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With stocks, margin is a loan from your broker, usually up to 50% of the purchase. With options, margin is collateral. Regulators set the minimums. Your broker can require more, and can raise its requirements at any time.

You bought a call. The company beat earnings. The stock gapped higher. Your call still lost money. That is IV crush, and it catches option buyers almost every earnings season.

In options trading, there are three volatility measures worth knowing: implied volatility, realized volatility, and historical volatility. Implied volatility reflects market uncertainty about future movement. Realized volatility is what actually happened while you held the trade. Historical volatility is that same backward-looking calculation measured over a fixed period, such as the last 30 or 90 days.

Naked options are high-probability, high-risk credit trades. You collect premium up front, but if the market turns against you, the losses can be brutal. Here's everything you need to know about selling options naked.

Beginning June 4, 2026, FINRA’s new intraday margin rules eliminate the Pattern Day Trader rule and the $25,000 minimum equity requirement, allowing unlimited day trades as long as traders meet margin and settlement requirements.

A zero days to expiration (0DTE) option is just a regular options contract with one difference: it expires today. You’re trading something with only hours left, so everything moves faster, and outcomes come quickly.