Rising Star: Mark Anderson
How 0 DTE made this Uber driver $1.5 million
Tastylive Rising Star Mark Anderson was laid off from his job as a construction superintendent during the COVID19 pandemic. He began driving an Uber and decided to risk his three-figure savings on some covered calls. These days, his strategy focuses on high-frequency 0-DTE SPX options trading, and he executes 150-200 trades daily. Using a systematic approach with credit spreads and longer-dated hedges, he’s grown his account to $1.5 million in two years.
Home/Office location
Austin, Texas
Age
30
Years trading
Seven
How did you start trading?
My dad had always traded options so I was familiar with them and started trading them with him around 2017. I began to take more of an interest in them and stumbled upon tastytrade in 2020. I was laid off from my job in 2020 and went full in on tasty trade and learning about options from there.
Favorite trading strategy?
I mainly view my trading as a portfolio now. I only trade 0 DTE SPX and run a fully systematic portfolio that trades about every two minutes. It is a mixture of delta neutral strategies, trend following and a one DTE financed one to 14 DTE vega hedge.
Average number of trades per day?
150 to 200
What percentage of your outcomes do you attribute to luck?
Zero. Everything I do is completely mechanical, and I adjust to the market daily to manage my delta and short volatility. I am just creating as many occurrences as possible and then get closer and closer to my expected return the longer I trade them.
Favorite trading moment?
On Aug. 5, 2024, during the largest volatility expanse in history, I was 4x notional SPX in short premium overnight for the part that finances my long vol hedge. And even with a Spike of the VIX from 28 to 65 I ended up being flat on that move and all the risk I had modeled went exactly as planned. It really gave me a lot of confidence when it comes to trading and the systematic nature of my portfolio to work in all market environments.
Worst trading moment?
Early in my trading journey I had a massive position in TLT puts in early 2022 with expectations of inflation increasing. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, rates dropped despite inflation because of fear of war causing a recession. I closed out my position and it would have been $20+ ITM over the life of that contract and would have yielded well over $250,000.
Favorite trading books
Option Volatility & Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies and Techniques, by Sheldon Nattenburg
Positional Option Trading: An Advanced Guide, By Euan Sinclair
Check out all the previous rising stars here.
Yesenia Duran — not an alien, not a zombie; just an editor.
