Are You Ignoring the Bid-Ask Spread? A Critical Mistake

Thirty years in, and Tom Preston reckons the most common beginner mistake happens before any money is at risk. Faced with strikes, expirations, symbols and endless opinions, the easiest choice is to make no choice at all, and then you never learn the only way anyone actually learns. So he lays out what to look for in something to learn on. Tight enough markets that you can always get back out, strike increments close enough to build a position you can afford to lose, and enough expirations to practise with time as well as direction. Education, not a recommendation. 📊 tastylive: https://www.tastylive.com/ 📰 Get Tom's pre-market analysis every morning: https://www.tastylive.com/newsletters 📘 FREE Options Strategy Guide: https://tinyurl.com/bp9ms763 📱 Follow tastylive on X: https://x.com/tastyliveshow Chapters 0:00 Why beginners freeze up 0:41 Where do you even start 1:29 Why exchange traded funds 2:05 Diversifying the surprise away 2:40 The first reason, liquidity 3:15 Do not get stuck in 3:50 Single points between strikes 4:25 How small the risk gets 5:03 Fine tuning what you risk 5:42 Lots of expirations to choose 6:20 More time or less 7:06 Skills that transfer onward 7:47 A note on risk #tastylive #optionsforbeginners #optionstrading #liquidity #riskmanagement #positionsizing #cherrybomb #optionseducation #tastytrade #trading tastylive is a real financial network, producing hours of live programming every day. Follow along as our experts navigate the markets, provide actionable trading insights, and teach you how to trade. With over 120 original segments, and over 25 personalities, we'll help you take your trading to the next level, whether you are new to trading or a seasoned veteran. tastylive content is created, produced, and provided solely by tastylive, Inc. ("tastylive") and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, trading or investment advice or a recommendation that any security, futures contract, digital asset, other product, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any person. Trading securities, futures products, and digital assets involve risk and may result in a loss greater than the original amount invested. Investment information provided may not be appropriate for all investors and is provided without respect to individual investor financial sophistication, financial situation, investing time horizon or risk tolerance. Options, futures, and futures options are not suitable for all investors. Prior to trading securities, options, futures, or futures options, please read all applicable risk disclosures, including, but not limited to, the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options Disclosure and the Futures and Exchange Traded Options Risk Disclosure Statement found at https://tastytrade.com/disclosures/. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance is not presented net of all commissions, fees, and expenses. Multi-leg option strategies incur higher transaction costs than single leg trades as they involve multiple commission charges. Examples provided are for illustrative, informational, and educational purposes only and are not intended to be reflective of results you can expect to achieve. Supporting documentation for any claims, including claims made on behalf of options programs), comparisons, statistics, or other technical data, if applicable, will be supplied upon request. tastylive, through its content, financial programming or otherwise, does not provide investment or financial advice or make investment recommendations. tastylive is not a licensed financial adviser, registered investment adviser, or a registered broker-dealer.