📩 The Option Premium Weekly Issue - December 7, 2025

A Straightforward Note About Wealth Without Shares

You won't find income promises, guaranteed returns, or "one weird trick" inside Wealth Without Shares. What you will find: the exact PMCC portfolios I manage, the rules I use to enter and adjust them, and transparent reporting of what's working and what isn't. After more than 24 years trading options professionally, this is the resource I wish had existed when I started, mechanics over marketing, transparency over hype.

This year's results demonstrate the compounding benefits of capital efficiency. Take the quality blue-chip portfolio: underlying stocks that gained +9% to +18% generated PMCC returns of +23.17%, +32.63%, and +95.24%. These returns aren't just about leverage, they're about what that leverage enables. Because PMCCs require only 15 to 25% of the capital needed to own shares, you can spread the same capital across 4 to 5 different positions instead of concentrating it in one or two stocks. The result is better sector diversification, reduced single-stock risk, and the ability to participate in multiple opportunities simultaneously without requiring additional capital. The conservative macro portfolio returned +12.77%, while the high-yield value portfolio returned +64.19%.

These results come from the PMCC structures themselves, LEAPS paired with short calls, not from simply buying and holding shares. The framework emphasizes what matters: capital-efficiency, defined risk parameters, systematic position management, and consistent execution over time.

What's Changing in 2026

In 2026, I’m turning Wealth Without Shares into a full framework built around five clearly defined PMCC portfolios. This year, I've typically had 9 to 10 PMCC positions open at once. When the five model portfolio structure launches in 2026, the total will expand to around 18 to 25 positions across all five portfolios. To be clear: that's if someone followed every single position in every model portfolio, a single portfolio might be 4 to 5 positions, two portfolios around 8 to 10, or a custom selection of whatever number makes sense for your account size.

You’ll have two “lazy” core portfolios that only need periodic check-ins, plus more active sleeves that get rebalanced each expiration, with clear rules, roles, and capital guidelines so you can decide what fits your situation instead of trying to mirror everything. On top of that, I’m building subscriber-only education: a structured PMCC course, shorter video lessons on entries, rolls, and adjustments, live webinars where we walk through trades in real time, and an archive you can refer back to whenever you need it. If you’re paying for this, my goal is that you get both real model portfolios and the tools to understand exactly what I’m doing and why.

Shifting gears for a moment, subscriber growth has been faster than I expected, and there’s a practical limit to how many people I can serve well while running multiple publications, portfolios, filming videos, teaching courses, hosting webinars and building a thoughtful community.

At some point, to protect the quality of the service and the responsiveness around Q&A and education, I’ll either have to cap new subscribers or slow down new sign-ups. On top of that, because the workload and value are both going up, I will be raising prices for new subscribers in 2026. If you decide to join before the new pricing goes into effect, you’ll keep your current rate locked in for the life of your subscription, no games, no retroactive increases, just a straightforward thank-you for backing this while it’s still growing.

Your Decision, Without Pressure

If the free weekly newsletter gives you what you need, I’m genuinely grateful. I'm humbled you spend part of your Sunday reading what I write, and I don't take that lightly. Your time matters, and I try to earn it every week. All I ask is that you please spread the word.

But if you want the complete framework, the model portfolios, the real-time position management, the educational structure, webinars, videos and courses that shows you how these mechanics work rather than just what to do, then joining Wealth Without Shares before the price increase is the most direct route.

I don't accept affiliate deals or run advertisements. I don’t market. I've deliberately built The Option Premium to grow only one way, through readers finding enough value to recommend it to others. Your trust isn't just valued, it's the only thing that makes this sustainable. I think about that responsibility constantly.

I know you have plenty of choices about where to spend your money and who to learn from. The fact that you're here, reading this, matters to me. Thank you.

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📰 Market Commentary & Snapshot

December tailwinds, rate cuts, and what actually matters for options traders

The S&P 500 just closed another quiet week up, now roughly 18% higher for the year. The Nasdaq's leading around 22%, the Dow and small caps both solidly positive. After a messy middle stretch, we're heading into year-end with indexes near all-time highs, volatility in the mid-teens, and the Fed likely tweaking policy one last time before 2026.

For options traders, this is a classic "good problem" setup: strong trend, calm implied vol, enough catalysts to keep things interesting.

Three things to watch into year-end

1. Fed meeting (Dec. 9-10)

Markets are pricing roughly 85 to 90% odds of another quarter-point cut, bringing the fed funds range to 3.50% to 3.75%, the third cut this cycle, another step toward "neutral" around 3.0% to 3.5%.

The question isn't whether they'll cut. It's what they signal about next year and how unified the committee looks. Internal dissent has been unusually visible, some members want to slow down, others push for urgency given softer labor data and shutdown fallout.

2. Delayed November jobs report (Dec. 16)

The government shutdown pushed November's employment report to mid-December, after the Fed meets. They're making policy without their usual labor market picture.

What we know from alternative sources: private payrolls showed weakness, jobless claims hit a three-year low around 191,000, but continuing claims are creeping higher. Classic "no-hire, no-fire", companies aren't adding aggressively, but they're not cutting either.

Late-cycle softening that justifies easing without screaming recession.

3. Seasonality and year-end flows

The "Santa Claus rally" window, last five days of December plus first two of January, has historically been positive about three-quarters of the time, averaging just over 1% S&P 500 gains.

Lighter holiday volume, rebalancing flows, relief if major risks pass quietly. Useful context, not a trading system.

Where we stand

SPY sits just shy of record highs, up 0.3% for the week. QQQ gained 0.9% as tech resumed leadership. DIA added 0.5% in its typical grind. IWM showed life with 0.8% gains, small caps up around 13% year-to-date but still trailing mega-caps.

VIX settled near 15, down from October's mid-20s spike. The 10-year yield hovers around 4.1%.

Equity options aren't panic-priced anymore, but they're not cheap either.

This setup, indexes near highs, realized volatility cooling, implied volatility now in the mid-teens, is exactly where premium sellers get overconfident. This is when position sizing matters most, not when we stretch for extra credit.

The Fed decision: what matters for options traders

The decision itself

A cut matching expectations typically means minimal volatility. Things get interesting if the Fed doesn't cut when markets price 90% odds, or cuts but signals they're done. Either surprise pushes VIX higher and creates two-way risk.

The dot plot and 2026 path

If projections cluster around 3.0% to 3.5% as the endpoint, that's the "comfortable zone" equities have been pricing. A path beyond that signals growth worries, less friendly than the headline "cut" suggests.

Committee cohesion

The more fractured the FOMC looks, the choppier markets will be around data releases next year.

Base case, quarter-point cut with calm messaging, keeps index IV anchored mid-teens. We stay focused on selective premium selling where IV exceeds realized movement, using affordable hedges for concentrated PMCC and Wheel positions.

Hawkish surprise, no cut or cautious language, probably produces a sharp but short volatility spike. I'd rather wait for that move than pre-position with oversized short premium.

The labor market picture

Without November's jobs report, the Fed's working with incomplete data. What we have shows gradual softening without crisis: slower hiring, unemployment around 4.4%, weekly claims at three-year lows.

When the report hits December 16, weak numbers probably push yields lower, rate-cut expectations higher, brief volatility as growth gets re-priced. Strong numbers revive "higher for longer" and could flatten gains in rate-sensitive sectors.

Either way argues for defined-risk structures, credit spreads, iron condors—over naked short options into the release. Earn income while respecting both tails: growth scare or stickier inflation.

Seasonality: context, not catalyst

We're entering the Santa window with major indexes at or near highs, small caps finally showing life, VIX back mid-teens.

If the seasonal pattern holds, concentrated portfolios feel great temporarily, until 2026's first real volatility event. If it doesn't hold, those portfolios may discover they're running more leverage than realized.

I'm using this period to audit exposures, harvest gains from winners and recycle into fresh setups, consider covered calls or collars in names that ran hard.

Not chasing because "it's December." Not loading hedges because "something might break." Just systematic management.

Looking at 2026

Fed easing toward neutral, labor cooling without breaking, inflation drifting toward target. If that holds, historically decent for both risk assets and disciplined option income.

The wrinkle: concentration. Many 60/40 portfolios are actually 70/30 or 75/25 after multiple strong years. Big U.S. growth and AI names did the heavy lifting; small caps, international, cyclicals have catch-up room if soft-landing survives.

For options: lower vol makes credit spreads, iron condors, structured trades attractive, especially in high-IV pockets. Cheaper hedging lets us protect LEAPS and PMCCs without sacrificing income. PMCCs as core delta plus layered income with sized short calls and puts remains robust without over-leveraging.

December's theme: tidy up, don't chase.

Use the Fed meeting, jobs report, seasonal moves to adjust how we take risk, not whether we're invested.

📊 Weekly Market Stats

*MSCI EAFE = Europe, Australasia, Far East (developed international equities)

📰 Weekly In-Depth Articles 

🗓️ Tuesday, December 2nd - Cash Allocation: The Buffer Nobody Talks About

🗓️ Thursday, December 4th - LEAPS for Part-Time Traders: A Low-Maintenance Framework

🎓 Options 101: The First Steps to Trading

Options 101: Assignment Day - What Actually Happens When Options Get Exercised Against You

This week’s article demystifies one of the most feared parts of options trading: assignment, what really happens when short puts or calls are exercised against you, how the overnight process works, what capital is required, when early assignment is more likely (especially around dividends), and why none of it should be a surprise if you sized and planned the trade properly. We walk through the mechanics for put and call assignment, the role of the OCC, overnight risk, margin and buying power impacts, and practical ways to manage or avoid assignment when you truly don’t want it, all from the perspective of running income strategies like cash-secured puts, covered calls, and the Wheel. The core message is simple: assignment isn’t a disaster, it’s just the contractual obligation you agreed to when you sold the option, something you can handle calmly when you understand the process and respect position sizing.

👉 Read this week’s Options 101 article to see exactly what happens on assignment day, step by step, so you can trade with more confidence and less anxiety.

🧠 Mental Capital

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

The Dangerous Math of “Making Up” for Losses

This week’s article dives into one of the most destructive habits in trading, trying to “make it back.” After a loss, the instinct to recover quickly feels rational, but it’s a psychological and mathematical trap that destroys far more capital than the original setback ever could.

Inside this edition:
✔️ Why the break-even effect drives traders to take bigger risks right after losing trades
✔️ How position sizing errors compound small losses into catastrophic ones
✔️ The five-stage pattern of revenge trading, and how to break it before it starts
✔️ A framework for recovering correctly: pause, log, recalculate, refocus, and trade only when your system, not your emotions, says so
✔️ Why professional traders treat every trade as independent and size positions as “boring on purpose”

The truth is simple: your job isn’t to make back what you lost, it’s to execute your edge consistently, one trade at a time.

👉 Read the full article 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.

Current Snapshot for Premium Sellers

Some tapes feel fragile; this one doesn’t. The big index ETFs (SPY, QQQ, DIA, VTI, RSP) are pressing or hovering near highs with implied volatility in the low- to mid-teens and IV Rank mostly stuck in the single digits to low-20s. That’s the options market saying, “nothing urgent here,” which means there’s only a modest edge for short premium in the broad indexes despite the strength in prices. The VIX sits around 15 with IV Rank in the high-20s but a very high IV Percentile and an RSI(2) near 7, a familiar pattern of volatility being sold hard and left short-term oversold even as traders quietly pay up for VIX options. Under the surface, participation is solid rather than narrow: roughly 54% of S&P 500 stocks are above their 50-day moving average and about 59% are above the 200-day, a profile that lines up with an ongoing bull phase rather than a tired, one-sector melt-up.

Under the surface, the short-term momentum picture is still stretched. RSI(2) is in the mid-80s to low-90s for most of the major index ETFs (SPY, QQQ, DIA, VTI, RSP) and for key cyclicals like EEM, EFA, XLF, XLK, XRT and USO, while 14-day RSI for the indexes sits in the low-60s. That’s the profile of a market that has sprinted higher over a few sessions inside an ongoing uptrend, more “hot and extended” than “just getting started.” At the same time, several high-profile areas have seen short-term RSIs slip into the 20s to 30s while their 14-day RSIs hold above 50, including GDX, GLD, XHB, XLB, XLP and XLV, more digestion than damage. Only a handful of spots still have RSI(14) meaningfully below 50, most notably IBIT, TLT, XLU and the VIX itself, marking them as the laggards or “repair zones” in an otherwise firm tape, with China (FXI) just crossing back to “new above 50” on RSI(14).

The real edge for premium sellers remains in the high-volatility clusters. Metals and uranium (GDX, GLD, SLV, URA) plus select cyclicals and risk pockets (IBIT, XLB, XHB, XBI, XRT) all carry elevated implied volatility, with IV Rank running from the mid-20s into the 50s, 80s and even high-80s and very firm IV Percentiles, especially in SLV, URA and XLB. Some of those, particularly SLV, XBI and XLV, also show strong trend readings on ADX, more “breakout tape” than choppy mean-reversion, while others like GDX, GLD, XHB and XLB pair high IV with short-term pullbacks inside uptrends. At the other extreme, the big, steady corners of the market (DIA, SPY, HYG, XLF, XLE, KRE, TLT, XLU) sit with very low IV Rank, offering far less compensation for new short-vol trades even as prices trend. The simple takeaway: we’re in a strong, short-term overbought market with a mid-teens, short-term-oversold VIX and only average index premium. That favors smaller size and defined-risk structures in the broad indexes, while concentrating most of your new short-premium ideas in the specific high-IV pockets, metals, uranium, crypto, biotech, housing and materials, where the options market is still paying you to take risk.

👉 For a deeper dive each week, including a full breakdown of the most liquid optionable ETFs and an in-depth analysis of 100+ highly liquid equities, check out The Implied Perspective, our paid service that turns this data into structured, high-probability premium ideas.

As always, this section is meant to be an educational lens on the current landscape, not personal advice. The edge comes from matching the strategy to the regime, keeping position sizes small, and letting a large sample of disciplined trades do the heavy lifting over time.

Quick Reference

📚 Educational Corner: Options Deep Dive

LEAPS and the Wheel - Blending Long-Term Calls with Short-Term Premium

This week’s Educational Corner walks through how to turn LEAPS and the Wheel from two separate “strategy buckets” into one coherent, layered framework. You use deep ITM LEAPS as efficient long-term stock exposure, then run a disciplined Wheel around that same underlying, selling cash-secured puts at prices you actually want to own, and covered calls once assigned, to stack long-term growth with short-term, repeatable premium. The article focuses on structure over cleverness: how to size from the top down, avoid double-counting delta, pick realistic strikes, and know exactly when to stop adding risk and start simplifying.

👉 To see the full step-by-step build, example structures, and the pre-trade LEAPS + Wheel checklist, read the complete article inside The Option Premium.

⁉️ Did You Know?

Your Real Edge Isn’t the Setup, It’s the Size

Most traders think their edge comes from strategy: the right ticker, the perfect entry, the smartest spread. But over a full trading career, the most important edge is far quieter, how you size each position. You can run high-probability options trades with an 80% expected win rate and still go through stretches of three, four, or even five losses in a row. That’s sequence risk: the uncomfortable reality that wins and losses don’t arrive in the neat order the probabilities suggest.

If you’re risking 5 to 10% of your account on each idea, a completely normal losing streak can put you so far in the hole that the Law of Large Numbers never gets a chance to help you, you’re out of the game before the math has time to work. Traders who survive long term don’t just ask, “Is this a good trade?” They ask, “Can I still think clearly if this trade and the next few all lose?” That’s why professionals tend to keep risk per trade in the 1 to 2% range, focus on percentages instead of dollar amounts, and build their process around capital preservation first, returns second.

Get position sizing right, and even an ordinary strategy can become remarkably durable. Get it wrong, and even the best strategy will eventually blow up.

👉 Want the full breakdown, including examples and numbers? Read the full article: “Why Position Sizing Is the Most Overlooked Edge in Trading”

🔗 Let’s Stay Connected

Have questions, feedback, or just want to say hello? I’d love to hear from you.
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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

Educational use only. The Option Premium is a publication for educational purposes and does not provide personalized investment advice. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Always confirm details and manage risk prudently.