if you're new to $SPY 0DTE — read this first.
save it. come back to it.
1. start with 1 contract.
not 10. not 5. one.
$100-$150 deployed. real money. real fills. real emotion.
this is how you learn without blowing up.
paper trading 0DTE teaches you nothing —
the fills are fake and you can't feel the loss.
2. start with one level per day.
not five. not three. one.
find the nearest whole dollar or key reference level and watch what happens to it.
dont trade it. just watch.
3. only trade the first 90 minutes.
6:30am to 8:15am PST.
your edge exists in this window.
after that — theta accelerates, volume thins, and the same setups stop working.
4. always buy 1-strike OTM.
never ATM. never deep OTM.
1 strike below the level for puts.
1 strike above for calls.
sweet spot: $0.75 to $1.50 premium.
5. set your stop loss before you enter.
not after. not during. before.
bracket order. +20% TP. -12.5% SL.
if your broker doesn't support brackets — set it manually the second you're filled.
6. learn what RSI is telling you.
RSI > 70 at resistance = puts.
RSI < 30 at support = calls.
one indicator. one timeframe. 1-min chart only.
7. your first 20 trades are tuition.
not profit.
you're learning how YOU respond to losing money in real time.
not the market — you.
8. learn how SPY moves impact your option price.
this is the most important thing nobody teaches.
a $0.50 SPY move at a fresh level
can move your option +15 to +25%.
a $0.20 SPY move might do nothing.
why? delta.
1-strike OTM 0DTE has a delta of roughly 0.25 to 0.35.
that means every $1 SPY moves — your option moves $0.25 to $0.35.
so before every trade ask:
how far does SPY need to move for me to hit my target?
$1.00 option. +20% target = exit at $1.20.
that's a $0.20 move on the option.
at delta 0.30 — SPY needs to move $0.55 to $0.70 in your favor.
at a fresh level with RSI confirming — that's realistic in 1 to 5 minutes.
at a weak level with no confirmation — that's a lottery ticket.
9. size small until you're consistent.
$200-$300 campaigns max until you have 20 clean sessions.
protect the account first.
grow it second.
10. document everything.
every trade. every win. every loss. every rule you broke.
the pattern in your losses will tell you exactly what to fix.
the market will always be there tomorrow.
your account won't if you're not careful.
good luck out there.
wishing all you 0DTE traders nothing but success.
@shentrades