r/CoveredCalls

Just watched the account tick over 3 mil this morning. Up 147% YTD (about $1.7M net this year). Btw, this $3M was the exact target I set for myself when I started. Now that I hit it, I’m officially retiring and done staring at charts all day.

I know people will see the Robinhood UI and the PnL and assume I just yolo'd 0DTEs on tech or caught a meme stock pump. Honestly, the reality is boring as hell. It’s just math.

When I started, I wanted 100% baggers. It’s a massive trap. Opportunity cost eats you alive while you wait. You know what’s way easier than catching a 100% move? Catching a 10% move. If you compound eight 10% wins, that’s 114%. My entire PnL this year is just stacking small, unsexy swing trades.

My only real rule: if the setup isn't a 3:1 r/R minimum, I sit on my hands. If I'm aiming for a 15% move, the stop is a hard 5%. If you run those numbers, you can literally be wrong 60% of the time and still be green. Those little red dips on my chart? That's just me taking the 5% L and moving on to the next one.

I average maybe 9 or 10 swings a month. Chart on TV, execute on RH. Strictly SMC/ICT concepts. I stay out of the chop, wait for retail liquidity to get swept, wait for a market structure shift, and then bid the retest on an FVG or order block. Patient entries mean tighter stops. Tighter stops mean that 3:1 is effortless.

It really just comes down to risk management and letting probability play out over a large sample size.

Hope you guys make it out of the trenches. Good luck out there.

Looking at the +1,748.70% curve over the past year, I’m honestly calmer than I expected. Started with about $8k and just hit my first $100k. It’s not just the money it’s what happens when your understanding finally starts paying off.

A lot of people ask how this is even possible in such a volatile market. For me, the biggest shift wasn’t some new indicator. It was learning to do the opposite of what emotions push you to do.

First, I stopped chasing constant trades. Most people stress over every daily or weekly move. I care more about the trend. That smooth curve didn’t come from nonstop trading most of the gains came from sitting still and letting positions work.

Second, position sizing matters more than anything. I still keep around $37k in buying power. I never go all in. Having cash on the side keeps you from panicking during drawdowns and lets you take advantage when things get messy.

Third, I stick to what I actually understand. Whether it’s QQQ or some crypto, I stay in lanes I’ve spent time studying. Money made inside your circle of competence is easier to hold and easier to sleep with.

In this market, fast usually ends up slow, and slow ends up fast. I took plenty of bad trades before this. Paid the tuition, did the late-night reviews, and gradually things started to click. The 17x return is really just the result of that process.

The first $100k is just step one. Next goal is seven figures.

If you’re stuck or just curious what I’ve been watching lately, I’ve been trading with a small group. Feel free to drop a comment or DM. Always down to compare notes and help each other avoid dumb mistakes.

man, i finally made it. the light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t a train after all, it was the sun.

i am sharing this because i have been through the absolute meat grinder over the last three and a half years. i lost every single penny in my trading account playing options. i had to rebuild from literal scratch. i grinded in the real world to fund this new account, funneling every spare dollar i made into it.

switching strictly to spot stocks and index futures was incredibly hard, but sticking to a boring, strict routine is what actually pulled me out of the mud. people look at my pnl and assume i just yolo'd 0dtes on tech or caught a meme stock pump. honestly, the reality is boring as hell. it’s just strict execution and playing the probabilities.

when i started the rebuild, i wanted 100% baggers like everyone else. it’s a massive trap. opportunity cost eats you alive while you wait. you know what’s way easier than catching a 100% move? catching a 10% move. if you compound eight 10% wins, that’s 114%. my entire recovery this year is just stacking small, unsexy swing trades.

my only real rule now: if the setup isn't a 3:1 r/r minimum, i sit on my hands. if i'm aiming for a 15% move, my stop is a hard 5%. if you run those numbers, you can literally be wrong 60% of the time and still be green. those little red dips on my chart? that's just me taking the 5% l and moving on. patient entries mean tighter stops, which makes getting that 3:1 effortless.

i only take about 9 or 10 swings a month now. less really is more. the market is just a massive mind game. if you can’t sit on your hands and wait, you are just exit liquidity for someone else.

here is the only way i trade now. i check the daily or 4h trend for my bias. then i mark the previous session highs/lows and wait for a liquidity sweep. no sweep, no trade. period.

after the sweep happens, i drop to the 15m or 5m to actually coordinate the buy. i need to see price tap an unmitigated fvg or order block, and give me a sharp v-shape reversal. i don't buy yet. i wait for an inversion fvg to form during that reversal. that is my trigger. stop loss goes strictly behind the sweep, no exceptions. for the exit, i never guess. my target is always the opposite untouched liquidity.

the logic is simple. smart money sweeps one side just to get the fuel to target the other. if you don't have a plan and a strict stop loss, you are the fuel.

hope this helps someone who is stuck in the same cycle i was. protect your capital and trust the process.

I’m excited to share that we’ve just released two major features in Options Wheel Trader, built specifically for wheel strategy traders:

Trade Insights Report: As wheel traders, we often capture data about our trades but don't often look back to analyze our performance. Understanding the trade characteristics of wins and losses can make us better traders - that's the underlying concept behind the Trade Insights Report.

• See performance by ticker (or across all tickers)
• Filter by Puts or Calls (or both)
• Narrow down by account (or across accounts) and periods of time.
• Slice the data by account (or across all accounts), time period, type (put/call/both), and status

The goal is to help us become better traders by learning from our own trade history.
Learn more: Understanding the Trade Insights Report

Options Scanner: This is a major enhancement that has been in the works for a while.

• Set filter criteria to reflect your unique trading style, risk preferences, etc.
• Use one of our presets or customize your own weighting
• Search for Covered Calls or Cash Secured Puts across up-to 10 tickers - and if you leave it blank, it goes across the entire universe of tickers being traded in OptionsWheelTrader.
• Get weight-ranked trade opportunities in a table with all the relevant trade related information
• All relevant information related to the trade is shown in the Ranked Opportunities table.

This makes finding the best trades faster, easier and more systematic (without having to switch between multiple tools).
Learn more: How the Options Scanner Works (and Why It Can Improve Your Wheel Process)
Related blog post: Some of the Research Behind the Options Scanner Weighted-Ranking Presets

Both features are now live. I build features that I would want to use myself, and I hope you will find these useful too.

I would love for you to try them and share your feedback - your input helps make the product better for everyone.

Wanted to share my PnL for the last quarter since I hit a nice milestone. Up $2.24M. And yes, I know it is a Robinhood screenshot. My main retirement money is safe in Fidelity; this is just my aggressive swing account.

Whenever people see 100%+ returns, they immediately assume it is zero-day options or gambling on earnings. It really is not. Market volatility has been high lately, so I have just been compounding smaller swings on SPY and big tech. I literally only take maybe 8 to 10 setups a month.

My setup is basic SMC, zero indicators. I look for a long wick on the 4H chart. When price pulls back into that zone, I drop to the 15m. I do not jump in blind—I wait for price to sweep a recent low to take out retail stops. Once it aggressively snaps back up and breaks structure, it leaves a gap (FVG). I simply set a limit order right at that gap, place my stop, and close the app.

The reason most traders still blow up their accounts trying this is zero patience and terrible risk math. They take one normal loss, panic, and change strategies. I strictly use a 3:1 risk/reward. If my target is 15%, my stop is 5%. With a 3:1 ratio, you can be wrong over half the time and still print money. Those little dips you see on my chart? Those are just clean 5% losses. It is simply the cost of doing business before the next run.

Stop overcomplicating it. Wait for the sweep, bid the gap, respect your stop, and let the math play out. Good luck out there.

Do i just take the L atp?

Started with Covered Calls and Cash Secure Puts just about 3 weeks ago. What do you think of this one?

Tax question that comes up a lot in covered call trading: does the wash sale rule apply when you roll a losing call?

Short answer: yes, potentially. The IRS can treat two options as substantially identical if they share the same strike and expiration. Rolling a losing call into a nearly identical one within 30 days may disallow the loss.

More specific scenarios where this triggers:

• Selling stock at a loss, then buying a call on the same stock within 30 days
• Being assigned at a loss on a covered call and repurchasing shares within the window
• Selling at a loss in a taxable account and repurchasing the same position in an IRA (loss is permanently gone, not deferred)

Adjusting the strike or expiration when rolling is usually enough to avoid it. Section 1256 index options are fully exempt.

Good reference article on the mechanics: https://thetaedge.ai/blog/wash-sale-rules-for-covered-calls

Has anyone had a broker catch these automatically, or is it mostly manual tracking on your end?