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Two trading days after this post, $AMZN is up 19.8%, adding nearly $500B in market cap. Today was its best day since 2012 and the largest one day market cap gain in Amazon’s history. A few friends, and even my doctor mentioned they bought it after seeing the post. The result is nice. The more interesting part is how I structured the risk. Most of my short term options returned 10x+, despite the stock moving less than 20%. For years, I’ve used options to create venture like return profiles in public markets. Options are leverage, but not all leverage has the same risk profile. I learned the hard way when I blew up my trading account when I was 13. Margin can force you out at the worst possible time. Long options and call spreads let you know the maximum loss upfront while retaining highly convex upside. The tradeoff is that they can expire worthless. This doesn’t mean you have to play small, in fact my AMZN position has notional exposure equivalent to several million shares, but before entering I assumed the entire premium could go to zero and made sure the potential loss is tolerable. I typically keep long term exposure through stock and LEAPS, then add shorter term call options when I see a major catalyst. If the timing moves against me but the thesis remains intact, I roll down the strike, or extend my time frame to give myself a higher chance of hitting the target. The goal is maximum asymmetry. I typically structure positions with the potential to return 20x to 30x while defining the maximum loss upfront. Wiping out my trading account in my early teens sucked, but taught me a lesson I will never forget: being right is not enough. You have to size risk so you can survive being wrong on timing, and get back up to try again with an emotionless smile on your face.