The Option Trader’s Workbook: A Problem-Solving Approach
$13.22
The Option Trader’s Workbook is a structured training manual designed to develop practical options trading skill through progressive problem-solving exercises rather than passive theory review. Jeff Augen approaches options education through applied scenarios that simulate real-world market conditions involving volatility shifts, time decay, strike selection, delta behavior, and multi-leg position management.
The book emphasizes active learning by requiring readers to analyze, structure, and evaluate option positions across a wide variety of market environments. Rather than presenting static strategy definitions, the workbook walks traders through practical decision-making processes involving calls, puts, spreads, volatility structures, arbitrage relationships, and expiration dynamics. The educational framework is intentionally cumulative, with concepts increasing in complexity as the reader advances through the exercises.
A major focus of the book is understanding how options behave under changing volatility and time conditions. Extensive coverage is devoted to pricing theory, the Greeks, volatility skews, delta-neutral structures, and the interaction between implied volatility and underlying price movement. Augen repeatedly reinforces how professional traders think in terms of probability, risk asymmetry, and dynamic position adjustment rather than simple directional forecasting.
The workbook format also makes the material highly practical for traders seeking hands-on experience with advanced position structures such as butterflies, ratio spreads, calendar spreads, volatility trades, and synthetic stock constructions. The result is a disciplined educational framework that bridges theoretical option pricing with real-world trade management and professional-level analytical thinking.
✅ What You’ll Learn:
- How option pricing reacts to volatility, time decay, and underlying price movement
- The practical application of delta, gamma, theta, vega, and rho
- How to structure and evaluate covered calls and covered puts
- Techniques for building vertical, calendar, diagonal, and butterfly spreads
- How volatility skews and term structures affect options pricing
- Methods for managing expiration risk and time decay
- How synthetic stock positions are constructed using options
- Practical approaches to ratio trades and volatility-based strategies
- How institutional traders think about leverage and risk management
- How to evaluate trade adjustments using real-world pricing behavior
💡 Key Benefits:
- Develops practical options trading skills through active problem solving
- Reinforces advanced concepts using structured trading exercises
- Bridges theoretical pricing models with practical market application
- Enhances understanding of volatility and expiration dynamics
- Improves risk management and strategic trade construction
- Provides progressively advanced training suitable for long-term skill development
👤 Who This Book Is For:
- Intermediate options traders seeking practical experience
- Traders transitioning from basic strategies to advanced structures
- Volatility-focused traders and spread traders
- Self-directed investors wanting structured options training
📚 Table of Contents:
- Pricing Basics
- Purchasing Puts and Calls
- Covered Puts and Calls
- Complex Trades
- Advanced Ratio Trades
- Stock and Option Trades
- Trading the Weekly Options Expiration
The Options Trader's Workbook: A Problem-Solving Approach By Jeff Augen
| Author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Product Type | Ebook |
| Format | |
| Skill Level | Intermediate to Advanced |
| Pages | 301 |
| Publication Year | 2011 |
| Delivery | Instant Download |
14 reviews for The Option Trader’s Workbook: A Problem-Solving Approach
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Raina Myers (verified owner) –
I had hoped that this book would help me understand options better but I was overwhelmed. Perhaps if I stick with it and get some “outside” training, I will make use of this book. I like the workbook concept and learn best that way. I can’t really say anything about the quality since I didn’t really understand much.
Nash Woods (verified owner) –
I have no experience trading options so I couldn’t make heads nor tails of The Options Traders’ Workbook. This might be a valuable resource for experienced traders that want to polish their skills but a beginner needs the KISS approach (keep it simple stupid). It needs to start out explaining the difference between calls and puts and progress from there. This doesn’t, wasn’t helpful, and was too complicated for me.
Aubree Quintero (verified owner) –
Boy, I wish I had this book earlier before I blew all my money. I made a lot of mistakes trading options and if I had this book I would of avoided losing so much money. The book covers in depth strategies to cover your calls, butterfly spreads, straddles, vertical spreads, calendar spreads and a whole lot more. Before you try to go off and blow your savings on option trading take my advise and buy this book and I am sure you will see a profit.
Esteban Mueller (verified owner) –
The theory of options trading is the ultimate application of mathematics to finance- as close as quantitative analysis and application comes to removing the “market” from economic decisions and replacing it with pure thought. And it is also willfully blind in believing its own rhetoric.
In truth, trading options is like trading anything – a combination of information, analysis, luck and intestinal fortitude [or guts]which is like a siren song-enticing many, some foolish some not, oftentimes onto the shoals of economic ruin with a seductive but deceptive melody about formulas and metrics.
This book plays the same tune. It is full of interesting examples and explanations of options strategies. It is also a little too disorganized in its presentation, and definitely not for the novice- while some examples are rudimentary, I can’t see any newcomer understanding this book [ I have dabbled in options for years and still found some of this book confusing].
In the end an experienced options player will probably be able to fine tune some strategies using this book as a guide. However, my experience is that unless you are a professional who can access wholesale pricing markets many of the techniques, while intellectually appealing, will be beyond practical application.
And for any who are inexperienced but allured by the possibility of financial success via options trading, read the Odyssey to get some perspective of the danger of the Sirens.
Miller Daugherty (verified owner) –
Workbook is the key term in the title of this book. It is a basically a collection of problem-solving exercises. The author lays out a scenario and asks a question, with the solution provided right there. There are hundreds of them, some simple and some complex. As such, it may not be the best point to start for someone just getting going in their options education, but it definitely has potential value for something with at least a bit of a foundation who’s looking to apply that knowledge. Not only do the scenarios and questions ensure a good working knowledge of options, they also will get readers thinking about options applications in ways they probably would not have done otherwise.
Stephanie Watkins (verified owner) –
I have been trading simple option positions for almost twelve years and I thought I was an experienced intermediate level trader. I am not. There was so much material in the “beginners” chapter on pricing that went completely over my head that I now consider myself a novice at best. I guess this is a good thing to admit your own shortcomings; I was surprised I am as ignorant about options trading as I am. Very humbling but at the same time I am now challenged to learn what I need to understand and trade options down the road. Jeff Augen came highly recommended from another trader I really respect so I will give this my time and energy until I do get it.
Cooper Ellison (verified owner) –
It is a slightly more technical that I had hoped for.
Zainab York (verified owner) –
This is simply the worst book I have ever read on options, or trading in general for that matter. For starters, the book is literally nothing other than questions and answers and there isn’t a corresponding book that teaches the information that the questions ask. Granted, the problems weren’t too difficult regardless, but my main complaint with this book is that it is organized by a question and then right below the question is the answer. It would be much more advantageous to the reader to have a section of questions followed by a section of corresponding answers, which would allow you to actually solve the question without the answer being right in front of you.
Magdalena Lynch (verified owner) –
Do not buy this as your first book in options trading. There is little in the way of frilly examples, pretty payout graphs, or even tables.
This book is fantastic for someone who has moved on from that, has probably already done at least a little bit of options trading (or at least some experience with fantasy trading and modeling tools), and wants to challenge themselves with much deeper content. This book is very clear, detailed, and has a practical focus on more advanced options you might really want to trade.
Imani Myers (verified owner) –
This is not a book for the weak of heart. I read it as my first options book, and then put it down. A few months later I repeated the process.
It’s hard to understand, but ensuring that you know how options are priced is pretty important to trading – it allows you project and calculate beyond what you can find in software. This book makes all of that clear, but I found it really hard to read in one shot.
Alexis Fry (verified owner) –
Jeff Augen is one of the most knowledgeable traders I have ever been in contact with. I have all of his books and have befitted tremendously from each one in a different way.
Lilyana Rich (verified owner) –
got it
Kohen Maddox (verified owner) –
The workbook really helps to ingrain the different ways to trade options and how to put the odds in your favors.
Malayah Mack (verified owner) –
one of the few great resources for daytrading options, and really understanding all the greeks and moving parts in spreads, straddles, and ratios. strongly recommended on that basis alone.
this is an advanced college level workbook. it is definitely a challenge, but as an intermediate level options trader I really learned a lot more from this book than 50 others I could name. very useful and applicable information here for any options trader, which is rare.
really what makes it great is that it is made for advanced traders, but it’s not mathematical or overly technical. you may need a simple calculator, but the math itself is less than high school, and still i think advanced traders will get a lot out of this challenge. His “Volatility Edge” book is also my #1 recommendation to serious traders.
This is not a fun read. You have to have a serious desire to learn to trade like a professional. Mr. Augen’s advanced trading classes at NYIF were many thousands of dollars, here he’s giving it away to you for $25. Ask yourself if you want black belt training or jazzercise.