I had just started reading David L. Caplan’s book The New Option Secret: Volatility. But today I merely want to share two powerful images from the book that might make it easier for beginning option traders to understand the impact of time on their position. More experienced traders can empathize.

Let me quote Caplan.

“The short premium trader thinks like a troubled adolescent who cannot wait for the time to pass, and move on to the next stage of life. . . . Each day presents the possibility of a major tragedy. The adolescent thinks, ‘When will it be over?’

“The long premium trader worries like an old man who has not yet left his mark on life, but is still trying to. He knows his days are numbered. . . . He says to himself, ‘If I only had more time.’”