Why I Do This Differently

You're here because the work is good. I'm incredibly proud of that fact.

Not because of paid ads, algorithm hacks, or some clever marketing funnel. You found me through word-of-mouth, through someone who trusted what I teach enough to share it, or because you were searching for something real in a sea of relentless hype.

You send thoughtful emails. You don't just read, you engage. Real questions. Trade ideas. Watchlist suggestions. Debates about risk management and position sizing. Testimonials. The kind of back-and-forth that makes me rethink how I explain concepts and forces me to dig deeper into the research. Some of you have been here since the early days. Others just discovered this community last week. But all of you engage with the material seriously.

That's what makes this worth building.

Building Something Different

I'm growing The Option Premium organically, no countdown timers, no fake urgency, no conversion funnels. Most services in this space are marketing machines. I'm building the ultimate resource for practical options education: clear thinking, realistic, proven strategies, and the depth that comes from actually trading what I teach for over 24 years.

What's Coming…Finally!

YouTube videos and live sessions showing real setups in real time, how the decision-making actually works, not just the conclusions.

Subscriber webinars going deep on mechanics: strike selection, sizing, profit-taking, loss rules, rolling policy, and how to avoid turning management into a lifestyle.

Community forums by subscription tier (launching in a few weeks), organized, moderated, searchable. Income Foundation members get dedicated Wheel threads. Wealth Without Shares members get PMCC threads. The Implied Perspective members get premium-selling threads. Not a noisy chat room. A structured resource you can search when the next cycle looks familiar.

A growing library of weekly indicators and dashboards, volatility context, breadth, trend strength, premium placement, expected-move framing. The tools driving my decisions, updated weekly, always accessible.

Courses and playbooks that turn these systems into a real learning path, whether you're building the foundation or tightening execution to eliminate the leaks that quietly kill returns.

The Marketing Machine Problem

I'm watching self-appointed "gurus" flood social media promising to teach the Wheel, PMCCs, credit spreads. Dig deeper and you find thin substance, trendy marketing, 2-star reviews. Now some are even pivoting to the "patient, boring trades" angle. Sound familiar?

Big marketing budgets can dominate your feed. But marketing isn't mastery. A polished funnel doesn't mean someone's traded through full cycles.

I'm not interested in being the loudest. I'm interested in being the most useful and transparent.

That's why you'll see Wheel services at $1,000 to $2,000/year. Seriously? The Income Foundation is $9/month, real model portfolio, highly detailed real-time alerts, clear rules, and consistent education in each weekly issue.

You'll see poor man’s covered call or LEAPS services priced similarly. Wealth Without Shares is $49/month, multiple portfolios, multiple positions, real management rules, realistic structure you can actually run and a weekly issue that ties it all together.

If you're going to listen to anyone, listen to people who've made a living doing this through boring markets, violent markets, and everything in between...for decades.

Why Subscribe Now?

Watching me build the 2026 book from scratch, in real time, is the fastest way to learn how this actually works. You'll see what I trade, how I size it, why I choose certain structures, how I manage when the market doesn't cooperate, and how each position fits into the portfolio as a whole.

That portfolio-level view matters. Individual trades are just pieces. Understanding how they work together, how risk is distributed, how capital is allocated, how different strategies complement each other, that's what separates sustainable income generation from gambling position by position.

Theory is easy to read. Process is what you internalize through repetition. When you see the same decision rules applied week after week across different regimes, different tapes, different outcomes, you stop guessing. You start thinking like a trader and investor.

I'll be direct: I believe The Option Premium is the best options education and trading resource available, regardless of price. The ongoing flow of testimonials back that up. Members aren't just getting results, they're learning to think differently about risk, capital efficiency, and sustainable income generation.

But it's not for everyone. If you want hot takes, constant alerts, screenshots of unsustainable gains, or predictions, you'll be disappointed. That's not what I'm building.

If you want to learn options as practical income tools with structure, risk controls, and a playbook you can actually follow, this is where you belong.

As always, don’t hesitate to send me an email with any questions, comments or feedback. I read and answer everything.

Andy
Founder and Chief Options Strategist, The Option Premium

📰 Market Commentary: Record Highs, Cheap Volatility, and a Week Where “Normal” Could Get Loud

February opened with that familiar market trick: make you feel uneasy early in the week, then rip higher just as people start getting cautious. By Friday’s close (Feb 6), the tape didn’t just recover, it reset to new highs: the Dow finished above 50,000 (50,115.67), the S&P 500 closed at 6,932.30, and the Nasdaq composite climbed to 23,031.21.

That’s the story inside the tape right now: strength on the surface, but not the kind of environment that automatically pays premium sellers in the big indexes. Our own data table (The Implied Truth, seen below) says it plainly, SPY/DIA/VTI IV Ranks are still low, meaning you’re often taking index risk without “index-level” compensation.

Let’s start with rates.

The 10-year yield finished around 4.22% on Feb 6. That’s not a crisis number. But it’s still high enough to matter, because it’s the dial that can tighten financial conditions quickly and change the mood without the index ever doing anything dramatic.

For options traders, the point is simple: direction can be up while the weekly ride stays choppy. And when volatility is only moderately priced, the market’s favorite way to punish retail is to tempt you into the same adjustment: “sell closer to strikes so it feels worth it.” That’s how good tapes turn into annoying weeks.

Now zoom out to volatility.

The VIX closed at 17.76 on Feb 6. Not dead. Not panicked. Just cheap enough to encourage bad behavior. In this zone, the edge rarely comes from being bold. It comes from being picky: defined-risk structures, wider strikes than feel comfortable, and profit-taking before gamma gets a vote.

The shutdown is the quieter risk you can’t ignore this week.

We’re dealing with a partial government shutdown that has delayed key economic releases, including the January jobs report, a real “data blackout” problem for markets that are currently trading every macro print. And the schedule changes are explicit: the Employment Situation (Jan 2026) is now scheduled for Wednesday, Feb 11 (8:30 a.m. ET), with other releases shifted as well.

That matters because the market doesn’t just react to the data, it reacts to when the data hits. When releases cluster, you get volatility pulses. So instead of trying to “predict the number,” the smarter move is to pre-decide how you’ll trade around it:

• farther strikes (especially on anything correlated)

• quicker profit targets if the market hands you gains early

Earnings are still doing the heavy lifting, but the leadership is evolving.

Friday’s surge wasn’t just mega-cap magic. The Dow’s jump was broad enough that names like Caterpillar were big contributors, which matters because it hints at rotation and breadth rather than a single-theme melt-up. We’ve witnessed the rotation firsthand in our own Small Dogs PMCC portfolio up over 20% year-to-date. That’s constructive, and it’s also exactly why short call structures get tricky when you sell them too tight. Rotation weeks create surprise strength in places that were “supposed” to be quiet.

And this coming week is still a real earnings calendar.

The lineup includes high-attention names like Ford, Coca-Cola, Cisco, McDonald’s, Coinbase, Airbnb, and Applied Materials (among others). Even if you don’t trade earnings, you trade the spillover: sector momentum, correlation spikes, and sudden volatility repricing.

Big picture: the trend is intact, but the paychecks aren’t evenly distributed.

For premium sellers, this isn’t the time to act like strength in certain equities means safety. Strong markets can still gap. Strong markets can still whip. Strong markets can still punish tight strikes.

So the playbook stays boring on purpose:

• sell premium where you’re paid (your own table is already showing those pockets)

• keep index trades smaller and more structured when IV is thin

• treat next week’s data cluster like a real event risk (because it is)

Plans beat opinions.

📅 Week Ahead: Key Economic Events (ET)

One quick heads-up: because of the ongoing data disruptions tied to the government shutdown, the calendar has been messier than normal, and that means volatility risk can cluster into fewer days.

Here are the big ones to pre-plan around:

• Tuesday (Feb. 10) - Retail Sales (8:30 a.m.)

• Wednesday (Feb. 11) - Jobs Report / Employment Situation (8:30 a.m.)

• Thursday (Feb. 12) - Weekly Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.)

• Friday (Feb. 13) - CPI Inflation (8:30 a.m.)

• Next Wednesday (Feb. 18) - Federal Reserve minutes (2:00 p.m.)

Trading implication: if you’re running premium this week, assume at least one of these events creates a quick volatility pulse.

📊 Weekly Market Stats

Quick Poll: Help Me Build This the Right Way

Most options “courses” are basically a strategy lecture.

Mine won’t be.

These are built to show implementation and execution, how you actually put trades on, how you size them, how you manage them, and what matters most when the market gets messy. Clear rules. Real examples. Fewer opinions.

And when you finish a course, you won’t be left alone with a PDF. You’ll be added to the Slack/Discord community forum tied to that service, so you can ask questions, see how others apply the rules, and stay accountable to a process.

Quick poll (30 seconds): What would be most valuable to you?

⁉️ Did You Know?

Probability of Profit Isn’t the Same as Probability of Touching, and Touching Is What Tests Your Discipline

Most platforms highlight POP (probability of profit). It’s clean. It’s comforting.

But if you sell premium long enough, you learn the number that matters just as much is: Probability of Touching, the odds your short strike gets hit at any point before expiration.

A trade can finish profitable at expiration and still put you through a week of ugly marks and “should I adjust?” moments. That path is where most mistakes happen.

Here’s a simple rule of thumb many traders use: Probability of Touching ≈ 2 × Delta (of the short option). So a 20-delta short put can have something like a ~40% chance of getting tested at some point. That’s not a flaw. It’s the reality of selling premium.

How I actually use this: When I’m building a trade, I often start by looking at strikes where the probability of touching is just under 50%, and then I work outward from there.

Why? Because it gives me a practical anchor:

• If I want a calmer trade, I move farther out (lower delta / lower probability of touching). Probability of touch shows me my expected “stress” on the position.

• If I want more credit, I recognize I’m accepting more tests, and I size it accordingly or use defined risk.

The takeaway: POP tells you what might happen at expiration. Probability of touching tells you how often the market may try to shake you out before you get there. If you understand that upfront, you’ll make better strike choices, size smaller when you should, and manage trades with a lot less emotion.

🎓 Options 101: The First Steps to Trading

Credit Spreads (Bull Puts + Bear Calls)

Credit spreads are the grown-up version of “sell premium.” You’re still harnessing time decay, but you’re doing it with guardrails. Instead of selling a naked option and hoping the market behaves, you sell one option to collect premium and buy another farther out to cap your worst-case loss. Limited upside (the credit) in exchange for limited downside (the cap). Not a cheat code, just structure.

This week’s article breaks credit spreads into two clean tools:

• Bull Put Spreads = “set a floor.” You don’t need a rally. You need not a breakdown.

• Bear Call Spreads = “set a ceiling.” You don’t need a crash. You need price not to rip higher.

From there, the piece gets practical: the only math you truly need (max profit = credit, max loss = width - credit, breakeven formulas), and the four decisions that determine whether spreads feel calm or miserable: strike distance, spread width, DTE, and volatility. The punchline is simple, defined risk isn’t safety by itself. Spreads still blow up when traders sell too close for “worth it” premium, oversize because “it’s capped,” hold too long into expiration gamma, or roll as a reflex instead of a decision.

The article also gives three sane strike-selection frameworks (delta, expected move, and levels), plus management rules that keep spreads from becoming a lifestyle: take profits early (often 25 to 50%), define your “uncle” point before entry (often 1.5 to 2x credit), and treat rolling like a new trade, not denial.

👉 Read this week’s Options 101 article: Credit Spreads Explained: Bull Puts and Bear Calls

🧠 Mental Capital

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

Three Bearish Options Hedges: Calm Tape, Cheap Fear, and a Useful Moment to Be Boring

This week’s piece is about hedging before the market gives you a reason to panic, when the tape is calm, VIX is muted, and protection still feels optional. With SPY around 695 and VIX near 16.5, the market is pricing a “normal” 30-day range move, but tail risk hasn’t vanished (SKEW staying elevated is your reminder that crash insurance can still be expensive). The goal here isn’t to predict a selloff, it’s to build a hedge policy that keeps you liquid, calm, and able to execute when volatility finally wakes up.

You walk through three defined-risk bearish hedges, each built for a different “failure mode”:

• Put spread seatbelt: affordable drawdown protection when you’re worried about a normal-but-painful slide.

• Bear call spread overlay: get paid to be cautious and reduce upside exposure when the rally feels tired.

• VIX call spread airbag: shock protection for fast drops and volatility spikes, when diversification stops working for a moment.

The key takeaway is simple: small hedges that fail differently beat one oversized hedge that only works in one scenario. Spreads keep costs survivable, strikes should sit outside daily noise, and sizing should be small enough to hold without resentment, but large enough to matter when the tape turns ugly.

👉 Read the full article at The Option Premium - Three Bearish Options Hedges: Calm Tape, Cheap Fear, and a Useful Moment to Be Boring

📊 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 Matters Most (And Why) - IV Rank > 50% = You're Being Paid

GDX (77.92%), GLD (61.35%), SLV (76.36%), URA (86.35%), USO (59.61%), XHB (48.34%)

High IV Rank means option premiums are elevated relative to historical range. The market is pricing uncertainty, creating opportunities for strategies that profit from volatility compression.

Common approaches: Iron condors (30 to 60 DTE, 10 to 15 delta), credit spreads, CSPs, and PMCCs all benefit from elevated premium collection.

Trade-off: High IV typically means increased movement. Position sizing matters more, not less.

Relative Strength > 70 + ADX > 30 = Respect the Trend

XLE, XOP, XLP, XHB, KRE, momentum with conviction

RS above 70 shows market leadership. ADX above 30 signals directional conviction. Above 40 suggests institutional participation.

Example: XLE shows RS 74.32 + ADX 47.88, sustained directional movement with strong participation.

Framework:

• PMCCs: Push short calls to 10 delta or lower

• Bull put spreads work with the trend

• Tight call strikes create asymmetric risk in trending environments

Pattern: High ADX + strong RS tends to persist longer than expected.

IV Rank < 20% = Cheap Vol

SPY (13.36%), DIA (14.33%), VTI (12.42%), TLT (10.27%)

Low IV Rank means compressed premiums. A $0.40 credit on a $5-wide spread creates 11.5:1 risk/reward, requiring very high win rates.

Alternatives:

• Go very wide (5–10 delta, 45–60 DTE)

• Consider long strategies when vol is cheap

• Deploy capital where IV Rank is elevated

Opportunity cost: Why work harder for smaller edge when other sectors show 50–86% IV Rank?

RSI Above 70 = Stretched, Not Broken

XLP (81), XLE (74), KRE (72), XLI (72)

RSI above 70 signals strong momentum. Above 80 indicates parabolic moves. Neither guarantees imminent reversal, especially when confirmed by elevated ADX.

Context matters:

• 50 to 70: Healthy uptrend

• 70 to 80: Strong trend, wider strikes needed

• Above 80: Timing pullbacks becomes speculative

Risk perspective: Stretched readings don't predict timing or magnitude of pullbacks. Tight strikes in momentum = binary outcomes.

The Framework

Go where premiums are elevated (metals, uranium, energy with high IV Rank).

Respect technical momentum (ADX + RS) that suggests persistence over mean reversion.

Recognize unfavorable math in low volatility environments.

Use wider strikes when momentum indicators show strength.

The Implied Truth table describes current conditions, where premiums are rich, where trends have conviction, where markets aren't paying. Use it as a filter for opportunity assessment.

Quick Reference

👉 For detailed idea generation, explore my curated list of highly liquid ETFs and equities in this week’s issue of The Implied Perspective, where I break down specific trade frameworks/strategies, delta setups, and portfolio integration for premium sellers.

📚 Educational Corner: Options Deep Dive

Poor Man’s Covered Calls: (PMCC) Management Rules

A PMCC is simple on paper: a deep ITM LEAPS call acts like stock, and a shorter-dated call sells time for repeatable premium. Where traders get hurt isn’t the math, it’s the management. This week’s lesson is a practical rulebook to keep the strategy boring (which is the whole point).

You focus on three weekly readings:

• LEAPS delta (is this actually stock replacement, or a disguised lottery ticket?)

• Short call delta (how tight is the cap right now?)

• The delta gap (how “covered” are you, really, before the market makes that decision for you?)

From there, the article lays out the management policy that prevents the usual blowups: don’t sell calls too close, don’t let rolling become your personality, and treat dividends/early assignment as mechanical risk, not bad luck. The roll triggers are clean: when short call delta gets “too loud,” when price is living above your strike, when extrinsic collapses near ex-div, and when you’re rolling so often it’s exposing a sizing/strike problem.

The bottom line: build the LEAPS like a tool (time, delta, extrinsic, liquidity), sell the short call like a risk manager (30 to 45 DTE, ~0.20 to 0.30 delta, early profit-taking), and use capital efficiency to diversify, not to oversize. The goal isn’t perfect cycles. It’s durability and repeatability.

👉 Read the full guide: Poor Man’s Covered Calls: (PMCC) Management Rules

🔗 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]

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💌 Send me your topic requests, whether for the newsletter, YouTube, or webinars. Seriously, send them. 🙂 

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.