The First One

Today is the day it starts—the first newsletter.

When I began trading regularly, I never thought about writing down my thoughts or sharing them with others. It wasn’t because I didn’t have time, or because I wanted to keep any “trading secrets” to myself (I don’t have any). It just never crossed my mind.

A quick note about me: I studied engineering and worked as one for the past 15 years. I’ve always enjoyed learning new things, so over time, I taught myself how to trade options and explore different strategies around them. I’m a retail trader, and really I’m just someone who’s fascinated by the market and the way it conveys collective sentiment through price action.

Over the years, I’ve found that I really enjoy talking about trading and sharing new ways to think about making money—especially with options. I’ve become a bit of a junkie, and there’s rarely a day that goes by without some kind of trading idea or thought running through my head.

I know this will be a journey, and my writing might not be perfect. But I promise to keep improving with each post.

Market Action

What a time to start sharing my thoughts on the market.

For now, I’ll mostly stick to talking about S&Ps—but just pull up a daily chart of SPY. From a high of around $613/share on February 19th to a low near $482 on April 7th, then closing at about $539 on April 14th… it’s been crazy, wild, ___(insert superlative here)___.

Seeing a 15+% drop followed by an almost 12% rally in just two months doesn’t happen often. When it does:

1. I’m amazed by the sheer amount of money exchanging hands and the impact that has on the market, and

2. I see it as a great opportunity to take advantage of the increased volatility—in a strategic way, of course.

Speaking of volatility…

With the VIX opening around 60 on April 7th and closing near 31 on April 14th, it might seem like volatility is crashing. But entering a new position still doesn’t exactly feel comfortable—uncertainty is there for a reason.

That’s one of the reasons I like using options. I can size my trades however I want—big or small (in this case, I’m staying small)—and I can structure a trade to take advantage of the increased volatility compared to what we’ve seen over the past year. And while it definitely helps if I pick the direction correctly, I don’t necessarily need to.

My Focus This Week

Right now, my focus is on the major indices—specifically SPY, and maybe QQQ.

That’s where the best liquidity is, and it also limits my exposure to outlier risk from individual companies. I don’t have a huge account, so I’m sticking with defined-risk strategies for now—think vertical spreads, diagonals, butterflies, etc.

With implied volatility (IV) percentile still near 100 and IV rank around 50, I’m looking for setups that include some short premium component in each position. I’m even open to shorter-duration trades, since near-term implied volatilities are so juiced right now.

I’m also exploring ways to get more direct exposure to volatility on the short side. Whether it’s through short VIX futures or a defined-risk trade on VXX, I want to have some skin in the game. Volatility doesn’t hit these levels often—and while I have no idea when it’ll revert to historical averages, it can happen fast when it does.

What’s Top of Mind

These are just a few key points I’m focusing on right now.

Trading and investing styles vary a lot from person to person—your own points of emphasis will likely be different. My hope is that this gets you thinking about your own priorities and approach.

Have a plan
Before the market opens, I always review my positions to see if anything needs adjusting after overnight moves. But more importantly, I plan ahead for how I want to trade if certain price action unfolds.

Growing up, I played baseball, and my coaches always drilled into us: have a plan before each pitch. Know how many outs there are, who’s on base, and what you’ll do if the ball is hit to you. If it’s a grounder to your left, where do you throw it? If you catch a line drive, are there runners you can double off? It might seem like a small mental exercise, but it makes execution seemingly automatic when the moment comes.

That’s exactly how I approach the market.
What if we gap down but then rally past pre-market highs?
What should I do if I see strong buying at the open?
What are VIX futures doing before the bell—and how should I respond if they sell off right after?

Planning for different scenarios simplifies execution and keeps me clear-headed.

Stay small—but not too small
This applies to almost every trading environment, but especially now. I want to take advantage of increased volatility, but I’m sizing down on new trades to stay in control. That might mean smaller credit spreads, smaller products—whatever helps manage risk.

The goal is to avoid getting blown out and to reduce the stress of overnight risk. That said, there’s such a thing as sizing too small, so it’s about finding that sweet spot where I can still stay active and engaged while protecting my capital.

Trade for tomorrow
This builds on the last point: I’m not trading just to trade. The goal is to build a plan, adjust it as the market moves, and execute with purpose.

Yes, I’m here to make money—but I can’t do that if I blow up my account today. That means setting myself up to trade again tomorrow.

Sometimes that means doing nothing. If the setup isn’t there, there’s no reason to force a trade and put yourself in a position that you might need to defend shortly after putting it on.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Hope you enjoyed the first edition, and I’m excited to keep this going as we see where the markets take us.

If anything here got you thinking, or if you’ve got a different take, shoot me a reply—I’d love to hear it.

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Hitting the Bid content is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The information contained is not, nor is it intended to be, trading or investment advice or a recommendation of any security, futures contract, digital asset or alike. Trading and investing contains risk. All investors should evaluate their own risk tolerance, financial situation, and investment duration before entering any trade or investment.