Educational only, not financial advice or a strategy recommendation. Options strategies carry risk, including of substantial loss. NoVo trades long single options; the strategies here are explained for understanding, not endorsed.
A 0DTE long straddle buys an at-the-money call and put — a defined-risk bet that SPY makes a big move in either direction, profiting from volatility rather than direction. It’s the long-premium mirror of the short straddle.
How it works
Buy both an ATM call and ATM put. If SPY makes a large move up or down, one leg gains more than both cost, and you profit. Your max loss is the total premium (defined), realized if SPY sits still. It’s a bet on a big move / rising volatility, direction unknown — useful around a catalyst you expect to move the market.
The 0DTE challenge
The problem: you pay for two options and face brutal 0DTE decay on both, so you need a large move just to overcome the combined premium and time decay. Buying a straddle right before a catalyst also means paying inflated pre-event IV that crushes after — a double drag. Long straddles on 0DTE need a genuinely big, fast move to win.
A long straddle wins on a big move either way — but on 0DTE you’re paying double premium and fighting double decay, so “big” has to be really big.
How NoVo differs
NoVo buys a single directional option based on a read — cheaper and less decay-heavy than a two-legged straddle, but requiring a directional view. The straddle trades that view for direction-agnosticism at double the cost. Both are long-premium, defined-risk; NoVo’s is the focused, directional version.