OAP 169: Interview w/ Kevin Davitt – Former Market Maker & CBOE Senior Instructor
This week we’re very excited to share our exclusive interview with Kevin Davitt, a special guest with tons of experience not only as a former market maker, but as the Senior Instructor for The Options Institute at CBOE. As many long-time listener’s know, we are highly selective with people we choose to bring on as…
Option Alpha’s New Auto-Trading Platform Updates
Important Note: This post will be the central hub for updates on the new platform. It’ll be updated as needed and as new milestones are hit and/or when feedback is requested. The newest updates will be added to the top of the post with older updates pushed lower for reference. We encourage you to bookmark…
OAP 168: The 27 Biggest Options Trading Fears
Did you know that fear has nothing to do with logical or cognitive reasoning? It’s actually a completely physical response that originates in our body. We fear to be wrong because that might mean we will be alone and people will leave us, which means that we won’t be part of a tribe or community,…
OAP 167: Options Trading Profit Targets – When Should You Break The Rules?
Oh, profit targets. The double edge sword of confusion for many traders. Take profits too early and you feel like you left money on the table. Too late and you kick yourself because the trade could have moved against you. And because we’ve been getting so many questions on when and why we’ve let positions…
OAP 166: Understanding The Put Call Ratio The Right Way
When it comes to market signals and timing indicators, the Put Call Ratio is one that naturally jumps to the top of many lists. Because the indicator looks at volume in both put and call options, the logical conclusion is that we can interpret the ratio to signal us from an impending top or possible…
OAP 165: Trading Options? Here Are The 11 “Golden Rules” To Follow
Personally, I don’t like rules. Mostly because I value freedom and flexibility so when someone says that I have to follow the rules I naturally push back. Things that confine me or tell me what to do don’t fly well with me. But that only applies to things outside of trading and investing. In the…
TD Ameritrade Announces The End of Trading Commissions
Today October 1st, TD Ameritrade, makers of the thinkorswim platform, announced the end of trading commissions as we’ve always known them. Get ready to enter a new era of retail trading! As the preferred brokerage of Option Alpha, we wanted to give you a rundown of these changes, and give you some insight on what…
OAP 164: The 2 Major Problems With Buying Options During Low IV Markets
Since we are option sellers and our edge comes from selling overpriced options out into maturity it’s natural to assume that if we want to sell options when IV is high that buying options during low IV markets is a way to make money in the other direction. We get it and understand the rationale…
OAP 163: The 5 Month “Grind” Following XLE Short Put Option Assignment
This was a long trade. Maybe not the longest trade we’ve been involved in, but certainly one of the top ones as this short put option assignment lasted over 5 months. For most options traders looking to make a quick buck, this trade stretches their patience and conviction far beyond a reasonable level. Still, I…
OAP 162: The Top 8 Investor Biases That Cloud Our Judgement When Trading
It might seem that the markets are a game of price, and while that might be mostly true, what they are is really a game of emotions. With enough self-awareness the “average” investor can do incredibly well. Better than many sophisticated investors. There’s so much to be said about controlling your emotions and recognizing biases…
