Hello everybody, our guest today is Sean McLaughlin, aka @chicagosean on social media.

Sean is the chief options strategist for All Star Charts and Senior Market Strategist at Trade Ideas. He’s been trading for over 20 years starting out as a prop trader during the late 90s, founded a hedge fund shortly thereafter, and since transitioned primarily to trading options.

In this episode we talk about the tech boom of the 1990s, some of the bad habits Sean picked up during those years, and also some of the similarities between those markets and the present day. 

We then geek out on options, and discuss Sean’s framework for placing option trades, how equity traders can start using options, gamma squeezes and a whole lot more.

Please enjoy this conversation with my friend, Sean McLaughlin.

Key learning points

Message volume on Stocktwits tends to get very loud at turning points

Level II quotes aren’t as telling and powerful as they used to be

2021 markets do resemble the euphoria in the 1990s, just in smaller pockets, and not quite as widespread

Trading is really hard, the majority of people who attempt to make a living at trading cannot

The mechanics of trading is pretty easy, what’s hard is that your brain conspires against you to make it harder than it needs to be

Don’t quit your day job if you’re looking to full time trade

You need to find a strategy that fits your temperament

Starts with implied volatility for a stock before you actually place a trade

Options trading offers greater capital efficiency

Gamma squeezes, why they occur, and why they’ll continue to see them

The faster the markets get the slower Sean wants to trade

Learn more & connect with Sean

Follow Sean here

Visit Sean website here

Learn more & connect with Evan & the Trade Risk

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