Last week, I was at the Las Vegas Money Show, and you would not believe how many people ask me how to get started trading options! Maybe it’s all the slot machines, or the thrill of victory at the roulette table. Or, maybe it’s the slowing economy and skyrocketing gas prices.

Who knows.

All I know is that investors want more bang for their buck and are turning to options trading to deliver incredible profits!

Today, I’ve decided to revisit some of my tried and true options strategies that have helped me make averaged gains of over 100% per year since 1990!

Before we begin, I just have to say that I love trading options. Call me an addict, or an “options junkie” if you will. Just don’t judge me. Because once you've seen how quickly a trade can take off and keep on going, you'll find that the rush is absolutely addictive, too! So let’s get started.

Three Trading Techniques

First of all, picking stocks and funds to add to your retirement account might be time-consuming, frustrating and even a hassle, but trading options is something that you can have a lot of fun doing.

After you've been trading stocks and options for as long as I have, (which is going on 40 years now…) you come to recognize certain trends, and you get to see how stocks behave at certain times of the year. That’s why my first trading technique is to first learn that history is not only a great teacher, but inevitably will repeat itself!

#1: History Repeats Itself

Seasonality is a historical indicator that gives you a pretty good idea of how a stock is going to trade in the next quarter or two. For example, if a retail stock tends to go up before the holiday shopping season, it usually holds true that its options will be making a move right along with it.

Whether stocks have been quiet for a while, or even if they're trading maniacally, another trend I look for is how the stock trades in earnings season and other stock-related events like new product releases and industry conferences.

Historical information is only part of the stock story. Seasonality shows us when shares typically pick up in volume and momentum throughout the year, but by watching a stock’s ...