Good morning, traders…

In most areas of life, being early is a virtue. 

Show up to work early? Your boss thinks you’re extra-responsible. Show up to a meeting early? Have your first choice of muffins. Get to the airport early? Breeze through security with time to grab a coffee. Take profits early? Lock up your hard-earned gains. 

Early usually equals prepared, ready, and ahead.

But in options trading, being early to enter can be a death sentence for your setup.

You can spot the trend, build the right thesis, pick the right strike … and still lose money. 

The underlying stock does exactly what you thought it would, but it happens a few days too late. 

And your contract expires worthless while you sit there watching the chart move — in the direction you expected — without you.

That’s not just frustrating. It can completely ruin your psychology if you’re not careful. 

But it doesn’t have to.

Let Me Show You How To Avoid Being Too Early (And One Simple Trick For Timing Your Trades)…

Stop Guessing the Clock

Direction is crucial, but timing is king. 

If you’re right on the direction of the move but wrong on the timing, you still lose. 

So don’t guess. 

Ask yourself: What’s going to move this stock soon? Earnings? A press release? Macro pressure?

If there’s no clear reason for it to move now … don’t make the trade.

Most traders get hurt because they expect the chart to move immediately. But this is easily avoidable…

If you can’t name a reason for urgency, you need a longer expiration (or to pass on the trade entirely).

WARNING: There’s one exception to this rule. (More on this later…)

Choose Your Expirations Carefully

Every expiration is a bet against the clock. Don’t cheap out. 

If you think a stock will break out in the next few weeks, don’t pick an option that dies in five days. 

You wouldn’t cut your stop loss in half just to save a few bucks. Same rule here.

You want time to let the trade work. That means buying more days than you think you need. 

It costs more. It feels slower. But it gives you room. 

And when you’re right, it still pays.

Be Honest About Why You’re Early

Most traders don’t want to admit they were early. 

It feels better to say “I was right on the direction” than “my timing was off.”

But if you don’t own the mistake, you’ll repeat it. 

So when a trade moves after your option dies, don’t just sigh and move on. Write it down. Study the chart again. Figure out what the actual trigger was (and why you missed it).

Was there a technical level you ignored? An indicator you missed? A volume shift that came later? 

Track it. Learn the rhythm. That’s how you stop jumping in too soon.

Let the Smart Money Tell You When to Enter

There’s a simple solution to the problem of being early: let the Smart Money tell you when to enter. 

That’s why I use my OMEN Scanner every day. 

It doesn’t just show me what the Smart Money traders are buying. 

It shows me when they’re stepping in.

If I see a big order come through — short-term, concentrated volume on a call contract with a tight expiration — that’s when I pay attention. 

It tells me: If the move is coming, it’s coming soon. And that’s when I want to enter. 

You can do all the technical analysis you want. You can plan your thesis weeks in advance…

But when a whale throws down a million-dollar order on a call that expires Friday? 

That’s the moment to act. That’s a timing catalyst. 

Let the Smart Money traders tip their hand. Then follow.

We can do it together…

Join Danny Phee TODAY at 12 p.m. for a LIVE Options Income Trader Workshop.

Happy trading,
Ben Sturgil

*Past performance does not indicate future results