5 Best Options Trading Courses for Beginners [2022 Edition]

Best Options Trading Courses for Beginners

What is the best options trading course available right now? The following guide lists my favorite courses, live-trading classes and options trading strategies.

In addition, I wrote an article about the best day trading courses for day traders and a separate guide about the best forex trading courses for aspiring forex traders.

But now, let’s get straight to the list of the three best options trading courses.

Transparency: We may get compensated when you click on links in this article.

Best Options Trading Courses

  1. Bullseye Trades: Best education and options picks offer
  2. Daily Strike: Best for daily trade alerts
  3. OptionsGeek: Best for in-depth options trading education (optional trade alerts)
  4. Black Box Stocks: Best all-in-one offer (education, tools, community)
  5. Option Strategies Insider: Best for options trading strategy insights

Best Courses to Learn Options Trading

I’ve tested all options trading courses mentioned in the list below. All of them offer a mix of options trading education and options picks. This combination ensures a steep learning curve for beginners. Here are my favorites of the best options trading courses.

1. Bullseye Trades

bullseye tradesbullseye trades

Bullseye Trades is an options trading service operated by Raging Bull co-founder Jeff Bishop. Bullseye members have access to an extensive video library about stock options covering everything from options trading basics up to advanced trading strategies in 20 lessons.

Jeff also demonstrates how to utilize those strategies and shares weekly Bullseye Trades and updates with subscribers 52 times per year. The options trade alerts come with a detailed explanation of the trade, option contract details and trade management insights.

In addition, new videos with market recaps and option trading insights make it to the member dashboard every week.

Highlights

  • Jeff is an experienced educator and options trader
  • Excellent mix of options trading education and trade alerts
  • Extensive video archive
  • Low annual subscription costs

Best Offer: Save 76% Off and join Bullseye for $97 per year.

2. Daily Strike

daily strikedaily strike

One stock trade, once daily from Jason Bond, that’s what you get as a subscriber to Daily Strike. Jason was listening to his subscribers and came up with this service due to high demand. Many investors struggle to scan for trade opportunities and filter for the one that’s perfect for the day. That’s where Daily Strike comes into play.

New subscribers receive a video lesson during the first ten days, where Jason teaches what to look at trading penny stocks and options.

In addition, each trading day in the morning, before the market open, subscribers receive the trade alert with details about the chosen stock, the options trading strategy and order details.

So, Jason picks a specific stock, decides on a specific options trading strategy and trades the stock option of this stock. Details about the strike price expiration date, number of contracts, order type and symbol, are part of the trade alert information.

Best Offer: Join Daily Strike for $299 per quarter, or $997 per year (30-day money-back guarantee included.)

3. OptionsGeek

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Felix Frey is an experienced options trader and holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He worked seven years as executive director of equity derivatives for Bank of America and various other companies in the sector. For over 20 years now, he is trading options on Wall Street, and in October 2018, Felix founded his options trading service OptionsGeek.

In 2019, Felix presented his course and market insights during the Moneyshow TradersEXPO in New York, and in 2020 he was a presenter at the Benzinga Options Trading Bootcamp. His track record is well documented, and he continuously beats the average market performance.

His approach to options trading can be defined as simple to follow and easy to understand. Instead of using complicated options greek formulas, he simplifies options trading with his unique swing trading course.

Lifetime access to the comprehensive options course 3 Steps To Profit costs $397 and includes 1 month of free access to his options picking service Winning Picks ($197 value).

Highlights

  • Focused on options trading education
  • The instructor that knows options insight out
  • Focuses on low-risk strategies trading options
  • Video archive and extensive course for members

Best Offer: 3 Steps to Profit Options Trading Education Package (Bonus: 1 Month Winning Picks included)

4. Black Box Stocks

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When it comes to community aspects, the Black Box Stocks comes into play. Black Box Stocks is a trading service that covers far more than options trading. First of all, they provide a market scanner with real-time analysis of market movements. The market scanner is one of the best options screeners, enabling options traders to analyze the options flow, unusual options activity and options contracts in detail. It is also a powerful tool for analyzing the most actively traded stocks, gappers, and momentum plays. Also, subscribers gain access to their web platform, Discord channel, and the private Twitter group.

Subscribers get a bit of everything with various head-trader who are posting live trades, the opportunity to chat with other traders, and market insights by using their market scanner. Black Box Stocks is around for many years now, and they are growing steadily. They offer free classes for members with detailed educational aspects about:

  • Basics of stock trading
  • Basics of options trading
  • How to trade using Black Box Stocks

All of this is done during the BlackBox Bootcamp, a 3-hour live webinar for new traders. It is offered twice a week, and a detailed curriculum is available on their website.

Highlights

  • Unique mix of stock screener, options scanner, trading ideas, and community access
  • Options and stock trading courses, chat room access and strategies
  • Free online trading course Bootcamp for subscribers
  • Free integration of The Fly on The Wall news

Best Offers

Your discount will be applied automatically during checkout by using the links above.

5. Option Strategies Insider

option strategies insideroption strategies insider

Option Stragegies Insider is one of the best options trading alert services, operated by Chris Douthit. Chris holds an MBA and various financial degrees. He previously worked as a professional trader for big companies on Wall Street, such as Goldman Sachs.

His service includes in-depth options trading education and two options picking services with a winning rate of >90% called Executive- and Ultra Membership. Paying subscribers will receive about 5-10 picks per month, depending on the membership. Those trade alerts excellent for swing trading because the average holding time is a few weeks. That makes this service a good choice for investors working in a full-time job and getting into options trading on the side.

I checked the whole options course and the trades. Detailed information about his service can be found in the Option Strategies Insider review.

  • Executive Membership: $77 instead of $97 per month
  • Ultra Membership: $134 instead of $167 per month

Highlights

  • An experienced instructor that knows options insight out
  • Options trading education and trade alerts
  • Impressive winning percentage since the inception
  • Free resources for a sneak peek available
  • Good for swing-trading options

Best Offer: 20% on all Option Strategies Insider plans

Best Options Trading Course Summary

Trading options is easier than it sounds if the best option trading courses are chosen. The main benefit of the services featured in this article is that they combine theory about options trading with options picks.

Education sets the foundation for growing the experience level, self-confidence, and, finally, the account. The same general rules of investing and trading apply like in any other related segment.

One rule of thumb for any options trading course is that you are well-advised to use a paper trading account within your brokerage account to test new trading strategies and practice your trading.

This way, you learn by doing it without risking any money. Once you identified your preferred trading style, you can make more money than by starting with real money right from the beginning.

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Guide to Options Trading

The best options trading courses set the baseline for your career as an options trader. A trading class can be started with any experience level. But the question Is options trading for rookies a good idea can not directly be answered with a yes. Please keep in mind that trading options come with higher risk compared to traditional buy-and-hold investing. Options have a limited duration, they can expire worthlessly, and some options strategies come with unlimited risk when handled wrong.

Profit and Risk

An options trading course is so important for new traders. The financial markets offer plenty of opportunities for trading and investing but have to consider that the higher the potential profits, the higher is the involved risk. Options are often used for day trading and swing trading. Some investors use options to hedge long-term stock portfolios with covered calls.

Courses and Strategies

One important thing to keep in mind is that if you follow options strategies like selling call options or put options just to earn the premium, then this might sound logical and easy. But what some shady courses don’t mention is that the risk involved with these options trades is unlimited. Your trading strategy needs to be defined and tested. Options basics learned via various educational resources help you to define your trading plan. If an educator offers a chat room, then this can be helpful too to ask questions directly. Some vendors also provide email support. No matter what your trading strategy looks like, it is essential to test it without risk to see if it works the way you expect. Make sure to use a trading simulator for that purpose.

Option Brokers

Now a word about brokers. Most online brokers in the United States introduced zero commissions for stocks and options in 2020. TD Ameritrade is the market leader in the retail trader business, and they now re-finance their business with payments for order flow. That means that clients do not pay commissions anymore, and instead, they get compensated from third parties for routing client orders to venues. Beginners often oversee that the options trading commission is now zero, but there is still a fee per contract with most brokerages. The fee is typically still around $0.50 per stock options contract and the same for call options and put options.

Use Your Course and Start Slowly

You can make money trading options, but it is essential to start slowly. Make one option trade after the other and ensure to analyze any trade. Did you trade your plan? It needs a plan. Otherwise, it is like a casino.

Do you belong to the group of stock traders and already attended a stock trading class? If so, this training will help you, but trading options are different. You have to learn the difference between a call option and a put option, the strike price, expiration date and some options greeks during your training. A test drive is an excellent opportunity to test an options trading course, and if the service offers a money-back guarantee, then this is a good alternative to a test drive.

Learn, Rinse, and Repeat

It might take a bit longer to learn options strategies due to complexity. It makes sense to use the material provided in your course often to repeat a class and video lessons. Some investors prefer to use an options trades service that provides trade alerts based on technical analysis or quant strategies. I also consider trade ideas helpful, but they are not made to follow them blindly without knowledge. The basics of options have to be learned under all circumstances.

Stock options are the most frequently traded options, and every training and course in the list offers options basics about stock options. Some even offer lifetime access for a one-time fee. The more time you invest in learning, the better your learning curve will be. This is true for the stock market, options trading, and all financial markets in general.

An options trading course increases the probabilities of success. But a course does not guarantee success. Every investment decision is upon you, and the budget for an options course should be in reasonable relation to your overall budget.

Trading Style

Day trading options requires a minimum of $25,000 if more than 3-day trades are made within 5 business days. This is similar to trading stocks. That’s one of the reasons why options traders and course attendees with less liquid capital often start with swing trading. Keep in mind that an options contract loses value if the price goes sideways and the expiration date comes closer.

FAQ

How do I get good at options trading?

To get good at options trading, you need to start with proper education. This can be free YouTube resources or paid courses from successful providers with a proven track record.

What is the best option strategy?

The best option strategy is to keep the overall risk as low as possible by buying calls and puts. Selling calls and puts naked is the whole opposite and the riskiest strategy.

How long does it take to learn options trading?

It takes about 3 to 6 months to learn options trading from scratch. First, you need to understand the theory, and then you need to practice order placements and finally start trading options.

Can you get rich trading options?

You can get rich trading options when all risk-management rules are applied correctly. The leverage provided by options trading makes high income with low capital possible.

Which option trading course is best?

The best options trading course provides easy to understand learning material, proven success provided by the educator, and short term subscription at low costs.