You Bought The Time: Why Are You Complaining?

Описание: Options traders fear time decay. They talk about “hedging theta” as if it’s a hidden enemy quietly eroding their positions. But can time actually be hedged?

In this episode, Bill Johnson challenges one of the most common misunderstandings in options trading: the belief that selling shorter-term options, rolling positions, or using calendar spreads somehow neutralizes time decay. Time is not uncertainty. It moves in one direction at a constant speed. And certainty cannot be hedged at a discount.

Bill explains why theta isn’t a penalty or hidden tax—it’s the receipt for renting uncertainty. Selling another option may generate cash flow, but cash flow is not a hedge. When both contracts age, time was never offset. It simply advanced on two clocks instead of one.

You’ll learn why:

Time decay is not risk, but the pricing axis of the contract

Calendar spreads finance exposure rather than hedge certainty

Rolling an option out simply restarts the meter

Confusing financing with hedging leads to leverage and hidden fragility

The only true “theta hedge” of a contract is not holding it

Theta isn’t gravity, decay, or sabotage. It’s the hotel bill for staying exposed to uncertainty. And when traders believe they’ve hedged certainty itself, they often end up increasing risk instead of reducing it.

Understanding the difference between hedging risk and financing exposure may be one of the most important distinctions an options trader can make.