SteadyOptions is an options trading forum where you can find solutions from top options traders. Join Us!

We’ve all been there… researching options strategies and unable to find the answers we’re looking for. SteadyOptions has your solution.

The Less Risky Way To Trade TSLA

By Kim

Tesla reported earnings this week, and the stock took a hit due to weak guidance. The bears will tell you that this is the beginning of the end. The bulls will see it as a buying opportunity. No matter how you see it, there is no doubt that this is a very risky stock, both for the bulls and the bears. As a non-directional traders, we don't really care. I would like to present a less risky way to trade TSLA, with a good chance to make money no matter what the stock does.

TSLA also became very emotional stock. Many people cannot separate their love/hate for the company from the stock. No doubt that standard valuation methods are not applicable to TSLA. Fortunately, with our strategy, we don't have to do it, and we couldn't care less if the stock is undervalued or overvalued.

 

So here we go.

 

tesla.jpg

 

About a month before earnings, we entered a double calendar spread on TSLA at $2.80. The thesis is to take advantage of volatility skew between different options expirations.

 

Two days before earnings, we closed the trade at $3.94. That's 40.7% gain. The trade actually reached 4.70+ on the last day and could be closed for 60%+ gain. Some of our members entered earlier at lower prices and booked even higher gains.

 

This is a strategy we have been using very successfully for the last two years, and TSLA is one of the best candidates for that strategy. Here are the results of the last 8 trades:

  • Aug. 2015 - 40.7% gain
  • May. 2015 - 33.5% gain
  • Feb. 2015 - 28.1% gain
  • Nov. 2014 - 30.8% gain
  • Aug. 2014 - 36.8% gain
  • May. 2014 - 26.1% gain
  • Feb. 2014 - 26.2% gain
  • Nov. 2013 - 23.2% gain


That's cumulative return of 245.4%. During the same period of time, the stock gained around 60%. Our strategy beats the stock holders by 4:1, without taking any directional risk!

 


Of course no strategy is without risks. The main risk is a pre-announcement, which would result a big stock move. If the stock moves too much before earnings, the trade will suffer as well. However, due to the unique setup, those calendars are more resilient to a big move than "standard" calendars. In fact, couple of times the stock moved more than 10% before earnings, and the trade still was a winner.

 

Pre-earnings calendars are among our most successful strategies. We implement it mostly on high volatility stocks like GOOG, PCLN, LNKD, FFIV, NFLX, FB etc.

 

Related articles:

 

We invite you to join us and learn how we trade our options strategies in a less risky way.

 

Start Your Free Trial

What Is SteadyOptions?

12 Years CAGR of 127.5%

Full Trading Plan

Complete Portfolio Approach

Real-time trade sharing: entry, exit, and adjustments

Diversified Options Strategies

Exclusive Community Forum

Steady And Consistent Gains

High Quality Education

Risk Management, Portfolio Size

Performance based on real fills

Subscribe to SteadyOptions now and experience the full power of options trading!
Subscribe

Non-directional Options Strategies

10-15 trade Ideas Per Month

Targets 5-7% Monthly Net Return

Visit our Education Center

Recent Articles

Articles

  • Harnessing Monte Carlo Simulations for Options Trading: A Strategic Approach

    In the world of options trading, one of the greatest challenges is determining future price ranges with enough accuracy to structure profitable trades. One method traders can leverage to enhance these predictions is Monte Carlo simulations, a powerful statistical tool that allows for the projection of a stock or ETF's future price distribution based on historical data.

    By Romuald,

    • 1 comment
    • 4,592 views

  • Is There Such A Thing As Risk-Management Within Crypto Trading?

    Any trader looking to build reliable long-term wealth is best off avoiding cryptocurrency. At least, this is a message that the experts have been touting since crypto entered the trading sphere and, in many ways, they aren’t wrong. The volatile nature of cryptocurrencies alone places them very much in the red danger zone of high-risk investments.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 1,371 views

  • Is There A ‘Free Lunch’ In Options?

    In olden times, alchemists would search for the philosopher’s stone, the material that would turn other materials into gold. Option traders likewise sometimes overtly, sometimes secretly hope to find that most elusive of all option positions: the risk free trade with guaranteed positive outcome:

    By TrustyJules,

    • 1 comment
    • 17,391 views

  • What Are Covered Calls And How Do They Work?

    A covered call is an options trading strategy where an investor holds a long position in an asset (most usually an equity) and sells call options on that same asset. This strategy can generate additional income from the premium received for selling the call options.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 2,847 views

  • SPX Options vs. SPY Options: Which Should I Trade?

    Trading options on the S&P 500 is a popular way to make money on the index. There are several ways traders use this index, but two of the most popular are to trade options on SPX or SPY. One key difference between the two is that SPX options are based on the index, while SPY options are based on an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the index.

    By Mark Wolfinger,

    • 0 comments
    • 6,894 views

  • Yes, We Are Playing Not to Lose!

    There are many trading quotes from different traders/investors, but this one is one of my favorites: “In trading/investing it's not about how much you make, but how much you don't lose" - Bernard Baruch. At SteadyOptions, this has been one of our major goals in the last 12 years.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 4,190 views

  • The Impact of Implied Volatility (IV) on Popular Options Trades

    You’ll often read that a given option trade is either vega positive (meaning that IV rising will help it and IV falling will hurt it) or vega negative (meaning IV falling will help and IV rising will hurt).   However, in fact many popular options spreads can be either vega positive or vega negative depending where where the stock price is relative to the spread strikes.  

    By Yowster,

    • 0 comments
    • 6,540 views

  • Please Follow Me Inside The Insiders

    The greatest joy in investing in options is when you are right on direction. It’s really hard to beat any return that is based on a correct options bet on the direction of a stock, which is why we spend much of our time poring over charts, historical analysis, Elliot waves, RSI and what not.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 3,802 views

  • Trading Earnings With Ratio Spread

    A 1x2 ratio spread with call options is created by selling one lower-strike call and buying two higher-strike calls. This strategy can be established for either a net credit or for a net debit, depending on the time to expiration, the percentage distance between the strike prices and the level of volatility.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 4,921 views

  • SteadyOptions 2023 - Year In Review

    2023 marks our 12th year as a public trading service. We closed 192 winners out of 282 trades (68.1% winning ratio). Our model portfolio produced 112.2% compounded gain on the whole account based on 10% allocation per trade. We had only one losing month and one essentially breakeven in 2023. 

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 9,440 views
  Report Article
Go to articles Trading Blog

We want to hear from you!


Guest Green

Hi 

Can you please tell about the setup of the 4 legs of the double calendar, the Strikes and expirations etc.. What was the IV when your entered and exited the trades ?

 

Share this comment

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kim

The short legs expired a week of earnings, the long legs two weeks after. 250/280 strikes. I don't have the IV data.

Share this comment

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest JAY

Will not the short legs rise in vol and the skew increase due to earning week and this could hamper the trade? Yes the back legs will also increase but not as much as the week of earnings. You seem to have had success always picking the short legs on the week of earnings - does this work in all cases? or is it a better strategy to have the short legs expire the week before.

thanks for your input

Share this comment

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kim

No it won't work in all cases. This is why we do extensive backtesting to find the best stocks suitable for this strategy and the optimal entry prices.

Short leg exiting before earnings can work as well, but it will be much less resilient to the stock move. I would consider it higher risk trade. Our trades are much more resilient and in some cases the trade can make money even if the stock moved 10% or more.

Share this comment

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account. It's easy and free!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now

Options Trading Blogs