Defensives: A hidden goldmine

Before I begin, I recognize these stodgy old dogs lack sex appeal which makes them unappealing or forgotten by most traders, especially in today's market where thirst for the next great thing is unquenchable. But this may be where an edge presents itself... Take for instance a company you probably never think of: Waste Management (WM). The business model is self-explanatory: they collect waste and manage its disposal. Trash does not equal sex appeal, clearly. If there ever was a business with a true moat, it's this one. I'll spare the details; you can ask a chatbot if you want a deep dive on their business lines and strength of moat. Let's talk about LEAPs on this bad boy. The Jan '27 200 strike contract first began trading in February of 2025. It has since experienced a trough-to-peak 100% return twice..one of them being over 150% (Nov. '25 - March '26). Keep in mind, we are not discussing a deep OTM strike or a short dated option here. The stock closed below $200/share a grand total of 4 days during the life of this contract. 4 days! From the November 2025 low, a subsequent \~27% positive move returned the 150%+ gain on the 200 strike contract. Incredible. What's more, the trading pattern of this company is incredibly reliable. It rarely stays below its 200DMA for more than 1-3 months and when it does it consistently rebounds for what many would consider a modest gain in commons, but an explosive gain in a LEAP option. Even if you wanted to hedge, puts are just as cheap as calls; you can gain hedge exposure without breaking the bank. This is but one example. You can model this by looking at option charts on TradingView for names like COST, JNJ, etc. Costco has also experienced multiple 100%+ moves on its LEAP contracts. Of course, the past trading patterns are not indicative of what will occur in the future. Investing is a game of probabilities and risk/reward. To me, LEAPs skew heavily in the favor of reward. What says you?