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.
In this reboot of the OA podcast, I’ll recap the biggest trends shaping options right now, walk through the major updates we’ve released at Option Alpha, and preview what’s ahead for the podcast, including interviews, mini-series, and unique case studies.
What’s new in the options market
Over the past two years, the popularity of options trading has continued to rise, with COVID serving as the initial catalyst for many new traders. Many of these traders are now experienced and have become the next generation of traders.
A 2024 Cboe survey found that 67% of traders had fewer than three years of experience, and 49% were trading either daily (0DTE) or weekly expirations.
Shorter-duration trading, especially 0DTE, has become a natural entry point for many traders, offering quicker feedback on trades. Learn more about The Rise of SPX 0DTE Trading.
OCC data show that the total options volume in July 2025 increased by 12.6% year-over-year, with equity options up 20%, ETF options up 2%, and index options up 9%.
Earlier in the year, 0DTE trading made up about 61% of SPX options volume, with much of this driven by retail traders.
Trading of 0DTE will expand into ETFs and possibly single-stock trading, making it an increasingly important strategy to master.
The market has experienced periods of low volatility, with notable spikes in the market. For example, the August 2024 Yen carry trade unwind and the early 2025 tariff-related volatility.
As of this recording, markets are at all-time highs, volatility is at historic lows, and Kirk advises staying properly positioned with cash reserves and hedges while continuing to trade through all conditions.
What’s new at Option Alpha
We’ve released some of the biggest upgrades in our history, including:
- Faster Automations and Exits: one-minute automations now run every minute for rapid decision-making, and new Instant Exit Options monitor positions tick-by-tick on live bots for quicker order execution.
- 0DTE Tools and Backtesting: expanded SPX and XSP 0DTE support, plus a minute-level 0DTE backtester and new Opening Range Breakout (ORB) strategy capabilities in both the backtester and live bots.
- Integrated Strategy Building Ability: combines multiple backtests into a single bot, merging complementary strategies for more complete automation.
- Liquidity and Trade Discovery: new ticker liquidity metrics showing spreads, slippage, and market maker behavior, alongside Trade Ideas expansion scanning over 100 million daily trading opportunities.
- Advanced Analysis Tools: bot symbols and interconnected watchlists, a hindsight Report in Analyzer to compare actual results versus expiration, webhook integrations to trigger automations from third-party platforms like TradingView, and partial closes or short-leg-only closing for more flexible management of multi-leg positions.
- Portfolio Exposure and Visualization: beta weight and beta exposure measurements for balancing bullish and bearish positions, alongside interactive payoff charts to visualize position risk and reward.
- Workflow and Pricing Improvements: copy-and-paste functionality for automations, progressive allocation and sizing based on performance streaks, and SmartPricing enhancements with multiple final price methods.
- Organizational and Calendar Features: bot archiving and grouping for better oversight, individual automation controls to toggle specific automations on or off, and an ex-dividend calendar integrated into trade ideas.
See all of our new release details here: Option Alpha Platform Updates
Upcoming podcast details
Interviews with market makers, quants, 0DTE specialists, broker CEOs, and traders from our own community.
A new "mini-series" of 6–8 short episodes on key concepts like probabilities, trade management, and position sizing.
Plus, unique case studies drawn from real trading data an new research that you can use to build better bots and strategies.
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