Frequently Asked Questions

What services do you provide to members?
IncomeSpreadTrader.com provides the following to its members:
  • Trading alerts with detailed instructions on how to enter the trade
  • Emails that monitor the positions and advise if any action might be needed
  • Our thoughts on the market action each week
  • Information on upcoming market news

For only $49.95 a month, you will be able to stay ahead of the market and increase your profitability on a month-to-month basis. Subscribers will learn how to consistently maximize their profits and keep their losses small. We’re so confident of our service that we offer a FREE two-week trial and even publish our track record for you to see. Just click here to see how much you could have made last month.

How often do you trade?
We are very selective in our trades each month. Our goal is for each trade to have a minimal risk with a very high probability of profit. Due to our success in the past, members have requested that we add positions and currently we are averaging around five positions each month. No matter if you are trading with $5,000 or $100,000 you can certainly trade our spreads each month. Many members have started with small accounts and traded fewer contracts as they build their accounts.

What is a credit spread?
This is constructed by buying one stock option and selling another of the same type (call or put) in the same expiration month but at different strike prices. The option that we sell is more expensive than the option that we buy, thus resulting in a net credit (deposit) to our trading account. The advantage of this spread is that in order to profit, we don’t need a directional move in the stock. Instead, we profit from time decay. That’s the beauty of our system. We don’t need to rely on picking directions and timing the market.

I've never traded options or credit spreads. Would I be able to follow your recommendations?
Most of our members started with little or no experience trading options or credit spreads. Consequently, we provide very detailed and precise strategies that our members have no problem entering and exiting. However, we strongly recommend paper trading and educating yourself on our strategies to the point where you feel comfortable before ever actually making a live trade. Through our newsletters and hands-on trading experience, most members have gained a comfort level with placing Credit Spreads and a substantially larger trading account to go along with it.

When are new trades posted?
A majority of our trades are put on from three to five weeks prior to option expiration dates. Since we are constantly looking for highly profitable trades, we do not have a set date for when we put on new trades. Just keep in mind that whenever the market gives us an opportunity, we act on it and so will you when you become a member of Income Spread Trader.

How will I be notified of a new trade?
We first notify our members by email. The emails are sent out as soon as we find an opportunity and enter the trade ourselves. Then we add the recommendation to our site.

What kind of online brokerage account do I need?
It is important that your online brokerage has the capability for you to enter credit spreads and iron condor spreads. This is very common with most brokerages but you do want to make sure that your account allows you these capabilities.

How large a brokerage account do I need?
We designed our site to be very flexible so that any investor/trader with an account size from $5,000 to $100,000 could find value in earning 10-15% each month. Even if you are someone with a smaller account, you can still take advantage of our trades by reducing the share size. Remember, it doesn't matter how large your account size is at the beginning....it's the end that matters.

What is the average holding period for the positions?
It really depends on the trade and the market conditions. A majority of the time the holding period would involve 30 to 45 days. But if the market gives us a quick profit we might just pull some money off the table. At the same time, if an unfortunate turn takes place and a trade moves against us, we also would get out of the position and keep our losses small.

How many times do you trade a month?
When we started the website in 2005, we would enter two or three spreads per month. But as we grew larger and our member's accounts also increased, we gradually added spreads to where we are currently averaging five spreads per month. This amount will vary from time-to-time based on current market conditions. Remember it's not the number of trades that's important, it's the quality.

Do I need real-time stock and option quotes?
It’s always nice to have the bells and whistles but they’re not required. That’s the beauty of our system, once you put on the positions you don’t need to be constantly watching them like a day-trader would. In general, most of our members check the positions after the market closes to monitor the days’ activities but it really comes down to your comfort level. We recommend checking with your broker to see what the cost is and then weigh your options to see if it’s worth the price to you.

How do we know when to exit a trade?
A majority of the time we will just let the options expire worthless on the expiration date. In the case of a drastic market movement in our favor or adversely, we would send out an email alert stating to exit the trade. Our number one rule is to preserve your capital for another day. Due to this, at times we might even exit a trade prematurely just to take the risk off the table or put money in the bank. If you ever feel uncomfortable in a position for any reason, it’s important for you to exit a trade without waiting for an email from us. We have the same goals: keep our losses small and our profits large.

Do you ever do index spreads?
Occasionally we may enter an index credit spread if the right set-up occurs. These spreads generally require quite a bit more in your brokerage account (based on the price of the index). This is why we mostly trade stock options instead of index options.

Do you trade your own credit spreads?
We began this website after years of trading credit spreads in our own accounts. Since we are full-time traders, we would be entering these same trades regardless of this website. But after years of our own success, we decided to try to help others obtain financial freedom on their own while hopefully educating them along the way. There are a number of other sites that kick out tons of recommendations every month but never actually enter the trades themselves. That’s why we offer a FREE two week trial and even post our track record for you to see the difference in our site.

What are the disadvantages of your strategy?
Because we only place three to five trades a month and a majority of them we leave untouched until expiration, our style is a little boring. But that’s what we like………steady……..boring…….income…….month-after-month. The other issue most traders have is the concept itself. It’s not commonly taught to the public and that’s why you don’t hear too many mainstreet investors using it. It’s been used by professionals like us for years to generate income but not by the retail investors/traders. Once your account grows like ours, you won’t mind the boredom.

Are there only certain market conditions that your system works?
The beauty of credit spreads is that they work in a bullish, bearish, and sideways markets. It’s amazing that sometimes even when we’re wrong, we still can be profitable. That’s because we leave ourselves some cushion in our trades. Keep in mind that past performance does not guarantee future results, but how else would you evaluate any trading system? Remember, the professionals are option sellers not buyers. That’s why close to 80% of all options expire worthless. Our members are the sellers looking for that high percentage trade and income month-after-month.

Do I need to be at my computer during market hours?
A majority of our trades will be sent out during the market hours, however many of our subscribers are only able to enter trades at night or during off market hours. If you fall into this category, you would just enter conditional orders with your broker at night. You might have to lower your profit potential slightly but you should still be able to enter our trades with ease and with a healthy profit. Be sure to check with your broker on how to enter these types of trades.

How are memberships cancelled?
Memberships are cancelled with a 30-day notice in writing by email. However infrequent this is, we do realize that outside personal issues might require you to unsubscribe.