Hey y’all,
I hope you had a relaxing weekend.
Saturday was one of the best days I can remember in a long time, because I got to reunite with one of my best friends and his new fiancée.
They were in Orlando visiting Disney with her family, but they had Saturday evening free to meet up, so I drove down to New Smyrna Beach (about 90 minutes south) and met them for dinner.
After dinner, we went out into the ocean (about a 15-second walk from where we were eating), and I even convinced them to brave the cold of the Atlantic and dip their feet in.
Once we were in the water, there was a funny moment:
We saw a sandbar maybe 30-40 feet from the shore where the water was barely ankle deep, and I waded out to it.
It was amazing to stand out there and look back at the shoreline, and feel like you’d waded out to an island all by yourself!
Chris followed shortly after me, but Jamie, his fiancée, hesitated. As she was standing about knee deep in the ocean, about 15 feet from the sandbar, she froze.
She shouted “I’m scared to come further!”
And I shouted back: “But you’re safer on the sandbar than where you are right now!”
As I reflected on the funny incident on the drive back home (she wasn’t really that scared, and the water was never more than thigh-deep), it reminded me of how some traders approach spreads.
If I could wave a magic wand and force all traders to believe one thing, it would be this: spreads are your friend.
I often see traders who are in the exact place Jamie was in the ocean Saturday: they’d already waded out into the water, but they were afraid to go any further.
But just like the sandbar was a safer place to be than the knee-deep water, so spreads are a safer and more solid strategy for many traders struggling with the day-to-day realities of options trading.
They can lower your costs, control your risk, and give you a much better leg to stand on in the markets.
But many traders are afraid to take those final few steps to get up on the spreads sandbar.
Jamie did eventually take those last few steps and we spent about half an hour out on that sandbar, watching the sun descend over the condos and restaurants along the shoreline. It was an awesome time!
Having solid ground under your feet can be tough, whether it be in the Atlantic Ocean or in the swirling markets we’ve been experiencing lately.
You owe it to yourself to take whatever steps you need to to find that solid ground — even if it means trying something new.
This week, maybe challenge yourself to at least learn something about spreads if you’re afraid of them, or even paper trade a spreads setup.
Also, let us know: would you like a class on spreads?
I’ve thought about asking Nate to host one and teach me as your proxy, because even though I love them, I still have a lot to learn. Would that be interesting to you?
Reply to this email and let us know.
Happy Monday, and I hope you have a good week!
To your prosperity,
Stephen Ground
Editor-in-Chief, ProsperityPub
P.S.: At 11:30 today, Jack Carter shared his favorite spreads strategy, which has maintained a 96+% win rate since 2021 (and he’s been trading everyweek during that stretch). Just a taste of what spreads are capable of — check it out here if you wanna learn more
