| JOLTS: The Crown Jewel The Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) immediately stood out. Labor market data is one of the most important leading indicators for the economy, and the JOLTS report tends to cause some of the biggest market reactions each time it's released. It was the perfect report to build my trading strategy around. I put together a full calendar of all the scheduled economic releases, but the JOLTS quickly emerged as the crown jewel. Just look at this backtested data my research team compiled on our JOLTS trades' performance in 2023… Win rate: 83% Average return: 114% per trade That means on average we would have been able to more than double our money overnight, 83% of the time, just by placing options strangles the day before the JOLTS report came out each month. This is the power of being able to profit from volatility in both directions. While most traders try to guess which way the market will go and probably bat 50/50 over time, these government report strangles tilt the odds heavily in our favor. A Menu of Opportunities Each Month The best part is, the JOLTS is far from the only game in town. I found several other reports that showed similar potential... Opportunity No. 1: Consumer Price Index (CPI) Win rate: 58% Average return: 22% per trade Opportunity No. 2: Producer Price Index (PPI) Win rate: 75% Average return: 75% per trade Opportunity No. 3: U.S. Import and Export Prices Win rate: 83% Average return: 66% per trade While the JOLTS remains my favorite, we have a full menu of opportunities to pick from each month. Between all these different reports, there are over 50 tradeable events per year. That means we can use government-triggered volatility to create 50+ potential chances to double our money overnight, just by trading options strangles. In 2024 so far, the strategy is showing no signs of slowing down. Take a look at the performance of "government loophole" trades you could have made this year... The Unique Advantages of Zero-Day Options The key to this strategy's incredible success lies in the unique characteristics of overnight options - specifically, zero day to expiration (0DTE) options. Unlike traditional monthly options that only expire on the third Friday of each month, 0DTEs expire every single trading day. That means we can open and close our strangle positions from one day to the next, without taking on any longer-term risk. Not only that, but 0DTE options are also surprisingly affordable, since they have the least amount of time value built into their price. We can usually put on a full options strangle - both the call and put side - for just a couple hundred dollars per side, sometimes even less. So you don't need a huge account to start using this strategy. A Step-by-Step Example Trade Here's how it works. Let's say the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, is trading at $420 the day before a big JOLTS report is due for release. To set up our strangle, we'd buy one slightly out-of-the-money call option, let's say the $422 strike price, and one slightly out-of-the-money put option, like the $418 strike price, both expiring the next day. For simplicity's sake, let's assume both the call and put cost $1.00 each. So for a single contract strangle, we'd spend $200 to enter the position - $100 for the call and $100 for the put. That's all the risk we're taking on for the trade. Now we sit back and wait. Scenario No. 1: The Market Surges The next morning, the JOLTS data comes out and the market goes haywire. Let's say it's an extremely strong labor report, with job openings blowing past expectations. The SPY rockets higher and is now trading at $430 on the news. Our $422 call option is now $8 in-the-money and worth at least $800. Even though our $418 put is now worthless, we still walk away with a net profit of $600. We risked $200 to make $600 overnight - a 300% return on investment. Now, this is obviously a simplified example with round numbers. In the real world, the options won't cost exactly $1 each and the profit won't be a round $600. But it illustrates the incredible power of the strangle trade and how it thrives on big overnight moves. Scenario No. 2: The Market Craters On the flip side, let's run through a scenario where the JOLTS number misses estimates and the market craters. The SPY opens at $410 after the data release. In this case, it's our $418 put that's now $8 in-the-money, while our $422 call expires worthless. But the end result for us is the same - we spent $200 to collect $800, banking a 300% gain yet again. This is why I love options strangles so much. It literally does not matter which direction the market moves in reaction to these government economic reports, as long as it moves a lot. We can be dead wrong on our forecast for what the data will show or how investors will respond, but still walk away with a big win. It's like we've tipped the scales in our favor. Scenario No. 3: The Market Trades Flat Of course, like any trading strategy, this one isn't without risks. We're still dealing with options here, which are inherently leveraged instruments. The main thing we have to watch out for is if the market doesn't move enough after a report to overcome the cost of the strangle. Using the example above, if the SPY only moved to $421 after the JOLTS data, both our call and put would expire worthless and we'd lose our $200 investment. Placing Overnight Trades with Confidence (Thanks to Historical Data) But the data doesn't lie. If we continue to apply this strategy consistently over time and keep our position sizes reasonable, the expected value is incredible. A strategy with a demonstrable 83% win rate and 114% average return doesn't come around very often. By harnessing the reliable volatility of government economic reports and the unique characteristics of 0DTE options, we can create a true "edge" over the market. Less sophisticated traders would view 0DTE options as "gambling." And if you're following people off sub-reddit forums, it might as well be. But the JOLTS Loophole strategy has gone through rigorous backtesting, and proven itself time and time again. If you'd like to learn more about how the strategy works, which options it plays, and when they are executed LIVE then you'll want to check out my brand-new service, Catalyst Cash-Outs Live. Click here to learn more. Yours in smart speculation, Bryan Bottarelli | 
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