What if your portfolio looks diversified — but isn’t? This episode explores the concept of the “Pearl Harbor "portfolio, where hidden concentration risk builds quietly beneath calm market conditions. By stacking exposure in the same tickers, expiration windows, or strategies, traders can unknowingly create a single point of failure. You’ll learn how to identify warning signs of fragility, spread risk across time and asset classes, and design strategies that behave differently under stress. Rathe...
Feb 27, 2026•30 min•Ep. 245
Trading doesn’t have to consume your life to be effective. In this episode, long-time Option Alpha member Jack Krupey shares how a background in real estate and private equity shaped a steady, market-neutral approach to options trading. Instead of chasing excitement, the focus is on building systems that work across market cycles and fit naturally into daily routines. Discover how defined risk and consistent habits support long-term sustainability, along with practical advice for traders just ge...
Feb 02, 2026•22 min•Ep. 244
Short-term trading moves fast—but without a long-term mindset, it often leads to burnout, overtrading, and inconsistency. This episode explores why sustainable success in short-term options trading depends on thinking far beyond individual trades. It introduces the concept of longtermism and explains how focusing on process, risk management, and systems can dramatically change outcomes. Learn why dopamine-driven decision-making is dangerous, how automation and rules reduce emotional pressure, an...
Jan 26, 2026•27 min•Ep. 243
Going live with real money brings realities that paper trading simply cannot replicate. In this episode, Kirk walks through the five essential things every trader should understand and consider before transitioning from paper trading to live trading. From the limitations of paper trading to the execution challenges of real markets, we explain why strict expectations, conservative assumptions, and a solid understanding of liquidity are crucial. Kirk also breaks down how to prepare for in-the-mone...
Jan 05, 2026•23 min•Ep. 242
In this interview, Kirk sits down with Kevin, a long-time Option Alpha member who began trading in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Kevin shares how he turned his small beginnings into a consistent, structured approach that scales with his portfolio. Kevin details how he spent years learning before placing his first options trade and how those early experiences shaped his disciplined, rules-based philosophy. He explains how he uses position sizing, trend, and DTE selection to create r...
Dec 29, 2025•26 min•Ep. 241
Markets rarely behave as predicted by mathematical models, and extreme events occur far more frequently than traditional models anticipate. This episode explains why understanding probabilities, fat tails, and risk is essential for long-term success. We also explore how traders can build more resilient systems by focusing on recovery time, appropriate position sizing, and avoiding strategies vulnerable to black swan events. Discover why win rate alone can be misleading, and how expected value of...
Dec 22, 2025•55 min•Ep. 240
0DTE options are transforming the way traders approach opportunity and risk. This episode breaks down why these contracts are so powerful (and popular), why 0DTE volume has surged, and how you can trade them with clarity instead of chaos. We dispel common myths and highlight the real advantages of these short-term strategies, such as rapid time decay, high liquidity, and faster statistical learning cycles. You’ll also learn about the risks that traders often ignore, how psychology impacts intrad...
Dec 15, 2025•41 min•Ep. 239
In this episode of the Option Alpha podcast, Kirk sits down with his business partner and fellow founder, Jack Slocum, to share the full story behind Jack’s journey as a trader, developer, and entrepreneur. Jack talks about how he first turned to options trading to generate extra income for his family, how his early experiences “crashed and burned,” and why he has spent years since then learning as much as possible about markets and risk. Tune in now! How Jack First Got Into Options Trading: Jac...
Nov 26, 2025•51 min•Ep. 238
As an options trader, how closely should you be watching gamma and gamma exposure (GEX)? This episode will help you better understand gamma, interpret volatility, recognize inflection points, and build more context-aware strategies. Kirk sits down with Mat Cashman from the OIC to discuss gamma, explore how market makers hedge their positions, and why 0DTE options are so “gamma-rich.” Mat explains why hedging dynamics can create sharp market moves and how concepts like charm and convexity shape m...
Oct 29, 2025•47 min•Ep. 237
Gamma is one of the most misunderstood yet powerful forces driving options markets. In this episode, Kirk sits down with Lex from Tradier to break down gamma exposure (GEX) — what it is, why it matters, and how it quietly shapes market movement. Together, they unpack how professional traders use gamma to stay delta-neutral, manage risk, and interpret shifting liquidity, while retail traders can use it to better understand price behavior and volatility. Lex explains the difference between long an...
Oct 22, 2025•46 min•Ep. 236
Welcome to the Top Traders interview series, where we hear from Option Alpha community members who have delivered strong results over a meaningful number of trades. In this kickoff episode, FK breaks down his disciplined, probability-driven options trading strategies. We'll explore FK’s approach to selling premium with defined risk, sizing positions conservatively, and running a dual-track portfolio that balances longer-term spreads (marathons) with 0DTE trading (sprints) for consistent returns....
Oct 16, 2025•23 min•Ep. 235
In this comeback episode, I’ll catch you up on the biggest updates inside Option Alpha, the major shifts in today’s options market (hello, 0DTE), and what to expect from the show going forward. The options landscape has changed dramatically in the past year. From 0DTE dominating SPX volumes to a flood of new retail traders, the environment today looks nothing like when this show last aired. This reboot of the OA podcast recaps the biggest trends shaping options right now, explores the major upda...
Oct 09, 2025•34 min•Ep. 234
We're joined by Adam Cohn, Vice President and Head of Trading Operations at TradeStation, an award-winning trading platform known for its comprehensive trading tools, advanced charting capabilities, and extensive market analysis features. Adam brings a wealth of experience, not just from his role at TradeStation but also from his extensive background in options trading in the Chicago pits and as a market maker. His deep understanding of market structure and dedication to best execution have made...
Oct 11, 2024•50 min•Ep. 233
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show232 Navigating options expiration is a critical skill for traders, especially with the rise of daily expirations. This week’s podcast explores the top 7 automated tips and tricks you can use inside Option Alpha to set up your portfolio for better options expiration management. See all 7 tips here Adjust exit options as you near expiration Check the extrinsic value of your positions/legs Check the probability of short legs being ITM Don’t use market orders,...
Aug 07, 2023•39 min•Ep. 232
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show231 This week we explore the latest and most pressing challenges emerging for investors who have embraced autotrading. As automation revolutionizes the financial markets, traders find themselves navigating uncharted psychological territory. From trusting bots and algorithms, coping with reduced decision-making control, and the novel complexities of autotrading that demand a new style of adaptation and resilience. With help from our team, I’ll peel back the...
Jul 31, 2023•47 min•Ep. 231
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show230 This week I explore a deep and philosophical viewpoint into the world of automated trading and its inevitable rise for investors. I explore the evolutionary nature of human decision-making and its limitations in complex financial markets by examining cognitive biases and their impact on manual trading. I’ll also discuss the technological advancements driving this shift, risk management in autotrading, and the future trends and challenges in this rapidl...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 230
AI is the hot new buzzword these days, sparked by the release of ChatGPT a few months ago. Since then, it seems everyone has used OpenAI’s software in fascinating (and sometimes scary) ways. So, I jumped into ChatGPT and asked it to come up with the top questions that new and advanced traders ask about options trading. This week's podcast explores the 15 questions - and answers - that options trades want to know. See all 15 answers here What are options and how do they work? How much money do I ...
Jul 12, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 229
How long does it take a stock to get back to even after a large daily move down? And does the magnitude impact how long it takes the position to recover the loss? We’ve all been in losing trades and wondered if we should hang on to the position for a little longer or cut it loose. So, to help answer the question, we studied the short-term performance of stocks and ETFs after different daily loss totals. The study analyzed 324 assets over a 20-year period. We calculated the 5-day returns followin...
Apr 26, 2023•34 min•Ep. 228
Stocks have been described as a rubber band, and we often assume they will snap back and revert when prices become overextended. So, we wanted to know: How likely is a security to continue or reverse its momentum above and below major moving averages in short, medium, and long-term timeframes? And does the security’s proximity to a moving average impact its performance? We researched 20 years of data on 286 symbols, using short, mid, and long-term trends to analyze the ticker’s 30-day return rel...
Apr 19, 2023•33 min•Ep. 227
"The trend is your friend." It’s a popular saying amongst traders, and we hear it all the time. But is there validity in the statement? We backtested directional option selling strategies with a long-term trend filter to see if there is a significant impact on performance. We used Option Alpha's backtester to review the data for SPY, GLD, and TLT short put spreads and short call spreads. Short put spread tests included a filter to only enter trades above the 200-day moving average. Short call sp...
Apr 12, 2023•51 min•Ep. 226
This week we take a look at the performance of the Monthly Iron Condors ($3k Portfolio) bot template. You might recall that we previously did a deep dive on this template back on Show 214 , walking through the strategy setup, the scanner and monitor automation setups, etc. But now that we’ve had it running for a little over a year, we thought it would be help to take a look at how it has weathered this year’s market volatility and explore possible ways to adjust or improve its performance in the...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 225
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show224 Option spreads are a simple and flexible, yet powerful strategy for traders. And while spread strategies come in many forms, shapes, structures, and durations, some core elements are present in spread trading generally that new traders should pay attention to. On this week's show, we'll once again slow things down a bit and focus on understanding what option spreads are and how to trade spreads in your portfolio....
Aug 08, 2022•59 min•Ep. 224
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show223 What if you could build an automated strategy that navigates all market conditions? And while we know there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, we believe you can design a bot strategy that assesses the market trend and proactively adapts to current conditions. This "trader's dream" finally manifested itself in a bot template that become the collective “brainchild” of the amazing Community of traders right here at Option Alpha! The Hexabot, as it's now l...
Aug 01, 2022•2 hr 40 min•Ep. 223
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show222 Option strike prices are an absolutely critical concept to master if you're going to seriously trade options at any point in the future. Without a holistic and firm understanding of what strike prices are, how they work, why they are different than break-even prices, you cannot be adequately prepared to safely trade options. And therefore, because we want to help all traders place smarter trades, we've devoted this show to answering your questions arou...
Jul 25, 2022•41 min•Ep. 222
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show221 Starting to trade a covered call strategy is a popular "bridge" for traditional stock traders or investors transitioning to the world of options trading. It's a logical, bolt-on options strategy that has numerous benefits over traditional long stock positions. Today's show digs in one extra level and explores the different setups and ways to trade synthetic covered calls with a particular focus on using call spreads vs. single-leg short calls....
Jul 07, 2022•49 min•Ep. 221
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show220 In today's show, I'll walk through four clever, dare I say "wicked-smart", ways to leverage our proprietary SmartPricing technology for routing orders intelligently to the markets. If you're already trading with us at Option Alpha then you'll learn some new techniques that will help improve the efficiency of your bots and automations. If you're not trading with bots yet and are still manually entering all your opening and closing orders yourself, waiti...
Jun 29, 2022•27 min•Ep. 220
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show219 Calculating break even prices for different option strategies isn't as complicated and overwhelming as it might seem. Yes, you do need to perform some basic math functions to find different break even prices but it's certainly not rocket science. Plus, it's an invaluable concept to master because it's critical to your success as a trader. In today's show, I'll help you understand what break even prices are and how to calculate them for all of the most ...
Jun 23, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 219
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show218 In life there are three things that are certain; death, taxes, and bear markets. For many new options traders, the current bear market we've found ourselves in might just be your first. An inconvenient reminder that risk is present when trading, particularly when trading options. But alas, as the old saying goes, "It's just part of the game..." and my goal today is to make sure that this bear market isn't your last. That's right, I want to help you sur...
Jun 15, 2022•48 min•Ep. 218
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show217 Hey everyone this is Kirk here again from optionalpha.com, working every single week to make this the most popular investing podcast offered online because it's based on one thing and one thing only and that's. . . Helping you consistently place SMARTER trades. Thank you so much again for tuning in and welcome back!
May 05, 2022•37 min•Ep. 217
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show216 Hey everyone this is Kirk here again from optionalpha.com, working every single week to make this the most popular investing podcast offered online because it's based on one thing and one thing only and that's. . . Helping you consistently place SMARTER trades. Thank you so much again for tuning in and welcome back!
Apr 25, 2022•55 min•Ep. 216
