LEAPS & Deep ITM Strategies

LEAPS (Long-term Equity Anticipation Securities) are options with expirations more than a year out — often 2–3 years on SPY and QQQ.

A deep in-the-money LEAPS call with delta 0.80+ behaves almost like owning 100 shares, but costs a fraction of the capital.

Example: 100 QQQ shares might cost ~$48,000. A 2-year delta-0.85 call might cost ~$8,000 — similar exposure, 80% less capital tied up.