Check The Expirations Before You Check The Chain.

Before you open a single option chain, look at the expiration list. If a name only carries a few monthlies and no weeklies at all, the market has already told you there is not enough activity there. Mike Butler treats that as a red flag on its own. From there it is volume and open interest as liquidity gauges, why round number strikes trade far better than the halves beside them, why high open interest matters more for getting out than getting in, and the simplest fix of all when your strike looks thin. 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 Today's topic is liquidity 0:39 The red flag to spot 1:14 What open interest actually means 1:55 Where to find volume 2:26 Why round numbers dominate 3:15 When the spread gets wide 4:03 What he wants to see 4:35 An abnormally large position 5:12 Getting out matters more 6:16 Why a wide market hurts 6:52 Comparing chains across names 7:58 Just move to the next strike #tastylive #optionsliquidity #openinterest #bidaskspread #optionstrading #strikeselection #optionseducation #tastytrade #trading #stockmarket 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.