Argon module
Order entry
without detours.
Options systems
with a rule set.
Argon is the options module of Lab of Trades: rule-based trading strategies that the software watches and prepares as an order – and a tool for your own options ideas.
What Argon is made of
Tools or systems – you choose.
ToolsThe trading idea comes from you.
Smart Entry Options
Searches the option chain by your criteria, finds long and short legs, places stop, target and time-exit orders – Multi-Leg Orders in one step instead of a chain of entries through the TWS option chains. It does not trade for you; it builds the order you have in mind.
In the platform's Free Plan on the SPY · from $19 a month on the SPX
More options tools will follow.
SystemsThe rule set comes with it.
Opening Put
A finished options rule set that you subscribe to specifically. The software looks for entries on its own and lays out the trade in full – all legs, stop, target. A few clicks from you and the trade is live. Without your manual confirmation, nothing happens.
0DTE on the SPY · sizes S, M, L · from $49 a month
More Argon systems are in the works. We will announce them when they are ready.
Argon is the options module of our software Lab of Trades. Both are free in principle. In the Marketplace you can subscribe to Argon trading systems and trading tools for a fee. The Free Plan belongs to the platform and spans all modules. You can use Smart Entry Options daily on the SPY without subscribing to a system. You can add one later in the same account if you want to. What you need: the Trader Workstation, options trading enabled on your broker account, and Lab of Trades.
Requirements
What you need for Argon
A broker account with the Trader Workstation
Interactive Brokers itself – or any broker that uses the TWS.
Options trading enabled
You apply for that with your broker, not with us. It should be in place before you subscribe to a strategy.
The TWS running during trading hours
Without it the software cannot place any order.
The Lab of Trades app
For Windows, Mac or Linux – included in the subscription.
A basic understanding of options and their risks
The rule set takes decisions off you, not the responsibility.
Touch a mark
In short: broker account with TWS · options trading enabled with your broker · TWS running during trading hours · Lab of Trades app · a basic understanding of options
Why options
An instrument that can do more than rise or fall
An option is a contract about a right: the buyer acquires the right to buy or sell an underlying at a fixed price until a fixed date. The seller takes the other side and receives a premium for it. Because both sides are tradable, positions become possible that do not exist with stocks.
With a stock you have exactly one lever: the price. With an option there are three.
Lever 1
The price
FallsSidewaysRises
Where the underlying moves – the only quantity a stock knows.
Lever 2
The time remaining
ShortMediumLong
Every option has an expiry date. With every day that passes its value changes – even when the price stands still.
Lever 3
The expected movement
LowMediumHigh
What the market prices in as movement. When that expectation rises, options get more expensive; when it falls, cheaper.
What that makes possible
That is why positions can be built that do not depend on the market running in a particular direction, but on time passing or movement calming down. Whoever buys an option knows their largest possible loss from the first moment: the premium paid. The seller of the option, on the other hand, has the statistical edge on their side and benefits from the option losing time value.
The other side belongs to the picture
The same time that can work for you works against you in the opposite position – a bought option loses value when nothing happens, and can expire worthless. Whoever sells options collects the premium and carries a risk that can exceed it. That is also why your broker does not enable options trading without a separate application.
Data basis
Why our numbers only start in 2023
Until 2022 there were expiry dates only on individual weekdays – first Fridays, later Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Since mid-2022, options on SPX and SPY expire on every trading day. That is exactly the precondition for a strategy that is set up shortly after the open and done the same evening.
Since mid-2022
5expiry dates per week
on every trading day · SPX and SPY
That is why our backtest does not reach further back: what did not exist cannot be calculated. The period is not the window we picked – it is the period in which this instrument exists.
Does Argon trade for me on its own?
No – deliberately not. The software watches the market according to the rule set and lays out every order ready; it is only fired by your click. There is no execution without you.
Do I need options trading enabled?
Yes. You can only trade options if your broker has enabled your account for it – you apply for that there, not with us. Which level is needed depends on the broker and the strategy; best to sort it out before you subscribe to a system.
What does 0DTE mean?
„Zero days to expiration“ – an option that expires on the same trading day. With the Opening Put, for example, the trade is set up about an hour after the open and expires the same day. It describes the option’s term.
What separates the sizes S, M and L?
Only the maximum number of contracts per trade: S up to 2, M up to 5, L up to 12. The rule set is the same in every tier. Which tier you choose you decide by your trading volume. For larger volumes there is XL on request.
How does Argon differ from Titan?
By the underlying and the time horizon. Argon trades options with terms from a single trading day up to several weeks. Titan trades stocks and holds positions typically one to ten days. Both run in the same app on the same TWS.
Is this a signal service?
No. A signal service sends you recommendations that you carry out yourself. Argon is software with a fixed rule set: it knows neither your personal situation nor does it make recommendations – it applies rules and puts the result up for your release.
How long am I committed?
You choose between a monthly and an annual plan. Monthly you cancel monthly; the annual plan runs twelve months and costs ten. You change either directly in your customer account.
Can I try Argon first?
In the Free Plan you trade through the Smart Entry Options tool up to two contracts daily on the SPY – with no payment details. That lets you set up your own options trades and get to know the app. The systems themselves are not part of the Free Plan and have to be subscribed to.
Getting started
Two ways in – and the free one belongs to the platform
Argon is a module, not a subscription in itself. What you book is either a trading system or the tool. The software underneath – Lab of Trades – costs nothing. The Free Plan is part of the platform, not of the module.
Free
The platform and the tool
Download Lab of Trades, connect it to your Trader Workstation, use Smart Entry Options daily on the SPY – your own options strategies, set up in one step instead of a chain of entries. No payment details.
Not included: the trading systems.
By subscription
A rule set from the Argon module
At the start that is the Opening Put – from $49 a month, cancellable monthly or as an annual plan at ten monthly prices. The software watches the rules and lays out the order; it is fired by you.
You choose the size yourself – by the trading volume you want.
Both run in the same account. You can start with the Free Plan and add a system later – the app stays the same.
Important notice: trading options involves substantial risk and is not suitable for every investor. Losses can reach and – depending on the strategy and account type – exceed the amount employed. Past performance and backtest results are not a reliable indicator of future results. Lab of Trades is a technical tool and does not provide investment advice.