Showing results by author "Max Koren" in All Categories

Gold futures and options are widely discussed but rarely explained in a way that feels clear, grounded, and realistic for beginners. This book takes a calm, educational approach to understanding how gold is traded in modern financial markets through futures and options, without promises, shortcuts, or hype. Gold Futures and Options for Beginners is a descriptive guide to how gold derivatives work, how futures and options differ, and why prices move the way they do. Rather than focusing on predictions or outcomes, the book emphasizes structure, mechanics, and interpretation. It is written ...

Same-day expiration index options (0DTE) are a widely discussed part of modern derivatives markets, especially around SPX index options. Understanding 0DTE SPX Index Options is an educational, plain-English study of how these contracts are structured, how pricing can behave as expiration approaches, and why intraday volatility can feel different when time is measured in hours rather than weeks. Readers may learn about: What “0DTE” means in practice and how the shrinking clock can change option sensitivity Core SPX index option features, including cash settlement and expiration mechanics...

0DTE options, intraday liquidity, and inflation shocks have become closely linked topics in modern markets. The 0DTE Options Liquidity Cycle examines how same-day expiration options can interact with rate expectations and shifting liquidity conditions, especially around inflation-driven event minutes. Written in plain English, this book treats markets as a sequence of observable constraints - spreads, depth, volatility repricing, and late-day deadline pressure - rather than a single headline story. Across the open, midday, and close, the market’s “liquidity cycle” can change character...

ThinkorSwim Scripting for Beginners Unlock the Power of ThinkScript — and Let ChatGPT Help You Do It. By Max Koren Have you ever looked at custom indicators or strategy scripts on ThinkorSwim and thought, “I wish I could build something like that”? You can — and it’s easier than you think. ThinkorSwim Scripting for Beginners is your complete, beginner-friendly guide to learning ThinkScript—the powerful coding language that drives ThinkorSwim’s custom charts, scans, and alerts. Written in plain English and packed with real examples, this book takes you from absolute novice to ...

0DTE options, economic releases, central bank days, and earnings windows create some of the most compressed and confusing hours in modern markets. Prices can move fast, volatility can reprice in minutes, and the market’s reaction can appear to “disagree” with the headline. 0DTE Options Trading on Red Folder Days is an educational study of how expectations may become embedded in short-dated options prices before scheduled events, and how outcomes can diverge from reactions once the information hits. Rather than treating event days as single moments, this book frames them as timelines: ...

Options don’t have to be overwhelming. They just need to be explained clearly. Options for Beginners is a plain-English introduction to options contracts designed for readers who want to understand how options work—without hype, predictions, or pressure to trade. Instead of overwhelming you with strategies or promises, this book focuses on conceptual clarity. You’ll learn what options actually are, how they’re structured, and why they behave the way they do—so the language of options finally makes sense. This book is written for beginners who have heard terms like calls, puts, ...

0DTE options credit and debit spreads for beginners, explained in plain English with a contract-first, diagram-free approach. This educational guidebook explores vertical spreads, same-day expiration mechanics, and how option premiums behave as time and uncertainty change. Readers may learn about: What credit spreads and debit spreads are in simple, word-based terms Strikes, widths, and “expiration zones” without payoff charts Intrinsic vs extrinsic value and why 0DTE premiums can shift quickly Delta, gamma, theta, and vega as descriptive sensitivities, not formulas Bid, ask, and ...

Understanding Prop Firm Trading Evaluations examines how modern proprietary trading firms design evaluations, manage risk, and monitor participant behavior under tightly defined rules. Rather than focusing on tactics or outcomes, this book explores the structure of prop firm environments themselves. It looks at why evaluations are built around drawdowns, time limits, rule density, and consistency constraints, and how those design choices shape behavior, perception, and pressure. Written in plain English for non-specialists, this book treats proprietary trading evaluations as systems to be ...

Fixed income can feel confusing: bonds, interest rates, Treasury bills, and cash alternatives can move for different reasons, and headlines often leave out the details that matter. Fixed Income in Plain English is a beginner-friendly guidebook that explains the core mechanics behind bond pricing and the everyday language used in modern markets, without hype or predictions. Topics include: The price-and-yield relationship and why bond prices can change as market yields change Maturity vs duration and how time sensitivity is commonly described in fixed income Treasury bills, notes, and bonds,...

Agricultural Futures Trading is a professional, education-first guide to understanding how grain and soft commodity markets actually work—and how disciplined traders learn to operate within them over time. Unlike books that focus on predictions, indicators, or hype-driven strategies, this book is built around structure, seasonality, participation, and repeatable execution. Agricultural futures behave differently than equities and financial markets because they are rooted in biology, weather, logistics, and production cycles. Traders who fail to understand these realities often struggle ...

0DTE options research in liquid ETFs, SPY, QQQ, and DIA options mechanics, pricing sensitivities, and expiration behavior - this book is a structured study of how same-day options can be observed and documented without hype or promises. It focuses on how implied volatility, skew, term structure, and quote quality can shift intraday, and how a careful notebook can turn those observations into comparable records. Readers may learn about: The core mechanics of 0DTE ETF options, including time-to-expiration effects and settlement considerations Observing implied volatility as a surface: IV ...

Atomic Focus is a beginner-friendly study of day trading psychology and trading habits in fast, uncertain markets. Instead of treating day trading as a test of willpower, this book examines what tends to happen to attention, emotion, and decision-making when the screen is moving quickly and the mind wants certainty. Written in plain English, Atomic Focus follows fictional, illustrative scenarios to explore why beginners often feel pulled into urgency, overthinking, and “busy” sessions that create fatigue without clarity. The goal is educational: to help readers recognize common mental ...

Leveraged ETFs, including 2x and 3x exchange-traded funds, are widely discussed but often misunderstood. Because these products are typically built around daily objectives and daily reset, multi-day behavior can look different across market environments. This beginner-oriented overview explains leveraged ETFs in plain language, with a focus on structure, mechanics, and interpretation. A Beginner’s Guide to Leveraged ETFs treats leveraged exchange-traded funds as financial instruments rather than strategies. Instead of charts, signals, or tactics, the book explains how daily leverage works...

Interest Rate Cycles and Asset Allocation offers a clear, grounded look at how interest rate changes shape financial markets, without hype, predictions, or instructions. When the Federal Reserve discusses rate cuts, headlines multiply and opinions harden. Bonds are said to benefit. Stocks are said to reprice. Cash is said to lose appeal. Yet the real story is more complex, and often misunderstood. This book is written to slow the conversation down and replace confident slogans with careful interpretation. Using plain English and thoughtful examples, this book explores how interest rate ...

0DTE straddles sit at the crossroads of options pricing, intraday volatility, and a fast-moving expiration clock. 0DTE Straddles Foundations studies how same-day straddles are priced and repriced through the session, with clear explanations of the Greeks, pricing shifts, and trading conditions that shape what appears on an options chain. Written in plain English for beginners, this book treats the straddle premium as a market-made package, shaped by underlying movement, time pressure, uncertainty pricing, and the bid-ask environment. All examples are illustrative and fictional, focusing on ...

0DTE options volatility, intraday indicators, and technical analysis foundations - explored in a calm, educational framework for interpreting compression, range expansion, and session behavior in modern markets. This book studies how commonly used tools such as ATR, bands and channels, moving averages, momentum indicators, volume, breadth, VWAP, and key session reference levels can be used to describe volatility states and intraday context without turning charts into promises. Readers may learn about: How “volatility” differs from direction, and why range and pace can change without ...

ETF Price Action Basics is a clear, beginner-focused introduction to how widely followed index ETFs like SPY and QQQ actually behave in real markets — and why their movement often feels confusing, emotional, or contradictory. Rather than teaching strategies or trading systems, this book focuses on understanding market behavior. It explains how price moves, how volatility changes the experience of markets, and why instruments like the VIX are frequently misunderstood. The goal is not to tell you what to do, but to help you recognize what you are seeing. Many beginners hear terms like price...

0DTE options hedging for stock and ETF portfolios – option pricing, stress testing, and position sizing – explained in plain English for beginners. This beginner overview examines how same-day expiration (0DTE) options function as contracts, how their prices are commonly described, and why market conditions can change what option quotes look like across calm and fast sessions. Rather than focusing on predictions, the book emphasizes interpretation: what intrinsic value and time-and-uncertainty value represent, how implied volatility is reflected in option prices, and how delta, gamma, ...

Most traders fail not because they lack effort — but because they trade the most crowded, emotionally charged markets. How to Trade Bond Futures and Options is a practical, professional guide to trading U.S. Treasury futures with structure, discipline, and control — designed for traders who want clarity instead of chaos. Unlike fast-moving equity index markets dominated by noise and impulse, Treasury futures operate with deeper liquidity, stronger institutional participation, and clearer structural behavior. This book shows you how to understand that structure, manage risk precisely, ...

0DTE options strangles, intraday Greeks, liquidity, and implied volatility can look confusing at first glance - especially when time is measured in hours instead of weeks. 0DTE Options Strangles is a text-only, beginner-friendly study that explains what same-day expiration markets often reflect, using plain English and repeatable observation prompts rather than charts, screenshots, or formulas. Inside, readers may learn about how strangles are structured, how option premiums can shift even when price barely moves, and why bid-ask spreads and quote stability can matter as much as the ...