Desi joins me to tell the story behind a Tesla options position he says was up roughly $750,000 after the election—and the years of trading that came before it.
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We talk about starting with penny stocks, trading around a full-time job, and the $30,000 SPY put trade that helped him build his capital during COVID. He also explains why he now prefers futures for everyday scalping while keeping options for individual stocks with a clear catalyst.
Then we get into position sizing, managing 0DTE risk, choosing contracts, and knowing when bigger size starts affecting your decisions. Desi also shares why trading his own money hasn’t automatically translated into passing prop firm evaluations.
We finish with selling options for premium, covered calls, building a long-term portfolio, and how he creates the supply and demand levels behind his daily watchlist.
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01:18 Meet Desi: How He Started Trading
04:27 Trading Around a Full-Time Job
05:49 The $30K SPY Put Trade During COVID
09:40 The Tesla Options Position That Reached a $750K Gain
13:20 Family, Business & Learning to Work Hard
14:53 Pursuing Trading When Friends Didn’t Believe in It
17:04 Why He Started With Options
20:21 When He Chooses Options vs. Futures
24:35 Managing Options Risk & “Sizing for Zero”
26:37 Using Delta & Price Levels to Estimate Risk
28:47 Choosing Contracts for Scalping
31:01 Prop Trading vs. Trading Your Own Capital
33:47 Why Desi Has Struggled With Prop Evaluations
35:42 Scaling Position Size With Performance
39:06 Finding Your Limit With Bigger Positions
40:54 What New Options Traders Should Focus On
43:01 Selling Premium: Capital Requirements & Risk
45:21 Building a Portfolio & Selling Covered Calls
49:51 Levels: Watchlists, Preparation & Chart Analysis
53:10 Learning to Mark Your Own Levels
55:15 Gamma, GEX & Different Ways to Read the Market
57:08 Why Your Execution Still Matters Most
58:36 Trading Events, Community & Closing Thoughts