Options expire on different cycles — weeklies, monthlies and longer-dated LEAPS. The expiration you choose changes how fast the option decays, how liquid it is, and how much gamma risk you take on, so it is a decision worth making deliberately.
Open the Covered Call calculator →Weekly options expire every Friday (and some indices now expire daily). Their time decay is fast, which premium sellers like, and they let you trade around specific short-term events.
The downside is higher gamma risk: with little time left, a single move has an outsized effect, so weeklies are less forgiving of being wrong.
Monthly options expire on the third Friday of each month and usually have the deepest liquidity and tightest bid/ask spreads.
They decay more slowly, giving directional trades more time to work and reducing the pressure of fast-moving gamma near expiration.
For high-probability income with active management, weeklies offer rapid decay but demand attention. For directional trades and a calmer experience, monthlies give your thesis room to play out.
Many traders sell weeklies for income and buy monthlies (or longer) for directional bets, matching the timeframe to the goal.
They decay faster, which can boost income, but the higher gamma risk means a single bad move can erase several good weeks. It is a trade-off, not free money.
Monthlies — they move more slowly and are more forgiving while you learn.
Long-dated options expiring one to three years out, used as stock substitutes or for long-term directional views.
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