When you buy a 0DTE option, an options contract that expires at the end of the same trading day it’s opened. Also known as same-day options, it’s a high-speed tool used mostly by active traders chasing quick moves—not long-term investors. Unlike traditional options that give you weeks or months to be right, 0DTE options vanish by market close. There’s no time to wait for a trend to develop. You’re betting on price action within hours, sometimes minutes.
This speed changes everything. The options premium, the price you pay for the option contract is cheap, but the risk is extreme. A stock moving just 1% against you can wipe out your entire investment. Brokers require level 5 options approval, the highest trading tier for options, reserved for experienced traders with large accounts because of this. You’re not just betting on direction—you’re betting on timing, volatility, and market sentiment all at once. And since these options expire so fast, they’re often used to hedge intraday positions or to amplify short-term moves in earnings reports or economic data.
People who trade 0DTE options aren’t looking for steady growth. They’re chasing fast, high-probability setups—like a stock bouncing off a key support level right before close, or a breakout on heavy volume. It’s not gambling if you have a system, but it’s close. Many retail traders get burned because they treat it like a lottery ticket. The data shows most lose money over time. But for those who study price action, volume patterns, and implied volatility, 0DTE options can be a precision tool—not a gamble. The posts below show real examples of how traders use them, what went wrong, and how to spot the setups that actually work.
