Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show78 I know one of the key elements to successful options trading long-term is maintaining an investment portfolio that is consistently balanced. And when I talk about balance, I'm not talking about 80% stocks and 20% bonds - that's portfolio diversification. Unlike traditional investment strategies that favor 99% of the portfolio invested in long equities and bonds with minimal short exposure, what I'm specifically referring to here is the concept of trading a mix of bullish, bearish and neutral positions all the time which gives us a much smoother and solid equity curve.   One of the best ways to measure overall portfolio balance is to beta-weight the portfolio to a benchmark index like the S&P 500 (SPX or SPY). This metric gives us an apples to apples look at how the portfolio as a whole would perform when the market moves higher or lower. And once you start monitoring the beta-weighted portfolio you'll notice that sometimes your positions can become unbalanced and lopsided.   In today's podcast, we'll give you four option strategies or techniques we use to help re-balance a portfolio that's gone out of wack. Of course, having a completely delta neutral portfolio is always the goal, but never the destination, and our talk about maintaining balance and neutrality should help as you continue adding and adjusting your option trades this year.