Learn SPY options in plain English.

The stage nobody sells you — and the true start of this course: whether trading is for you at all, and honestly, whether it is for everyone (it isn't). The real odds beginners face, the money rules that have to be in place before any trade, and how to spot the scams that hunt new traders. All seven lessons are built and open below — start here. Deciding NOT to trade counts as passing this stage, and its last lesson records that decision as a complete, successful finish.

1. 1WHAT THIS COURSE IS — AND IS NOT4 min read
2. 2THE EVIDENCE — WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS6 min read
3. 3INVESTING, TRADING, OR GAMBLING?5 min read
4. 4THE MONEY RULES — BEFORE ANY TRADE6 min read
5. 5TIME, TEMPERAMENT, AND HONEST FIT5 min read
6. 6HOW GURUS MAKE MONEY (IT’S NOT TRADING)6 min read
7. 7PAPER TRADING — THE ONLY FREE LUNCH6 min read

What a share actually is — a slice of a real company — how companies and prices work, when the market is open, what an index is, and why this whole course trades one ticker: SPY, the fund that tracks America’s 500 biggest companies. Plus a first, tourist-level read of the free SPY Sheet’s four numbers. All seven lessons are built and open below — they pick up exactly where Stage 0’s decision left off.

1. 8WHAT A SHARE ACTUALLY IS5 min read
2. 9COMPANIES, IPOs, AND WHY PRICES MOVE5 min read
3. 10EXCHANGES AND MARKET HOURS5 min read
4. 11WHAT AN INDEX IS — AND ISN’T4 min read
5. 12WHY THIS COURSE TRADES SPY6 min read
6. 13BULLS, BEARS, AND MARKET WEATHER5 min read
7. 14THE SPY SHEET — A FIRST LOOK6 min read

Where trading actually happens — now built and open: what a broker does and how it gets paid, cash vs margin with the one-day (T+1) settle, margin's real teeth — and the famous $25,000 pattern-day-trader rule that FINRA retired in June 2026 — the order types you'll actually place, and how to read a quote and a fill. Six lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 1's markets left off.

1. 15WHAT A BROKER ACTUALLY DOES5 min read
2. 16CASH VS MARGIN — AND THE ONE-DAY SETTLE5 min read
3. 17MARGIN, HONESTLY — BORROWED MONEY, REAL TEETH6 min read
4. 18MARKET VS LIMIT — TWO DOORS INTO THE MARKET5 min read
5. 19STOPS, STOP-LIMITS, AND THE FINE PRINT6 min read
6. 20READING A QUOTE — AND WHAT THE ROUND TRIP COSTS6 min read

Charts on the only ticker this course trades — now built and open: what one candle actually records, timeframes and the stories each zoom hides, trend as higher highs and higher lows, support and resistance as memory rather than magic, volume as participation, and the SPY Sheet’s daily levels — walls, tipping line, expected move — read together on a real day (Oct 15, 2026). Six lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 2’s orders left off.

1. 21CANDLES: WHAT ONE BAR ACTUALLY RECORDS5 min read
2. 22TIMEFRAMES: THE SAME MARKET, DIFFERENT STORIES5 min read
3. 23TREND: HIGHER HIGHS, HIGHER LOWS6 min read
4. 24SUPPORT & RESISTANCE: MEMORY, NOT MAGIC6 min read
5. 25VOLUME: HOW MANY PEOPLE SHOWED UP5 min read
6. 26THE DAILY LEVELS, READ TOGETHER6 min read

This course’s deliberate difference — now built and open: risk BEFORE options. Expectancy and why win rate alone lies, position sizing from the risk budget, drawdown and the losing-streak table (on SPY’s real spring-2025 slide), the written five-line plan, paper trading under course rules, and the journal that starts with paper trade number one. Six lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 3’s charts left off.

1. 27EXPECTANCY: WHY WIN RATE ALONE LIES6 min read
2. 28POSITION SIZING: SIZE FROM THE RISK7 min read
3. 29DRAWDOWN & THE LOSING STREAK7 min read
4. 30THE WRITTEN PLAN: FIVE LINES BEFORE ENTRY6 min read
5. 31PAPER TRADING: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT6 min read
6. 32THE JOURNAL STARTS NOW6 min read

Options, from the paper up — now built and open: what an option actually is — a standardised contract, a right for its buyer and an obligation for its seller, cleared and guaranteed by the OCC — calls and puts each priced to their deadline on the chain’s real numbers, the Robinhood chain itself decoded, moneyness and the two parts of every premium, and expiry: exercise, assignment, and the pin. Six lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 4’s journal left off.

1. 33WHAT AN OPTION ACTUALLY IS6 min read
2. 34CALLS: THE RIGHT TO BUY6 min read
3. 35PUTS: THE RIGHT TO SELL6 min read
4. 36YOUR ROBINHOOD CHAIN, DECODED5 min read
5. 37MONEYNESS: WHAT A PREMIUM IS MADE OF6 min read
6. 38EXPIRY: EXERCISE, ASSIGNMENT, AND THE PIN7 min read

What moves an option's price: the Greeks — delta, theta, gamma — implied volatility and the crush, and the breakeven line every trade gets judged against. These five lessons are built and open — work them in order below.

1. 39DELTA — YOUR SPEEDOMETER4 min read
2. 40THETA & DTE — TIME IS BLEEDING4 min read
3. 41IV — THE PRICE TAG3 min read
4. 42GAMMA — DELTA'S ENGINE3 min read
5. 43BREAKEVEN — THE LINE THAT MATTERS3 min read

Your first real structures — now built and open: trades whose maximum loss is printed before entry. Long calls and puts judged honestly, the anatomy of a vertical spread, debit and credit verticals with the math in full, choosing strikes and expiry by levels, Greeks and brakes, one trade built end to end — plan, ticket, fill, journal — and what to do when a trade is wrong. Defined risk only; naked selling is not taught here. Seven lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 6’s breakeven left off.

1. 44LONG CALL, LONG PUT — HONESTLY7 min read
2. 45ANATOMY OF A VERTICAL: TWO LEGS, ONE IDEA6 min read
3. 46DEBIT VERTICALS: PAY FOR THE MOVE, CAP THE BILL8 min read
4. 47CREDIT VERTICALS: MAX LOSS FIRST9 min read
5. 48CHOOSING STRIKES & EXPIRY: THREE FILTERS8 min read
6. 49BUILDING THE TRADE: PLAN, TICKET, FILL, JOURNAL8 min read
7. 50WHEN THE TRADE IS WRONG — AND WHAT ISN’T TAUGHT8 min read

The trade’s life after entry — now built and open: matching the structure to the regime and the view, taking profit under the famous 50% convention — labeled a convention and repriced in full — cutting losers by the exit written before entry, rolling examined as the new trade it actually is, expiry week’s gamma and pin risk, assignment and its morning-after procedure, and the book-level craft: total open risk, the bad-day protocol, and the post-trade review graded in R. Seven lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 7’s wrong-trade lesson left off.

1. 51FROM REGIME TO STRUCTURE: MATCH THE TRADE TO THE OPINION7 min read
2. 52TAKING PROFIT: THE 50% RULE, LABELED8 min read
3. 53CUTTING LOSERS: THE EXIT YOU WROTE FIRST7 min read
4. 54ROLLING: A NEW TRADE, NOT A RESCUE9 min read
5. 55EXPIRY WEEK: GAMMA, THE PIN, THE WALL8 min read
6. 56ASSIGNMENT, IF IT HAPPENS: THE MORNING AFTER8 min read
7. 57THE BOOK, THE BAD DAY, AND THE REVIEW9 min read

Where trading becomes a craft instead of a habit of hope — now built and open: the journal rebuilt as a database you can slice by setup, regime and error; the PlayBook page — one setup fully specified, its statistics computed from your own log, in the method credited to SMB Capital; the daily and weekly review rituals and the monthly book calculation; every loss priced in R as plan error, execution error, or market tuition; and the hunt for your one leak — the recurring pattern worth more than any new strategy. Six lessons, in order below — they pick up exactly where Stage 8’s review left off.

1. 58THE JOURNAL AS A DATABASE, NOT A DIARY8 min read
2. 59THE PLAYBOOK PAGE: ONE SETUP, FULLY SPECIFIED8 min read
3. 60THE DAILY REVIEW: GRADE THE GOAL, NOT THE MONEY7 min read
4. 61THE WEEKLY REVIEW — AND THE MONTHLY BOOK8 min read
5. 62THREE KINDS OF WRONG: PRICING YOUR ERRORS IN R8 min read
6. 63FIND YOUR ONE LEAK9 min read

Optional — and only after every earlier stage, and built and open now: the readiness audit that scores every earlier gate against your own artefacts; the live account funded with only the certified figure’s tuition tranche; live size cut below paper size, one contract at a time; ten protocol trades under pre-committed step-back triggers; what real money changes — and must not; and records & taxes in the IRS’s own published terms. Staying on paper is a complete, successful finish of this stage too.

1. 64THE READINESS AUDIT: EVERY GATE, ONE CHECKLIST8 min read
2. 65THE LIVE ACCOUNT, FUNDED7 min read
3. 66TUITION SIZING: THE DIAL AT ITS FLOOR8 min read
4. 67THE FIRST TEN: A PROTOCOL, NOT A DEBUT8 min read
5. 68WHAT REAL MONEY CHANGES — AND WHAT IT MUST NOT7 min read
6. 69RECORDS & TAXES, HONESTLY8 min read