Steven M. Sears

Steven M. Sears is the president, chief operating officer and co-founder of Options Solutions. The investment firm uses conservative options strategies to help clients enhance stock returns and reduce risk. Mr. Sears has deep experience in the options industry as an investor, exchange executive, and journalist.

This Options Strategy Can Help You Outpace the Market. Here’s How It Works.

January 27, 2023

The Stock Market Is Heating Up. Read This Before You Jump In.

January 13, 2023

10 Lessons for a Tough Year in the Options Market

December 23, 2022

2023 Will Be a Volatile Year. Options Investors Should Be Happy.

December 16, 2022

Wells Fargo Stock Is Primed to Jump Higher. How to Play It.

December 8, 2022

Selling Losing Stocks Can Lower Your Taxes. Using Options Is a Less Risky Way to Buy Them Back.

November 4, 2022

The Stock Market Could Get a Lot Worse. You Need a Better Strategy.

Some investors are preparing for Armageddon, and others are wondering whether stock prices have fallen so far that the end of this bearish chapter might soon end. ...more

October 21, 2022

Someone Is Betting That the Market Will Collapse

The mood on Wall Street is so dour that it’s hard to find anyone who feels good about owning stocks, much less buying them. ...more

October 14, 2022

Why Some Traders Are Betting on a Sharp Decline for the Stock Market

The new axiom—when in doubt, sell put options that are far out—is evident across the market. ...more

January 3, 2022

Investors Are Frightened. How to Use Their Fears to Profit.

The market’s fear gauge—the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX—had seemed stuck at a somnolent level, as if to suggest investors had forgotten stock prices sometimes decline. It has surged in recent weeks. ...more

December 3, 2021

Peloton Has Tumbled From Its Peak. What to Do With Your Beaten-Down Shares.

Peloton continues to have a cultlike following. Instructors like Cody Rigsby have become celebrities. And the company has just begun a big trade-in program: People who buy a new bike can swap their old one for a $700 rebate and accessories. ...more

November 29, 2021

It Takes Guts to Play Rivian Options. Here’s How to Do It.

Rivian’s future seems extraordinarily intriguing, and thus the fear and greed premiums baked into each of Rivian’s put and call options are extraordinarily high. ...more

November 18, 2021

How to Ride Tesla Stock in a Greedy Options Market

Tesla stock trades around 344 times earnings and is near the top of its trading range. It has tripled over the past year. ...more

November 12, 2021

Wall Street Likes Gridlock in D.C. Here’s How to Play It.

The greatest investment opportunity in the world might be America’s political dysfunction and division. ...more

November 5, 2021

How Elon Musk Could Pay for a Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains

By selling bullish call options with strike prices that are higher than the underlying stock price, investors can generate income that could be used to pay taxes. ...more

October 28, 2021

14 Potential Winners for Options Investors This Earnings Season

Investors are so pessimistic about corporate earnings—and have positioned that way in the options market—that any bit of good news could prompt strong moves in individual stocks. ...more

October 15, 2021

Energy Is Rallying. How to Play It With Options.

Demand seems to be exceeding supply, and that is creating imbalances in the oil and natural-gas markets. ...more

October 1, 2021

How to Play Palantir’s Extremely Volatile Options

If you like volatility, you will love Palantir Technologies. The big-data analytics company has options volatilities that often exceed 125%, making them among the most richly priced options in the entire market. ...more

February 11, 2021

Tesla’s Earnings Report Is Coming. How to Play It With Options.

It’s a sign of these unusual times that Tesla, one of the world’s most controversial stocks, might offer stability to the weary and the wizened. ...more

January 25, 2021

Alibaba Stock Is Under Fire. This Options Play Bets It Will Recover.

Of all the troubles in the world, be glad you don’t have Jack Ma’s woes to contend with. ...more

January 4, 2021

Intel Stock May Have Hit Rock Bottom. How to Position for a Rally.

Intel (ticker: INTC) is now viewed by many investors as having fallen behind rivals, and it draws unfavorable comparisons. ...more

November 30, 2020

How to Play the Value-Stock Boomlet—While It Lasts

America rarely has been so politically divided, and the stock market has rarely been happier. ...more

November 13, 2020

Alibaba Stock Is Falling. It’s Time to Pounce on It.

Earlier in the week, the Chinese government surprisingly canceled the IPO of Ant Group, an Alibaba spinoff of which Alibaba still owns a significant stake. Alibaba’s stock was hit as investors adjusted to the absence of an expected windfall. ...more

November 6, 2020

Preparing for a Vaccine With Call Options

Eventually, Covid-19 will be controlled by a vaccine. When that happens, restaurants will once more flourish, people will travel, and the financial and commercial real estate sectors will probably normalize. ...more

October 22, 2020

Tesla’s Earnings Will Be Dramatic. How to Play It With Stock Options.

The question that now hangs over Tesla is if the stock will be recharged when the company reports third-quarter earnings late Wednesday or if it will simply pause after an extraordinary rally. ...more

October 21, 2020

New to Options Trading? Here’s How Not to Make a Fool of Yourself.

Use your opinion on the stock to decide whether you will buy or sell a call or put option. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you have an educated view of options contracts until you have traded for a few years and understand how the stock and options markets work with each other. ...more

September 18, 2020

21 High-Quality Stocks and the Case for Playing Them With Options

Goldman Sachs recently provided clients with a list of companies that are generating loads of cash, generally considered a sign of a well-run company. ...more

September 2, 2020

Tesla’s Stock Split Is Looming. How to Play It With Options.

TSLA shareholders of record on Aug. 21 will receive a dividend of four additional shares of common stock that will be distributed after the close on Friday Aug. 28. ...more

August 28, 2020

2 Stock-Option Strategies That Split the Difference Between Fear and Greed

In the absence of a framework for making decisions and for managing fear and greed, it’s hard to truly progress in the markets beyond riding the bullish and bearish currents. ...more

August 21, 2020

An Options Trade for Potential Election Chaos

All of America’s hopes and fears will soon be on display as the Democrats and Republicans hold their virtual conventions during the next two weeks. ...more

August 19, 2020

The Rush Into Gold Isn’t Over Yet. How to Play It With Options.

As stock prices flirt with record highs, more investors are seeking shelter in gold, which is also at record highs. ...more

August 6, 2020

Warren Buffett Buys Bank of America Stock as Others Hedge. Who’s Right?

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) bought $1.2 billion of Bank of America (BAC) stock from July 20 through July 27, paying an average price of $24 a share. ...more

July 31, 2020

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