The Option Alpha Podcast

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show115

As with many things in life the 80/20 principle can help guide and focus our attention on the most important aspects of options trading. In particular, trade entry and executing an options order correctly is critical to your success. I've often said that great entries save you from having to be good at everything else, like adjustments and rolling contracts. Today, I want to help you avoid five of the big mistakes you can fall subject to when placing a new trade. Some a small fixes while others will require a little more work on your part, but ultimately help you reduce risk (hint: it's the last tip in the show).

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show114

Short straddles and short iron butterflies are some of our most profitable option strategies, and a consistent staple when trading in our PRO and ELITE membership levels. However, when it comes adjusting these positions and going "inverted" it can cause even the most experienced traders to freeze up. In today's podcast I wanted to walk through the process of managing inverted option positions and help you understand what numbers to track and how the pricing, profits, and risks work so you can confidently go inverted on your next challenged trade.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/robinhood

Often times people ask me why I continue to run Option Alpha and give away so much free content, courses and training when we could easily charge for it? And the simple answer is that I'm in it for the relationships I build, the people I meet, and the investors lives we change by teaching them how to have more confidence and place smarter trades. Today's guest needs no introduction in the investing world as the company he co-founded is the fastest growing, and quickly becoming the largest, online brokerage in the US - Robinhood. I was fortunate enough to finally get an interview with Baiju Bhatt and talk about their latest announcements, of which include free options trading and a whole new web-based platform. Plus, we talked about the future of online trading, blockchain technology and Robinhood's overall mission for the average investor. It's an exclusive interview you can't miss and I hope you enjoy it!

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show113

Often times when new traders go through their first couple earnings cycles and experience large moves in the underlying stock, it can feel almost natural to want to buy contracts via a long straddle earnings option strategy as opposed to selling options the way we teach here at Option Alpha. In today's show, I'll preview some of the new research we've been doing in the field of earnings trading and cover the results from three major companies we backtested; Apple, Chipotle, and Facebook. I think you'll find as you listen this episode that your confidence in sticking with these trades for many earnings cycles will go up dramatically.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show112

Depending on where you started your options education, trade frequency was either glossed over or talked about in-depth. Here at Option Alpha, we've suggested for almost a decade now that to find success you need to be placing trades almost daily. But does this frequent trading activity classify us as "day traders" in the options market? If so, what are the implications that could impact your account? If not, how do we increase our trade frequency if we are not day trading options? In today's show, I present my overall framework as to why we feel, and our research confirms, that consistently averaging around the market price through move active trading ends up being more consistent and reliable long-term.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show111

You made an options trade and the position has gone well, leaving you with a nice fat profit as expiration approaches. Now the question becomes, what do you do with these cheap out of the money option contracts you sold? Do you buy back your penny options or let them expire worthless? Are there risks to do one over the other and when should you lean one way or not? On today's show I'll talk through what our research shows about exiting trades early, when to just leave them on to expire worthless, and who it all impacts your bottom line profit and loss.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show110

Why do we still believe that magically someday we'll have some inside scoop or tip that alerts us to market tops and bottoms? As hopefully rationale adults we often get lured into a false sense of understanding in the financial markets brought on mainly by the media and talking heads. Today I want to help you become a better options trader by not watching the market, focusing and more systematic trading setups, and providing the single most important case study in market prediction in the last two decades. If you pay attention closely I think you'll come to the realization that not knowing what's going on in the markets, and simply adjusting quickly along the way, is much more profitable.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show109

Unlimited risk option strategies get a bad rap in the investing community among newbie traders. And while our backtesting research has shown that unlimited risk positions like short straddles and short strangles generate the best overall returns, you might be restricted in trading them because of your account type or just fear the big potential drawdowns. In either case, on today's podcast I want to conceptually walk through how you could covert these strategies into their risk-defined counterparts and limit your exposure. As always, there's no free lunch in the market so if you limit your risk you have to give up something else and we'll discuss the trade-offs on the show together.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show108

If you trade options longer than ten days you'll undoubtedly run into a scenario where you get challenged by a stock moving either higher or lower against your position. When this happens the first question many people ask is "Do I start rolling up strike prices and adjust the position or work on closing out the trade completely at a loss?" Naturally, we are in the camp where we believe, and our backtesting confirms, that rolling your strike prices closer to where the stock is trading and taking in additional net credits ultimately gives you the best opportunity to either profit or reduce risk on the position. On today's podcast we'll explore this topic more deeply with a very detailed example and walk through so you understand conceptually how it all works moving forward.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show107

Today I've very excited to bring one of our very own Option Alpha family members on the show, MACDDaddy aka Robert. He's been a member for many years and someone I continue to seek advice from in many areas. During the show we'll dig deeper into the "Wheel Selling" option strategy which has created some fairly long and in-depth forum threads lately and warrants a little more attention from our weekly podcast.