Trader Travis Wilkerson

Sorry, my option-selling template is in sidelines mode, and I’m out getting drunk because of all the losses in my account 😂 juuuust kidding! (about the drunk part)

Ignore scammers bragging about their trading profits now. Focus only on genuine people sharing results from their entire portfolios. Bonus points if they include screenshots from their broker's performance tab. Using common sense helps you avoid getting taken advantage of.

@BBInvestTrade @AnkurPatel59 I LOVE that book, and you are correct, my friend. That's what I would do if I were still an active trader. I did that in 2020. Everyone called me stupid and said I would lose on the call b/c it was overpriced due to volatility. Result: tripled money by year's end, ha!

The Market chapter in this book is probably the best one. When you do spot the bottom you can apply @tradertravis strategy and buy a once a year call option. Even though Travis doesn’t explain it exactly like this in his book this is how I would apply it looking at previous bottoms.

The decline in a bear market is painful. But the rallies in between are what trap most investors. #Trading

@alexanderjune17 Just assume it will lose money. It’s what I do with all of mine. It helps me avoid being emotionally annoyed by losers. I treat winners like a lucky surprise :)

@tradertravis My XSP 686 credit spread that expired today bought back with only 10 minutes left in the trading session 😆 So I don’t know how this is going to work out for my next XSP spread at end of March at 690!

The subtitle of my book, Put Option Profits, is: "How to turn ten minutes of free time into consistent cash flow each month." This morning, I watched my son sell a credit spread from his phone while I was taking him to school. I told him, "Do you know I'm ridiculed online, and people call me a fraud because of the subtitle of my book? Now tell me, how long did it take you to place that trade?" His reply: "About 7 minutes". My reply: "Exactly, the subtitle of the book was validated, but the ignoramuses will never discover that because of their limiting beliefs, so it remains our family secret." I know it's hard to believe you can make life-changing money in just 10 minutes a month, but you don't have to 'believe'; all you have to do is "trust, but verify." Check out the book pinned to my profile for more details.

@Dr_Tejas_Shah Hi TJ, this is the book that covers the blueprint and will answer the exact steps I take: a.co/d/0hoMxPVG

@tradertravis Which strike puts you buy? When do you cover your put i.e. at what level of marker drop, you sell to close your put?

Today's decline was a perfect time to consider this lesson. How an account hypothetically performs with and without stock market insurance (i.e., put options). Year 1: +40% stock market return: · w/o puts: $100,000 grows to $140,000 (40% gain) · w/ puts: $100,000 grows to $120,000 (only a 20% gain) Year 2, a -50% bear market: · w/o puts: $140,000 to $70,000 (-50% loss) · w/ puts: $120,000 to $90,000 (-25% loss) Year 3, +50% bear-market recovery: · w/o puts: $70,000 to $105,000 (a 50% gain) · w/ puts: $90,000 to $112,500 (only a 25% gain) The account with put options had half the gains (and losses), and it's still higher after three years. Hard to believe, huh? It's counterintuitive, which is why most people struggle to build wealth. The thing they chase, "high returns," isn't what you need to get rich. The secret that all successful investors know: The less money you lose, the faster you build wealth!

@andrewmerkushev Just start with the one that interests you the most. Enjoy!

@tradertravis Hi Travis, I’m planning to read all three books. In which order do you suggest reading them?

Yeah, I agree, and I talk about this in my books. Most people fail. But I’ve learned that being average is a choice. I chose to be above average, and therefore, I (and the vast majority of my students) are the outliers discussed in academic literature. That small subset that outperforms the market. Case in point: I read and was informed of the studies. “Travis, options are risky, you’ll fail, and you will underperform the market.” I acknowledged their truth, then chose to ignore it. Buffett beats the market, so I had all the proof I needed that it was possible. I studied how above-average people think and invest, and I ignore the wisdom of average-performing academics. It was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Reality stems from belief. Put another way, your reality is shaped by your beliefs. Look at your life — I'm willing to bet it aligns with what you believe is possible. I believed I could consistently beat the market, and I have. End of my rant 🤣.

@D_Harris72 Thanks!

@tradertravis Great post.

The other day, I received an email from a publisher about the crash in silver (SLV). I didn't bother reading the commentary because the subject line turned me off. My blunt inner commentary was: "This is not a historic crash. It's f'ing common sense, and it didn't change a thing. Humans and their behavior have been the same since the beginning of time." People get greedy. People get fearful. And some are stoic. Rinse and repeat, generation after generation. The crashes in silver, Bitcoin, GME, AMC, cannabis stocks, and (fill in the blank) are both predictable and familiar. It's called mean reversion: asset prices tend to revert to their historical averages over time. My memory isn't the best, but over my nearly 30 years of investing, I can't recall a single stock that took off in price and kept rising at the same pace. Sometimes they rise meteorically and then fall dramatically, like silver. Other times, they rise quickly and then drift sideways for years. This has happened as long as the stock market has existed. And guess what? People get greedy. People get fearful. And some are stoic. And it's your job to understand human nature and make sure you're not one of the silly humans chasing a stock that has already risen nearly 300% in a year! And it's also your job to understand that stock prices crashing is a NORMAL part of investing. Fearing a crash is like fearing a fart. Do you freak out, get scared, and rush to the emergency room if you pass gas? Nope, because you understand it's a normal bodily function. Now that you know crashes are not unusual, what can you do about them? You can prepare beforehand. How? Buy put options! They were literally created as market-crash insurance in the late 70s. How an account hypothetically performs with and without put option protection. Year 1: +40% stock market return: · w/o puts: $100,000 grows to $140,000 (40% gain) · w/ puts: $100,000 grows to $120,000 (only a 20% gain) This is all people see; puts are a major drag on performance. They wrongly assume that puts hinder performance, but they actually improve it. Year 2, a -50% bear market: · w/o puts: $140,000 to $70,000 (-50% loss) · w/ puts: $120,000 to $90,000 (-25% loss) Because of the puts, the account never falls below 25% and is now larger than the more aggressive account. Year 3, +50% bear-market recovery: · w/o puts: $70,000 to $105,000 (a 50% gain) · w/ puts: $90,000 to $112,500 (only a 25% gain) The account with put options had half the gains (and losses), and it's still higher after three years. Hard to believe, huh? It's counterintuitive, which is why most people struggle to build wealth. The thing they chase, "high returns," isn't what you need to get rich. The secret that all successful investors know: The less money you lose, the faster you build wealth! Therefore, put option insurance doesn't hinder performance. It actually improves it. Selah, Travis The 10-Minute Investor™ & 2019 US Investing Champion (Options Division) P.S. Disclaimer for all the investing nerds: This example is approximately correct, not precisely accurate. The performance shown above is NOT how compounding math (CM) works. However, CM is not taught in schools, and most people don't understand it. Therefore, I use simple examples to ensure you understand the concept I'm teaching.

@MFT_Get_Funded Thanks Bill! Same to you!

@tradertravis Travis, I hope that you are doing very well! Have a blessed week. Bill

I teach people to prepare for the worst-case scenario when selling credit spreads, meaning ensuring the max loss doesn't destroy you. However, I'm helping a friend roll a losing credit spread (he bought a crap course). Does anyone know how to roll a credit spread while keeping the risk of loss "the same"? Not by doubling down or selling more contracts of a new spread, but by rolling the spread out in time without dramatically increasing the risk of loss? Does anyone know how to do that?

@joeytee_ 😆

2022 bear market lasted 9 months. If women can carry a child for 9 months, you can withstand a bear market.

@NoobTheta If only we could be so lucky as to buy at $69 and wait for it to recover!

I thought my $SPY chart was a bit off and went to check Nasdaq for yesterday's $SPY OHLC $SPY 26/02/02 Low was $69... niceeeee I'm guessing that was a telegraph to tell us we're about to get screwed

@NoobTheta @pepemoonboy 😂 @NoobTheta my answer: $250k and I’d put it all in the S&P 500. Working on that case study now. So far in 2026, I've generated about $18k in premiums; HOWEVER, I’m still working out of a roll from the 2% drop day.

@pepemoonboy Paging @tradertravis

How much money do you personally need/want in order to quit your corporate 9-5?

@TheWandererFI @RolfOptions Polite follow-up: I was genuinely interested in your answer the question I asked you @TheWandererFI

@RolfOptions @tradertravis This right here is the reason why most say it can’t be done…. Would it work for my current situation… absolutely not

This post genuinely bothered me to my core because so many people in the comments shared the same belief. I’m strongly considering doing a case study in 2026 to show how it’s possible with the proper skill set.

@bandatrade Yes, I’ve taught the selling puts buying calls approach before, and we called it the Buffett strategy. I modeled it after Buffett's put-selling approach. It can work, but success is never about the strategy; it’s about the person's psychology and mindset.

@tradertravis Any thoughts on Investing with Brandon’s method of selling 2-year LEAP puts on undervalued companies and buying calls using the received premium (all portfolio secured)? I value your thoughts as an options champion trader and I saw that you’re following his account.

Working out will make you "feel" weak, but it's actually making you stronger. Learning new things will make you "feel" dumb, but it's actually making you smarter. Enrolling in an options course and investing in yourself will make you "feel" poorer, but it's actually making you rich. (*This assumes you implement what's taught.) Lastly, facing your fear and staying invested during a market crash will "feel" terrifying, but it's actually making you braver. Focus on facts, not feelings.

A private jet-flying multimillionaire once told me I was attracted to active trading because I had a working-class mentality. Instead of rejecting what he said, I pondered it. His insights gave me an aha moment. I grew up American poor, in a house with no running water or bathroom. I was taught that working for money was the only way to earn it. Thus, my family didn’t build massive wealth because our slave labor was our only income-producing asset. You don’t work, you don’t make money. Active trading isn’t much different. You don’t trade, you don’t make money. Without knowing it, I took my working-class mentality over to active trading. I convinced myself that the more I traded (the harder I worked), the more I would make. Eventually, a personal crisis (a death and an almost divorce) forced me to switch from active/day trading to passive trading. Now, I only place one simple LEAPS option trade once a year. Oddly enough, I make more money and only spend 10 minutes managing my portfolio. That one trade I talked about above, the Buffett call option, is up 48% in less than two months. That millionaire helped me shift to making money that wasn’t dependent on how hard I physically worked. He taught me how to separate my time from earning more money. That’s real leverage.

@ChrisTheSo43049 It's the emails I send when people sign up for the book bonuses.

@tradertravis How can I be a part of the newsletter membership?

@ChrisTheSo43049 I'm off YouTube, but if I master it, I'll share it with newsletter members.

@tradertravis is it possible you can make a YouTube video to teach us how to get out of a losing credit spread?

@JayTodd2 👍🏾 Thanks!

@tradertravis Personally, I roll out with the same strike price to as near an expiry as possible to preferably get a credit but worst case break even. Just to buy time. I do a near term expiry so I have more flexibility if I have do it again and go even further out.

@WealthCoachMak Oh yeah, I've had a few of those short puts assigned to me in the past. There is nothing that heightens the senses more than waking up to a multi-million-dollar margin call 😂🤣.

@tradertravis Yep 👍 I have rolled many spreads over time. There are other ways to do it as well if the short put gets assigned early. But it involves a couple of different transactions