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DORIAN TRADER

How to Adjust Options Trades: 3 Strategies Every Trader Needs to Survive Any Market

If you’re serious about becoming a consistently successful options trader, there’s one truth you simply can’t ignore: learning how to adjust options trades is essential

Every trader must learn to adjust options trades.

Options trading isn’t just about entering good trades — it’s about how you respond when the market moves against you. Without the ability to adjust, you’re stuck hoping for the best. With the right adjustments, you can stay in control.

At Dorian Trader, we teach that there are three foundational trade adjustments every options trader should master. These are the adjustments that turn reactive trading into strategic trading — and they’re the difference between blowing up your account and building long-term consistency.

Let’s break them down.

1. The Roll Up Adjustment — Your First Line of Defense (Always for a Net Credit)

The Roll Up Adjustment is one of the simplest — and most powerful — tools in your trading toolbox. It’s step one in learning how to adjust options. It involves moving your short strike prices higher (for calls) or lower (for puts) as the market moves in your favor, all while collecting a net credit.

Why is a net credit so important? Because it not only gives you more room for profit but also reduces risk and helps maintain positive expectancy over time.

When to Use the Roll Up:
  • The market is moving in your favor, and you want to lock in more premium.
  • You want to tighten your risk profile without adding capital.

The beauty of the Roll Up Adjustment is that it allows you to stay flexible and opportunistic. Done correctly, this adjustment not only defends your position but enhances it.

At Dorian Trader, we emphasize that this adjustment should always be done for a net credit — no exceptions. This discipline keeps your edge intact and builds long-term consistency.

2. The Roll Away Adjustment — A Smart Escape Route (Usually for a Net Debit, but Often Paired with a Roll Up)

What happens when the market turns against you?

That’s where the Roll Away Adjustment comes in. This strategy involves repositioning your entire trade — usually to further-out-of-the-money strikes — to give your setup more room to breathe.

Yes, it’s often done for a net debit, but smart traders know how to work this cost into the bigger picture.

Pro Tip from Dorian Trader:

Pair the Roll Away with a Roll Up to offset the debit. This combination often results in a net credit overall and a significantly improved position — something we break down step-by-step in our Trading Club strategy sessions.

When to Use the Roll Away:
  • Your trade is under pressure and needs more space.
  • You want to move away from risk without abandoning the idea.
  • You can offset the debit with a well-timed credit-generating move.

This isn’t about giving up — it’s about upgrading your position. At Dorian Trader, we teach our members how to combine this with delta and structure analysis to trade defensively without going passive.

3. The Roll Out Adjustment — Extend Time or Rebuild the Position

Time decay can work for you — but when it’s working against you, it’s time to consider the Roll Out Adjustment.

Rolling out means moving the trade into a later expiration cycle, buying yourself more time for the trade to work. But at Dorian Trader, we teach a more advanced twist — the Repositioning Roll Out.

What is the Repositioning Roll Out?

It’s not just about giving yourself time — it’s about rebuilding the trade entirely:

  • Change widths or strike distances
  • Adjust deltas
  • Add or remove legs
  • Re-evaluate structure entirely

You’re not just rolling out… you’re rolling forward with purpose.

When to Use the Roll Out:
  • Time decay is hurting your position.
  • You still believe in the trade but want a better setup.
  • You’re ready to take a step back and engineer a smarter version of the original trade.

We walk our members through real Roll Out examples every week inside the Trading Club, so they gain the reps needed to turn this from theory into instinct. Done correctly, rolling out isn’t about “hoping” things will get better — it’s about engineering a smarter position with better odds.

Why These Three Adjustments Matter

Let’s be real: you can’t predict the market — but you can manage your trades. That’s the power of these three core adjustments. They help you turn:

  • Losing trades into breakeven or better
  • Emotional trades into calm, logical executions
  • Uncertainty into opportunity

They provide a framework for managing trades like a professional — not just when things go well, but especially when they don’t. If you’ve ever had a trade go against you and not known what to do, you know just how important it is to learn to adjust options trades.

At Dorian Trader, we don’t teach gimmicks or guesswork. We teach core principles and repeatable systems that give traders the confidence and consistency they need to succeed — even when the market gets rough.

Learn how to adjust options trades in this course
Learn how to stay in control when the market moves against you. The Options Adjustment Playbook teaches you the exact methods experienced traders use to defend, repair, and reposition their trades. Inside, you'll master three core adjustment strategies — Roll Up, Roll Away, and Roll Out — with clear explanations, visual examples, and real-world logic.

If your goal is to go from good to great in your trading journey, mastering these three adjustments is non-negotiable.

They offer flexibility. They offer control. Most importantly — they give you staying power.

Great traders aren’t the ones who get every trade right. They’re the ones who know what to do when things go wrong.

And these three adjustments — Roll Up, Roll Away, and Roll Out — are how they do it.

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