Chapter 1

OPTIONS ARE NOT ASSETS, THEY ARE BETS.

Stock Trader heard the alarm go off. He rolled over in bed and hit his beloved snooze button. It was time to head off to his day job, but his mind rarely stopped thinking of his second job of trading. Trading would be his ticket out of the nine-to-five corporate world. He wanted to move from being an employee of a company to an investor in the company. He wanted his money to work for him and be able to stop working for money. His dream was financial independence. Of course, all his fellow employees thought he was nuts. Most of his friends at work could not comprehend ever not having a job, or that not having a job should even be a goal. Stock Trader, though, was different; he ignored all the negativity and doubt and just kept on doing what others believed was impossible.

He beat the S&P 500 year after year

He went to cash and avoided downtrends

He sold stocks short and made money in downtrends

Many months he made more trading than working

He built his accounts over time even during market crashes

As he lay in bed he realized why he continued working so hard at trading. He wanted the freedom to do what he wanted, when he wanted. His goal was not material things, oddly enough. He wanted time, he wanted freedom, and he did not want to be a slave to earning a wage and paying bills.

“Isn’t that gambling?” They would ask him in a concerned and slightly condescending tone at work.

“No, it is a business like any other. I use the same principles as any other business. I buy and sell inventory, I follow trends and I manage risk. I participate in auctions and use best practices to get an edge over my competitors. The company we work for gambles more than I do,” Stock Trader would respond. Unfortunately, his audience really didn’t understand what he was talking about.

With only a few likeminded friends, Stock Trader continued along his journey in the stock market, trading, reading, and learning. He truly loved the stock market. He would watch CNBC like other men watched ESPN. While other men were entering fantasy baseball and football leagues, he was entering stock trading contests online. For him it was not just about making money; it was a passion of his, a challenge of both strategy and wit. Determination and will power separated many winners from the losers in the stock market. He loved the stock market game.

 He had always loved stock trading. He had been fascinated with quotes and what made stocks move up and down from the time he was a small child. As a matter of fact, he had an account and was trading something for as long as he was