Bruce Marshall

Senior Director of Options and Income Trading

Bruce Marshall

“Courageous convictions will drag your dreams into existence.”

Who is Bruce?

Bruce Marshall – Simpler Trading’s Senior Director of Options and Income Trading and a devoted trading mentor. Bruce has spent many years on Wall Street managing institutional and retail accounts, and we’re lucky to have him trading in several memberships of ours. In addition to the Simpler Central Chatroom, Bruce has his own service called Bruce’s Income Accumulation System (BIAS), where he focuses heavily on some of his favorite strategies.

He’s a meticulous planner and organizer. He’s especially top-notch in his attention to the market from a macro perspective, especially the volatility environment. He allocates his overall portfolio and strategies in a meticulous manner, and how he tracks everything, even more so. With each specific trade, he uses the Analyze tab heavily to plan his trades ahead of time — this helps him maintain full awareness of the risk/reward ratio offered with each setup. Bruce’s a conservative income trader, who specializes in longer-term options strategies that can make your money work for you over time without a ton of adjustments. The simplicity factor for Bruce’s trading game is that he typically uses the same position sizing for each setup.

Bruce relies very heavily on using the Greeks to set up and manage trades. This is very different from most traders, but the neutral style and lack of directional risk ensure that he’s able to commit a sizable amount of his portfolio at any given time. The length of time he gives his trades allows him to adjust as needed, and making necessary adjustments is also something he specializes in. His goal as a trader is to make an income while avoiding creating any large fires to put out. It’s all about the singles and doubles with Bruce — as these are great, consistent plays that add up over time without a ton of worry involved. The goal is to identify trades that pay you, regardless of direction, through positive theta, probabilities, and time.

If you’re looking to improve your risk/reward ratio, or you’re not able to devote large amounts of time sitting watching the charts, Bruce may be just the trader you’re looking for. As his trades develop over a longer span of time — sometimes even months at a time. First and foremost though, if you want to know more about the Greeks, there’s no one better than Bruce.

Where can I find Bruce at Simpler?

The goal of this service is to create a mix of income positions that can generate income in any market environment. You’ll get daily email updates, timely trade alerts, updated position spreadsheets, and access to the exclusive B.I.A.S. training room. For a limited time, you’ll receive a 30-Day full access BIAS Trial for only $7.

Start a B.I.A.S. Trial today >>

The Simpler Trading Team is unlike any other. We have 100+ years of combined market experience. While most other services offer ‘hypothetical’ trades and theories, we share our actual trading ideas in real-time. Come trade, live with Bruce!

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Bruce’s Courses

Pump Steady Cash Flow from a Choppy Market.

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Use this Weekly Options Strategy to Boost Short-Term Gains.  

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Understand how Greeks would affect your trade with changes in time, price, volatility.

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Trading Plan

  • I am trading for the freedom
  • I am trading for the “traders” lifestyle
  • Increase wealth over time
  • Pure Enjoyment
  • I love the Challenge I love the fact that Trading Sharpens the mind

I use a Hybrid Income strategy. I prefer to let the Theta do the work in a trade. I am not trying to find the next homerun stock to get rich on. The bulk of my trades are Theta positive or “income” trades with a mix of weeklies to spice things up. As I am a firm believer in “reversion to the mean”, most of my trades focus on non-directional type set ups. These tend to be slow and steady with a focus on consistency with lower risk. I will however add short term opportunistic trades at any time as they arise. I manage by the Greeks and think Greeks are critical to anyone that trades options. In managing by the Greeks, I am able to spot opportunities as well as risks ahead of time.

Monthly: I strive to achieve a 1 – 2% return per month.

Yearly: I strive for a 12 – 24% per year. I realize this is a wide range, but I have been very consistent over the years in the upper end of this range or exceeding it. I strive to take out trading profits from time to time to diversify into Muni bonds, etc.

Long Term: I look to increase my net worth over time, slow and steady.

I trade US Equity markets (large cap, liquid names) with additional emphasis on trading the indexes.

I have a dual pronged approach to trade longer term trade while mixing in weeklies and shorter-term opportunistic trades

  • I will employ any of the major options trading strategies and primarily use Butterflies, Calendars, Diagonals, and Iron Condors.
  • One of my favorite strategies is the Butterfly strategy which is extremely flexible. I will use this often and can use traditional, Broken Wing, Ratio, etc.
  • I evaluate each trade using Days to expiration, expected moves, volatility levels and strikes to determine if the trade makes sense.
  • I evaluate each trades risk/ reward and only take trades that I think fit my criteria
  • I will use a “time-line” to enter trades based on days to expiration. In this way, I aim to capture Theta over time with less risk.
  • In addition, I will often enter trades based on Volatility conditions. This being buying low Volatility or Selling higher Volatility using differing Hybrid Income Strategies.

I use a combination of true P/L stop and Price level stops based on Fibonacci levels, Voodoo Lines, and moving averages.

I will always have an estimate of how long (days) I will need to be in a trade to achieve my profit goal. I will take profits at my target profit % and/or $ goal. I will follow Bruce’s Gift guide meaning that if I get ½ my max profit in ½ the expected time of holding the trade, I will take or consider taking an early and smaller win. This stays in line with my consistency goals vs maximum profit on every trade. I am fully aware that I leave money on the table in most cases.

I manage by the Greeks which gives me a superior edge in trading. I monitor my trades closely and am very proactive in trade management. If / when a trade starts to get into trouble, I will do an extensive risk / reward evaluation which is based on (price, volatility, time left on the trade, amount at risk, etc.). This allows me to determine whether the risk / reward of the trade is better to manage / adjust / tweak the trade, or I simply need to close it.

My pre-market routine is fairly simple. I always watch and monitor the futures at night and pre-market to get a feel of the mood of the market. By doing this, I am able to prep and look for trade ideas and opportunities. I am also to anticipate moves in my current trades to see if I may be able to take profits or if I am going to need to do any defensive moves. I always try to be proactive and by managing by the Greeks, this allows me to plan ahead in my trading so that I have fewer surprises. By doing this simple routine, you enter the trading day with a cool head and a plan so there is no panic or confusion.

My post market routine is to review the days trading, any moves that I have made and to take screenshots for analysis and review.

  • Fibonnaci levels, Voodoo Lines, and moving averages.
  • Volatility levels, IV and HV.

I am currently Beta testing a clever trade tracking software and hope to be able to share it with everyone as soon as it passes the stress tests and approvals of the Pro traders using it.

I am a firm believer in continuing education and know that when it comes to trading, no one will ever know it all. I personally still take classes, watch videos and read anything challenging pertaining to trading. By being in an active and engaging trading community that we have created at Simpler, we have the ability to share thoughts and ideas that we all learn from.

I firmly believe that you must have discipline to be successful in trading. This means no shoot from the hip trades. This means no unplanned or unnecessary risk taking. This means no “too large for my account” trades. I do not “swing for the fence” as far as entering a very large % of my account type trade, however I will from time to time, use a Lotto ticket trade with very small risk and a very large reward.

  • Consistency, consistency, consistency.
  • Follow your trade plan.
  • Follow your rules.

Trading Platforms Used by Bruce:


Bruce’s Must Read Books:

The Wagon Wheel Income Generator

Bruce Marshall has traded options professionally for over 28 years, and in that time, he’s successfully managed portfolios from $10,000 all the way up to $150,000,000.

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Options as a Strategic Investment:

The market in listed options and non-equity option products provides investors and traders with a wealth of new, strategic opportunities for managing their investments.

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Study Guide for Options as a Strategic Investment

This Study Guide for the Fifth Edition of Options as a Strategic Investment will help you maximize your understanding of options, thereby increasing your profits.

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Option Volatility and Pricing

The bestselling Option Volatility & Pricing has made Sheldon Natenberg a widely recognized authority in the option industry.

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Trading Options Greeks

A top options trader details a practical approach for pricing and trading options in any market condition

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Here are some of Bruce’s favorite products:

Evodesk

The best thing you can do for yourself is get an electric stand up desk. I raise and lower mine about 5 times a day and it really helps relieve stress… Buy Now

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Dell 24 inch PC Monitor

I would say to get more monitors so you can spread your work out - I have 6 monitors that I use…

Buy Now

Standard Function Desktop Calculator

This is a cheap thing, but get a good calculator. There is a lot of math in what we do so have one to keep on your desk so you can figure out risk / reward…

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GUNNAR Gaming and Computer Eyewear

Get a good pair of tinted lens glasses. The monitors will fatigue your eyes. I think the best are the yellow Gunnar glasses and I have mine in prescription Gunnar glasses…

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Ultimate Aromatherapy Diffuser

I use an essential oil machine to keep the office calm. I do think they help…

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