What price should I enter an option trade at?

What price should I enter an option trade at?

Directional Trades

A) Type of Strategies
  1.  Long Call, Long Put, Pre or Post Earnings Strategies

B) Strategy Criteria
  1. Go deep-in-the-money (ITM) with at least 3 months until expiration, so that you do not get punished on time decay / implied volatility.
  2. If you go deep ITM there is less scope for manipulation and then you can make the option order conditional on the stock price reaching X. That way you can set up the trade in advance.
  3. You can also enter a limit price, which you can determine by the 'Fair Value' in the OptionEasy Pricer tool.

Non-Directional Trades
A) Type of Strategies
  1.  Straddles, Strangles

B) Strategy Criteria
  1. You'll expect a large move in the underlying stock, but in either direction
  2. Go at-the-money (ATM) with at least 3 months to expiration for the reasons above