Most investors fail at this endeavor, because they are not prepared to stay for the long haul and will quit after taking a few losses. But, like any game you enjoy playing, the more skills you can acquire during the learning curve, the better-equipped to win you will be when your turn comes around again.

Options trading is much better than a board game, though, because it gives you an incredible opportunity to win real money – and even BIG money – when done right. It also lets us win whether we've landed on the right square or a neighboring one. It even lets us get out of the game when we start losing, so we can rotate our capital into another game (i.e., trade) that is more attractive.

These are definitely compelling reasons to trade options – you pick the game, define the rules and play as much as you want. If you exhaust your fund for the year, it's "game over" for the time being and it was money you were willing to spend anyway. But once you get on a winning streak – and there's no reason why you shouldn't – there's no telling how profitable the game can be!

Make Memorable Returns on Low-Key Stocks

The broader markets have had a rough couple of weeks, but today the overarching bullishness that we've been missing managed to shine through again after yesterday's sell-off.

Although the markets can sometimes have tremendous impact on our individual options positions, both existing ones and those we're considering putting on the table, we're not in the business of making trades based on binary market events. Trying to capitalize on a one-off, short-term event is better left to the day traders, as they can watch their computer screens all day and pile into (or out of) these kinds of opportunities within the span of a few days or even a few hours.

But for those of you who are spending your days in the board room, operating room or family room, this doesn't exclude you from making some quick returns of your own. On the contrary, anyone who decided to short the tech sector yesterday was in for a surprise today when these names broke to the upside.

The draw to follow what the "big guys" might be doing and the desire to get into "story stocks" like Apple (href="/getaquote/?STOCK_VAR=AAPL"target="_blank">AAPL) and Research In Motion (RIMM) can be tempting, because everyone wants to go where the momentum is. And that's a big ingredient to our own trading success, but it's only part of the story.

I'm less interested in the company names that "everyone" knows and more interested in the names that are going to get up and move – and keep on moving during our targeted three-week position holding periods. That is, I'm looking for momentum (whether to the upside or downside) that will sustain itself for more than just a heartbeat.

Sure, we all want to take home big profits in a short amount of time – and in some cases, we have – but it's never a bad thing when it takes a few days or so for a trade to get some traction. That speaks to our preferred "unwinding" strategy of banking profits on half of our positions (i.e., if we buy 10 contracts, closing five of them) when they double in value and letting the rest ride for potentially even-bigger gains.

Besides, it's no fun to be in on the names that "everyone else" is supposedly chasing. Our goal, first and foremost, is to identify undervalued options. Meaning, the gems that are (temporarily) going unnoticed – just sitting there, ready to break out. We're in this game to spend a little money and potentially make back a lot, not to jump on a fast-moving bandwagon and hope it doesn't run out of fuel in the middle of the road.

Short-term market events bring as many challenges as they do opportunities. Think about it: How many times have you had the "perfect" position on the table, only to be rocked out of it because some random event (like an analyst's upgrade or downgrade) sent a ripple effect through an entire sector?

Remember that analyst commentary is based on a particular stock's expected performance … by that analyst or firm. And as we saw in early November when CIBC World Markets analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded Citigroup (C), she received many death threats. No doubt those came from angry investors who lost a lot of money, as her note led to a $369 billion drop in shares.

One would think that those investors would have instead been angry with the company itself because it isn't doing as well as it was/could be thanks to the amount of write-offs it had to make in relation to its exposure to the subprime-lending market.

That's not to say that analysts' outlooks aren't valid, in most cases. It's just fascinating to watch how much shareholders react, whether they're loading up on the stock or heading for the exits like their hair is on fire.

Also keep in mind that there are almost as many opinions as there are people watching these stocks. So, stay clear of the "herd" mentality (i.e., that which compels people to follow these proverbial pied pipers in droves) and stick with what works, which is solid technical and fundamental analysis and profitability simulation.

In the quest for fast profits, a little bit of patience (i.e., waiting for our trade recommendations each Friday, as opposed to making an impulsive trade based on whatever's making headlines on a particular day) can go a long way.

125% gains in 11 days. 140% gains in 9 days. 186% gains in 11 days. 112% gains in 10 days. 100% gains in 7 days. 100% gains in 21 days. 121% gains in 8 days. 195% gains in 15 days. 409% gains in 40 days. All trades recommended and closed at Ken Trester's Fast Options Profits in the past 4 months. That's MONEY! Better yet, that's FAST money. Ken targets fast trades he can get in and out of in 3 weeks or less. So if you like money-doublers — and you like them coming fast and furiously —href="/order/?pc=9BK195"target="_blank"> give Fast Options Profits a try. He's been making people wealthy before options trading ever got "cool."