I made dozens of thousands from leaps calls.


LEAPS call experience sharing:

1. LEAPS mindset: First ask yourself how much loss you can accept, a few thousand, tens of thousands. Once you make a move, it's best not to look back. A negative example is the LEAP on Alibaba at the beginning of 2025. The timing was perfect, but halfway through, I doubted my judgment. The stop-loss was only a few thousand in premium, but what I missed were options that were ten or a hundred times in the money.

2. LEAPS timing: Is it a moment of market panic? Has the stock price fallen enough? Does the LEAP target have a relatively high moat? For example, Amazon, although it has a high moat, the drop wasn't panicky enough, so the LEAP's risk-reward ratio is average. I'm not making a move for now. When the market crashes, don't rush in. Let the bullets fly for a while, wait a few days or weeks, let the market fully digest it. A little more patience might lead to a very attractive price.

The best timing is when the market is almost desperate about this target, offering the highest risk-reward ratio, when you can't imagine how much worse it could get.

3. LEAPS duration: Minimum 3 months or more, preferably 4, 6, 9 months, 12 months. Because within 2 months of expiration, time decay accelerates non-linearly.

4. LEAPS price selection: Whole numbers are best. Out-of-the-money LEAP options, about 10-30% away from the target price, with open interest of at least several thousand to tens of thousands, ensuring liquidity.

5. LEAPS taboos: Don't blindly average down on options. After establishing a position, generally don't touch it. Plant the seeds, then wait. Adding to the position means increasing the bet. If you get carried away and lose your shirt, you might lose all your chips.

6. LEAPS unrealized profit: If the direction is right, reduce the position on unrealized profit, recovering costs makes it very easy to handle market volatility. You're already in an unbeatable position. Must have a profit-taking plan, can't hold on stubbornly. Negative examples: UNH call had 15 points of unrealized profit, but the profit-taking strategy wasn't done well, ended up with nothing; AMZN had 20 points of unrealized profit, still didn't have a good profit-taking plan, currently only made a few points; SLV was an epic opportunity, got off too early, made 5x and ran, originally planned a bull call spread, but a bug didn't support it, now it's 20x, took a long time to calm down. Phased profit-taking on unrealized gains is very important. Don't go all or nothing.

7. LEAPS win rate: Doesn't need to be high. As long as one LEAP target is right, it can easily cover the costs of the other failed targets.

8. LEAPS holding process: Believe that miracles can happen.

9. Finally, accept the results of your failed LEAPS. There's no such thing as a guaranteed profit without risk. Options are inherently a dangerous game; you have to be able to afford to play.

If I could have held onto the LEAP calls, from the beginning of this year until now, I should have been able to make about 100 more points. But there aren't that many 'ifs'. Preserved half the gains, roughly a few hundred thousand. Not a lot, not a little, but this is just the beginning. Making money is secondary. As long as you can survive in the market, preserve your principal, there will always be opportunities.

Why am I willing to write something? Actually, it's out of selfishness. Writing things down helps me the most, to vent a little, to clarify my own trading thoughts. Of course, if it can offer everyone a little bit of help, that would be the best.

Wishing everyone great wealth!

$Amazon(AMZN.US) $Coinbase(COIN.US) $PDD(PDD.US) $Meta Platforms(META.US) 

$Intel(INTC.US) $Apple(AAPL.US) $Alphabet - C(GOOG.US)