Are options a waste of time and money? (pun intended)

The direction is what you need to get correct. If you want to skew the S&P short. You can use SPX or SPY or /ES long puts and/or short calls. Or you could even just do it with SPXU. It don't matter.

 

Or you can fake-trade synthetics at unpossible prices!1

Dude, I just (seconds ago) bought the SPX synthetic at 4478.03!

 

Don’t lie about fills. Don’t represent sim as real and don’t lie about the structure or venue. It’s a Cardinal sin. All you’ve accomplished is to show everyone that you’re full of shit and your nick is taint.

 

I am just calling the direction. How I do it is for me to know, and you to find out.

 

This is fake. You already stated that you traded SPX synthetics which was a lie.