Show Notes
- Amazon USA Store: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071837620?tag=9natree-20
- Amazon Worldwide Store: https://global.buys.trade/The-Complete-Guide-to-Option-Selling-Cordier.html
- Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/stock-market-investing-the-complete-crash-course-this/id1565172382?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=1001l3bAw&ct=9natree
- eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=The+Complete+Guide+to+Option+Selling+Cordier+&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5339060787&customid=9natree&toolid=10001&mkevt=1
- Read more: https://mybook.top/read/0071837620/
#optionselling #shortpremiumstrategies #impliedvolatility #creditspreads #ironcondor #TheCompleteGuidetoOptionSelling
These are takeaways from this book.
Firstly, Foundations of Option Selling and Why Premium Exists, A central theme is that option selling is not merely taking the other side of a trade, but providing insurance to the marketplace. The premium a seller collects compensates for accepting defined contractual obligations and for bearing risk that buyers want to transfer. The book emphasizes the building blocks that shape that premium, including time to expiration, the relationship between strike and underlying price, interest rates and dividends, and especially implied volatility. Understanding implied versus historical volatility helps a seller think in probabilities rather than predictions, since higher implied volatility generally inflates premiums and changes the expected range of outcomes. The discussion typically links these concepts to the seller’s edge, which often comes from time decay and the tendency for implied volatility to exceed realized volatility over long periods, though that relationship is not guaranteed and can reverse during crises. The book also clarifies basic option mechanics such as moneyness, assignment, and how profit and loss profiles differ for short calls, short puts, and spreads. This foundation sets up a mindset where selecting trades is about choosing compensated risk, not about being right on direction every time.
Secondly, Core Short Premium Strategies for Different Market Conditions, The book organizes option selling into a toolkit that can be adapted to bullish, bearish, and range bound environments. For bullish or neutral views, selling cash secured puts or put spreads is often presented as a way to generate income while potentially entering an underlying at an effective discount if assigned. For bearish or neutral views, selling covered calls or call spreads can be framed as harvesting premium while capping upside risk according to the structure used. The text commonly contrasts naked option selling with defined risk spreads, explaining how spreads limit catastrophic losses at the cost of lower premium. It also addresses multi leg structures such as iron condors for markets expected to stay within a range, where the goal is to collect premium from both sides while managing the risk of a breakout. Readers are guided to think about strike selection and expiration choice as levers that control probability of profit, potential return, and exposure to sudden moves. Throughout, the strategies are treated as repeatable templates that depend on disciplined entry criteria, not as one off bets driven by headlines.
Thirdly, Volatility, Timing, and the Role of Probabilities, A major driver of results for option sellers is when trades are initiated relative to volatility conditions. The book underscores that selling premium is most attractive when implied volatility is elevated compared with recent realized volatility or historical norms, because the seller is being paid more for taking risk. It explains how measures like implied volatility rank or percentile can help place current option pricing in context, and why volatility tends to mean revert, though not on a predictable schedule. The author encourages readers to replace certainty with probabilistic thinking, using concepts such as delta as an approximate probability proxy and expected move as a rough range forecast. The discussion typically connects these tools to practical decisions: selecting farther out of the money strikes to increase the probability of expiring worthless, choosing expirations that balance time decay with gamma risk, and planning for volatility expansion after entry. It also highlights the volatility smile and skew, especially in equities where downside puts can be priced richer, affecting put selling risk and reward. The broader message is that timing and volatility context can matter as much as market direction for a short premium approach.
Fourthly, Risk Management: Position Sizing, Tail Risk, and Trade Adjustments, Because option selling can involve small frequent gains punctuated by occasional large losses, the book places heavy emphasis on risk controls. Key practices include conservative position sizing, diversifying across underlyings and expirations, and setting rules for maximum portfolio exposure so a single shock does not dominate outcomes. The text typically explains how margin and leverage can amplify risk, and why sellers must treat stress scenarios as real possibilities rather than remote events. Readers are encouraged to define exits in advance, including profit targets, time based exits, and loss limits, and to understand how assignment works so it does not become a surprise. Adjustments such as rolling strikes or expirations, converting naked positions into spreads, or reducing size are presented as tools, but not as cures, because adjustments can increase complexity and sometimes add risk if done emotionally. Attention is also given to correlated moves and volatility spikes, when many positions can go against a seller at once. The risk management message is that a selling program succeeds by surviving adverse periods and staying consistent, not by maximizing premium in calm markets.
Lastly, Building a Repeatable Option Selling Plan and Trader Mindset, Beyond individual trades, the book emphasizes creating a structured process that can be executed consistently. This includes establishing criteria for what markets to trade, how to screen for liquidity and bid ask spreads, and how to avoid underlyings where gap risk or event risk can overwhelm collected premium. A repeatable plan also covers when to trade around earnings, economic releases, or geopolitical shocks, and how to manage a calendar of expirations so risk is not concentrated in one week. The author typically advocates tracking performance with a trading journal and reviewing results by strategy type, volatility regime, and holding period to identify what actually drives outcomes. Psychological discipline is treated as an edge, since option selling can tempt traders to overtrade after a winning streak or to hold losers too long because the probability of eventual recovery feels high. The plan mindset encourages treating options as a small business with rules, checklists, and continuous improvement. By focusing on process over prediction, the reader is guided toward a sustainable framework that can be adapted as market conditions evolve.