In the very near future we will be launching the SMB Options Training Program which we’ve been working on intensively for months.

We have had a  fair degree of interest in the upcoming program and it occurred to us that it might not be a bad idea to invite a few   trainees into the process before our formal launch, in order to get their feedback on the training curriculum.  So we created the SMB  Options Training Program Beta Test Team and invited four interested trainees onto the team.

What a great group of guys. I am so impressed with the initiative that they have taken to provide me with feedback on the course. After each session they forward me their comments for suggested supplemental information to be added to the curriculum as well as proposed questions for the test we will be giving at the end of the study portion of the program to pinpoint subjects  that each individual student will  need to review prior to the beginning of the mentoring process. They are doing some great work that will benefit our options community for years to come.

Last evening we had our first Team meeting, which we scheduled strategically at 8PM EST so that our stalwart member Joe from Indonesia was not forced out of bed at a ridiculous hour of the morning ( I’d bet most people don’t realize that Indonesia is the fourth most populace country on the earth). Indonesia is eleven hours ahead of  us so the sun truly never sets on the SMB Options Training Program Beta Test team.

In addition to Joe, we have a diverse group of  Americans from all over the country including   the owner of several Quiznos  franchises, a manager in a department of the federal government and a pit boss at a casino!  One of the great things about options spread trading is that you do not need to watch the market all day if you understand the strategies and have become adept at  executing  contingent orders through your online broker platform. In fact, Joe will be doing most of his trading while he is asleep due to the time difference, and, as I’ve said before, that can actually be an ADVANTAGE (it’s hard to micromanage your trades into oblivion if you are  fast asleep).

I thought we had  a good first session, which was primarily spent reviewing fundamental options concepts, the role of volatility in the statistical decision making process for options  spreads and the thinking behind  the ideal times in the expiration cycle  to initiate certain kinds of options spread  strategies. But we also spent some time just getting to know each other–every member of the team shared something about their life and careers and what interested them most  about options trading.

We’ve decided to meet every week to continue the dialogue and to spend more time drilling down on specific strategies that are of interest to the group. Next week, for example, we’ll be taking a deeper dive  into the bearish butterfly trade that I demonstrated the last few weeks on the Options Trade of the Week. It’s an amazing trade if you have discipline.

I”d like to thank the Beta Team for their great work to date. It will benefit our growing options community greatly in the future.

Seth Freudberg

Director, SMB Options Training Program