-it-all risk unless they know you're a high net worth individual who really understands the risks. Ultimately your risk will be spread between different assets; if they all tank then the investment managers will take your meagre remaining capital an invest it in the market where it will surge back again as the market corrects itself. Many people have your reaction to stocks and share”

“Everyone argues about whether cheap far-out options are dumb. Well... If losers go to zero and you hold winners to target, the hit rate you need just to break even is set by the payoff: Winner pays Break-even hit rate 3x 33.3% 5x 20.0% 10x 10.0% 20x 5.0% That's to go flat . Not to make money. Now the part that actually matters. Losers go to zero is a choice, obviously.... Cut them at −50% instead: Winner pays Hold to zero Cut at −50% 3x 33.3% 20.0% 5x 20.0% 11.1% 10x 10.0% 5.3% 20x 5.0% 2.6%”

“You got a pretty good deal. People normally pay a lot more money in exchange for the knowledge that they shouldn't gamble. You got a $100k+ lesson for only $5k.”

“Just a mental exercise here - I don't use margin for options aside from the requirement of a margin account to trade at Level 2. Sometimes in the thin markets where I participate, the Market Makers are not very active, and I'll see ridiculous asks. My account summary dutifully displays these as negatives against my underlying and I laugh it off until expiration. But maybe it's not a laughing matter to someone on the fringes? I'm thinking an account owner may have very little reco”

“i recently switched from % stop losses on 0/1dte contracts to price action stops by using Delta to calculate my max loss on the trade. But now I'm wondering how other traders take profits when they use price action stops. Like are you scaling out on a good 5 return even if the nearest support/resistance target is far away? are you selling a little bit before your 1:1 risk to reward hits? Just asking cuz im transitioning my trading style from scalping %'s to trading raw price action. &#32”

“TLDR; looking for some ideas on how to manage this losing trade. I’ve learned a hard lesson on a poor mans covered call with Walmart. I have had a couple shares of Walmart for over a year and felt like it was solid and upward moving for the most part. I decided to try WMT for a PMCC. Not only did the stock drop but I’m learning the hard lesson in premium pricing on low volatility and a stock dropping. Here are my options I know of 1) roll it out (take on even more risk) 2) take a realized loss (”

“Wondering how some other options traders stop out of their trades. Are you sticking to a % stop loss or are you basing it off the price action of the symbol you’re trading? I personally stick to a 10% stop loss but I wonder if it holds me back from reaching my max profitability since whenever i stop out on a trade I retry it. And since my RR is mostly 1:1, i would just come back to breakeven/small green at best or i would make my losses on the day worse submitted by /u/avN0 [link] &#”

“I use IBKR and the margin rate is +1 -1.5% the standard rate which is about 6-9% a year on a x6 portfolio margin account. If you're a trader who utilizes tons of leverage then you're likely leaving money on the table by using your broker's margin rate. What is a box spread first, basically it's a four legged options strategy that you can use to earn yield or borrow money at close to the standard rate (sometimes better). Say you want to borrow $96.5k to return back $100k by the en”

“Dave Aquino presented a seminar the other day extolling the virtues of using short term options that would expire the next day so as to mitigate possible large losses in case the market goes against you. As I have found out, much too late unfortunately, it seems all these gurus and presenters utilize the same sales style. They bring up how having an extra income would help with paying off the house, or the car, or saving for a vacation. Then they introduce one after another of people who have su”

“Yep. Two longs on the same index aren't a 1092 straddle. They add risk, they don't reduce it. The /NQ loss is recognized 1256. The QQQ gain stays unrealized.”

“What I meant is this - Step 1: I'll buy 1 NQ first as a perma-buy and hold. Step 2: Then for intraday I'll go short 1 NQ and after 2 hours go long 1 NQ - I'll never be net short NQ. Now will the losses on NQ be set against QQQ? Please note even when I went "short" intraday, net-net I was just flat.”

“I keep watching people on here every day complaining that options are so hard and they keep losing money so maybe this post can help some of ya'll out. For one, DON'T trade options if you have no idea what you're doing. Take some time and learn the fundamentals. There are fantastic ebooks on this that aren't AI SLOP, or resources online which can help you actually understand things like the Greeks, hedging, liquidity, algo etc. that you NEED to know before trading options or else”

“Yeah, 1092 is the thing that can bite you here. It's a loss-deferral rule, not a “your QQQ basis changes” rule. QQQ and /NQ are the same Nasdaq-100 bet, so they can be offsetting positions even if you go flat on the futures every day. A losing /NQ day while QQQ is sitting on a big unrealized gain can get that futures loss parked until the straddle is closed — it doesn't just net against your other /NQ winners. Winning /NQ trades are still 1256 (60/40). Mixed straddles (futures vs the ETF”

“I am starting to trade higher priced stocks via options. Many times, the spread is $3-$5. Anyone else trading these? Do you tend to bid much closer to the bid and wait to get filled? I have found I sometimes get filled then the bid just drops a dollar or two. submitted by /u/rcmtt [link] [comments]”

“I'm net ~$120 in the hole on some trades. My win rate is high, though my drawdown seems to be higher. I'm really just digging in for real with the live account, and keeping risk super low. I had bull call spread running and some news happened. I chose to close with a $300 loss instead of waiting and risking a $710 loss. I closed the trade and 20 minutes later if I stayed in, I'd have profited $115. I want stab my eyes out, crush my testicles with a rubber mallet, and slice checker bo”

“Hi r/options , I’m looking for help to learn and grow. I have ~1000 LEAPS I purchased almost a year ago that are well in the money now, and want to sell “covered” calls against these LEAPS. I recently converted to a margin account to be able to sell those calls against my LEAPS. I own the LEAPS outright as I bought them 100% with cash. Given each call I sell will generate premium, and I already own the LEAPS outright, how can I calculate how much “margin” will be tapped? Given my margin buying p”

“After years of success I am thinking of joining a prop firm that let's me trade options with big budget by just paying the evaluation fee. I have been looking at some but I am not sure if they are actually going to payout or scam me: Strix options? Options funding? Imperial trading funding? Surge options? Are any of these legit? submitted by /u/Dvorak_Pharmacology [link] [comments]”

“Hello! I am a beginner trader (live trading) and lost almost 400$ in four days after seeing almost 100$ profit vanishes within few seconds a couple of times. Even though the trend goes exactly the way I predict but I get kicked out from the trade easily because of stop loss trigger. I set stop loss almost 20% and profit 50% or more. So far only tried 0dte and NVDA & IWM swallowed most of my money. I trade on webull and level 2 approved. I am thinking of swing trading but the risk of stop los”

“Are buying 0 DTE options gambling? You have your answer there. Despite how you feel about it, if options trading isn't gambling then neither are prediction markets. It's pretty cut and dry. Now the question is if creating derivatives of events like sports and weather/flight status still falls into that same category if it should be reclassified or not considered a security, definitely more of a gray area. Technically it is insurance. Is insurance gambling? Maybe. Lol.”

“100% this!! Day trading is a swimming pool of sharks. Jump in and you WILL get ripped to pieces! Secure a job, pay back your friends, stash some cash for emergencies, invest 10-30% into an ETF like VOO where you will actually make money, and most importantly STOP day trading!!!”

“I’ve been an investor for years, I would say I’m moderately know what I’m doing with options, but Definitely not a pro. I had a really good day in the market and was gonna do a Ballsy call option. On a double leverage ETF at like 3 o’clock. It was a two dollar call I bought for one cent a contract 360 contracts. At 3:30 the stock was at like $1.97 and Robinhood put a cell order in at one cent. I kept trying to change it then it goes through at 3:41 and sales for one cent like 330 of the contract”

“I recently got an Opportunity to trade options on futures, and wanted to know if anyone has experience with that and what your experience is. submitted by /u/Efficient-Fudge-3515 [link] [comments]”

“Like many new options traders, I initially thought day trading was the route I should take. A good friend of mine who's an ex-Fidelity guy (and has done very well since) suggested I replace basically everything I was thinking about day trading, including the term itself, with options. I'm pretty risk averse and don't have deep pockets, so I worked with my friend to develop an approach designed to mitigate as much risk as reasonably possible. I did a bunch of research ahead of time an”

“Just what was an ideal split. Like is there a strategy people employ to sell long term / short term stocks? I see some people making income from short term options and when I see profits like 300k etc I cant help hut wonder if all pay 100k taxes or there is better deferral?”

“But that plan makes little sense - why not just BTC? I'm not trying to challenge you myself - but this is the kind of question an auditor would ask.”

“On IBKR, I was short the STX Jul '31 call spread 840 - 915 in the beginning of the week, and then momo rallied it on 880+ on thursday open. I hedged partially +25 shares and held it. On Friday (expiration day) it bumped higher to 900-910 and I wanted to hold it, so I hedged further by moving the lower strike to 860 for 13.75 debit. Up to this point I thought everything was cool and I was ready for the weekend, but then I got a margin call about 11:36 ET. Not knowing what would happen if I go”

“Been trading options for about 4 years on and off. My main issue is that I will get up 20-50% or more, and I don’t sell because I believe in my conviction, then I slowly (or quickly) get melted. I just did the math for if I would just get out at a 20% profit every trade, and I guess I didn’t realize that I could be really good at this if I just de-risk. Being completely honest, it’s rare that my trades don’t get to +20% at some point within the trade. This seems easy enough right? I’ve been doin”

“Sometime last year I had the fortunate but horrible experience for hitting an option contract with a massive 30,000% out of nowhere. That was without any information but just a guess. Since then I started to use more options, not realizing I am basically gambling and over positioning with large amounts. Sometimes it worked, while others it didn’t. I ended up 2025 with big upside, but right into 2026 I have already lost around 150k from a contract that went terribly wrong. Uneducated and foolish”

“Follow accounts, discords etc, that are focused solely on 1DTE earnings based options? submitted by /u/Kook-Hand-Luke [link] [comments]”

“What’s up, I was curious if you guys have a percentage that you look to hit when closing out your options.. Asking for both in the green and red, is there a fixed % you stick to when closing out for profit or setting a stop loss? submitted by /u/sailorInkXII [link] [comments]”

“I primarily sell SPX put credit spreads between 3:50-4:15 p.m. ET , then I close the position right after the market opens the next morning (usually between 9:30-9:34 a.m.) , regardless of whether I’m up or down. I usually do 10-15 10 wide put credit spreads, around 1.3% otm. The main reason is honestly psychological. I can’t mentally handle sitting in front of the screen from 9:30 to 4:00 every day watching every tick. I second guess every decision when markets are open. This approach lets me p”

“Man I am 40 and still hacking at it, I think sometimes it has to do with the lines you are not willing to cross. Some people would stop at nothing to get richer. But that trade is something not all are willing to make. Plus a lot of people fake it”

“I started my options journey thinking it would be a way to make quick money. Today, the “quick” part finally caught up with me and I blew my account. In the beginning, I had a few good trades. One of them was around +700%. The beginner’s luck messed with my head because after that, I kept chasing that feeling. I kept thinking I could recreate it, but the reality is I never did. Recently, I’ve just been gambling. I knew this, but never knew when to stop. Whenever I’d lose, I kept digging myself f”

“Shit happens, but it sounds like you'll roll with the punches just fine. Situations like these are exactly why you keep that money in the emergency HYSA. I don't have any real advice other than just grit your teeth, pay it off, and restock your emergency fund and this will be a tiny meaningless blip when you look back on it in the future, so long as you keep your financial habits healthy. On a separate note, what is your health insurance deductible? 12k sounds higher than most plans I am”