Options vs. buying shares, when is each actually better?
Shares are simpler and never expire, so you own the move in either direction with no clock ticking. Options cost less up front and can multiply a move, but they decay and can expire worthless. Use shares when you want to hold. Use options when you have a specific move in a specific window in mind.
Buying shares is the honest baseline. Your risk is the stock going down, there is no expiration, and you can wait out a rough patch. The cost is capital: 100 shares of a 200 dollar stock ties up 20,000, and your gains track the move one for one, no more.
Options change the trade-offs. For a fraction of that capital you control the same 100 shares, and a correct, timely move can return far more than the shares would. But now you are paying rent (theta) and betting on volatility, and if you are wrong or early the option can go to zero.
Shares win when you have conviction and a long horizon, want to hold through the noise, or care about dividends. Options win when you have a defined move in a defined window, want to cap your risk to a known dollar amount, or want to hedge something you already own.
The mistake is treating options as cheap shares. They are a different instrument with a clock and a volatility dial bolted on. Match the tool to the trade.