Options Trading Course Reviews

Updated 10/5/2021

(Any revisions/new reviews/updates are as of the date above)

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I thought I would write an ongoing review as I try(or evaluate) some of the popular options training courses and programs that are available. I am only commenting on ones that I have purchased or at least spent time evaluating.

There are many, many other Options Trading programs on the market but when doing some research these are the ones I saw mentioned in multiple places.

It is important to always be learning when trying to be successful in the stock market, especially with options.

Many new investors will try to read some books trying to learn options and bounce around to different trading forums trying different options strategies and tactics, but that can be a costly way of educating yourself.

If you find a solid, well-laid training course that provides ongoing training and support, then you should be able to get much more returns over your investing lifetime than the initial cost of a training product.

Also, keep in mind that when starting out there is lots of great free information in the education section of many of the popular options brokerages such as how-to articles and quality webinars but it can be hard to put it all together into a defined trading plan.

The best Options Training programs provide a comprehensive and progressive training from beginner to advanced, continued support, and maybe a community of fellow traders.

This post isn’t to focus on reviewing any options trading newsletters or stock picking services because it is better to learn a system and be able to implement it on your own rather than following some newsletter that just spits out trading picks. Your goal with investing in a training program is to teach and provide you with the knowledge to be able to invest/trade on your own and not be dependent on some continual service.

Before reviewing the options trading programs below, I should also mention that there are also many seminars and destination events that provide in-depth options training but they usually are quite expensive and generally do not provide you with ongoing support/updates that you might get with online training programs.

Below are some of the popular Options Training Courses (listed in no specific order) :

Full Disclosure: I receive potential referral commission on some of the products mentioned in this post if you buy thru my link, but this compensation does not affect my review/opinion. The opinions below are my honest experiences and observations of these programs and I never get paid to write reviews.

Sheridan Mentoring

Dan Sheridan is widely known in the options world as he does the training for CBOE with webinars and seminars throughout the country. He was a professional options trader for about 20years and knows just about anything you can imagine about options trading. There are lots of free webinars on the internet that Dan has done that you can watch and get a good understanding of his trading style and teaching philosophy. He teaches a lot about proper trade sizing, managing an options portfolio, how to adjust various options trading strategies, and much more. He is more oriented around option income strategies instead of directional trading bets.

His training program is extensive and costs $6500 for access to his training(hundreds of hours) and coaching. If you are serious about how to trade options like a professional then this is a decent choice but it can be complicated to replicate.

It is not cheap so if you want to see the course I like for learning Iron condors that it is simpler to implement and MUCH cheaper than Sheridan then see my review of “How I Make $1,000 a Week Trading Options” course.

Options Trading Basics (3 Course Bundle)

I came across this course because it was so highly rated. It is a very comprehensive course for learning options and the instructor does a very good job explaining everything with lots of example. It is hosted on Udemy so it is backed by a full 30 day money back guarantee and provides fully disclosed customer testimonials from people who have taken the course(which is unique in this industry). It is very detailed and will provide the important knowledge to anyone interested in learning to trade options.

The cost of this course would be similar to buying a couple books about options trading but this course will teach you more practical application and real-life examples than what you will find in option investing books.

Overall, if you are looking to learn options trading and want a solid foundation then definitely take a look at this course. Click here to read the product page which provides a lot of detail about the course and lots of real user reviews.

“How I Get Paid $1,000 Every Friday Trading Options”

A simple but excellent course that shows how to effectively trade sell Iron Condors for consistent profit. There is a lot of theory taught about Iron Condors and most never tell you how to effectively adjust an Iron condor so this course is one of the best I have seen at providing an effective system for trading Iron condors.

The value is that the teacher has been trading Iron condors consistently for 15 years and refined how to profit consistently with this strategy while managing risk.(It is worth paying for this knowledge than spending years figuring this out with trial and error)

I wrote a review post about the course that provides more explanation but I really like this course as it just keeps it simple.

You can use Iron Condors as a core strategy in your account for generating income. This also is a great strategy if you don’t have time during the day to watch the markets or if you have a small account as Iron condors use up small margin.

Overall it is a pretty inexpensive course with excellent support from the teacher and a 30day money back guarantee.

UPDATE – The author of the above course has another terrific system for put writing. The course is also on Udemy and very inexpensive. He had 100% win rate on his picks for the entire last year following this system which is pretty incredible (My required disclaimer- I am not making any claim that you will achieve 100% win rate or guarantee any returns). Here is link to course.   Side note – There is a service for this course where he gives his trades following what is taught in this course but it NOT needed to be successful with this course.

Options MD

DISCONTINUED – Options MD is a options training course created by Doc Severson of Trading Concepts INC. It is oriented around providing a step by step training for trading options for a living. It is more about options income trading. I will be honest and let you know I haven’t gone through this course except some of the initial training as I have been focused on learning Futures.

I went through one of their other products about Futures called E-mini Success Formula which I thought was well done and thorough.

Again, their products seem very well organized in a step-by-step training, ongoing support, and a satisfaction guarantees.

Simpler Options

Simpler Options is run by well-known trader John Carter. I came across him a while back when he gave some training for using his TradeTheMarkets indicators that are part of the ThinkOrSwim charting platform and he was trading a lot of futures and options with them successfully. (They are useful indicators to use if you have ThinkOrSwim as your broker). He has some decent training on SimplerOptions and does a lot of weekly options.

I like how he shows his real trades in his real account and provides perspective on different trading styles(short term and long term). There is a nightly free video he sends out on email that you at least see some examples of his real trades in his real accounts.

He seems to be transitioning to less intraday trading and he uses those free indicators I mentioned above that are available for free on ThinkOrSwim. He does a pretty good job simplifying how he trades.

My one complaint is it can be hard to replicate his trading style as he seems to use lots of inputs(different timeframes, indexes, chart setups) when he analyzes the market and decides on what options strategies to implement. If you start watching his daily videos you will see that his charts, indicators, timeframes can vary a lot.

Overall, I’ve bought an options course from John Carter and was satisfied with it and he is a great teacher. He has some unique trading setups that are understandable but my only complaint(like I mentioned above) is it might he difficult to follow his style and I think a lot of people will end up jumping around to too many trading strategies and indicators.

2017 Update on SimplerOptions.com – I bought one John’s courses in 2017 with a new indicator he offered and 3days live trading. I wasn’t that impressed with it and don’t find the indicator that useful. Simpler options seems to be coming up with lots of proprietary indicators now and more classes so it can be easy getting caught up in all the trainings they offer and not really making any progress.  For example, every couple months they seem to have some “amazing new indicator” for sale that is a “must have” so you end up having all these indicators and making it more complicated.

In general, they have good training but don’t really have a specific “system” or steps to follow so can be hard for a beginner to not get overwhelmed. TIP – The “Squeeze indicator” from John Carter is a free indicator if you have ThinkorSwim account and it is a useful indicator if you use it with a solid chart pattern and Fibonacci pullbacks. (Just google how to use John carter squeeze indicator to learn how to read it).

Options University

2/14/2014 I think they closed or sold to someone else as the original guys aren’t there anymore on their website. It doesn’t seem the same quality level as it used to be

OLD REVIEW: Options University is run by professional traders that have worked as floor traders and appear on CNBC. They offer a wide range of training products and services and it high quality.

You can look thru their products and they offer some free training when you sign up for free. I’m on their email list and sometimes they open up their services for free for a couple days and provide some excellent free real-time trading examples. Their product offerings seem to change sometimes and I haven’t looked at them recently.

Options Animal

I came across Options Animal in 2010 after watching a webinar with the CEO Greg Jensen in the education section of a popular Options brokerage. He did a good job on the webinar discussing a specific type of options strategy and I decided to look at their website. The only thing I found about it online independently was some reference to a past options training company called “Spread Trade Systems” that Options Animal founder had a partnership in.

From what I read that past partnership didn’t end well and was the reason for the start with Options Animal. I didn’t find much for independent reviews of Options Animals training and I listened to some of their webinars they provide to explain their training methods. The only negative I have for it is the sales funnel they put you through requiring you to talk with a sales consultant about the products offered.

Personally I felt that the whole sales interview process a turn off to me. They sent me the training materials that explains the options trading strategies they teach and I guess they have a unique spin on how to choose their picks ? You can review their blog posts to see they are focused on risk and teach about adjusting positions which is key to options income trading (They like using an active options collar strategy)

I didn’t see much for reviews when I looked in Fall 2010 at their products but the course ranges from $1500-10,000 (The main training was $8,000 when I looked at it in 2010 without some of the coaching) which is similar to other products in the industry.

They seem to be okay but I would look further into it after my personal experience . (In evaluating this I spoke to Options Animal in fall 2010 so maybe their sales process has changed since then or I just had a unique experience.)

Jeffrey Ziegler

12/15/2014 He closed his products.

I was referred to Jeffrey Ziegler in 2010 and he does a good job of really laying out the basics for credit spread trading. He is a retail trader and not a former wallstreet trader, so he lays things out well for someone totally new to spread trading and how to approach it. His initial Spread Trading product was from 2007-08 and revolved around credit spreads with monthly options.

His Credit Spread Course mentioned above was revised in late 2012 and is now called ” Credit Spread Trading Made Simple (CSTMS 3.0″ and is updated with some great information and a systematized plan to trading credit spreads(especially weekly options).

If you apply this information in this course you should do well with credit spreads since you can follow a system. If you are brand new to options and trading this you will find the information well laid out and no fluff. If you are experienced with options, then the technical setup for trading weeklies is useful.

You get access to the entire training/content at sign-up and can review his past market analysis videos for how he evaluates the market. The training is all about bear call credit spreads and bull put credit spreads. He also goes into some chart reading patterns and basic setup.

For someone totally new to options it is good and will keep you focused only on credit spreads which an options can investor can make a full-time living with. I think he does a good job providing steps to follow and a system to stick to with credit spreads. If you decide to branch out to other options trading strategies then you can move onto other higher-end comprehensive options trading courses on the market after going through his course.

Weekly Options Windfall

12/2017 UPDATE – I tried the revised course where he has a monthly billing program just to see what has changed. I cancelled after learning the process. The money press strategy is buying calendar(or diagonal) call spreads on volatile bullish growth stocks which is fine until you have a down or volatile market. I might be worth trying to review his training material and see if the style if a fit for you but expect some wild swings in your portfolio following this method.

My Original Review from 2012: I kind of stumbled onto this course when I was first getting into learning more about weekly options. Preston James is the creator of Weekly Options Windfall and he is a successful independent options trader. He has numerous past options training courses and I couldn’t really find any review on Weekly Options Windfall so I bought it for the $800 offer price.

I was pretty disappointed by the quality of information and some of the advice about expiration day pinning trades were easy way to lose a lot of money. I guess my problem is that the course is marketed towards beginners and first time options traders with unrealistic expectations.

Also, the support was lacking. There wasn’t a lot of content so maybe the content has improved since I had bought it(hopefully).  (I briefly mentioned this course in a past post that I wrote about weekly options)

Trading Pro System

3/18/2016 It looks like this course is no longer for sale ? If you want a course to learn/understand options then consider the one I mentioned above (You have 30day money back guarantee to try it out and it is inexpensive)

If you are looking for I have written about Trading Pro System on this site in the past(in 2010) as the course really helped explain some options trading concepts that I didn’t understand when getting into options. For the $200 price I found it to be quite excellent and detailed.

It’s a few years old and covers a lot of content in one course but it helped me a lot when starting out. The options trading style taught in this course is more along the lines of what Dan Sheridan teaches(see above in this this post) with how to manage your positions by using the options Greeks.

If can be a little more advanced for new options investors trying to trade with the greeks, but the I still like the amount of information taught in this video course and the intricacies of options movement.

I think this product is a good deal for the information provided(when compared to most options training on the market). You can reference past posts I wrote about it Post 1 & Post 2 .

ETF Tipping Point

I am just mentioning this because I saw started mentioned in a few places recently. I didn’t try this product but since I had a hard a time finding any review on it, I thought I would share what I found. They offer a market trading system based on short term signals for trading specific ETF’s that shows pretty impressive results.

From what I found it seems they base their signals on a proprietary version of on-balance volume that measures the intraday accumulation/distribution of the various stocks/components of the ETF’s they follow. 

It is like a modified version of the OBV(On-Balance Volume) indicator that has been around for decades. There is a free indicator on some platforms(ThinkOrSwim has it) called Trade Volume Index that measures accumulation/distribution by intraday tick which is more accurate than On Balance Volume for detailed accumulation/distribution trends  but I haven’t played with it enough.

I didn’t buy the product or spend much more time on it, just sharing what I found. If anyone has tried it or used Trade Volume Index indicator, I would like to hear any feedback below.

Quantum Trading Pay Day Stocks TW 90

An options trading course that promotes showing to double your account in a 90day period. I did some research on it and decided to not purchase it. You can read my review about this program if interested. I received a lot of comments on that review from students after posting the review.

Summary

In conclusion I only touched on a handful of the popular options training courses. There are definitely many more options trading courses and programs continually coming to market, so I can only share what I have looked at or tried. You can either try to figure out options on your own or purchase some training. There are many types of options training so it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out who to listen to.

I am sure there are some good teachers or courses that I have missed so please leave a comment of any that you recommend as I would love to hear some feedback.