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Leav Graves

Leav Graves

CEO

Leav Graves is the founder and CEO of Option Samurai and a licensed investment professional with over 19 years of trading experience, including working professionally through the 2008 financial crisis. His passion for finance began in third grade, and he's been immersed in the markets ever since, turning a lifelong curiosity into a full-time career. Before founding Option Samurai, Leav worked as an options trader and portfolio manager, specializing in both fixed income and equity strategies.

He brings deep expertise in options trading, risk-defined strategies, and portfolio construction, with a strong focus on volatility, automation, and decision-making frameworks. Over the years, he has developed proprietary trading tools, including a dividend capture engine, an options-enhanced portfolio tracker, and an AI-based trade assistant. Leav’s insights have been featured in Benzinga, The Street, Yahoo Finance, and Finance Magnates, and he was named runner-up in the Benzinga Fintech Awards. His mission with Option Samurai is to equip retail investors with institutional-grade tools to help them make smarter, more confident trades.

Education

References

Experience

  • Started actively trading ~2005 and have been actively trading since. Increased his expertise and moved into the professional space, only to return to the retail space with Option Samurai. 
  • Founder and CEO of Option Samurai, a platform designed to help retail investors make better options trades.
  • Former Chief Analyst and Portfolio Manager at Dividend Investments, where he managed fixed-income portfolios for clients, focusing on cash-flow optimization and tax efficiency
  • Advocate for democratizing options education and bridging the knowledge gap between retail and institutional traders.
  • Options trading expert with deep experience building and executing strategies based on technical analysis, volatility patterns, quantitative models, fundamental metrics, and options open interest data.
  • Such as cash-secured put, covered calls, dividend capture, collars, etc.
  • Built quantitative trading systems for trading stocks, bonds, and options.
  • Wrote hundreds of educational articles about options in the Option Samurai blog and emails.
  • Developed a proprietary dividend-capture model combining options overlays and ex-date logic.
  • Experienced in building trading algorithms that use call and put options and advanced strategies using Python and Excel-based tools.
  • Built Go/No-Go models for fundamental analysis using financial reports, focused on Israeli and U.S. equities.
  • Designed and tested volatility-based reversion strategies and earnings plays for short-duration options to capitalize on volatility crush, time decay, movement, etc., using iron condors, vertical spreads, and other options strategies.
selling call options in the money - AAPL Example

Selling Call Options In-The-Money: A Practical Guide for Intermediate Traders

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Profiting from options trading in all market conditions can be a challenge. But in bearish conditions, selling in the money call options can be a consistent way to both generate income and insulate...

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Option Samurai’s Q3 2023 Release – IV vs. HV. Analysis, Improved Spreads Scanner, and More

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As the third quarter of the year comes to an end, we are happy to announce our Q3 2023 version of Options Samurai. As mentioned in the last update, we have continuously delivered new features and...

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Options Trading Journal: Unlock Your Options Trading Potential

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Mastering options trading can be challenging, but a systematic approach using a trading journal can significantly ease the journey. This article will detail the process of maintaining an options...

IV Rank vs. IV Percentile - Option Samurai

IV Percentile and What is Implied Volatility Rank?

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IV percentile is one of the most important measures in options trading. It is also the most commonly used feature in Options Samurai options scanner. This article will discuss the Importance of the...

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ATR Option Trading Strategies: Ultimate Guide for Trading Options with ATR

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This article covers the topic of using ATR for options trading. It will explain what ATR is, How to use the ATR indicator, How to use ATR in options trading, What ATR bands are, and will give...

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Options Trading - Excel Template: Master Custom Tools Built in Excel and Google Sheets

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Options trading can be a profitable and exciting endeavor, but it's essential to have the right tools at your disposal to make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition. In this article,...

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How to find dividend capture opportunities

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This is a quick post on how I find dividend capture opportunities in the stock market. As part of my weekly process, I like to look for dividend stocks that distribute dividends in the next month...

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The edge of trading with ATR

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One of Option Samurai's unique features is the ability to scan the Average True Range vs. BreakEven point (ATR vs. BE).

Average True Range is the average movement a stock makes each day,...

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Unusual options activity (with step-by-step guide)

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Option Samurai has two predefined scans that help you find unusual options volume across the entire market. These scans help you see what the 'smart money' in Wall St. is trading. There are many...

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Dividend Yield on Strike - $KO trade

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'Values on strikes' are unique measures we created to help you find trades that take into account the underlying fundamental or technical situation at different strikes. Since options are contracts...

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