Happy Friday, traders.

Ben here.

Let me tell you a little secret…

The single most valuable asset a trader can possess is not a well-timed tip, a specific strategy, or a Bloomberg terminal…

No, the most important word in trading is “humility.”

Over years of trading, I’ve come to realize that humility is not just a virtue — it’s an essential personality trait for long-term success in the options market. 

But it’s not easy to stay humble as a trader, especially if you’re consistently winning. 

I’ll be honest … I’ve been nailing some extremely profitable trades recently. 

After big wins, I’m constantly reminding myself that I’m not a genius, I’m not God — I’m just a trader who has strung some good plays together. 

You should do the same. 

If you’re not careful, overconfidence and complacency can creep into your trading psychology and potentially ruin your mindset. 

Staying humble is your secret weapon. Here’s why…

Why Humility Matters

First, take a look at five of my trades from the past month (all from my Spyder Scanner)*:

Contract: GOOGL 1/26/24 $150 calls

Entry: Bought @ $0.70 — Jan 25th, 09:32 AM

Exit: Sold @ $2.50 — Jan 25th, 11:12 AM

Result: +114% in less than two hours

Contract: SQ 2/2/24 $69 calls

Entry: Bought @ $1.48 — Jan 29th, 03:19 PM

Exit: Sold @ $2.96 — Jan 30th, 09:37 AM

Result: +100% overnight

Contract: PLTR 2/9/24 $20 calls

Entry: Bought @ $0.50 — Feb 6th, 09:38 AM

Exit: Sold @ $1.50 — Feb 6th, 09:56 AM

Result: +200% in 18 minutes

Contract: MRVL 2/23/24 $72 calls

Entry: Bought @ $1.59 — Feb 7th, 04:05 PM (this was when the alert went through, I bought at the end of the trading day)

Exit: Sold @ $3.25 — Feb 8th, 12:05 PM

Result: +104% overnight

Contract: HPE 3/15/24 $18 calls

Entry: Bought @ $0.30 — Mar 5th, 09:43 AM

Exit: Sold @ $1.20 — Mar 6th, 09:47 AM

Result: +300% in 24 hours

All five of these trades were 100%+ winners … in 24 hours or less*. 

So, I think it’s fair to say that my results have been excellent recently.

WARNING: This is where a lot of traders would get overconfident. They may increase their position sizes or overtrade too many contracts at once.

But getting too cocky can lead to disaster. Your hot streak could quickly turn into a dry spell because you think you can’t lose. 

This is especially true in the options market, where contracts can potentially lose 30%-50% of their value in minutes.

That’s why I always try to remind myself to stay humble, even when I’m on a red-hot run of huge wins.

The truth is that those wins aren’t only due to my chops as a trader. Skill and edge are crucial in the market, but luck plays a big role as well.

Plus, if it wasn’t for my Spyder Scanner, I wouldn’t have discovered any of these trades whatsoever.

Now, here are three reasons why you’ve gotta stay humble in the options market…

Accepting Uncertainty

Trading with humility allows us to accept the inherent uncertainty of the market. 

The stock market is unpredictable. You never know what’s gonna happen in a trade. 

No matter how much research you do or how confident you are in your predictions, you can always be surprised. 

And if you’re overconfident or incorrectly positioned, these surprises could ruin you. 

But if you stay humble — knowing that you’re at the mercy of the market’s fluctuations — you’ll be better prepared to act quickly when your trade makes an unexpected move. 

Learning from Losses

Humility also teaches us to view losses not as failures, but as opportunities to improve.

You will face losses in your trading — it’s an unavoidable part of the game. The important part is how you react to those losses.

If you approach bad trades with humility — analyzing your losses, understanding what went wrong, and adjusting your strategies accordingly — you can turn those losses into priceless lessons. 

But if you think you’re invincible — blaming market sentiment, algorithms, and other traders when you lose money — your losses will be pure pain with no benefit. 

Risk Management

Another critical aspect of humility in options trading is risk management. 

Overconfidence can lead to taking unnecessary risks, like putting a huge % of your account into a single trade or ignoring stop-losses. 

By all means, pat yourself on the back when you make a good trade…

But don’t continually bask in the glory of your wins, thinking you’re an unstoppable genius.

If you stay humble you’re far more likely to take a cautious approach … a winning approach.

Emphasize the importance of preserving capital and living to trade another day. 

Before we go, let’s take a look at a few of…

💰The Biggest Smart-Money Bets of the Day💰

• $2.2 million bullish bet on UAL 04/12/2024 $46 calls @ $1.68 avg (seen on 3/7)

• $1.32 million bullish bet on RIVN 06/21/2024 $15 calls @ $1.20 (seen on 3/7)

• $1 million bullish bet on AAPL 04/19/2024 $170 calls @ $5.10 (seen on 3/7)

*Past performance does not indicate future results

Stay humble,

Ben Sturgill

P.S. If you want access to the ‘smart money’ sweeps that led to my five 100%+ trades…

Then there’s only one place to start — my Spyder Webinars.

On Monday, March 11 at 7 p.m. … I’m hosting an URGENT LIVE BRIEFING to break down the most promising ‘smart money’ trading opportunities of the week.

I’m excited to see you there — CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.