🧰Options Hub — the complete guide

The Options Hub is a single page where QMA brings together everything around options — from teaching the absolute basics, through picking a structure, to risk-free practice. This guide explains what each tab does, when to use it, and what the key terms mean that you'll run into. It is written for a complete beginner.

Important up front: Options are leveraged derivatives. They can expire worthless and lose 100% of the premium invested (some selling strategies can lose more). QMA works with end-of-day (EOD) data — it suits swing planning over days and weeks, not second-by-second intraday trading. Real prices and fills differ from the illustrative examples.

1. What the Options Hub is — a simple analogy

🧰 Picture a workshop full of tools. When you fix a bike you don't need all of them at once — but it helps to know what each tool is for so you reach for the right one. The Options Hub is exactly that workshop: each tab is one tool. Some teach you (Guide, Paper practice), some help you choose a structure (Pick a strategy, Strategies), others show you market data (Candidates, Confluence, Flow & IV, Best stocks). You don't have to use them all — just the one that matches what you're working on right now.

2. What each tab does and when to use it

Tab	What it does	When to use it
Guide / Greeks	Explains the basics and the "Greeks" (Delta, Theta, Vega, Gamma) in plain language.	When you're still learning options or want to refresh the terms.
Pick a strategy	A decision tree: you enter your view (up/down/quiet) and it shows which structures fit it.	When you know what you expect from a stock but not which structure to choose.
Strategies + simulator	Describes individual structures (long call, spreads…); in the interactive simulator you drag price and date and see the payoff diagram.	When you want to understand how a structure behaves as price moves and time passes.
Hedging	How a put option works as insurance on stock you already hold.	When you want to cap the loss on an existing position.
Income screener	Descriptively shows stocks by parameters suited to income (selling) structures.	When you're exploring the idea of collecting premium — always aware of the higher seller's risk.
Paper practice	You open a paper (simulated) options position with no real money; QMA marks it daily (Black-Scholes from the EOD underlying price).	Before you ever touch real money — rehearse it risk-free.
Earnings	Stocks ahead of earnings, where implied volatility (IV) tends to be inflated.	When you want to understand "IV crush" around earnings (why an expensive option drops after results).
Options candidates	Stocks with the most active and liquid options market.	When you're looking for an underlying where options can actually be traded sensibly (tight spreads).
Confluence (backtest)	An honest historical test of how signals performed when several data layers lined up at once.	When you want data, not promises — how often a "stack of signals" paid off in the past.
Flow & IV	Unusual options flow and the implied-volatility regime (low/high).	When you want to know whether options are "cheap" or "expensive" right now and where volume is moving.
Best stocks	A roundup of stocks that together pass the options criteria.	As a launchpad to interesting underlyings for your own research.

3. Terms you'll meet (with examples)

• Call = the right to buy the stock at the strike. Rises when the stock rises. 🏠 Analogy: a home reservation — pay a small amount for the right to buy later at a fixed price.
• Put = the right to sell the stock at the strike. Rises when the stock falls. ☂️ Analogy: insurance — pay a small premium to lock in a sale price even if the market drops.
• Strike = the fixed price that measures whether you profit. Example: a $100 stock, a $100-strike call.
• Premium = the option's price. Example: pay $5 per share = $500 per contract (1 contract = 100 shares).
• IV (implied volatility) = the expected price swing "baked into" the option's price. Higher IV = pricier option. 🏷️ Analogy: insurance in a storm — the more uncertain the weather, the dearer the cover.
• IV rank = how high today's IV sits versus the stock's own history (0–100%). Helps tell whether options are "relatively cheap" or "relatively expensive".
• POC (point of control) = the price level where the most volume traded in the past — often acts as a magnet/support.
• Theta (time decay) = how much value the option loses each day simply because time passes. Example: even if you're right on direction but slow, theta eats into the premium.

4. Honest boundaries (read before you start)

• End-of-day (EOD) data, not ticking numbers. QMA marks options from the closing daily price of the underlying. It's built for swing planning, not second-by-second intraday speculation.
• Descriptive, not prescriptive. QMA shows you market structure and illustrative examples. It never says "buy this". The decision and the position size are yours.
• Options can lose 100%. Unlike a stock, an option has an expiry date. The right direction at the wrong time = zero. With options, position size is by far the most important thing.

5. Where to start as an absolute beginner

1. Take the course (Guide tab → the 5-part options course). You'll learn call/put, the Greeks, IV and assignment — step by step, with analogies.
2. Open Paper practice. Set up one paper position on a real stock. No money at stake — watch how the value changes day by day.
3. Play with the simulator (Strategies tab). Drag price and date and watch the payoff diagram change and theta chip away at value.
4. Only then explore Candidates, Confluence and Flow & IV — these are data layers for your own research, not a recipe.

➤ This order lets you understand options before you do anything with them — exactly what separates a patient beginner from someone who loses the premium in the first week.

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QMA is an analytical and educational tool working with end-of-day (EOD) data. Options can lose 100% of the amount invested. Past results do not guarantee future ones. Consult a licensed advisor before any decision.*