Trading & Investment – Page 2 – Summarize It My Way

The Summary of Closed Trades (#1 – #7)

Before diving into the full summary, let’s have the quick update on Trade #7.

Trade #7: LRCX – BULL PUT SPREAD (Closed early in 5 days instead of 21 days after realizing more than 68% of the expected Profit)

Strategy: Bull Put Spread
Trade Placed: June 6, 2025
Original Expiry: July 3, 2025
Number of Contact: 1
Leg 1 – Buy Put
- Strike Price: $74
- Premium Paid: $35 per contract
Leg 2 – Sell Put
- Strike Price: $79
- Premium Received: $89 per contract
Total Commission: $3.25
Net Premium Received: ($89 – $35) – $2.84 = $51.16 (on expiry)

I closed it earlier by selling and buying back the BUY PUT and SELL PUT respectively

Closed Early: June 11, 2025
Leg 1 – Buy Put
- Sell at $0.16 option price by receiving $16
Leg 2 – Sell Put
- Buy at $0.35 option price by paying $35
Total Commission: $2.84
Net Premium Paid: ($16 – $35) – $2.85 = -$21.84

Hence, instead of earning the full $36.16 on expiry, I took a small gain by paying back $22.84 to close the option contract. The net gain is $51.16 – $21.84= $29.32

📊 Summary of Closed Trades (So Far – #1 – 7)

So far, I’ve completed 7 trades using a mix of basic options strategies. Here’s a quick summary of what I’ve tested:

✅ Strategies Used:

Sell Put – to collect premium with the intention to buy at a lower price
Bull Put Spread – a more defined-risk strategy for bullish-to-neutral market

💰 Outcome:

All trades closed with small but positive profits, which is encouraging. While the gains aren’t huge, that’s completely fine — I treat this as a learning and experimentation phase, not a race to big profits.

The goal is to understand how different strategies behave, how the market responds, and how to manage risk — before scaling up.

Summary of the 7 contract closed so far (in USD):
The second last column indicates the percentage of my expected target. (Note: If I am very confident that the price will stay below my strike till expiry, i will wait till its expiry. And for some, I will just close as long as some profit is made)

A Simple Way to Generate Income for Beginner

A friend sent me a screenshot of the WHEEL strategy yesterday. It reminds me to share this in blog.

Funny thing is, I had already thought of this approach on my own before realizing it was actually a real, practical strategy. I only found out its name and how it’s used after reading about it in a training material on the Moomoo app.

Today, I want to share what I’ve learned about the WHEEL strategy. The WHEEL strategy is a systematic options approach that involves two key actions:

Step-by-Step: How It Works

Step 1: Sell a Cash-Secured Put

I begin by choosing a stock I wouldn’t mind owning 100 shares of. Then I sell a put option at a strike price I’m comfortable buying at. I keep the premium upfront. For example, I sell 1 put option contract for Google for 2 months at strike price USD150.

If the stock price stays above the strike price by expiration, I keep the premium and repeat.

If the price drops below the strike, I buy 100 shares at the strike price (which I planned for).

NOTE: secured put means you need to own the money to buy the 100 shares in case the price dropped to the target price you set.

Step 2: Sell a Covered Call

Now that I own 100 shares bought at the very low price from Step 1, I sell a covered call at a higher strike price, i.e USD 200.

If the stock rises above the strike price, my shares are sold, and I keep the profit + premium.

If not, I still own the shares and can repeat the process of selling more calls for income.

And once the shares are sold, I go back to step 1: sell puts again. That’s why it’s called the “WHEEL” — it keeps turning.

Why I Like This Strategy

Simple to understand for non-professionals
Generates consistent premium income
Lets me accumulate stocks at discounted prices

Things to Keep in Mind

Choose high-quality stocks you don’t mind holding
Ensure you have enough capital to buy 100 shares if assigned

I’m currently trying to use this method in my own investing journey. It allows me to stay active in the market, collect income, and potentially accumulate stocks I believe in — all while following a simple, repeatable system.

At this stage, I am still collecting premium while waiting for the share price to drop to my target.

Have you tried the WHEEL strategy before? Let me know your experience or thoughts in the comments!

The Summary of Closed Trades (#1 – #6)

Before diving into the full summary, let’s have the quick update on Trade #5 and #6.

Trade #5: SOFI – BULL PUT SPREAD (Closed Early for Small Profit)

Strategy: Bull Put Spread
Trade Placed: May 20, 2025
Original Expiry: June 20, 2025
Number of Contact: 2
Leg 1 – Buy Put
- Strike Price: $10
- Premium Paid: $8 per contract
Leg 2 – Sell Put
- Strike Price: $11.5
- Premium Received: $20 per contract
Total Commission: $3.25
Net Premium Received: ($20 – $8) * 2 – $3.25 = $20.75 (on expiry)

I closed it earlier by selling and buying back the BUY PUT and SELL PUT respectively

Closed Early: June 6, 2025
Leg 1 – Buy Put
- Sell at $0.04 option price by receiving $4
Leg 2 – Sell Put
- Buy at $0.25 option price by paying $5
Total Commission: $2.85
Net Premium Paid: ($4 – $5) x 2 – $2.85 = -$4.85

Hence, instead of earning the full $36.16 on expiry, I took a small gain by paying back $22.84 to close the option contract. The net gain is $20.75 – $4.85 = $15.90

Trade #6: MARA– Bull Put Spread (Expired with Full Profit)

Strategy: Bull Put Spread
Stock Price (at entry): ~$16.70
Trade Date: May 12, 2025
Expiry Date: June 6, 2025
Leg 1 – Sell Put
- Strike Price: $13.50
- Premium Received: $48.00
Leg 2 – Buy Put
- Strike Price: $14.50
- Premium Paid: $29.00
Net Premium Collected: $19.00
Total Commission: $2.84
Net Profit After Commission: $16.16

The stock stayed above the strike price through expiry, and I kept the full premium.

📊 Summary of Closed Trades (So Far – #1 – 6)

So far, I’ve completed 6 trades using a mix of basic options strategies. Here’s a quick summary of what I’ve tested:

✅ Strategies Used:

Sell Put – to collect premium with the intention to buy at a lower price
Bull Put Spread – a more defined-risk strategy for bullish-to-neutral market

💰 Outcome:

The goal is to understand how different strategies behave, how the market responds, and how to manage risk — before scaling up.

Summary of the 6 contract closed so far (in USD):
The second last column indicates the percentage of my expected target. (Note: If I am very confident that the price will stay below my strike till expiry, i will wait till its expiry. And for some, I will just close as long as some profit is made)

Testing Out K2Robot on Tiger Trade – Our Experiment

As part of our trading journey, a friend and I decided to try out the K2Robot on the Tiger Trade platform. We share this account purely for learning and experimenting — not to chase big profits, but to observe how an automated strategy performs in real market conditions.

If you’ve ever wondered, “How well does K2Robot actually perform?” — let me share what we’ve experienced so far.

From how it picked the trades to how it handled market ups and downs, here’s an honest look at our results and thoughts. (Note: The account was created in early year 2024, it took us a while to figure out why no trade was place till early March 2024.

Below is the monthly P&L for Year 2025 (I uploaded these screenshots on 5th June 2025 and hence the P&L for June only shows up till 5th June during US pre-market time.

The overall performance from day 1 till today (about 1 year 2 months):

If you’d like to find out more or have any questions about our experience, feel free to leave a comment below!

CALL OPTION – About the Chart and How to Choose Buy or Sell Call Option from the Trading App

Visualizing the Call Option with a Simple Profit/Loss Chart

To make things clearer, let’s look at a simple profit-loss chart for both the buyer and seller of a call option. This helps show how each position behaves as the stock price changes. I have taken some screenshots from the trading app today. Let me also touch a bit on how to choose buy or sell put option from the Moomoo app.

First, search for the stock. I use MARA as an example here.
Click on Option button at the bottom of the page. Click in call to focus only on the chain data for call option. [Screenshot 1]
Select the expiry date, I choose 45 days for this example.[Screenshot 2]
Note: for buyer, always choose expiry more than 30 days because the option price will usually drop fast when the contract has less than 30 days close to expiry
Buying a call option means you are bullish about the stock. Place the strike price near the current price ($14.36). I choose $14 as the strike price in this example.
Note:
- The buyer hopes the price will go up by expiry and he may exercise the option by buying 100 shares at the strike price, the profit can be unlimited depending on how high the share price can go.
- In case the price goes lower than the strike price, you will not want to buy the shares and you will loss the total premium you paid.
Since you are the buyer, look for the ask price (the price seller is willing to offer to sell). [Screenshot 3]
Ask Price (or the mid price) $1.71 x 100 shares is the total premium you need to pay. This is the maximum loss for the buyer.

The seller at the same time is bearish about the stock, he receives premium from the buyer ($1.71 x 100 shares = $171 premium)

If the share price falls below the strike price, the buyer will not exercise his rights to buy shares. In this case, the premium will be the maximum profit made by the seller.

However, if the share price goes up and buyer wants to exercise his rights to buy share at the strike price, the seller needs to buy 100 shares at the market price and sell it at $14 per share to the buyer. The seller will have unlimited loss depending on how high the share price can go.

Below is the profit / loss chart for both the buyer and seller. They are exact opposites of each other. Take awhile to look at the max profit and max loss.

The breakeven:

The buyer don’t start making profit immediately when the share price goes a little above the strike price. Don’t forget about the premium paid ($1.17), this needs to be included in the profit/loss calculation. So, the buyer will only earn when the price goes higher than $14 (strike price) + $1.71 (premium) = $15.71. This is the breakeven.

The same breakeven is applicable to the seller in the opposite way because seller receives premium from the buyer. The seller will start losing when the share price goes below $15.71 (not when it goes lower than the strike price which us $14 in this case)

I Closed the 4th Option Trade Yesterday

Before diving into my 4th trade, I’ve made a small update to my previous post about My First 3 Otions trades — I’ve added some screenshots to make things clearer. Feel free to check it out if you’d like to see how those trades looked in the app!

📈 Trade #4: AT&T – BULL PUT SPREAD (Closed Early for Small Profit)

For my fourth trade, I opened a bull put spread on AT&T:

Strategy: Bull Put Spread
Stock Price (at entry): ~$27.42
Trade Placed: May 12, 2025
Original Expiry: June 20, 2025
Leg 1 – Buy Put
- Strike Price: $25
- Premium Paid: $17
Leg 2 – Sell Put
- Strike Price: $27
- Premium Received: $56
Total Commission: $2.84
Net Premium Received: $39 – $2.84 = $36.16 (on expiry)

I closed it earlier by selling and buying back the BUY PUT and SELL PUT respectively

Closed Early: June 2, 2025
Leg 1 – Buy Put
- Sell at $0.05 option price by receiving $5
Leg 2 – Sell Put
- Buy at $0.25 option price by paying $25
Total Commission: $2.84
Net Premium Paid: $5 – $25 – $2.84 = -$22.84

Hence, instead of earning the full $36.16 on expiry, I took a small gain by paying back $22.84 to close the option contract. The net gain is $36.16 – $22.84 = $13.32

It’s really a small gain but okay, I am gaining the experience here.

CALL OPTION

*“Image generated using Freepik AI tools and used in accordance with Freepik’s free license terms.”*

📈 What Is a Call Option?

From the buyer point of view:

A Call Option is like a ticket that gives you the right to buy a stock at a certain price (called the strike price) before a specific date.

You pay a small fee upfront (called a premium) to get this right. You don’t have to buy the stock — it’s your choice.

When there is a buyer, there must be a seller. From the seller point of view:

A Call Option seller (also called the option writer) is like someone offering a deal — they agree to sell a stock at a fixed price (strike price) if the buyer decides to use their option.

In return for taking on this obligation, the seller gets paid a small fee upfront, called a premium. This premium is the seller’s immediate income — and also their maximum profit from the contract.

But there’s a RISK:

If the stock price goes way above the strike price, the buyer might exercise the option, to buy 100 shares from the seller at the lower strike price agreed earlier. The seller must then sell the stock at the strike price — facing a loss if they don’t already own the shares, they need to buy the 100 shares from the market based on the market price and sell it to the buyer at the lower strike price agreed earlier.

In short, the seller earns limited reward (premium) but takes on higher risk if the trade moves against them.

DON’T EVER SELL NAKED CALL OPTIONS!!!
“Naked” means you’re selling the option without holding the shares or cash to cover it.

However, you can still earn from a SELL CALL if you have pre-owned the 100 shares since long time ago that were bought at a price lower than a strike price.

📦 One Option = 100 Shares

Remember!!! When you enter one Option contract, it represents 100 shares of a stock. So if the premium is $2, the real cost of the contract is $2 × 100 = $200.

🎟 Simple Example

Let’s say:

You think a stock will go up – when you buy a call option, it means you are bullish about a stock.
The current price is $50, you can buy a call option that lets you buy the stock at $50 in the future if the stock price goes up (before the contract expiry date).
You pay a $2 premium x 100 = $200 for this rights.

Now two things can happen, the stock price can go up or down:

📈 Stock goes up to $60

Buyer will execute the option to buy at $50, then sell at $60
Profit: ($10 – $2 premium) x 100 shares = $8 x 100 = $800

Seller will sell 100 shares at $50 to the buyer
Loss: ($50-$60+$2 premium) x 100 shares = -$8 x 100 = -$800

📉 Stock stays below $50

Buyer will not execute the option
Loss: $2 premium x 100 = $200 premium paid earlier

Seller no need to sell share to the buyer
Profit: $200 premium paid earlier received from the buyer earlier

💡 Why Use Call Options?

You don’t need to invest in 100 shares right away — the option lets you wait and see. If the price goes down, your only loss is the premium you paid, and you’re not required to buy the shares.

In the next post, I’ll explain the other type of option — the Put Option, which is about the right to sell instead of buy.

What is Options?

The word “option” means a choice — and that’s exactly what options trading is about.

The buyer pays for the right to make a choice later (to buy or sell a stock), while the seller agrees to fulfill whatever the buyer chooses — in return for a fee upfront called premium.

It’s Just Like Buying Insurance

Think of it this way:

When you buy insurance, you pay a premium to the insurance company. You might never make a claim, but if something bad happens, you can exercise your right and claim compensation.

The maximum loss for the buyer is the premium paid
The potential gain happens if the buyer decides to exercise the right at a profitable time.

For the seller (like the insurance company):

They receive the premium upfront, and that’s their maximum profit.
But if the buyer exercises their right (like claiming insurance), the seller has to cover the cost, which could be much more than the premium received.

Buyer of Option = Insurance Holder

Pays a premium
Has the right to buy/sell the stock
Limited loss (just the premium), but unlimited potential gain

Seller of Option = Insurance Company

Gets the premium upfront
Has the obligation to buy/sell the stock if buyer chooses
Limited gain (only the premium), but potential for large losses

📄 All Terms Are Written in a Contract

Just like an insurance policy, every option trade is defined by a contract. This contract includes:

The premium (the price the buyer pays)
The strike price (the fixed price at which the buyer can buy or sell the stock)
The expiry date (the deadline by which the buyer must decide)

Once the contract expires, the choice goes away. If the buyer doesn’t take action before then, the seller keeps the premium and nothing more happens.

There are two types of Options, i.e. Call (right to buy) and Put (right to sell). In my next post, and how traders use them to manage risk or generate income — just like how insurance works in everyday life.

My First 3 Options Trades

What is the outcome?

As I mentioned, I couldn’t wait to start, and I jumped right in by selling puts to collect premium, and later, testing out a bull put spread.

Important Notes:
Although I attempted to sell a PUT option in my first options trade, please NEVER NEVER NEVER SELL NAKED PUT (you must have the money to buy the 100 shares at the strike price in the worst case scenario). I sold this PUT option at a low strike price, intending to buy 100 shares if the price dropped. However, I expected the share price to rise, allowing me to profit from the premium collected.

Here are the details of the options contracts I placed:

1. $MARA – Sell Put (Closed Early for Profit)

Contract Type: Sell Put
Strike Price: $12.00
Stock Price (at entry): ~$14.00
Open Date: March 24, 2025
Close Date: May 9, 2025
Original Expiry: May 16, 2025
Premium Received: $89.00
Option Bought to Close: $0.12 ($12.00 total)
Commissions (Open & Close): $ 2.84 total
Net Profit After Commission: Premium Received – Option Bought to Close – Commissions ($89 – $12 – $ 2.84) = $74.16

This was my very first options contract. I sold the put with the hope of collecting the premium, and the trade played out nicely (I will buy the 100 shares at cheap price if the share price drops). The stock price stayed well above the $12 strike, so I closed the trade one week early at just $0.12. After deducting commissions, I walked away with a solid $72.74 profit.

It was a small but meaningful win — it helped build my confidence and confirmed that a simple strategy like selling puts can work when done with a plan.

Screenshots are taken from the Fund Details page from Moomoo app:

The first screenshot shows that I sold MARA PUT option and received $89 premium by paying $1.42 commission.

The first screenshot shows that I buy back MARA PUT option to close it by paying $12 premium and $1.42 commission. And my net profit is $89 – $1.42 – $12 – $1.42 = $74.16

2. $SOXL – Sell Put (Closed Early for Small Profit)

Contract Type: Sell Put
Strike Price: $9.50
Stock Price (at entry): ~$13.20
Open Date: May 2, 2025
Close Date: May 12, 2025
Original Expiry: May 16, 2025
Premium Received: $17.00
Option Bought to Close: $0.02 ($2.00 total)
Commissions (Open & Close): $2.84
Net Profit After Commission: $12.16

A short-term trade that moved safely in my favor. With most of the premium collected and only $2 left on the table, I decided to close it early and lock in the profit. Another small step forward in learning how to manage exits.

3. $SOXL – Bull Put Spread (Expired with Full Profit)

Strategy: Bull Put Spread
Stock Price (at entry): ~$18.82
Trade Date: May 12, 2025
Expiry Date: May 30, 2025
Leg 1 – Sell Put
- Strike Price: $15.00
- Premium Received: $44.00
Leg 2 – Buy Put
- Strike Price: $14.00
- Premium Paid: $29.00
Net Premium Collected: $15.00
Total Commission: $2.84
Net Profit After Commission: $12.16

This was my first spread strategy — and it worked out exactly how I hoped. The stock stayed above $15 through expiry, and I kept the full premium. Limiting risk while collecting income is something I’ll definitely keep exploring.

I managed to find a screenshot I took on 3rd Option Trade that has expired. The total gain from this vertical spread is $15.00 (Note: Bull Put Spread is on of the Vertical Spread Strategy).

Screenshot taken from the Moomoo app on the option’s expiry day

All three trades turned out positive — not massive wins, but safe, real, and encouraging. More importantly, I learned by doing:

Selling puts is a solid way to get started and generate income.
Closing early once most premium is collected helps avoid unnecessary risk.
Spreads give me confidence with limited risk when I want to trade closer to the stock price.

In the next post, I’ll break down how I selected these trades, what tools I used to analyze them, and what I plan to improve going forward.

Options Trading and Me

I’m still new to investing — at least to what I’d call proper investing.

Previously, my so-called “strategy” was really just guesswork. I’d buy well-known stocks or look at random share price charts, by buying when the price dropped a lot and avoiding anything at an all-time high. No real plan. No structure. Just instincts.

That changed after I read a few books that opened my eyes to the many strategies out there — from capital gain plays to dividend-focused stocks to quant-style trading. Those books gave me a glimpse of what serious investing could look like, and that’s when I decided to treat this journey more seriously.

I also had a nudge from a friend who encouraged me to dedicate some time to investing and trading outside of my full-time job. That’s how we ended up spending a few mornings each week in a Family Mart, digging into strategies and trying to build a portfolio from scratch.

We didn’t manage to finish that portfolio — at least not the way we initially planned. Instead, we decided to get a head start by trying K2Robot trading by ChartNexus on the Tiger platform. It was a faster way to get our feet wet while continuing to learn. Each of us invested about 10k MYR (total up 4,6k USD into Tiger Plarform for a start in Mar2025).

Then came the Outlook 2025 event by Piranha Profits. I joined mainly because my friend invited me, but I left with a whole new level of motivation. One speaker in particular really caught my attention — a Vietnamese options trader who shared his story of going from extreme hardship after the war to becoming a multi-million-dollar options trader. His story, along with the appeal of high leverage in options trading compared to stocks, inspired me to sign up for an options trading course. I paid about USD 1,8k for the course and the journey started.

I’ll be honest — I couldn’t wait to start. Even before finishing the course, I jumped into options trading and made my first few trades. With the help of the learning materials available in Moomoo Trading App, I started to get a better grasp of how options trading works and began to understand a few key strategies. Slowly, things started to click — from basic calls and puts to more structured strategies, like vertical spread a start.

In my next post, I’ll share the details of the first three options contracts I bought [My First 3 Options Trade ] — and how they turned out.