The LEAP Options Playbook – HIGH NOON TRADER

UpdatedSeptember 15, 2026

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBoxCVqON8A

A structured guide to the “deep in-the-money LEAP” approach

Disclaimer: This document summarizes one trader’s personal framework and opinions as described in an educational video. It is not financial advice, and the presenter is not a licensed financial advisor. LEAP options are leveraged instruments that can result in the loss of your entire investment. Any performance figures mentioned (e.g., account growth) are one individual’s self-reported, unverified results and are not typical or guaranteed. Do your own research or consult a licensed professional before trading options.

1. Core Philosophy: Stock Replacement, Not Speculation

The central idea behind this approach is that a LEAP (Long-term Equity Anticipation Security) option should be used to replace stock ownership, not as a lottery-ticket-style speculative bet.

Instead of paying full price for 100 shares of an expensive stock, a call option lets you control the same 100 shares for a fraction of the capital.
The upside direction is the same as owning the stock — if the stock rises, the option rises — but you commit far less money up front.
The tradeoff: unlike owning shares outright, an option has an expiration date and loses value over time (time decay), so the underlying thesis needs time to play out.
The guiding principle: pick a company you already believe in, give it enough runway, and let a correct long-term thesis compound through leverage.

2. What Counts as a “LEAP”

Formally, an option with more than one year until expiration.
In practice, the presenter treats anything roughly 9 months to 1 year out as a LEAP, since that window typically spans 2–3 earnings cycles.
Going out 2+ years is generally considered suboptimal — it ties up capital for too long relative to the added benefit.

3. A Worked Example of the Leverage Effect

Numbers make the capital-efficiency argument concrete. Suppose a stock trades at $200/share:

Buying 100 shares outright: $200 × 100 = $20,000
Buying a suitable LEAP call instead: roughly $5,000

That’s about one-quarter of the capital for similar directional exposure.

Now suppose the stock rises $10 (a 5% move), and the option’s delta is 0.75:

Expected option price move ≈ $10 × 0.75        = $7.50 per share
Contract value change       ≈ $7.50 × 100 shares = $750

Stock move: +5%
LEAP move: +$750 on a $5,000 position ≈ +15%

That’s the mechanical source of the leverage: a smaller move in the stock translates into a proportionally larger move in the option’s value, because you paid a fraction of the share price but the option still moves in dollar terms based on the full 100-share contract.

The reverse is equally true. If the stock drops $10 instead, the option can lose a similarly outsized percentage. Less capital required is not the same thing as less risk — it’s the same risk, concentrated into a smaller dollar amount.

4. The Three Pillars of the Strategy

Pillar 1 — Delta (Position Selection)

Delta measures how much an option’s price moves per $1 move in the stock, and roughly approximates the probability the option finishes in the money.

Target delta: ~0.70–0.75 (“deep in-the-money” or “DEAP” positions).
Why not go cheaper (lower delta, further out-of-the-money)?
- Lower-delta options are cheaper but far less sensitive to stock moves.
- They carry no intrinsic value and decay faster if the stock doesn’t move quickly in your favor.
- A low-probability option can look like a “deal” but is actually higher risk per dollar of expected return.
Why not go much higher (deep, deep ITM)?
- You pay close to full share-price economics, defeating the capital-efficiency purpose of using an option at all.

Quick reference — approximate option price move per $1 stock move:

Delta	Approx. option move for a $1 stock move
0.30	$0.30
0.50	$0.50
0.70	$0.70
0.75	$0.75 (stated sweet spot)
0.90	$0.90

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic value — a worked example:

Stock price   = $150
Call strike   = $120
Option premium = $45

Intrinsic value = $150 − $120 = $30
Extrinsic value = $45 − $30   = $15

The deeper in the money a LEAP is, the more of its premium is intrinsic value that tracks the stock directly — which is part of why deep-ITM contracts tend to behave more like the underlying shares than far-out-of-the-money calls do.

Pillar 2 — Entry Timing (Technical Setup)

Use basic technical indicators to avoid buying at a locally overextended price:

Moving averages: Prefer entries when price is at or below its moving average rather than stretched well above it (mean-reversion logic — prices tend to drift back toward their average over time).
Bollinger Bands: Favor entries near the lower band rather than the upper band.
RSI (Relative Strength Index): A supporting confirmation signal — readings near or below ~30 suggest a stock is oversold; readings well above that don’t confirm a discount entry on their own.
No single indicator is decisive — combine several, and always pair technicals with fundamental conviction in the business itself.

Entry scorecard. Rather than requiring every single signal to align, the general approach is to weigh the full picture and look for enough favorable evidence that the risk/reward tilts in your favor:

Factor	Attractive	Neutral	Unattractive
Business quality	Strong	Average	Weak
Valuation	Cheap / reasonable	Fair	Expensive
Price vs. moving average	Below / near	Slightly above	Far above
Bollinger Band position	Lower band	Middle	Upper band
RSI	Near 30	40–60	Elevated
Recent price action	Pullback	Consolidation	Large recent rally
Thesis status	Strong	Uncertain	Broken

A mixed read (e.g., price below its moving average and near the lower Bollinger Band, but RSI only in the low 40s rather than near 30) is normal — the point of the scorecard is to weigh the overall picture rather than treating any one box as a dealbreaker or a green light on its own.

Pillar 3 — Theta (Time Decay Awareness)

Theta represents how much value an option loses per day purely from time passing, independent of the stock’s move.

Every option price = intrinsic value (how far in the money it already is) + extrinsic value (time/volatility premium).
Theta only erodes the extrinsic portion — the intrinsic value tracks the stock directly.
Time decay is roughly gradual for most of an option’s life, then accelerates sharply in the final weeks/monthsbefore expiration.
Because deep ITM options have more intrinsic value relative to extrinsic value, their theta burn (as a % of position value) is typically lower than an out-of-the-money option’s.

5. Break-Even Math (Don’t Skip This)

Being “in the money” does not automatically mean you’re profitable. What matters is your cost basis.

Break-even price = Strike price + Premium paid

Example: A $100 strike call bought for $15 premium has a break-even of $115. The stock must exceed $115 by expiration (or the option must be sold for more than $15 before then) for the trade to be profitable.

A common mistake is assuming any in-the-money finish equals profit — it doesn’t if the premium paid pushes your break-even above where the stock ends up.

Concrete illustration — “in the money” ≠ “profitable”:

Strike  = $100
Premium paid = $15
Stock finishes at = $110

The $100 call is technically $10 in the money at expiration. But because $15 was paid for it, the position is still worth $5 less than the cost basis:

$10 (intrinsic value at expiration) − $15 (premium paid) = −$5 loss per share

Two takeaways: ITM does not mean profitable, and delta is not the same thing as probability of profit — it approximates the odds of finishing in the money, not the odds of clearing your break-even.

Why the expiration break-even can be misleading for this strategy

The formula above (strike + premium) is the break-even at expiration. But this strategy is not designed to hold LEAPS to expiration — positions are typically meant to be sold well before then, while meaningful extrinsic (time) value remains.

That matters because:

Before expiration, a LEAP usually still carries time value on top of its intrinsic value.
This means a LEAP can often be sold at a profit even if the stock hasn’t reached the textbook expiration break-even price, simply because the remaining time value adds to what a buyer will pay for it.
In other words: expiration break-even is the worst-case backstop number, not the target. The intended path is buy → stock appreciates → option appreciates disproportionately (via delta + retained time value) → sell with time still on the clock — not “wait and see what happens at expiration.”

6. Choosing an Expiration Date

Timeframe	Assessment
Under ~3 months	Behaves more like a short-term call; heavy theta risk — generally avoided
~9 months	Presenter’s default — gives ~3 earnings cycles of runway
~12 months	Considered a “gold standard” LEAP duration
2+ years	Technically fine but seen as inefficient — capital tied up too long

Management checkpoint: Re-evaluate the position around the halfway point (e.g., the 6-month mark on a 1-year option) — take profit, roll, or close if the thesis isn’t playing out. Don’t wait until the final weeks, when time decay accelerates hardest.

7. Stock Selection Criteria

A LEAP is only as good as the underlying business. Suggested screening factors:

Competitive advantage / moat — how hard is the business to disrupt?
Pricing power — can the company raise prices without losing customers?
Earnings growth — is the business actually bigger than it was last year?
Capital intensity — generally, lower capital requirements relative to returns is favorable (though strong businesses can still be capital-intensive).
Return on capital / cash generation — does the company earn significantly more than it consumes?
Management quality

Valuation framing: a stock’s cheapness isn’t about the dollar price — compare current price to its 52-week high/low and recent trend, and consider whether a pullback reflects business weakness or just typical volatility on the way up.

The stock-selection gate

Before ever opening an option chain, this checklist is meant to function as a stop/go gate. The idea is that the business decision comes first — the strike, delta, and expiration are chosen only after the company passes this filter.

[ ] Would I willingly own the shares outright?
[ ] Do I understand how the company actually makes money?
[ ] Can I state the bullish thesis in a few plain sentences?
[ ] Does it have a meaningful competitive advantage?
[ ] Is the business growing?
[ ] Does management have a credible track record of execution?
[ ] Is the balance sheet acceptable for this kind of business?
[ ] Is the valuation defensible relative to growth?
[ ] Is there a realistic catalyst or reason for appreciation within my chosen time horizon?
[ ] Has anything about the fundamental story recently broken?

If you can’t confidently check most of these boxes, the recommended move is to stop — a favorable-looking option chain is not a substitute for a weak or uncertain business thesis.

8. Position Sizing & Risk Management

Recommended allocation: roughly 10–20% of a portfolio to this strategy, scaling down the percentage as total portfolio size grows.
Assume the full premium paid can go to zero, and size positions accordingly.
Separate market-wide moves from company-specific problems before deciding whether to hold through a drawdown — a broad market dip is a different situation than a broken business thesis.
LEAPS require more active monitoring than fully passive strategies; check in more frequently as expiration approaches.

9. Six Common Mistakes to Avoid

Buying the cheap strike. Out-of-the-money options look like a bargain but carry disproportionately higher risk and faster decay than a moderately priced, higher-delta, in-the-money option.
Assuming time = safety. More time reduces the speed of decay, not the risk of loss. A stock that drifts against you still costs you money.
Treating it like a small trade. One contract controls 100 shares of exposure — size and monitor it accordingly, not as “just a little money.”
Never checking in / never rolling. LEAPS need periodic reassessment, especially as expiration nears; rolling into a new position can extend a thesis but doubles your risk if timed poorly.
Trading someone else’s conviction. Relying on a YouTuber, friend, family member, or AI output instead of your own research and thesis is flagged as a major risk — verify claims independently, including this one.
Refusing to take profit. Holding for maximum gains at a technical extreme (e.g., far above a Bollinger Band) rather than locking in a solid, predefined profit target is described as a common way winning trades turn into losers.

10. Simple Exit Framework

Set a target profit range before entering (the presenter references roughly 30–50%, sometimes up to 80%, as personal targets — not universal rules).
Check in seriously at the halfway point to expiration.
Use technical extremes (e.g., price stretched far above its moving average or upper Bollinger Band) as a cue to consider taking profit rather than chasing further upside.
The general intent: exit with a meaningful chunk of time value still remaining, rather than holding into the final, fastest-decaying stretch before expiration.

11. Quick Reference Glossary

Term	Meaning
LEAP	Long-term options contract, typically ~9 months to 2+ years to expiration
Delta	Sensitivity of option price to $1 stock move; also approximates odds of finishing in the money
Theta	Daily value lost purely to time passing
Intrinsic value	Amount an option is already in the money
Extrinsic value	Time/volatility premium on top of intrinsic value
Break-even	Strike price + premium paid
In the money (ITM)	Strike price is favorable relative to current stock price
Out of the money (OTM)	Strike price is unfavorable relative to current stock price — no intrinsic value yet
Rolling	Closing an existing option and opening a new one, usually to reset time/delta

12. The Complete Trade Workflow

A step-by-step sequence for turning everything above into an actual decision, in order:

Find the company. Would you own this stock without any options involved? If no, stop here.
Write the thesis. In 2–3 sentences, why should this company be worth meaningfully more in 6–12 months? If you can’t answer clearly, stop.
Check fundamentals. Growth, moat, pricing power, management, balance sheet, cash generation, valuation, catalysts. Thesis broken? Stop.
Check the technical entry. Moving average, Bollinger Bands, RSI, recent price action, 52-week range. Prefer temporary weakness over euphoric strength.
Score the setup using the entry scorecard (Section 4). A cluster of “unattractive” marks across several factors is a signal to wait rather than force the trade.
Choose expiration — target roughly 9–12 months (~300–500 days).
Choose delta — target roughly 0.70–0.75. Don’t default to a cheaper strike just because it’s cheaper.
Record the contract details: strike, stock price, premium, delta, expiration/DTE, intrinsic value, extrinsic value, expiration break-even.
Size the position. Assume the premium goes to zero — can the portfolio absorb that without issue? If not, reduce size.
Define the exit before entering: target profit %, thesis-failure condition, six-month management date, and any conditions under which you’d consider rolling.
Enter the trade — only once the checklist is complete, and not because a YouTuber, forum, friend, or AI is excited about the stock.
Monitor. Check in periodically early on; check in more frequently as expiration approaches.
Manage at the six-month mark (or the halfway point of whatever expiration you chose): take profit, roll, or close. Don’t let accelerating theta make the decision for you by default.

13. The No-Go Zone

Skip the trade if several of these are present at once — no single flag is automatically disqualifying, but a cluster of them is:

Weak or unclear business quality
Deteriorating fundamentals
Valuation that’s hard to justify
Stock sharply extended above its moving average
Price near the upper Bollinger Band after a big recent rally
Elevated RSI with no offsetting signal
Low-delta, out-of-the-money contract
Short expiration relative to the thesis timeline
Premium that’s large relative to the portfolio
No defined exit plan
The trade idea came primarily from someone else’s conviction rather than your own research

Multiple red flags = no trade. There will always be another setup later.

14. Five-Minute Pre-Trade Checklist

Company

[ ] I would own the stock outright.
[ ] Business quality is high.
[ ] The thesis is clear and stated in my own words.
[ ] Fundamentals remain intact.
[ ] Valuation is defensible.

Entry

[ ] Stock isn’t technically overextended.
[ ] Moving-average position is favorable.
[ ] Bollinger Band position is favorable.
[ ] RSI supports, or at least doesn’t contradict, the setup.
[ ] Recent weakness looks temporary rather than structural.

Contract

[ ] Roughly 0.70–0.75 delta.
[ ] Roughly 9–12 months to expiration.
[ ] Meaningful intrinsic value.
[ ] Premium fits within my risk limits.
[ ] I understand this contract’s expiration break-even.

Risk

[ ] I can absorb losing 100% of the premium.
[ ] Position isn’t oversized relative to the portfolio.
[ ] Total LEAPS allocation stays within my predetermined limit (see Section 8 — this is overall strategy allocation, not per-trade size).

Exit

[ ] Profit target set.
[ ] Thesis-failure condition defined.
[ ] Six-month management date recorded.
[ ] Roll criteria (if any) defined in advance.

If a major item is unanswered, the position isn’t ready yet.

15. 60-Second Decision Tree

Would I own the stock?
   NO  → Reject
   YES ↓

Is the fundamental thesis strong?
   NO  → Reject
   YES ↓

Is valuation reasonable?
   NO  → Wait
   YES ↓

Is the technical entry attractive?
   NO  → Watchlist
   YES ↓

Can I get ~0.70–0.75 delta with enough time?
   NO  → Wait / different contract
   YES ↓

Can I afford to lose the entire premium?
   NO  → Reduce size / reject
   YES ↓

Do I have an exit plan and a six-month check-in date?
   NO  → Create one first
   YES ↓

TRADE QUALIFIES FOR CONSIDERATION

16. Fillable Trade Worksheet

Use this before entering any position.

Ticker: _______________ Date: _______________ Stock price: _______________

Thesis (2–3 sentences):

Catalyst: _________________________________________________________________

Key fundamental risk: _________________________________________________________________

Technical setup

Moving average: _______________
Bollinger Band position: _______________
RSI: _______________
52-week range position: _______________
Entry scorecard result: _______________

Contract

Strike: _______________ Expiration: _______________ DTE: _______________
Delta: _______________ Premium: _______________
Intrinsic value: _______________ Extrinsic value: _______________
Expiration break-even: _______________

Risk

Contracts: _______________ Total premium: _______________
Maximum theoretical loss: _______________
% of portfolio: _______________ Total LEAPS allocation after this trade: _______________

Exit plan

Target profit: _______________ %
Six-month management date: _______________
Thesis-failure condition: _________________________________________________________________
Roll condition (if any): _________________________________________________________________

17. Weekly / Periodic Position Review

Repeat for each open position on a regular check-in cadence.

Stock price: _______________ Option value: _______________ P/L: _______________ %
Delta: _______________ Days to expiration: _______________
Fundamentals: Improving / Same / Deteriorating
Technicals: Oversold / Neutral / Extended
Thesis: Stronger / Same / Weaker / Broken
Action: Hold / Take profit / Reduce / Roll / Close
Reason: _________________________________________________________________

18. Post-Trade Review

Complete after closing every position — this is where the strategy actually improves over time.

Result: Profit/Loss _______________ Return _______________ % Days held _______________
Was the original thesis correct? Yes / No / Partially
Was the entry timing good? Yes / No
Was the contract (delta, strike, expiration) appropriate? Yes / No
Was position size appropriate? Yes / No
Did I follow my predefined exit plan? Yes / No
Did emotion influence the trade? Yes / No
What worked: _________________________________________________________________
What didn’t: _________________________________________________________________
What I’ll change next time: _________________________________________________________________

Final Note

This playbook consolidates the mechanics and risk framework described in the source material. Options trading — LEAPS included — carries real risk of significant or total loss on the capital committed to a position. Treat specific numeric targets (delta thresholds, profit percentages, allocation percentages) as one trader’s personal heuristics to stress-test against your own risk tolerance, not as fixed rules.

Claud.AI states this:

The presenter — significant, corroborated red flags

The options mechanics in the transcript are legitimate and accurately described. The presenter and his specific track-record claims are a different story — there’s a real, documented pattern of complaints worth taking seriously.

I searched for background on “Henry” (Henry Moldavskiy, “Invest with Henry,” ~250K+ YouTube subscribers). Some findings, cross-checked across multiple independent sources (Trustpilot, BBB, and a competing educator’s investigative review):

Inconsistent self-reported numbers. This video claims $100K → $700K in 2021. His own marketing site separately claims $2,000 → $1.5M, and another video claims $2,000 → $3.9M. Three different starting points and endpoints for what’s presented as the same origin story is a real, checkable inconsistency — not opinion.
No independently verified track record. No audited brokerage statements have been published to support any of these figures, despite the “I eat my own cooking, I show everything” framing in the video.
Customer complaints on Trustpilot and BBB (which I pulled directly, independent of any single reviewer’s opinion) include refund denials, an $4,000+ loss following his Discord trade alerts, and a BBB complaint describing “no legitimate service… strictly a money grab.” Trustpilot reviews are mixed — some genuinely positive, some scathing — which is normal for any coaching business, but the volume and specificity of refund complaints stood out.
A detailed, but single-source and financially-interested, investigative review (from a rival options educator who sells a competing paid product — so has an obvious incentive to disparage him) alleges: an embellished Goldman Sachs role (co-op intern in private wealth management, not trading), a Whop platform removal of his course after a policy investigation, unauthorized charges disputed by multiple customers, and a list of his historical stock picks (GEVO, UPST, NIO, SPCE, etc.) that suffered 80–95% losses during a strong 2021–2024 bull market. Some of this (the Whop removal, the loss list) is independently checkable in principle; the Goldman Sachs claim rests on an anonymous “former classmate” relayed secondhand by a competitor, so I’d treat that specific allegation with more caution than the rest — it’s the weakest-sourced claim in the bunch, not confirmed by me directly.

None of this proves fraud with certainty, but it’s not “just internet hate” either — the refund and unauthorized-charge complaints show up independently on Trustpilot and BBB, outside of any single critic’s blog.

HIGH NOON TRADER