In Today’s Masters in Trading: Live What drew me to options — and what keeps me coming back even after all these years — is their flexibility. Unlike stocks, options let you express a real opinion. Bullish. Bearish. Even neutral. There’s a structure for it. And one strategy we use here at Masters in Trading allows us to trade with conviction wherever our thesis on a trade leads us – vertical spreads. When it comes to options, vertical spreads are one of the most reliable ways to position around a stock you have conviction in. You’re buying one option and selling another of the same type and expiration at a different strike price. The “vertical” simply refers to the spacing between those strikes — one offsets the other. We’ve used this structure repeatedly. In C3 (AI), we entered short calls and later bought higher strikes, cutting us into gains of 30% and over 280% on different legs of the same spread. In Albemarle (ALB), we climbed into different spreads that yielded doubles – including an all-timer, 959% profit in mere days. That’s the power of vertical spread trading. Vertical spreads won’t make every trade a winner. Nothing will. But they allow you to stay in trades longer, manage exposure intelligently, and avoid overpaying for premium. I’ve spent the last several years breaking down exactly why vertical spreads are so powerful. And even more recently, I showed you how we’ve leveraged vertical spreads and other key strategies like gamma scalping as we chase new opportunities in 2026. Today, I’m bringing you the only vertical spread primer you need for the new year. In today’s episode of Masters in Trading at 11 AM EST, I’m breaking down our market-tested vertical spread strategy. I’ll show you exactly how we’ve manage huge wins using this strategy – and I’ll explain exactly how vertical spreads fit into our 2026 playbook. 
Remember, the creative trader wins, | 
