One possible edge is the passage of time. Direction can be (or is) very difficult to predict, while we know a day will go by every 24 hours. Option credit spreads make money given the passage of time. Markets can do 5 things: go up a low, go up a little, stay flat, go down a little, go down a lot. Credit spreads (generally) make money in 4 of the 5 conditions. I do not mean to imply that credit spreads are easy, they are not. When the market goes down hard, one loss can wipe out many winners. There are lots of option books with chapters on credit spreads. A trader needs to find the rules that work for them and their trading style and risk tolerance. I'll offer 3 suggestions from my experience. Options on indexes offer advantages both on taxable gain rates and tax reporting. Trading more often (i.e. weekly vs. monthly) helps to smooth P&L and the equity curve. When losses occur, it may be better to accept a limited loss and move onto the next trade vs. performing "adjustments" which can sometimes backfire and make a loss worse. This method nicely with weekly trading where each trade is less important by itself because you get 52 in a year vs. 12 with monthly trades. Be sure to thoroughly backtest any strategy through a variety of bull and bear markets before going live. When first going live, start very small (maybe 1 contract).
