I occasionally buy calls when I have a hunch I want to play, and to add a touch of excitement while I watch the paint dry on my DG portfolio. I've concluded that -- IN MY CASE -- it is a sucker's game. It is hard enough to make good buy / sell decisions when there is NO time pressure. But the deep timing element associated with options makes it very stressful and especially difficult. After some medium-sized bets early on (for me), I started only playing with small sums, and haven't even done that in over a year. Here is a snapshot of every option I've ever traded. After all of that churn and time and energy, I'm very grateful to have broken even.
That said, I have never tried, and would still consider selling cash secured puts on stocks that I'd be happy to buy anyway.
That said, I have never tried, and would still consider selling cash secured puts on stocks that I'd be happy to buy anyway.