Dr. Jim Schultz on the Best Trades When Volatility Is Too Low to Sell

When the VIX is 15 and volatility futures are 17, it's just not prime pickings for selling premium, so what do you trade instead? Dr. Jim Schultz walks the low-volatility playbook. The research is clear, selling premium pays most when vol is high, so when it's quiet, patience is a real strategy. But if you want to be active, he covers the buy-side structures that fit a calm tape: long verticals, calendar spreads for folks who love watching paint dry, and diagonals. 📊 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 00:00 Low-volatility strategies today 00:40 Why high vol favors premium sellers 01:30 Reading the VIX and vol futures 02:20 Not prime pickings to sell 03:00 The case for patience 03:40 Long vertical spreads 05:00 Calendar spreads, watching paint dry 07:00 When a diagonal makes sense 08:30 Matching the structure to the vol 10:00 The takeaways #tastylive #knowyouroptions #jimschultz #lowvolatility #vix #verticalspread #calendarspread #optionsforbeginners #optionstrading #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.