Introduction
My name is Brando, and I’m known as the Elite Options Trader. I’ve made multiple eight figures in my trading career, and I’ve broken one golden rule that most traders are taught: I don’t use stop losses. This unconventional approach has been my secret weapon, especially when transitioning from seven to eight figures. If you’re searching for options trading without stop losses strategies that actually work, my journey from $6,000 to consistently making $1M+ per month might hold the answers you’re looking for.
Trader Talks QnA
What made you decide to not use stop losses in options trading?
When trading options, especially weeklys or monthlies, there’s going to be high volatility. In a given week, your option position can move 50-60-70% both ways. I size for zero – every position I have, I’m ready for it to go completely in the red. Even when I started with $6,000, I knew that trying to set a 10% stop loss would never work because you either have to be right when you click buy or you’re going to get stopped out within the next day or two days.
How do you manage risk without stop losses?
It’s about sizing appropriately. For example, let’s say it’s a million account – max risk you should be taking for just an average trader is like maybe 3-4% per trade. So if it’s like an A+ setup where the stock’s about to break out, I’ll put in $40,000, and I have to be okay with the outcome of that. Meaning if I’m not okay with it going to zero and I’m okay with losing $10,000, then I just buy $10,000. Over time, you’ll hit those 500% gainers, and the money you make from that is much more than if you held the $40,000 position.
How has not using stop losses helped you achieve eight figures?
Setting my stops at no stop has been everything. It’s what really set me to get to eight figures because I was stuck at seven figures for a little while. To get to the eight figure mark and making millions of dollars sometimes in a month or two months, that’s what you need to do. This approach works for me because I size for zero and I’m mentally prepared for every scenario, which has produced the best gains over time.
What’s your opinion on beginners using this approach?
I would say if you’re just starting out, you can’t trade every day. If you have a $1,000-$5,000-$10,000, not every day is a day for you to trade. What I did was I started with $6,000 and there were times where I was waiting days to weeks at a time to take one trade really right. There’s obviously momentum, there’s people that only trade momentum, and that’s mainly what I do. When I see momentum, I will go pretty aggressive during that pocket of time when the market’s ready to rip higher.
Do you think a high risk appetite is necessary for this strategy?
I have a high risk appetite personally. When I didn’t have money, I didn’t necessarily care about money. I don’t really have an attachment to it like in terms of my identity or emotionally. I just see it as a way to make more money and to use for different things like take care of your family. Every person is different in the sense that success in trading means different things to different people. Not everyone can get to six figures, seven figures, eight figures even nine figures, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
How did you handle losses early in your career?
The thing is you kind of have an ego like you know when it comes to money and you think like oh like I’ve made so much, I’m successful, I’ve my track record’s amazing, like I there’s no way I can be this wrong right. But April 2023 I was trading SPX and that month I was down at 1.5 million really in April. Every great trader breaks their rules right and I was averaging down to the point where I thought like okay I have a large bankroll this will come back and it never came back. I took that L and moved on from there, but it taught me a valuable lesson about the danger of averaging down.
Brando’s Trade Statistics
After 14 years of trading options professionally, I’ve developed a consistent approach that has generated substantial returns. My trading metrics speak to the effectiveness of my strategy, even without traditional stop losses.
- Started with $6,000 in 2010
- Made first million dollars by age 22-23
- Currently average 75-80 trades per month
- Maintain 73-74% win rate across 6,500+ logged trades
| Period | Performance | Key Metric |
|---|---|---|
| April 2021 GME Trade | $2.7M profit in 24 hours | Largest single trade gain |
| April 2023 Drawdown | $1.5M loss in one month | Worst single month loss |
| Typical Monthly Profit | $1M+ consistently | Current average earnings |
| 2022 Market Downturn | 7-8 week losing streak | Longest difficult period |
Key Trading Insights from Brando
My journey has taught me several invaluable lessons that I wish every aspiring trader could internalize before they begin their path to profitability.
- Risk management is the foundation of trading success – it’s not about being right every time, but about managing how much you lose when you’re wrong
- Patience in waiting for A+ setups is crucial – I take only 75-80 trades per month because I wait for the best opportunities
- The transition from four figures to six figures is the hardest part – once you reach six figures, scaling becomes much more manageable
- Consistency in approach matters more than being a genius – you don’t need to be the smartest person to be profitable, just consistent
Brando’s Trading Strategy
My strategy is built around a simple but powerful approach: waiting for momentum and breakouts at key support and resistance levels. This has proven to be incredibly effective over my 14-year trading career.
Breakout Trading at Key Levels
My strategy is fundamentally about support and resistance levels. When a stock or an index breaks a certain level, that’s when you’re going to see buyers and money start to really pile in. I wait for very simple support or resistance levels to hit and then wait for the price to react there before taking the trade. This is really all my strategy is – it’s just support and resistance. It’s very simple just waiting for important levels and you don’t need to be a genius to be profitable.
Momentum and Correlation Trading
I focus on momentum trading and look for correlation between major indices and individual stocks. For example, if SPX is approaching 6,000 like around a psychological level and Tesla is also approaching its all-time high of 414, those produce the best gains. The correlation between the index and the stock is my bread and butter – lining those two up and making sure they’re kind of moving in sync.
Waiting for the Right Market Environment
In a given year, there’s 12-14 weeks where the market’s hot. If you can wait for those weeks to trade, which is hard, then that’s where you make most of your money. This means being patient for the right market conditions rather than trying to trade every day. I know a lot of traders in November and December that made more money those two months than they did like all of 2023.
Position Sizing and Risk Management
I size trades based on the setup quality and market conditions. For prime setups where the stock’s about to break out, I’ll put in larger amounts (up to $250,000 per trade). For lotto trades that expire soon, I might put in only $15,000-$25,000. The key is being okay with the maximum risk on each trade – if I’m not okay with losing $40,000, then I just buy $10,000 instead.
Brando’s Tools
While I believe in keeping things simple, there are a few essential tools that help me maintain my trading edge and track my progress over time.
- Excel spreadsheets – I’ve been logging my trades for over 10 years in detailed Excel sheets tracking entries, exits, reasons for trades, tickers, and everything else
- Price action charts – I stick to basic support and resistance levels rather than complex indicators, focusing on simple horizontal and trend lines
- Mental preparation and emotional control techniques – Daily review processes to ensure I’m not falling into bad habits
- Market timing awareness – Understanding that I perform best in the first two hours of market open and sticking to that window
Common Trading Mistakes to Avoid
Based on my experiences and those of traders I’ve observed, here are critical mistakes that hold people back from achieving consistent profitability.
- Averaging down on losing positions – This almost ruined me when I was down $1.5 million in April 2023. It’s tempting when you have a large bankroll to think it will come back, but it rarely does
- Trying to trade every day regardless of market conditions – When you have a small account ($1,000-$10,000), not every day is a day to trade
- Chasing after every trade setup instead of waiting for A+ opportunities – Why take a C setup when you can wait for the best trades?
- Focusing too much on making money rather than enjoying the process – You have to like the world of volatility and stocks to truly enjoy trading
Conclusion
My journey from $6,000 to eight figures has taught me that successful options trading without stop losses requires more than just technical skill – it demands the right mindset, proper risk management, and the patience to wait for the right opportunities. The key breakthroughs in my career came from sizing for zero, waiting for momentum, and focusing on quality over quantity in my trades. If this resonates with you, I encourage you to subscribe to my trading service and consider how these principles might apply to your own trading journey. What insights from my experience will you implement in your trading practice?