Straight out of the womb when it comes to options.
I've taken the path of Option Alpha and Tasty Trades to learn the basics.
Any other material (vids, books, podcasts, etc.) you would suggest at this beginning stage?
At this point, I'd suggest reading more structured materials (e.g., "Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives" by Hull, or "Option Volatility and Pricing" by Natenberg. There are a few others, but these are pretty much the standard reference works.) Don't get me wrong, OA and TT are reasonable as basic intros - but there's... let's call it "counterparty risk" involved; both are trying to sell you something, and that something is a bit too subtle for a newbie to parse out.
Once you have the basics down solid, you'll need to decide which church you're going to join... err, what you're going to use for projecting price/vol action. There are lots of people here who pray to Great God TA while loudly rattling his Holy Indicators; there are some who study mysterious tomes and mutter arcane algorithms and incantations to the terrible deity known as "Quant"; some heathens partake of some degree of both... but everyone does it in some way or another, because even so-called "neutral" strategies
still attempt to predict price/vol action (i.e., minimal or none.)
At that point, there's lots and lots and LOTS of reading, depending on the path you choose. I lean very strongly in the algo direction, so to me, "Volatility Trading" by Euan Sinclair and "Dynamic Hedging" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb are very important; if you lean toward TA, the
only approach that I've found to be of any use whatsoever (
grain of salt here - I really, really dislike classic TA) is Rob Smith's "STRAT" (more price action than TA, but still...) I'm sure other people have their recommendations.
Last, there's a wide range of books to be read for general trading knowledge and wisdom - and these are in some ways even more important than any technical knowledge you can gain. Mark Douglas' "Trading in the Zone" (there's a 4 video series on YT) has
saved my ass an uncountable number of times from day one as a newbie trader by teaching me the proper perception and valuation of risk; "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin LeFevre remains an ever-green (no matter how many times I re-read it, I always find something that rings true now, after whatever increment of experience I've gained since the last time). "Market Wizards" by Jack Schwager is a bit dated, but contains a number of lessons that, again, will strike home more and more as you learn and gain practice.
TLDR: get ready to do one hell of a lot of reading - and never stop. If you're going to trade, you'll need to feed your head
continually.
(P.S. I'm re-reading Pierino Ursone's wonderful "How to Calculate Option Prices and Their Greeks" right now; have to stop once in a while to sponge up whatever of my brain has leaked out from my ears onto the floor and pour it back in. The
other effect of reading all this stuff is that, if you think you're Hot Shit, it
will teach you humility. Again and again. But that's the price - and the privilege - of keeping company with some damn smart people, which you will find in this business.)
