Students keep asking me which options books to buy. Here is my answer, in the order I would read them. Eleven books, three levels, and for every one the chapters we use, the chapters you can skip, and the module it prepares you for.
The summaries are written for the trading we do: credit spreads, iron condors, calendars, with a macro view. Not a chapter-by-chapter retelling. Each page tells you what stayed with me and where it shows up on our boards. If you only have one weekend, start with the three below.
π The Options Playbook β Option Volatility and Pricing β Positional Option Trading
Start Here, Three Books
If you have bought a call once and wondered why it lost money while the stock went up, start here. Three books, no formulas, and after them every card on our site reads like plain English.
π The Options Playbook β Options as a Strategic Investment β Trading Options Greeks
The Working Trader's Shelf
This is where the edge lives. Volatility is priced, and it is priced wrong often enough to make a living from it. Four books that teach you to see it.
π Option Volatility and Pricing β Positional Option Trading β The Hidden Reality β Trading Volatility
When You Run a Book
Nobody needs these to pass a module. They are for the day you run a book of positions and want to know what the professionals worry about. Read them slowly and skip the mathematics.
π Volatility Trading β The Second Leg Down β The Volatility Smile β Dynamic Hedging
Which Book Before Which Module
Every module in the Elite Trader program has one book to read before the session. Beginners read the beginner one; if you are past that, pick the deeper book for the same module.
π The Elite Trader Program β How the Boards Work β Start Here, for members
How a Book Becomes a Module
Reading alone gets you to the edge of the pool. The Elite Trader program is the part where you swim: every module starts with one book from this list and ends with you running the trade on your own account, with me on the call. Ten modules, ten private sessions, one book before each.
π Compare the plans β Already a member? Start Here
How the Summaries Work
The index is free. Each book's full summary, the chapters we use, the five ideas, the chapters to skip and the module link, is for paid readers. Pro and Elite Trader members read all eleven.
π Compare the plans β Tuesday Target, the free letter
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Educational content only. Not financial advice.