Here's What Happened in Week 1

Author

Don Kaufman
November 08, 2025

Look,

Let me show you what happened in the markets this week.

Nasdaq down 3%. Worst week since April.

AI stocks getting crushed. Oracle down 9%. AMD down 9%. Broadcom down 5%.

Government shutdown dragging into its second month. No jobs data. No payroll reports. Nothing.

Consumer sentiment near its lowest level EVER.

And they're cutting 10% of flights at 40 major airports because air traffic controllers have been working without pay since October.

Chaos.

And while all that was happening...

I was in the Christmas Tree Mastermind.

Breaking down exactly how to profit from it.

Here's what we covered in Week 1:

90 minutes on SKEW.

And I know that might sound dry.

But here's why it matters.

Skew is the REASON this trade works.

It's the foundation of everything.

Here's what skew actually is:

Puts are way more expensive than calls.

Not a little more expensive.

WAY more expensive.

I pulled up live option chains during the session.

Showed everyone the actual numbers.

The 650 puts in SPY were trading at $5.25.

The 700 calls (same distance out-of-the-money) were trading at $3.09.

Almost DOUBLE.

Why?

Because everyone's terrified the market's gonna crash.

So they buy puts for "protection."

Which drives up the price.

And here's the kicker:

We sell that inflated premium.

But it gets even better.

The further out-of-the-money you go...

The MORE inflated the puts become.

During Week 1, we went 106 days out in the option chain.

At-the-money options? Trading around 18% implied volatility.

Way out-of-the-money puts?

30%. 35%. Even 42% implied volatility.

Meanwhile, the VIX (which measures "average" market volatility) was only at 20%.

So here's what that means:

We're selling 40% risk in an environment where the market is only pricing 20% risk.

Over time, that edge compounds.

That's the entire trade.

And this week PROVED it.

Look at the chaos I just described.

Government shutdown. AI stocks tanking. Consumer sentiment at record lows.

High skew. High chaos. High fear.

That's EXACTLY the environment this trade was built for.

I explained all of this in Week 1.

Walked through:

→ Why puts are more expensive than calls
→ How to read implied volatility in option chains
→ Why the 1x3x4x5 ratio works (margin efficiency + skew amplification)
→ Why this trade thrives in chaos

If you're already in:

The full replay is waiting for you in the members area.

Watch it before Week 2.

If you're not in yet:

You can still join.

You'll get the Week 1 replay plus all 4 remaining live sessions.

Plus 12 months of live trade alerts.

Plus the private room, unlimited email access, monthly videos, quarterly huddles... all of it.

Week 2 is Wednesday, November 13th at 8 AM Pacific.

And we're building the trade. Live.

I'm walking through:

→ Strike selection (the 7 critical pieces of criteria)
→ How to place the trade in SPY and MES
→ Account setup (Tasty vs. Thinkorswim, portfolio margin, futures approval)
→ The exact execution process

If you're already in:

See you Wednesday. Link is in your members area.

If you're not:

This is the last time I'm building this trade live from scratch.

Week 2 is when you learn HOW to do this yourself.

Not just follow alerts.

Actually build it.

-Don