How quickly things can change, right? Last week's market train wreck created a debacle for traders and investors alike we scrambled to our charts to determine if the technical breakdown was going to continue-was this the beginning or end of the leg down? The last two weeks yielded little shelter for any investment, equities and commodities both slid in the past two weeks. This type of market is tailored for the options trader, but that doesn't mean profits come easy. It's still survival of the fittest in the options market, this probably resonates well with the shareholders of Fannie and Freddie, but the opportunities are endless.

Top bullish and bearish movers in the ETF universe can lead to spotlighting individual stocks that are breaking out or down. Here's where last weeks survivors placed their bets:



What about this week? Darwin believed in survival of the fittest, and in this market it's who has the best information and the means to act on that information not only survives, but wins. So, what information do you need? Traders need to constantly be aware of what sectors are primed for breakdown or breakout. Here's a quick list of what I do each week to determine where to invest capital for maximum profits.

1. Compile a list of your favorite Exchange Traded Funds. Choose as many as you like but pay attention to liquidity, optionability, the funds diversification (some are inadequately diversified).

2. Track your favorite ETFs using your trading platform or Excel spreadsheet.

3. Once you discover a breakout or breakdown in an ETF, you're on your way to profitability. I confirm trends using Acceleration Bands, MACD, and Williams' Percent R.

4. The next step is up to you. You can focus on trading options on the ETFs or find a faster and potentially more profitable trade on an underlying stock

5. Finally, comes options selection, which is an overlooked aspect of any system. Sector breakouts generally last longer than do individual stock breakouts. Holding periods or ETF may tend to last longer than holding periods for stocks, plan your options expiration appropriately.

Following these steps periodically can routinely find sector and industry trends that you can exploit in your portfolio. Survival of the fittest encompasses the options market, its a zero sum game, meaning someone wins and someone loses. The best traders should take this simple strategy and tweak it to give it a unique competitive edge. For example, if the underlying ETF is breaking out your new strategy may be to trade puts on the related inverse ETF. Of course, you can take the same idea one step further and only trade the ultra short ETF when an underlying sector breakout. To survive you need to think differently than the competition, but you must be consistent.

Price Headley is the founder and chief analyst of BigTrends.com.