Our Team

Morris Puma, CEO & Chief Options Strategist

Morris was educated in his trading skills from some of the most famous option experts in the business, gaining experience in many types of trading since 1997. He eventually honed in on index option trading as his favorite area and has been trading options full-time since 2004. He eventually developed his expertise to the point where he has originated some ground-breaking trading methods. The strategies he’s developed are so new and unique he is in discussions of applying for a patent on them.

He’s developed trades that nobody else in the world knows. In spite of many non-believers, in fact, many of his trades become nearly risk-free and completely secure against loss. Nobody believes this until they take the course, but he continues to trade safely and so do his students. He’s really found a way to develop a 100% probability of profit on his trades over and over again.

As an instructor at San Jose Options, Inc. Morris focuses on Index Options, the RUT and NDX. His teaching staff, now beginning to include former students, has over 40 years combined investing experience where he continues to teach his innovative, low-risk trading strategies.

Duane Teachout, 25-Year Veteran Options Strategist & Mentor

Duane entered the Commodity Market in 1987 and started investing in earnest doing equity trades using Schwab on his dial up modem in 1994. His first experience managing large investments was handling the 2000 IPO shares he acquired.

He’s a long-time TDAmeritrade client and moved over to ThinkOrSwim during the acquisition. He has since extended his options education through TDAmeritrade, Investools courses, Zack’s personal investment coaching and Schaeffer’s Option Trader. Now semi-retired, he keeps busy in the investment market and managing his real estate portfolio.

He developed a passion for working with Morris at San Jose Options after becoming one of his successful students, insisting that San Jose Options is one of the finest organizations he’s ever come across. He also admires Morris and the educational offerings Morris has put together at SJOptions. “It’s an exciting, creative and fulfilling environment.”

David Heinzen, 16-Year Veteran Trader & Mentor

Our admirable, commercial airline pilot, David, is a risk-manager of the highest order. Becoming an options instructor here at SJ Options, the course based on Max Safety, was a symphonic move that meshed harmoniously with his lifestyle and ours. This is very fortunate, and in keeping with his training, as in David’s profession there is extremely little room for mistakes.

David first began investing in the mid-90s by buying blue-chip stocks and mutual funds. He then gained experience day trading in 1999 during the dot-com bubble. However, this style of trading didn’t suit him, so he returned to a more conservative method of investing by focusing on the basics of long-term buy and hold.

After several market downturns, he decided he needed to take a new approach to his "long" only portfolio by expanding his skill set to include options study. He began researching option basics with a concentration on traditional strategies, and he has enjoyed options trading ever since! He uses the ThinkOrSwim platform and is well versed in its functions.

David became a student of San Jose Options in the summer of 2011. He has successfully traded equity and index options by applying Morris' visionary strategies to both his paper money and live accounts. He confirmed that he is trading alongside the best in the business after attending SJO's first live seminar and meeting Morris and his team in person. “I have never been more confident in my ability to create and manage safer option trades.”

David is excited to apply his teaching skills as a Certified Flight Instructor to work with SJO students in his role as a mentor.

Marvin Fontanilla, 13-Year Veteran Trader & SEM Specialist

Marvin, the newest addition to our team, is our jack-of-all-trades SEM specialist. He has an Economics degree from UC Davis. He began his investing career in 1999 by trading penny stocks during the Internet Boom. When March 10, 2000 arrived, he nearly lost his entire portfolio value and was left behind as a bagholder in many companies he owned. After going through that devastation, he vowed that he would share his experience with as many people possible to prevent them from making the same mistake, all the while searching for a safer approach to investing.

In 2009, Marvin began blogging about his investment experience . A year after, he became a business owner after opening two frozen dessert shops. During these projects, he discovered his passion for Marketing and connecting products/services with the people who need them. He now employs his skills at SJ Options.

Alex Hamad, Senior Web Developer

Alex is our senior web application developer and programmer. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Systems Engineering, a Masters Degree in Computer Systems and Networks as well as a PhD in Information Security. He helps us assure that our web service is safe and secure while additionally providing our clients with a cutting-edge online learning experience using HD quality audio and video to further enhance the best education on stock option trading that money can buy.

Alex has been a very responsive and dependable asset to our company and we're really glad to have him as part of the San Jose Options team.

Liz Barriga, Sales & Client Relations

Prior to joining San Jose Options Elizabeth worked for world renowned Victoria's Secret as a manager for 8 years. There she sharpened her organization and customer service skills. She attended FIDM from 2001 to 2003 studying marketing and merchandising. Elizabeth values all feedback from clients in order to improve the quality of our service and to consistently meet our client needs. With her strong people skills she strives to build trust and long-term relationships with San Jose Options alumni. She has been a wonderful addition to our team.

Desiree Quan, Sales & Client Relations

Darby began her career in advertising and marketing in 1990 and has worked with many businesses and non-profit organizations. She developed strategic planning, applied market solutions, and client campaign management for various industries in print and targeted direct media. Darby also has direct online sales experience and distribution knowledge through her experience in nutraceutical sales, management of VOIP, and restaurant ownership. She began with SJ Options in 2008 copy writing and editing videos for online - later moving into business development. Her current capacity is in consulting with our team in client seminar presentations.