📩 The Option Premium Weekly Issue - August 10, 2025

Look, I have to be honest with you, this is the part where, as the founder of The Option Premium, I do the obligatory pitch to join our services. It's what keeps the lights on, and I respect your intelligence enough to be upfront about that. Please read.

After 23+ years as a professional options trader, I've learned that what works isn't flashy or exciting. It's methodical. Maybe even boring. But it's consistent, transparent, dependable, and most importantly, real.

Over the past 3+ months, our systematic approach to options trading has generated $6,795 (per contract) in documented profits across our portfolios. These aren't paper trades or backtests, these are real positions with real outcomes.

The numbers:

• Wealth Without Shares: $5,975 (per contract) in profits, with our Small Dogs portfolio achieving 25.88% total returns

• The Income Foundation: $820 (per contract) in steady Wheel Strategy income

• Average gain per position: 17.58% across all portfolios

What sets this apart isn't just the performance, it's the process. Every trade comes with clear reasoning, risk management, and educational context so you understand not just what we're doing, but why.

I know the market environment has been favorable, and I don't take credit where it isn't due. But I do believe our disciplined approach to position sizing, high-probability setups, and systematic trade management has made a meaningful difference in how efficiently we've captured these gains.

If you're interested in:

• Learning systematic options strategies that emphasize risk management

• Following real trades with complete transparency

• Understanding the mechanics behind each position

Then my services might be worth considering. I'm not promising overnight wealth or guaranteed returns, I'm offering education-first trading with a track record you can verify, using simple, capital-efficient strategies anyone can learn, for the best price in the industry.

I'll be straight with you: some people see our pricing and think it means inferior service. That's exactly wrong. I provide what I genuinely believe are the most comprehensive options trading services available, with deep educational focus in every single communication. You won't find lazy "buy XYZ" posts here. Every trade comes with complete context, why we're entering, how we're managing risk, what we're watching for exits.

What I'm building is a legitimate community of committed traders focused on real education and real results, without the industry ego or inflated pricing. And we're just getting started, YouTube content, subscriber-only webinars, and more educational resources are on the way.

Two decades of experience has taught me that perspective matters. My approach may not be exciting, but the results are real.

If you see the value, I'd be honored to have you join us!

📉 Market Snapshot and Commentary

When the Generals March Alone

From a distance, the market’s longer-term backdrop still tilts bullish. But in the here and now, the tone feels more cautious, balanced between optimism and hesitation. The NASDAQ just notched new highs, the S&P 500 has regained its footing, and both remain in defined uptrends. That said, the strength is coming from a relatively small group of names.

The participation gap is obvious. Small caps, mid-caps, the New York Composite, and the equal-weight versions of the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 are mostly treading water near their 50-day moving averages. A month ago, only about one in five stocks sat below that line. Today, it’s closer to one in two. That’s the kind of narrowing that rarely persists without some form of rotation or digestion.

There’s also been a shift in personality. Large-cap benchmarks are still pushing higher, but most other corners of the market are lagging. That’s fine, until the leaders stumble. If that happens, the rest of the field may not have the momentum to pick up the slack.

Even so, there’s reason to keep the optimism alive. This earnings season has delivered plenty of genuine standouts, companies with solid fundamentals breaking out on strength, not just limping higher off the mat. My own list of potential future leaders is longer than it’s been in weeks.

In this kind of tape, the plan is simple: stay close to shore, hold a healthy cash cushion, and take small, deliberate bites at the most promising new setups. When participation broadens and leadership becomes more obvious, there will be plenty of time to press harder.

Volatility remains muted in the majors (SPY IV Rank 11.8, QQQ 11.0), shifting focus to sector ETFs with richer premiums, GDX (IVR 28.0, RSI 98.4) and URA (IVR 48.1) for contrarian mean reversion, and USO (RSI 2.6) for potential bounce plays.

Bond yields held near 4.28% as auctions underwhelmed. New tariffs took effect, including a headline 100% semiconductor levy softened by exemptions, worth monitoring in SMH (IVR 5.5) if volatility picks up.

While much of the recent rally is being fueled by strong earnings, the combination of stretched RSI readings and compressed index IV suggests the risk/reward for adding long delta at these levels is diminishing. In low-IV conditions, theta decay works against premium buyers, making it an opportune environment for selective short premium plays in names with isolated volatility spikes or sector-specific catalysts.

The dispersion between sectors is notable, energy remains weak, industrial metals have spiked, and uranium’s volatility is outpacing the broader market. This environment rewards traders who can pivot away from blanket index trades and toward event-driven ETF setups where implied volatility is out of sync with realized movement. Identifying these dislocations week-to-week will be key as we move deeper into the second half of the year. Of course, all becomes easier if we see a return of volatility.

🧮 Weekly Market Stats

📰 Weekly In-Depth Articles 

🗓️ Tuesday, August 5th - Three Options Strategies Backed by Decades of Research

🗓️ Thursday, August 7th - Expected Move: The Market's Crystal Ball Every Options Trader Should Master

🎓 Options 101: The First Steps to Trading

What Is a Poor Man’s Covered Call? (Beginner’s Guide)

Covered calls are a popular income strategy, but buying 100 shares of a high-priced stock like Microsoft can tie up tens of thousands of dollars. A Poor Man’s Covered Call (PMCC) solves that problem by replacing the stock with a long-term call option (LEAPS) that behaves like the stock—at a fraction of the cost.

From there, you sell short-term calls against your LEAPS, collecting regular income much like “rent” on a property you’ve leased instead of purchased. This lowers your capital requirement, limits your maximum loss to the cost of the LEAPS, and keeps the income potential intact.

This week’s guide covers:

• How to choose the right LEAPS contract (delta, expiration, strike)

• How to select short-term calls for steady premium income

• A side-by-side comparison of PMCC vs. traditional covered calls

• Key risks to manage, including time decay and volatility changes

• A monthly “rinse and repeat” process for building income

If you want to generate covered-call-style returns without committing full stock capital, the PMCC is a strategy worth learning.

📘 Read the full beginner-friendly guide at:
👉 What Is a Poor Man’s Covered Call? (Beginner’s Guide)

🧠 Mental Capital

Train not just your trading system, but your trading self.

This Week’s Lesson: Van Tharp’s Three Most Valuable Findings for Options Traders

Most traders think success comes from finding the perfect setup. Van Tharp spent decades proving that’s wrong. His research showed that three factors decide whether you survive long enough to compound:

1. Position sizing is the real strategy - Sizing adapts to volatility and emotional bandwidth. Get it wrong, and nothing else about your system matters.

2. Trade to positive expectancy - Focus on the math of profitability over many trades, not prediction or “being right.”

3. Belief systems drive execution - Your mindset under stress shapes whether you follow your edge or abandon it.

Together, these create a feedback loop, sizing keeps you alive, expectancy measures the edge, and beliefs ensure discipline. Ignore one, and the whole structure fails.

👉 Read the full report at The Option Premium

📊 The Implied Truth: Weekly Table Overview

Unlock the Full Picture – Upgrade to access the complete table, including all 100 equities (AAPL, META, AMZN, NVDA and more)

Every number tells a story. Each week, we decode the landscape across the most liquid ETFs, because this is where retail traders get the cleanest signals and the least slippage.

But the power isn’t in the data, it’s in how you interpret it.

Below is your edge: a strategic overview that reveals where the premium is overpriced, where price action is exhausted, and where the highest-probability setups exist for the coming week.

This section is here to help you choose what works for your strategy. The numbers are facts, not opinions. Whether you sell premium, buy directional spreads, or trade reversals, the edge begins with understanding volatility and momentum. Let’s dig in.

What This Table Tells Us

• Use this weekly to guide your trade ideas, not predict outcomes.

• The data is factual. There’s no opinion in this grid, only opportunity.

• Choose what aligns with your timeframe, risk appetite, and edge.

What the Metrics Tell Us This Week

The U.S. equity market remains extended at the index level, but internal participation is just average. The percentage of S&P stocks above their 50-day line ($SPXA50R) sits at 56%, meaning only slightly more than half of components are in short-term uptrends. This divergence, overbought index RSIs (SPY at 86.6, QQQ at 90.8) against middling breadth, suggests the rally is being driven by a narrower set of leaders rather than a broad advance. Volatility in the majors remains subdued (SPY IV Rank 11.8, QQQ 11.0), making premium-rich setups harder to find in the large-cap indexes.

The better hunting grounds are in pockets of elevated implied volatility and extreme RSI readings. GDX (IV Rank 28.0, RSI 98.4) is stretched to the upside, making it a candidate for mean-reversion trades like iron condors or bear call spreads. On the other end of the spectrum, USO’s RSI(2) of 2.6 flags extreme oversold conditions, where defined-risk bullish plays like bull put spreads could take advantage of a short-term bounce. URA stands out with the highest IV Rank in the list (48.1) and a neutral RSI profile, offering flexibility for range-bound premium selling.

For readers, the takeaway is that this is not a market to trade blindly with index-level premium selling. Low volatility in the majors means less reward for the same risk, and breadth that’s just above 50% warns of fragility. The edge comes from targeting individual ETFs where IV is elevated and price is at statistical extremes, aligning trade structure with where the odds of time decay and mean reversion are greatest.

🧮 1. GDX – Gold Miners ETF

Why it stands out:

• Extremely overbought RSI: RSI(2) at 98.4 and RSI(7) at 78.6 are both deep in overbought territory, levels that historically revert in the next 5-15 trading days.

• Elevated volatility: IV Rank at 28.0 and IV Percentile at 23.3 signal that options premiums are richer than average, even for miners.

• Historical volatility (31%) confirms the underlying has been moving enough to keep option pricing firm.

• P/C Ratio at 1.2 shows a balanced sentiment, avoiding the skew extremes that can cause false signals.

Supporting Data:

• Implied Volatility: 34.5%

• IV Rank: 28.0

• IV Percentile: 23.3

• Historical Volatility: 31%

• RSI: 98.4 / 78.6 / 68.8

• P/C Ratio: 1.2

🧠 Commentary:
GDX has been on a vertical tear, but miners rarely sustain momentum this stretched without a pause or pullback. Elevated IV + overbought RSI clusters make this a high-probability candidate for mean reversion plays where premium selling has edge.

🧮 2. URA – Uranium ETF

Why it stands out:

• High volatility + high IV Rank: IV Rank 48.1 and IV Percentile 54.0 make this one of the richest premium environments on the list.

• Balanced RSI: RSI(2) at 28.1 (slightly oversold) combined with neutral RSI(14) suggests possible near-term consolidation after a small pullback.

• Historical volatility at 32% confirms sustained movement, ideal for premium capture.

Supporting Data:

• Implied Volatility: 35.0%

• IV Rank: 48.1

• IV Percentile: 54.0

• Historical Volatility: 32%

• RSI: 28.1 / 48.2 / 53.5

• P/C Ratio: 0.7

🧠 Commentary:
Unlike many overbought names, URA is coming off a short-term dip while maintaining high option pricing. This is the kind of setup that offers flexibility, either taking advantage of continued chop or a snap-back rally without overpaying for entry.

🧮 3. XLP – Consumer Staples ETF

Why it stands out:

• Extremely overbought RSI: RSI(2) at 96.9, RSI(7) at 71.3, RSI(14) at 61.1, well into territory where mean reversion has historically favored premium sellers.

• Strong IV Rank: 19.8 with a 25.9 IV Percentile, not the richest IV on the board, but above the low-vol drags that plague many index ETFs.

• High P/C Ratio: 3.3 suggests heavy put buying, often a contrarian indicator that can mark short-term tops in low-beta sectors like staples.

Supporting Data:

• Implied Volatility: 19.2%

• IV Rank: 19.8

• IV Percentile: 25.9

• Historical Volatility: 11%

• RSI: 96.9 / 71.3 / 61.1

• P/C Ratio: 3.3

🧠 Commentary:
Staples aren’t known for massive swings, but when they get this extended, pullbacks tend to be clean and reliable. The defensive nature of XLP makes the IV pop even more valuable when the chart is this stretched.

Quick Reference: The Implied Truth Table

📚 Educational Corner: Options Deep Dive

LEAPS Puts vs. 30-45 Day Cash-Secured Puts
Which Duration Really Delivers?

Selling puts can be a steady income generator - but the contract length changes everything. This week’s article compares two ends of the spectrum:

• LEAPS puts - long-dated, slower-moving options (12–24 months out) that suit patient, long-term stock acquisition.

• 30-45 day cash-secured puts - shorter-dated trades designed for repeatable, faster-compounding income.

We break down:

• How each works, with real-world examples using Microsoft (MSFT)

• The trade-offs in premium capture speed, capital efficiency, volatility risk, and management needs

• Why academic research and practical experience overwhelmingly favor shorter durations for income generation

• A side-by-side comparison showing why shorter-term puts can recycle capital multiple times a year, often doubling or tripling returns versus a single LEAPS contract

If your goal is consistent cash flow, capital flexibility, and adaptability to changing markets, the evidence points to one clear choice, and it’s not LEAPS.

👉 Read the full article here: LEAPS Puts vs. 30-45 Day Cash-Secured Puts

🔗 Let’s Stay Connected

Have questions, feedback, or just want to say hello? I’d love to hear from you.
📩 Email me anytime at [email protected]

📘 Join the conversation on Facebook.
📺 Subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Thanks again for reading. I hope you found today’s insights valuable and worth your time.

Trade Smart. Trade Thoughtfully.
Andy Crowder
Founder | Editor-in-Chief | Chief Options Strategist
The Option Premium