Do the Greeks Still Matter? Only These Two.
Forget The Jargon. This Is The Trade The Math That Matters
On yesterday’s Profit Panel, the team cut through options jargon. Jack Carter said it flat: “I don’t even use the Greeks… in 40 years of trading.”
That doesn’t mean “trade blind.” It means use the math that maps the day without getting lost in theory.
Analysis
1) Expected Move: the market’s speed limit.
You don’t need a special tool. Look at the at-the-money call and at-the-money put in the same expiration and add the prices. That total is the expected move the market has already priced in.
If the tape only moves about that much, straight calls/puts near the money will usually decay fast. This is why lotto buys got wrecked around big earnings recently.
2) Delta: a plain-English odds check.
Delta works as a rough probability proxy. A 0.20 delta option is ≈ 20% chance to finish in the money by expiration; 0.30 ≈ 30%, and so on.
The team leaned on that to size strikes for income trades (think: sells near 20–30 delta) and to set realistic expectations. It keeps entries, exits, and risk in line with what the market is likely to give.
How this shows up in real trades (kept simple):
- When the move is pre-priced, the team favored defined-risk premium selling (small credit spreads, covered calls, or cash-secured puts) rather than buying rich options.
- When a true surprise hits (not already priced), small defined-risk directional buys can still make sense — but size stays tiny and profits are taken fast.
Why this helps real people:
Expected move stops the “hope for a 5% moonshot on a 2% day” mistake. Delta prevents wishful strike picking. Both keep your targets, stops, and position size sane — without needing a PhD.
Takeaway
You don’t need every Greek on the screen. Use expected move to set the day’s range, use delta to choose strikes that fit your plan, and keep risk defined. Less jargon. Cleaner decisions.
We’re back at it today with more practical market know-how you can use in your trading:
Click here to watch the on-demand replay!
To your prosperity,
The ProsperityPub Team
🎰 Did You Catch This?!
Alex Reid recapped Jack Carter’s lesson on how pricing crushes “lotto” options…
And why most days, it pays to work with the expected move — not against it!
Discover this quick, practical lesson now!
They Trade the Wrong Stocks. You Don’t Have To.
Retail traders flock to “popular” names — and studies show they underperform badly.
But one under-the-radar trader has revealed a strategy to find big gains on forgotten stocks most traders never touch.
That’s why his system caught a massive 3-digit gainer on PPC and foll129% on RGTI — All while mainstream names stayed flat.
The edge is hidden. Unless you know *THIS*!
Quick hits from the rest of the show
- GOOGL antitrust pop: When surprises beat the house (and when to sell it)
- Robinhood at the 50-day: a simple put spread for ~10% in a week
- “VIX is broken”? The two numbers the pros actually watch instead
