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Meet Christopher Gilliam

By:Yesenia Duran

This entrepreneur cracked the code trading strangles.

Christopher Gilliam

  • Dallas
  • 52 years old
  • Trading four years

Despite having no background in finance or investing, business owner Christopher Gilliam opened a trading account four years ago and sees consistent returns.

Making on average three to five trades per day a with a targeted 25%-35% return on capital per year, he’s beat his number last year using tasty mechanics--trading more than 2,800 times in 2024.

Gilliam owned a small business for the last 13 years (Vanguard Cleaning Systems of Dallas-Fort Worth) growing it from $0 to $8 million in annual revenue. Before that he was in medical device sales with St. Jude Medical, first as a sales rep and then regional sales manager before completing an MBA and starting his business. 


How did you start trading?

As my business grew and I had money to invest. I was very frustrated with passive investments like real estate and buying stocks, and I knew about options from friends who had been discussing selling covered calls. I had no idea what a put or call was so I started my research. I started reading books, watching videos, and then I ran across Mike and his White Board with host Mike Butler on tastylivethe tastytrade video streaming network. 

My world changed and I went down a deep rabbit hole watching countless tastylive videos. It changed my life and the way I looked at the markets. I have been trading every day for the past four years and still watch the videos daily. I will be trading from this day forward and know this is something I will do well after I sell my business or hire a general manager to run it.


Favorite trading strategy

Strangles .20 Delta is my go to with implied volatility rank (IVR) over 35. Directional with IVR low, but I follow the tasty mechanics religiously. If directional, I skew the strangles or sell one side. I scalp regularly to keep myself engaged and trade all products.

What do you trade most?

Options on equities, futures and commodities. When IVR is low, I’m trading currencies. Really, I just look for opportunities. I really listen to what the tastylive team guys talk about on the shows to identify opportunities.

Worst trading moment

It happened with Nvidia (NVDA) this year. I "thought" it was overpriced and started selling 20 delta calls. I just knew it was going to retrace. That was a long time ago—before the split. I am still battling it, and I am not proud of this. This is what I get for thinking I know something and not following the mechanics.

Watch his Rising Stars interview here.


Yesenia Duran — not an alien, not a zombie; just an editor. 

For live daily programming, market news and commentary, visit tastylive or the YouTube channels tastylive (for options traders), and tastyliveTrending for stocks, futures, forex & macro. 

Trade with a better broker, open a tastytrade account today. tastylive, Inc. and tastytrade, Inc. are separate but affiliated companies. 


Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before deciding to invest in options.

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