Risk-Asymmetric Trading: Structuring Derivative Trades Where Loss Is Defined and Upside Is Not
Risk-Asymmetric Trading is a practical guide to designing derivative trades where risk is strictly defined and upside remains structurally open.
Most traders fail not because they are wrong about direction, but because their risk is poorly shaped. This book focuses on trade architecture rather than prediction, showing how to structure options and futures positions so losses are capped, probability is controlled, and favorable convexity does the heavy lifting over time.
James Preston breaks down how asymmetry actually emerges in real markets: through volatility dynamics, payoff curvature, time decay, and positioning relative to market structure-not through oversized bets or heroic forecasts. You'll learn how professional traders think about downside first, then build exposure where gains can compound non-linearly when conditions align.
Inside, you'll learn how to:
Structure derivative trades with predefined maximum loss
Identify setups where payoff distribution is skewed in your favor
Use volatility, skew, and term structure to create convex exposure
Combine probability, payoff, and risk sizing into a coherent framework
Avoid hidden tail risk embedded in "high-probability" strategies
Think in distributions instead of outcomes
This book is not about signals, indicators, or overfitted strategies. It is about engineering trades, understanding how options, futures, and volatility interact so you can participate in markets without exposing your capital to catastrophic risk.
Whether you trade options, futures, or complex derivatives, Risk-Asymmetric Trading gives you a durable mental model for surviving uncertainty while positioning for outsized gains when the market moves.
If your goal is longevity, capital preservation, and asymmetric upside, this is the framework that makes that possible.
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