I've used options to bet directionally on stocks that were beaten down like EL Z RDFN etc. in 2023 Q3 and I bought DOTM calls out 3-6 months and they wrked pretty well. I think my RDFN calls were up like 25X of course RDFN went up 100+% in like 4 weeks from the October bottom thanks to a speech by Powell that was interpreted by the street as more bullish than he meant. I think the 10yr went from 5% to 3.8% in a 4-5 weeks so that was huge boon to these real estate companies. Just 2 weeks ago, right before the election I had calls on all the TBTF banks and on November 6 they all skyrocketed like between 5-40X. I think my GS Nov 520 calls went from $0.90 to $35 in one day. That was just lightning-in-a-bottle, I don't think there are too many days that the large banks move 10% in one day. It was a crazy move.
Yah, I was referring to the implicit borrowing cost in call options, which theoretically would be risk tree rate and a bit less than what a broker is offering for margin.