Wealth Building With Options

"There's the kind of stock you date, and the kind of stock you marry."

In this episode of Wealth Building With Options, Dan explores what it means to have "commitment issues"—not in relationships, but in trading. Sometimes you don't want to marry a stock for life. You just want to take it for a profitable spin while managing your risk. That's where short-term buy-writes shine.

What You'll Learn:

• Th...

In this episode, Dan shares a hilarious childhood story (yes, he did bite a nurse) and takes a nostalgic look at Highlights magazine to set up a powerful trading lesson about spotting subtle—but meaningful—differences between two nearly identical options strategies: the buy-write and the cash-secured put.

Both strategies aim to acquire stock and generate income, and from a risk-reward standpoint, they appear almost interchangeable....

Dan Passarelli kicks off this episode with a wild story from the trading floor—complete with Hulk-like rage and a colorful nickname—and uses it to dive deep into one of the most powerful and misunderstood ideas in options trading: synthetic positions.

This episode explores how synthetics reveal the truth about covered calls and cash-secured puts—that they are, in fact, two sides of the same coin. Dan unpacks the logic behind synthe...

In this episode of Wealth Building with Options, host Dan Passarelli explores one of the most powerful, yet often overlooked, concepts in successful trading: edge. Whether you're seeking an advantage like a card counter at the blackjack table or building consistency through disciplined investing, edge—the measurable statistical advantage—is what separates consistent winners from the rest.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

Description: You wouldn’t build a garden without a plan (or at least you shouldn’t). And you sure as heck shouldn’t place a covered call or cash-secured put without knowing exactly why you’re doing it. 

In this episode, Dan shares a hilariously frustrating story about building a backyard garden with his daughter — and how forgetting one small measurement led to a big headache. Then he breaks down how that same mistake shows up in o...

In this episode of Wealth Building with Options, Dan dives deep into the three critical criteria for selecting the best strike and expiration when selling cash-secured puts:

• Support levels
• Theta (both straight and aggregate)
• Implied volatility and skew

Dan breaks down the logic behind what makes these factors so valuable—especially for...

In this episode, Dan Passarelli dives deep into the strategy that many investors think they understand — but often get wrong: cash-secured puts. While most investors learn to sell puts early in their options journey, few truly master the nuance and mindset that separate solid trades from subtle mistakes.

Dan unpacks the six core guidelines for executing high-quality CSPs, shares his personal evolution from skeptic to strategist, an...

Dan Passarelli is joined by Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, to talk seasonality, market cycles, and the powerful edge of timing your trades around historical patterns. From family legacy to tactical trade execution, Jeff breaks down how decades of research—plus some good old-fashioned intuition—can give traders a powerful boost.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why ...

Welcome back to Wealth Building with Options! In this episode, we’re diving deep into a trader's secret weapon: the Trade Objective of the covered call strategy — specifically, using covered calls to strategically exit a stock position.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• How do I get the most out of a stock I already own?
• What role does theta really play in my premium income?

In this deep-dive episode, Dan Passarelli lays out the OG Covered Call setup—the foundational approach to trading covered calls that every serious trader should understand. This episode is Part 1 of a two-part series that walks through the “Skate” Objective—a strategy focused on collecting premium while avoiding assignment.

Dan brings together technical chart analysis, volatility evaluation, and decades of options expertise to show...

Episode Summary: In this episode, Dan dives into one of the most misunderstood aspects of options trading: the Greeks — and more importantly, where the real edge in trading actually comes from. Contrary to what many novice traders believe, theta is not the edge. The real advantage lies in volatility and skew.

With practical examples and 30 years of trading experience, Dan breaks down how delta works, why traders often misinterpret ...

Episode 13 – The Golden Age of Options: A Conversation with Steven Sears

In this episode of Wealth Building With Options, Dan Passarelli sits down with one of the most influential voices in the options world—Steven Sears. A former senior editor at Barron’s, senior advisor to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and a key figure in the rise of electronic options trading, Sears brings decades of front-line experience and deep insight int...

Episode Summary:

In this episode, Dan Passarelli breaks down a powerful trading concept: using cash-secured puts as a smarter, more strategic version of limit orders. If you've ever hesitated about assignment or second-guessed a put trade, this episode is for you.

Dan shares real-world stories (including a Vegas twist involving a mastermind event that… wasn’t) and psychological lessons from 7,000+ trading days. He explains why assi...

In this episode, Dan dives into a powerful but often misunderstood options strategy: the cash-secured put. Often considered the sibling of the covered call, this strategy blends the best of investing discipline with the premium-collecting power of options trading.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why Dan used to hate cash-secured puts—and what changed his mind
• How selling puts can ...

Episode Summary: In this special episode, Dan Passarelli is joined by longtime friend and options expert Russell Rhoads—Associate Clinical Professor at Indiana University, former CBOE educator, and seasoned trader. They dive deep into real-world options education, covering everything from teaching college students about derivatives to building structured outcomes with options.

Topics Covered:

• Why c...

Welcome back, Wealth Builders! In this episode, Dan Passarelli takes a deep dive into why covered calls continue to outperform the market over time—but only when done right. If you've ever wondered what gives covered calls their edge, this is your episode.

Key Topics Covered

• The Truth Behind Covered Calls: Why the strategy works statistically—but why most investors still fail with it.
• Read more