Author/Editor
Brad Castro
Description
An options value investing site that offers a daily newsletter, classes and an investing club.
Overall Rating
Rating: 3.8/5. From 112 votes.
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3.8
Rating from 435 votes
If you’ve subscribed to Great Option Trading Strategies, please click the stars below to indicate your rating for this newsletter, and please share any other feedback about your experience using the comment box below.
Investment Performance
Rating from 115 votes
Rating: 3.7/5. From 115 votes.
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Quality Of Writing/Analysis
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Rating: 3.8/5. From 103 votes.
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Value For Price
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Rating: 3.8/5. From 105 votes.
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Customer Service
Rating from 112 votes
Rating: 3.8/5. From 112 votes.
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What is the cost of the service ?
Hi Mike, the regular newsletter is free to subscribe to and the website is full of useful information. The training coarse & lifetime club membership was around $500 when I joined 18 months ago, but I understand it did go up shortly after I joined. I recovered my membership fee within a couple months of trading the clubs recommended trades.
In the unlikely event that you don’t make decent returns, or you’re unhappy with the service, I believe there is still a no quibble refund offered. Membership opens up a few times each year by invite through the newsletter.
I’m still very happy with the service & how it held up over the recent market drop. The methods encouraged in the club help take a lot of the worry out of options investing/trading. Definitely still a 5-star service.
Cheers,
Aimless
I’ve been a member for several months and never felt so positive about my investments as now, in spite of the recent Covid crash! This guy is by far the best value for money for professional, logical, and steady progress that I have ever come across, and has taught me the investment sense that enables me to see through the forest of data out there without having to work all day at it. What’s more he keeps up the process with unbelievable customer service , as far as I can see just for the satisfaction of seeing his students do well! For this he gets my deepest respect and gratitude, it’s a rare thing to come across.
I’ve got no financial interest in promoting his product.
Just take a look at the other reviews here…..they are spot on. I can attest these reviews are 100% accurate, not paid for or solicited. I have been in the club for about a month now. Brad is the genuine thing. He is selfless with is time. Both his passion and knowledge for options trading show in how he runs the club and works with each member. The club members themselves are a huge reason to join. Many inside the club are very active in discussions and constantly teaching and learning from one another. I understand the primary options selling strategy used in this club may not be for everyone. If it fits your style, this club is a no brainier….completely worth the 1 time expense. Even if the primary strategy is not your style, you could find tons of value in participating in the club, there are discussions everyday about all types of trading and investing.
Brad’s “sleep at night” options selling strategy is great for those who love to actively manage trades and find conservative ways to make good returns. It is not risk free, no forms of trading are, but those in this club benefit from Brad’s proven ability to find trades and trade setups that give us a huge advantage over the market as well as rarely locking in a loss.
I know you may be thinking that, like some other advertised high win percentage strategies, the rare locked in losses could devastate your portfolio and leave you with little capital left to come back with. That is not the case with this strategy……. provided you follow position sizing recommendations and don’t over leverage.
You’ll have to wait for Brad to open the club back up for new membership, it’s worth the wait!!!
I have read all of his articles and they are good. I get his newsletter as well. I tried to become a member but no openings. Does any else know of a similar service of selling puts?
I know of no other service like Brads. Be patient – he will open the membership up for new clients every 3 months or so and you will be rewarded for your patience.
I’m not usually one to give or post reviews but folks I feel this time it is well worth my time to add my 2 cents. I have been involved in a lot of different ventures in my lifetime and I’ve always felt that if you want to be successful then you should give it your all and learn at a very high level to give yourself the best chance. As far as investing goes, I have spent my life avoiding investing in the stock market because of a lack of trust. I have mostly limited myself to real estate and my 401-K that I played very safe and my only goal was to avoid the cyclical crashes in the market. About 2-1/2 months ago I was introduced to options trading by a friend so I set out to learn everything I could and eventually I ran across an article from great-option-trading-strategies.com and I haven’t needed to look any where else, I was hooked. I have been home the last week due to my day job being temporarily shut down because of a new case of Covid-19 and I’ve spent the vast majority of that time reading and learning everything I could from Brad’s web site. Within a few days, when the opportunity appeared, I joined the leveraged investing club because I knew that the conservative, safe approach, that Brad teaches is exactly what I was looking for. I quickly completed all 6 modules of the training and I am starting over to read through it all again (that’s how I get the best clarity when learning something new). I can honestly say I have never had so many ” aha!” moments and I have learned a lot. I found Brad’s message about investing and options trading to be the best I have ever read and I feel like I have found what I was looking for. I will be retiring within a couple of years and I will become a full time options trader (and possibly an investor). I hope anyone who reads this will know that I am being sincere and I really can’t put into words just how much I appreciate being exposed to the web site and the new enlightened outlook about investing. Brad, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your insights and what you have learned .
William
Best service I have ever paid for and I have bought many. Brad breaks his alerts giving you the nuts and bolts as to why he likes a particular trade. I think I have been a member for 6 months or so, and cost is reasonable if I remember right, it was around $650.00 lifetime. It is bargain in my opinion.
Hi Jaymes, I just got email offer to join Brad’s Leveraged Investing Club for $997! How did you get $650 only a month ago??
Hi Mike, I joined 2 years ago for around $500 for lifetime membership. At the time Motley Fool Options service wanted me to renew my annual sub at $799 after discount of $200 for being a loyal member. So I’d still say the service is still good value at $997 for lifetime membership.
It’s only Brad that runs the service and I recall he provided good support through the training materials & help with initial trades. From the number of new members now contributing on the forum, I’d guess he’s not had any great trouble filling spaces, hence the price has risen accordingly.
I think there’s still a 3-month no quibble refund offered if you find the club doesn’t suit you or trade returns turn out less than expected. No risk to try it out if the refund is still offered.
Cheers,
Aimless
I am experienced options trader (over 10 years) and make a living out of it. However, my current strategies are very time consuming and I am glued to the screen all day. I have a couple for questions pls for members of this service :
1) are the strategies Brad discusses, high maintenance, or can the trades be executed by someone who is not at his desk all day?
2) I had a quick look at the web-site, and it seems that he is mainly selling puts on stocks. I assume these are cash-secured. I don’t need to know any trade secrets, but is the main strategy one of selling puts? (PS. I’m totally cool with that as I come from a naked-strangle selling background.)
Many thanks.
Hello Harry, the strategies Brad employs are fairly low maintenance. Not quite set & forget, but there is no need to be glued to a screen all day. Most set ups are quite forgiving & easily adjusted if needed.
Brad sends out alerts any time a position needs attention for early closure or rolling adjustment prior to expiry. There’s a new trade rec every Monday and the initial time period for holding a trade open is usually 2-4 weeks, although some trades do turn into longer campaigns if the initial thesis changes or need more time to play out.
Trades rec’s are to sell, cash secured, bullish puts options or bear call spreads, depending on the some basic technical/charting signals displayed by the stock. Margin is used very sparingly and only really to facilitate repair of any trade that has gone massively off-coarse / pear shaped or F.U.B.A.R. The vast majority of trades / campaigns result in profitable outcomes.
I’ve been very happy with the service over the last 2 years and grateful for the guidance provided by Brad & the forum members with all the other non-club trades that I’ve needed to adjust/manage since the market drop back in March. It’s well worth the modest one-time subscription fee and even that is still refundable if you don’t like the service offered (was when I joined, I believe it’s still risk free). Course/training material is excellent, easy to understand and sets a firm foundation for how to use the options responsibly for enhanced portfolio performance.
Cheers,
Aimless
Aimless – thank you SO much for a comprehensive reply. It appears that what he offers is just what I am looking for. I look forward to the time when Brad opens up the service again.
What is his annual performance since the beginning?
Hi Farhang, Pretty good based on a cash secured portfolio of $50k
2018 Final ROI: 17.12%
2019 Final ROI: 20.08%
2020 Annualized ROI YTD: 23.56%
But, there are a few open positions still in need of further repair resulting from the market drop in March, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the end of year result finishes significantly lower than this.
General target is 20% (+/- 5%), If CV-19 issues improve miraculously after the US election in Nov and air travel picks up, then that would help a lot!
There are also a number of extra trades tracked outside of the managed portfolio that allow newer members who don’t need to conserve capital for these trade repairs to profit from the clubs trade techniques & methods.
Cheers,
Aimless
QUESTION TO ANY AND ALL SUBSCRIBERS TO GREAT OPTION TRADING STRATEGIES:
What % return have you experienced since subscribing to Great Option Trading Strategies?
The website lists out all the individual trades from the last 2 years.
2018 Final ROI: 17.12%
2019 Final ROI: 20.08%
2020 Annualized ROI YTD: 23.56%
Cheers,
Aimless
The return this year will be nothing like shown above. Brad has three trades that are deep in the water and quite a few others that will not be closed in the near future, but he is not factoring this in his returns, only the trades he closes.
Brad is a nice enough guy, but really doesn’t brook a lot of questions regarding his approach, which he fastidiously adheres to no matter how much his club portfolio bleeds. In fact, he has resorted to suggesting trades outside the normal club portfolio, because the club portfolio is too over-leveraged.
The Leveraged Investment Club can be very useful for newcomers to options, and for those learning how to repair most trades, excluding of course those that were bad picks from the beginning. If you are also interested in even riskier trades, there are also members in the club who suggest these. But unfortunately there are also a lot of newcomers joining weekly, who sort of crowd the discussions at times. This is in spite of the fact that club membership increased recently from $650 to $1,000 a month.
Actually it is $1000 for a lifetime membership.
Hi John,
Just my 2 cents worth, I joined the Leveraged investment club 4 months ago, I paid $1000.00 for lifetime membership and so far it has been a huge win for me. I have taken Brad’s weekly suggestions and recouped that $1000.00 several times over. Now does that mean that will happen going forward?, maybe not, but so far it was money well invested. I am not involved in the club portfolio but if it is in fact a “cash secured” portfolio and all trades are made within those boundaries then it is not too “over-leveraged” as you say. This is an unusual year with higher risk involved with options trading but each week I look forward to Brad’s weekly trade suggestions and I have others I am involved in to compare his too. In the past 4 months Brad’s have been golden. I am a newby at this and with my work and other ventures I will continue to rely on worthy suggestions from Brad. (I am glad that you edited your claim that he charges $1000.00 per month). I have suggested to numerous people to read his web site information at http://www.great-option-trading-strategies.com.
Hi John, given what you have said about the potential future losses are you following Brad’s trades or just using it as a source of education? Also Brad says not to get over leveraged so do you know how this happened? Also, what do you expect the actual results to be for 2020 if the existing in the money options had to be crystallised? But then again you could take the assignment of the stock and sell call options to repair so I am not sure how you can judge the end game.
At the end of the day, does it not all come back to the quality of the stock that is used. If it was Amazon, Apple etc., then the repair strategy would have worked?
Brad got out of most of his trades by the end of the year, but in my view it is more luck than a great success. The market, in the end and due to nothing related to ordinary economic and market fundamentals, did skyrocket to unbelievable highs, and this is what saved his trades. Brad calls it the continuing of a “secular bull market,” but that seems rather silly considering what the Fed has done. Brad has stated that his club portfolio returns for 2020 was 20.42% for the year, but one has no idea how he reached this figure. At one point, the club portfolio was overleveraged to the point that almost $100,000 would be needed in cash to back trades (if you consider the true capital needed and do not consider the way out of the money protective puts (or calls) that were used in spreads).
I guess it comes down to this. If it is your portfolio, and most of your savings or retirement money, are you really willing to risk much of it by expanding your options trades (sort of like doubling down when gambling) in a bet that the market will recover soon to previous levels after a fall like that in March due to a pandemic? Brad openly states that he has another account where he does some pretty risky trades, but if his club portfolio is the best way to gain good returns (and remember, getting 20% year after year, even the when the S&P goes down, is about the best anyone could really hope to get without taking serious risks), why not put all his own money in the club portfolio?
In the end, I think it is probably worthwhile to join the club and learn if you are new to options. But Brad has significantly increased the price of membership lately, so this might give pause to some. Personally I do not think there is anything spectacular about his trade suggestions – in spite of the results he reports. In fact, many members do not follow his trades, but are writing back and forth on their own trades. But Brad’s trade repair process is quite good (if, and only if, you decide to continue with a losing trade), and you can certainly learn a lot from other members. Brad is way more honest and scrupulous than many of the others out there, but lacks a bit of self-awareness, maybe you could call it a denial of reality, when his strategies are being tested or questioned. Not one change has been introduced to his options trading strategies as a result of last year’s market – not one. The main danger would be that he promotes to potential new members the bullet proofness of his process, rather than admitting to its shortcomings or making some significant changes to his approach moving forward.
So, in conclusion, you just have to be selective in following Brad’s trades and advice if you join – in other words, be your own guide and master.
“So, in conclusion, you just have to be selective in following Brad’s trades and advice if you join – in other words, be your own guide and master.”
Very good advice but the rest of your posts just makes one believe something didn’t go right for you.
If I understand correctly, you joined during the summer, when the market started its real recovery. Most of the people active now in the club are not the people were active before the big pandemic. As with many things in life, timing is everything. I think one needs a good 2 years, maybe 5, before one should risk significant money selling options. I am sure you can learn a lot from the club, but in the end I think you will have to plan and make significant trades on your own based on your own analysis. I don’t think information provided on the club’s annual returns and consecutive successful trades really paints an accurate picture.
Full disclosure:
I’m one of Brad’s fans and followers but a lurker inside the Club.
You said in an earlier post that he was deep underwater on three trades and then later admitted he got out of those trades – but only by luck.
Seriously?
In my (nearly 45 years) experience, there is no such thing as luck in the stock market.
At least not for very long.
To me, what you’re really saying is that he managed to navigate a total black swan event (covid!!!) and somehow managed to come outside the other side intact.
Oh – and also that he’s built up a kick ass community of very smart traders helping other very smart traders (and SERIOUSLY helping newbies in a world where Robinhood will – just give it time – totally $#%# up most of their own clients by promoting rampant speculation as a long term investing model).
Don’t know if you were around in the mid to late 1990s, but today’s stock market is starting to feel like the idyllic opening of the first Jaws movie. Lots of half naked teenagers on a nice sunny beach and no worries . . .
Not trying to bash you at all. It’s just that I have a very different perspective and I feel you might be a bit too critical.
2020 was a totally insane year everywhere – wall street and main street.
Brad isn’t perfect, and he admits as much. I like how he’s always talking about that crystal ball he doesn’t have. The stock market is a bitch – it’s as much our enemy as our friend. So good luck finding someone who’s always going to be able to tell you the best possible next move.
I put my money on the guy who puts himself out there day in and day out and who isn’t always trying to shake you down for more money himself.
And, come on, a newsletter that you can buy once for lifetime access? And for less than a one night (super) high end hooker in Vegas?
Still a fan . . .
I can only concur to what you wrote. I paid for the lifetime membership, as the only available option and which is basically fine, but I would leave the club now if I had to pay monthly fees. There was quite an exchange on the forum last week which in my eyes showed that Brad is completely unprofessional when someone questions his point of view. One subscriber simply mentioned , quite objectively, that the proposed trade might not be the best choice. Brad literally went amok and behaved like a child. I also agree that there is a big part of luck in his recovery of last year’s crash. Clearly, his trading (and his subscribers) will suffer a lot in the next bear market.
How are you trading now? Do you use what you learnt there, or have you found an alternative service?
Have you found an alternative / better service that you would recommend?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR FEEDBACK!!
Unless there has been a major change, I think the cost is a one time charge for a life-time membership.
I don’t often take the time to write reviews. But I feel that Brad’s service has been a game changer for me personally. I joined in March 2020. I had dabbled in options but was essentially a beginner. Brad’s course gave me the confidence to jump in and start trading. I’ve done very well on Brad’s weekly options trade. And outside of his recommendations I’ve used his principles to identify my own successful trades as well. Out of about 150 trades I’ve made since March about 8 of them have lost money. And most of the 8 were because I took on a little more risk than Brad’s approach recommends. I completely agree with all of the positive feedback that has been left by other reviewers. Since I joined Brad has never tried to sell me any other “premium” service. He has done exactly as he promised. And the access to the club archives and to comments by the other members is itself a valuable teaching resource. There are a lot of serious investors in the club who know much more than I do.
In summary, it is a great service, well worth the money for a beginning options trader and for more experienced traders as well.
I am a new member of Brad Castro’s subscription service. The current fee is $997.00 for
a lifetime membership. You have 60 days to request a full refund.
I very happy with the service. He tells you exactly when to get into a trade and when to exit. I have already recouped half of my subscription feeand it has only been about 40 days. The site is also very educational.
What annualized % gain have subscribers attained during 2018, 2019, 2020?
This is exactly what Brad Castro doesn’t show… He brags with his winners all the time but if you take into account the rolled trades, which you need to roll sometimes for 18 months, the performance is very weak. For me the perfo annualized over 3,5 years of membership was below 9%.
Adding my $0.02 – new member joined in late 2020. Paid one-time fee of $1000. Have conservatively earned that back plus through a 10% return, (mostly only 10% and not the target 15-25% annually because I was still learning the strategy and not participating in all club trade ideas, nor any of my own on the side). It is recommended to have a minimum $50k portfolio.
Brad himself is active, responsive and no-nonsense (other than a pleasant sense of humor in his writing). The rest of the community is very impressive – respectful, open to ideas, open to sharing. You can learn new ways to reduce risk or be more aggressive and drive your income up. Brad, his strategy and the club really strive to impart experience and knowledge, but at the same time really help newer members/investors with trade ideas that prove the underlying decision-making process and overall strategy.
I cannot recommend Great Option Trading Strategies and the Leveraged Investing Club highly enough – especially as a newer options trader. I’ve learned so much and been so pleased with the results in 4 months or so that I am even considering getting some other education and becoming a wealth manager, largely based on the principles and strategy of this club 🙂
The following is an excerpt from a personal message I sent Brad this week. I’ve been trading options for over 10 years and Brad is straight up legit. There are so many get rich quick option schemes out there, I know because I’ve subscribed to many of them. Quit looking, subscribe when Brad opens up his service. Now the excerpt ” In fact when I found your service I had pretty much decided to give up options trading all together except for the occasional covered call. I was familiar with put selling but didn’t have the knowledge needed to manage the trades. I devoured all the articles you’d written and began placing the LIC trades right away. I admit, early on I broke some of the rules and couldn’t resist some of the high IV money associated with the high growth stocks, SPCE, WKHS, SKLZ, XPEV, NIO. The returns were great even way out of the money. I even made about $2500 selling GME $15 puts when the stock was well above $100. Then back in Feb / March the rotation out of these stocks into value stocks exposed my choices for what they were, fools gold. But after a couple of weeks of distress I put the clubs management techniques to work. So far I haven’t had to take any losses and have continued to “sleep at night”. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge (and humor) for the greater good.”
I am not a big fan of Brad Castro, either of his trading or of his person. Admittedly there is a lot to learn from what he wrote in terms of managing options. But in many cases he doesn’t trade in accordance with his own set of rules. It is fine to be able to repair trades, but when you start to have to do that for nearly every second trade, you start to wonder if the choice of the underlying and the timing were good in the first place. And those repairs have definitely a negative impact on the overall performance of the portfolio. I dislike his weekly report, which is nothing else than a (often bad) joke (literally: he sends a joke to his subscribers) and a recap of the previous trades. And don’t even dare to write a criticism about his trading style in his forum. Brad is completely impervious to feedback. One of his subscribers has even been removed from the recipient list of his mails for having questioned some trades. Conclusion: pass on this one, you will perform better in doing your own due diligence.
Brad’s service is aimed at people who know nothing about Options, and are looking for a fail-proof method to succeed and secure 20% returns yearly. This is where the problem lies. Brad service is better for those who know quite a bit about Options, or mostly bought them in the past, and are looking for ways to continue a trade without taking a loss. It seems almost weekly Brad adds newbies to his group (now at $1,000 a pop), and most are almost clueless about options. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have big portfolios, so they cannot take Brad’s advice (the dumbest he gives) of scaling up (adding more positions on his weekly trade suggestion) when one has multiples more funds than Brad’s $50,000 club portfolio. If this was such a grand idea, why does Brad have a separate much bigger personal account where he does most of his trading? Many members who were active before the big Covid crash are now silent. They witnessed the pitfalls of Brad’s strategies, and yes, it was mostly pure luck that Brad got out of most of his trades during 2020. And he seems to have learned nothing from this.
There are so many possible trade opportunities that do not rely solely on the RSI and MACD technicals, and some very loose fundamental analysis. I’ve been in the group for years, and only take about one of his trades every two months. Brad is generally a decent guy, but he doesn’t mess with anything that threatens his $1,000/month scheme for drawing in members.
Bad service. Poor luck as all the markets are on the rise. No transparency on overall portfolio performance. As soon as the markets fall 10%, we are banned to roll the trades for the coming 2 or 3 years.
I am done with this service. With nearly all the trades under water, I stopped to trade any recommendation from Brad Castro. Brad posts his list of winners, which generate some premium, and mentions 0 loss. Of course there are no losses, as all the losing trades are rolled and rolled and rolled. Alone the current rolled trade on Big Lots erases the gains of the last 12 winning trades (roughly, for me at least). And Big lots is not the only catastrophic trade currently going on. Now I understand the warning which can be read here and there. A correction or a bear market will be a disaster for Brad’s strategy. But he even loses in a market which is in an uptrend! The reason for that is simple. Brad doesn’t really analyse or understand macro-economics. Otherwise he wouldn’t have opened positions on underlyings which clearly suffer from rising rates and inflation like discount stores. Conclusion: This service is clearly a no-go.
It sounds like this service might not be what you are looking for. The genius of Brad’s program is the trade repair process. Even when trades turn against you (as many have for everyone invested in the stock market recently) there is a clear process for managing them and eventually exiting with a profit. I’m underwater in several trades right now- both club recommendations and trades I’ve set up myself using club principles. But I’m not worried at all, because I know I can keep bringing in cash each month as I wait for them to recover, or until I have brought in enough to offset the loss in the first leg of the trade. Brad’s excellent instruction has helped me view each trade as a leg of a campaign. As long as I keep track of my break-even, I always exit with a profit, even if it takes a while.
I hope you find someone who has that crystal ball you are looking for!
I agree with Patricia above and personally couldn’t be happier with Brads service and instruction. I’ve been a member of Brad’s service for around three years now and an active options trader for ten. I just did a quick check and for 2021 thru August (September trades are still active and expire in October ) , I am still managing two which are BIG from June and EAT from April. Of the other 31 trades that I entered from his recommendations in 2021, I closed 30 of them profitably and the the one remaining, that I closed for a loss was JD because I didn’t like the China issues that started occurring after the recommendation. Brad is not 100% perfect but for me but it’s pretty darn close and better than any other service that I’ve experienced. I also really appreciate his educational materials and the group participation and chats.
This is my fair review, I’ve been using the service for more than a year. I think Brad generates a lot of good investment ideas. I think he also does some questionable trades. I don’t blindly copy his trades, I use my own discretion. Some of the criticisms posted in the comments here are legit – I hope he reads them and takes some of this to heart and improves…
1) A few times he has shown that he doesn’t handle criticism well. Its always better to ignore a critic rather than to respond in anger, but even better to just calmly reply with something like “I think I understand your perspective, but here are the rational reasons why I disagree…”. If a person is legit being a net negative to the community maybe just put them on mute if that’s possible but I doubt that happens very often.
2) Reporting performance: You can see the services’ annual returns posted in these comments, but the critics are right, he has a weird way of reporting returns, he only includes “closed trades” and a trade is almost never closed if its losing money, so this is a fancy way of saying “My annual returns ignore losing trades”. This is not a legitimate way to calculate returns. Every brokerage will report a portfolio’s value at any given time, that’s the number that should be used to report the annual returns in my opinion.
3) While Brad’s trade repair process is great, sometimes I feel like the right move is to take a loss and move on when things are not panning out as expected. Of course it’s difficult to know when to do that vs. sticking with the repair process and its very easy for people to criticize a decision after the fact. I have closed out a few of his club trades that I didn’t think were going to work out, and usually this improved my returns vs. the club. Also a person should only enter trades they feel comfortable with, you can use lower strikes to improve the level of safety (at the risk of potentially lower returns) or only do trades in companies you consider good values.
All of this said, I am happy with the service, I recommend it, his educational materials are very good too. No service is perfect. If selling options time premium doesn’t fit your style, this is not the right fit for you. If you don’t think for yourself, it may not be a good fit either. If you just want a no effort no thinking style of investing, buy a low cost S&P500 index fund like most of the top experts recommend and add to it whenever you have savings to invest.
Brad’s service is 2nd to none. I’ve been a member of several. I have canceled most and I am most active in the Market with Brad’s Leveraged Investing Club. Absolutely love it.
In reply to your #1: That is what is wrong with a lot of things today, especially in America. If one will not stand for himself, then who will. I love the fact that Brad is willing to respond to the critic and not be pushed around. He does explain his response with reason as well. Damn good to see someone who will take a Stand and cower.
Your #2: Before joining the Club, to me a loss is not a loss until a loss is booked. The only losses I’ve taken since joining Brad, are loses from trades I entered based on another service’s recommendation. That was on FBRX. It was not a club trade. I do have a couple of Club trades that I am currently rolling. But each brings in premium each time I roll. Those are EAT and SFIX which I just rolled. Any other rolls are trades I entered outside Official Club trades.
I have never shown a loss until I closed a trade with any service I have ever been a part of. I am aware of my “paper” loses because my broker tracks those, but again a paper loss is not a loss until it is closed.
Your #3: The process is the best out there IMHO. Brad is completely honest about any trade he makes, any repair he makes, and about his methods and service in full.
When one joins, there is a fully refundable time frame. And it is long enough to study all of the material he provides and make trades to see if the service is right for you. If not then request the refund and go on your way. The man has more integrity than 99% of the people I have ever dealt with. I am glad to have gotten the chance to be involved in his Club. I paid for my Lifetime Membership fee of $997 in my first month. And, I was operating on the Model Portfolio Balance of $50,000.
So, Thank you Brad for your honesty, integrity, and willingness to help others like me!!!
We obviously don’t know the same Brad…
” paper loss is not a loss until it is closed” Oh yeah? So in case (just in case) the stock dumps to 0, you are still seeing the trade through your rose-colored glasses, as long as it is not closed? Boy, the losses are not realised yet, but they are concrete: The money is gone. Incredible how naive some of the club members can be. Brad is excellent in obfuscation tactics.
I have not seen any of the club recommendations trade down to zero.
“a loss is not a loss until a loss is booked” and “a paper loss is not a loss until it is closed” That idea is one of the silly things delusional people believe. A stock is worth whatever someone is willing to pay you for it, and any liquid stock is going to have a very accurate quote every trading day of the year (and any option value can be estimated based on the current value of the stock). You know exactly how much you have gained or lost. You may be right in thinking something that just took a big dip is going to eventually come back, but so what, its value is what someone would pay you for it today. Its denial to calculate a portfolio return that only counts your gains and not your losses.
After several months of membership I cannot but draw a negative picture of Brad’s service. There are several reasons for that:
1. There is nothing new in Brad’s strategy and techniques. The repair technic, which a lot of club members praise as the hallmark of Brad’s strategy, has been defined in its entirety long before Brad came into play. Partial assignment of puts, increase of contracts while rolling: Everything can be found in the literature if one digs a bit (I won’t do advertisement here for the relevant publications though). Of course, among the club members you won’t find anyone with the background to assess that.
2. Clear lack of knowledge of market dynamics which leads often to a wrong timing or a wrong choice of the underlying (or both). I was quite surprised as Brad once asked a club member in his forum where it was possible to find the S&P 500 index on finviz. I wondered where he was watching the overall market situation until then. In terms of technical analysis: I doubt that a rising MACD histogram over 2 days is sufficient as a timing indicator.
3. Poor performance at portfolio’s level. Rolled positions are clearly generating a permanent dent in the performance.
4. I pay a subscription to get the view of a professional analyst. Instead , I get weekly reports in which Brad tells us what he is watching on TV. Very unprofessional.
4. Disrespectful behaviour towards members who have the courage to question his setups. Some of the remarks are quite valid. Instead of saying “Thanks, you might have a point, I will look into it”, Brad lashes out like a child.
All in all this is clearly not a service I would recommend.
Would you be able to provide any recommendations of options strategies for a beginner? I know you said if one digs enough they can find it, but if you have anything I can start with that would be helpful! I’ve looked around and it seems like these 3 are good. What are your thoughts?
Bible of Options Strategies, The: The Definitive Guide for Practical Trading Strategies
by Guy Cohen
Options Trading for the Conservative Investor: Increasing Profits Without Increasing Your Risk
by Michael C. Thomsett
The Complete Guide to Option Selling: How Selling Options Can Lead to Stellar Returns in Bull and Bear Markets, 3rd Edition
by James Cordier, Michael Gross
Hi Michael, I’m a member of Brad’s Leveraged Investing Club and Great Options Trading service and I personally have made much, much more in returns than I paid for his training. But you are probably right that his strategies are most accessible to people who already have a basic understanding and a little experience with options before they get started.
Your name looks like you are the same person whose display name is “disappointedbybrad.”
I’m going to drop a link to one of my own blog posts here. I’d consider it a great honor if you would created a display name, “disappointedbypatricia.” Any club that Brad belongs to is a club I want to be in.
https://www.saylorfinancialfundamentals.com/post/how-to-buy-stock-you-want-at-a-discount-take-your-investing-to-the-next-level-with-put-options
Well Mr. James Cordier may appreciate you picking up a few copies of “The Complete Guide to Option Selling: How Selling Options Can Lead to Stellar Returns in Bull and Bear Markets, 3rd Edition” as he might be able to send his former clients & good friends a few dollars to gas up their (now much smaller) boats down at the yacht club.
https://youtu.be/LI395YShGRQ
I guess you can’t please everyone. I personally have a different opinion. And I did have significant options experience before joining the club. It is the best thing I have done. I’ve been a member for over 2 1/2 years now. I am still active. I’m still enjoying the social aspect of it.
I WOULD and do recommend the leveraged investing club.
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.” ― John Lydgate
I’ve researched a lot of investment clubs and newsletters and thrown my share of money down the drain, but Brad Castro’s Leveraged Investing Club has been a game changer for me. In the 1 1/2 yrs I’ve been a member, I’ve more than made up the cost of my life-time membership fee. Is there any other investing service out there that doesn’t try to lock you into never ending perpetual renewals?
With the money I’m making currently, largely selling cash-secured puts on companies with solid earnings (many of which I wouldn’t mind owing) – were it not for a few reckless, greedy self-inflicted Meme trades, entirely of my own greed – I’m close to generating income at pre-retirement levels.
Brad is always ready to chime in with his guidance, support and endearing levity. Although I’m sure Brad is not operating a losing venture, I’ve also no doubt that he’s motivated by a sincere passion to help others and see them succeed.
Other members are selfless to a fault and always ready to hold your hand and help you get your ducks lined up prior to a trade’s expiration date and many, I consider friends.
Though obviously not for everyone, as indicated by a few on this thread, based on my experience, I give it 5 stars!