Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show215 On this week's episode, we'll present a collection of questions custom tailored for digging deep into your psychology and mindset around trading. These are questions you should ask yourself, ones that trading coach might ask you, on a recurring schedule to help uncover and keep a pulse on the potentially harmful subconscious "self-talk" that tends to consume you. Look, trading options is already hard enough and it's certainly not in your best interest ...
Apr 12, 2022•35 min•Ep. 215
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show214 New traders with small accounts are constantly on the hunt for option strategies that help them get started but intelligently allocate their money without blowing up. And so back on Show 159 of the podcast we outlined a framework for building an options portfolio with just $3,000 which become of our most popular episodes. But when we recorded it, almost 2 years ago, we didn't have automated trading which means you still had to take everything we discus...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 214
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show213 Last year during the beta launch of the autotrading platform, I decided to take some time off from trading so that my full and undivided attention was appropriately on supporting groups of beta users during the launch of the autotrading platform. Plus, my live accounts were the proverbial "guinea pigs" for lots of critical testing and bug hunting that could only be found when connecting bots to live markets. But this "reflection time" was not only welc...
Mar 01, 2022•28 min•Ep. 213
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show212 Allocating capital used to be a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Breaking out your calculator or excel spreadsheet to manually run risk calculations and position sizing percentages before opening new trades. That's all of course if you actually remember to check your position sizing before each new position. Now, with automated trading, smart traders are creating highly efficient capital allocation systems that correctly adjust position sizing on...
Feb 22, 2022•55 min•Ep. 212
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show211 The iron butterfly strategy is a popular neutral options strategy. Plus, with their high probability and risk-defined characteristics, traders of any experience level can use in their portfolios. On this week's show we'll invest some time together and help you understand as many of the "ins and outs" of trading iron butterflies as we can possibly fit into an episode. We hope this becomes your new "go-to" resource for learning how to trade iron butterfl...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 211
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show210 Sometimes we don't know what we don't know. As a trader, we might have been conditioned after years of using legacy platforms to just "suck it up" and grid our way through complex and tedious tasks on a daily basis. But with automated trading, you can finally offload the things you do now (or should be doing) as a trader for bots and automations. In today's show, we'll highlight at least 12 complex things that are simple to automate with bots. If you'r...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 210
We are excited to announce that the Option Alpha platform doors are open to the trading public! This episode explains how you can get access to our new platform and what to expect when you begin autotrading. We’ll also do a deep dive on why we built the platform, what it is, what it is not, and what’s next for Option Alpha. How to Get Access Join the Waitlist and request an invitation . You will gain access to a FREE 30-day trial with no limitations and no commitments. You can move up the list b...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 209
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show208 The decades long evolution and growth in easily accessible brokerage platforms have created a self-reinforcing cycle of low attention span investors that are also now pulling even the deepest and most steadfast investors down the rabbit hole. Plus, the rise and popularity of meme stock investing certainly has pulled investor attention spans away from traditional analysis and reprogramed us constantly look for the next big move. On today's show we'll ex...
Sep 13, 2021•34 min•Ep. 208
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show207 Earlier this year we officially rolled out a massive free resource for traders with our launch of The Option Alpha Handbook. No more wasting time searching endlessly across dozens of unreliable sources cluttered with ads to get answers to all your burning questions about strategies, markets, options, and so much more. We built this just for you and our goal is to make it the ultimate reference guide for traders seeking clear, non-subjective answers to ...
Aug 16, 2021•47 min•Ep. 207
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show206 On this week's episode, I wanted to try something new and explore just a single bot template in detail together - a full and complete deep dive into the origin, strategy, automations, and decisions for one bot template. For this maiden voyage I chose the Trendy Short Put Spread bot which I believe is a great starting point for the potential series of "Bot Talks" in the future. Inside the show, we'll talk about everything from the backtesting we did lea...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 206
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show205 Often the terms hedging and diversifying are used interchangeably by traders. You might hear someone say, "You need to hedge your positions..." or, "You need to diversify your portfolio..." and in either case we understand the overarching goal as broadly the same objective; reduce risk inside a portfolio. However, the means by which you might accomplish this and the manner in which you get there via either hedging or diversifying, or a combination of b...
Aug 02, 2021•36 min•Ep. 205
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show204 Ever wish you could intelligently use automated technology that tracked and or trailed option trades for specific exit criteria without having to watch, edit, and replace orders day after day? Not some boring, outdated Good-Til-Cancelled order or generic, static Stop-Loss order either. Well our team granted this #1 wish from our beta users months ago and in week's show we're going to walk though one of the coolest new features developed for traders in ...
Jul 26, 2021•22 min•Ep. 204
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show203 Futures trading is on the rise and continues to grow in popularity. The trouble has been however that for most traders getting started in futures they find it overly complex and hard to manage. Though more capital-efficient than stocks, futures contracts come with a slew of complex sizes and specifications that turn many traders away from them. Thankfully this week's guest is on a mission to help make futures markets more accessible with small, standar...
Jul 19, 2021•52 min•Ep. 203
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show202 Decision recipes use easy to read natural language to help you setup detailed instructions for your automations to follow inside a bot. These decision recipes can also be grouped and linked together into infinite combinations so you have as much flexibility and control as possible. The last few months we've seen thousands of automations created inside the new Option Alpha platform and today I wanted to highlight eight of the more popular decision recip...
Jul 12, 2021•34 min•Ep. 202
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show201 This week on the podcast we finally release our much anticipated interview with Jason Goepfert of SentimenTrader.com. Inside Jason and I dive deep on investor psychology, market sentiment analysis, and discuss the concept of adjusting and managing risk exposure using sentiment as opposed to market timing. You don't want to miss this very timely and important conversation.
Jul 05, 2021•46 min•Ep. 201
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show200 Well today we celebrate the 200th episode of the Option Alpha Podcast. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has made the show possible, and most importantly, you the listener who has supported us in this journey to get to 200 episodes. It's pretty incredible that we got to this stage with this podcast. I hope that you really enjoy all of the upcoming shows that we have scheduled. Here's to another 200 more episodes on this podcast in the co...
Jul 01, 2021•34 min•Ep. 200
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show199 As automated trading starts going mainstream for retail traders, we wanted to ensure that expectations are set properly. Particularly, this includes discussing why we believe that automated trading does not mean unattended trading. To help guide and frame this conversation I invited our Chief Market Strategist, Ryan Hysmith, back on the show with me. Inside we'll talk about the future of automated trading, if automated trading provides an edge, and wha...
Jun 14, 2021•46 min•Ep. 199
Show notes: https://optionalpha.com/show198 After a couple of months on pause for the podcast, while we focused on the beta launch of our automated trading platform, we're thrilled to be back and ready to rock and roll again. On this week's show, we'll do a mini "State of the Union" on what we've been up to, what's new, and what you can expect moving forward. We think this is a great way to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time and make sure we're all aligned together moving...
Jun 07, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 198
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show197 There's a lot of research to support the usage of trend indicators as simple risk reduction elements that can be layered onto an existing strategy. The trouble, however, was that in the past investors had to monitor the trend and execute the appropriate trade reversals when the trend changed. With automation, we can now offload this simple portfolio strategy to bots - and cleverly defined multiple possible trend exits all from one simple automation. Thi...
Oct 22, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 197
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show196 Trading short naked puts (i.e. put selling or put writing) can be an effective and profitable options trading strategy. Often the attraction to naked put selling is the ability to collect premium with a margin for error if the stock drops, and have the ability to purchase stock at a discount to the current market price. The trouble comes however when the stock moves lower and challenges the naked put position and today's show is dedicated to helping you...
Oct 19, 2020•44 min•Ep. 196
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show195 It's well documented that not only do investors classically chase performance, ultimately yielding sub-par performance in pursuit but that they also do not have enough patience to stick with strategies long enough. My hope is that it ends today and you can elevate yourself above all this and objectively look at strategies for what their expected outcome range is, not what it's done in the last couple of months or a handful of trades....
Oct 15, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 195
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show194 This week I'm thrilled to welcome back on a very popular guest, Cameron Skinner, to the Option Alpha podcast. Way back on Show 61, Cameron and I talked at length about his consistent and religious process for trading options even though his "day job" as a real estate investor takes the majority of this focus and attention. Well, Cameron is back for another interview, and this time we dove even deeper into his strategies and how he thinks about risk and ...
Oct 13, 2020•46 min•Ep. 194
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show193 One of the beautiful things about shifting to fully automated trading on the new Option Alpha platform is the ability to finally be able to clone and replicate entire trading strategies using bot templates. Bot templates allow anyone to build a trading strategy and seamlessly share the structure and details of that strategy with one-click. Today, I want to walk through just one type of strategy that I think is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sit...
Oct 09, 2020•46 min•Ep. 193
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show192 Back on Show 187 we tackled the top 15 questions we consistently get around options expiration. Today, we're taking a slightly different approach and addressing head-on the 18 biggest questions and concerns traders have around options assignment and exercising, whether on or before expiration itself. Regardless of your trading experience level, seasoned investor, or complete options newbie, I promise you that today's episode will help you more clearly u...
Oct 06, 2020•50 min•Ep. 192
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show191 We're all subject to investment biases, often multiple biases working together at the same time trying subconsciously to derail us. And whether we offload the actual order execution and management to an autotrading platform or not, the human element or side of investing still impacts the decisions we make and the strategies we choose to execute or not. Until we take the time to label and recognize these major investor biases, we cannot overcome or manag...
Sep 29, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 191
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show190 One of the most impactful things you can do for your portfolio is add money or capital to it. A consistent and persistent schedule of funding your account, even with small amounts, gives you the added boost that compounds over time. But we all know this already don't we? So why don't we do it, or at least at a higher level than we do now? On today's show, I'm going to help you break down the zillion ways you can save money to invest into core concepts t...
Sep 15, 2020•41 min•Ep. 190
NEW Beta Site is Live: https://beta.optionalpha.com Today’s show is a massive announcement – we are officially announcing that we have our launch dates set for our new auto-trading platform. Today on the show, we’re going to answer some common questions that we've been getting around the new platform and we're also going to start going through some of the features that you are going to love about it. We have all the information you need right now about the platform and how to use its new feature...
Sep 06, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 189
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show188 Ah, taxes, a dreaded but necessary part of investing and trading. And although you might be inclined to skip this week's show, I'd encourage you to dive in because, even for me personally, this discussion helped clarify and re-solidify concepts that were mildly opaque. After all, tax concepts and terminology can get complicated fast and our goal is to help educate and explain things so that it's useful to you moving forward. Plus, I brought in a special...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 188
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show187 We get a lot of questions around options expiration - hundreds and hundreds each week. Yet, the same vital few seem to float to the top consistently so we're pulling these 15 questions into this week's podcast episode to help you understand and effectively navigate options expiration. And in the off chance, we didn't answer your question during the show, you can always reach out to us anytime for help and support. If you're going to trade options, you c...
Aug 03, 2020•34 min•Ep. 187
Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show186 Summer vacations are in full swing and as everyone rushes to their favorite social distancing hot spot, traders are often left wondering what to do with their positions and trades while away. And since we cannot build automated and trigger-based strategies yet, though it's coming soon from Option Alpha, we wanted to help with a simple but effective checklist you can use to square up your account before going off the grid. Make no mistake though, this ch...
Jul 27, 2020•30 min•Ep. 186
