Brando aka Elite Options Trader’s Trading Strategy

In a world where risk management is sacrosanct and the use of stop-loss orders is often preached as gospel, Brando — known in the trading world as the Elite Options Trader — has carved a wildly successful career by doing the opposite. With over 14 years of trading experience and verified profits in the multiple eight-figure range, Brando’s journey is as unconventional as it is inspiring.

His Background

Brando didn’t grow up wanting to be a trader. His early life was geared toward medicine — he was actually on the pre-med track, ready to follow the more traditional path that was encouraged by his parents.

However, that changed when a college friend casually mentioned that he was making $300 a day trading options. The idea stuck.

Brando began studying charts obsessively and placed his first trades while working blue-collar jobs to scrape together capital. By the age of 22, he had turned his modest savings into a million-dollar trading account.

“I worked as a dishwasher and a painter while learning,” he recalls. “But I always daydreamed about the life I wanted. I didn’t know how I’d get there — but I believed I would.”

His Trading Philosophy: Size for Zero

The cornerstone of Brando’s success is his radical trading philosophy: he never uses stop losses.

“You size for zero,” he says plainly. “Every position I take, I assume it can go to zero. That mindset freed me from fear and let me see the full potential of a trade.”

While many view this as reckless, Brando explains it’s anything but — He sees it as a calculated framework rooted in understanding options volatility and trade sizing. For him, it’s about mental preparation and accepting total loss before even placing the trade.

His position sizing is carefully considered, often risking between 3%–4% of capital on an average setup, with rare A+ setups commanding significantly more.

It’s a method that’s allowed him to scale dramatically. “Going from four figures to six is the hardest part,” he says. “But once you have a system and mental discipline, scaling to seven or eight becomes a numbers game.”

His Track Record

Brando’s results speak volumes. He’s logged over 6,500 trades with a win rate hovering around 74%. On average, he executes 75 to 80 trades a month — all of which, he insists, must qualify as A+ setups.

His biggest trade was buying 50,000 shares of GameStop (GME) during the infamous short squeeze of 2021. “I was in Maui with my wife,” he remembers. “Within two hours, I was up nearly $2.7 million.”

Brando’s Trading Strategy

Brando’s approach / trading strategy is simple but very robust. He uses a combination of price levels, support/resistance zones, psychological levels, and momentum. He specializes in weekly options and breakout trades, especially on mega-cap tech stocks like Tesla, Nvidia, and SPX.

As he describes it, “I just wait for a level and see how price reacts. If SPX is at 6,000 and Tesla hits a major resistance at 414, I watch what happens. If both confirm momentum, I go in. If they reject, I don’t.”

Here is the strategy in more detail:

Step 1: Focus on a Small Universe of Familiar Stocks

• Trade primarily mega-cap tech (e.g., SPX, Tesla, Nvidia, NASDAQ).
• Master a handful of tickers to deeply understand their behavior.
• Avoid constant sector rotation; specialization builds edge.

Step 2: Identify Key Support and Resistance Levels

• Use simple price levels, such as:
  • Horizontal support/resistance
  • Trendlines (bullish or bearish)
  • Psychological round numbers (e.g., 6,000 on SPX, 414 on Tesla)
• No need for complex indicators — he actually avoids RSI, MACD, etc.

Step 3: Wait for Price to Approach a Key Level

• Patience is critical.
• He will wait days or weeks for the right setup.
• Most trades are breakouts or breakdowns from these levels.

Step 4: Look for Confirmation of Momentum

• Price should react at the level (i.e., breakout or rejection).
• Confirmation may come from:
  • SPX aligning with the stock
  • Market sentiment or macro news
  • Volume surge or clean move past a level

Step 5: Align Index and Stock Movement

• Look for correlation between index and stock:
  • If SPX and Tesla both break key levels at the same time → high conviction.
  • If SPX pulls back but the stock holds → possible relative strength.

Step 6: Enter the Trade with Sized-For-Zero Mentality

• Brando never uses stop losses.
• He sizes trades assuming the position can go to zero.
• Typical sizing:
  • 3–4% of total account per trade (normal setup)
  • Up to $250,000 on high-conviction trades
• If not okay with losing full size → reduce position.

Step 7: Time of Day Matters

• Trades mostly in the first 2 hours of market open.
• Avoids low-volatility periods (e.g., lunch hours).
• Only enters when volatility is present.

Step 8: Ride Momentum, Roll Strikes

• For winning trades:
  • Take profits or roll into higher strikes (e.g., Tesla 425C → 435C).
  • Capture upside as breakout continues.
• Keeps multiple trades open (3–4 positions max).

Step 9: Journal and Review Every Day

• Logs all trades in Excel (over 6,500 logged).
• Tracks:
  • Entry/exit
  • Ticker
  • Time of day
  • Reason for trade
• Reviews daily and reflects on decision-making.

Step 10: Stay Adaptable & Scale Gradually

• Knows when his strategy isn’t working:
  • Cuts size by 50–60% during cold market phases.
  • Avoids trading just to trade.
• Scaling from six to seven to eight figures is done gradually, without changing the core strategy.

Risk Appetite & Emotional Resilience

Obviously, not everyone can do what Brando does — and he knows it.

“To get to where I am, you need a huge risk appetite,” he says. “I’ve lost $1.5 million in a month before. You have to be okay with that kind of loss — and keep trading.”

Even with such resilience, Brando is no stranger to self-doubt. “I still question myself. Every single week. The market’s always changing, and one bad decision can undo years of work.”

He’s also candid about the psychological traps of success. After his GME windfall, he got greedy and nearly wiped out the profits in a reckless follow-up trade. “I broke my rules. Got lucky. But it was traumatizing. I learned to stay disciplined, no matter how good things get.”

Beyond Trading

Although trading remains his primary focus, Brando has also diversified. Six years ago, he launched a trading service, which now generates multi-million-dollar annual revenue. “Having a second income takes pressure off trading,” he says. “It helps you avoid overtrading just to pay the bills.”

He journals his trades religiously — a habit he attributes to his long-term consistency — and constantly reviews past data to find patterns and eliminate bad habits.

Know Yourself

For Brando, successful trading isn’t about copying someone else’s strategy. It’s about understanding your own risk tolerance, strengths, and psychological makeup.

“You can’t trade like me if you’re not wired like me,” he says. “Know your pain threshold. Know your process. And be brutally honest about who you are as a trader.”

If you liked this feature, be sure to check out other great traders like Alex Temiz, Steven Dux, Andrew NFX,  Lewis Borsellino, Alex’s buddy Bao “Modern Rock” Nguyen, Michael Huddleston of ICT fame , Maury Kravitz and many more

Written by Kareen Jeffs for Stocks & Futures Trading Magazine