Steve Henry

Content Writer

About

Steve is a full-time content writer for Option Alpha. Always a student, he loves to read and is dedicated to helping educate others as they learn about financial markets. Steve graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Steve currently lives in Bend, OR, and has been actively trading futures and options for more than six years.

Education

References

Experience

Platform Updates

VXX & UVXY Now Available for Autotrading

VXX and UVXY are now available for autotrading. These volatility ETFs provide exposure to the VIX short-term futures index.

Platform Updates

New Post-Earnings Decisions

The latest update includes two new decision recipes for targeting past earnings dates.

Platform Updates

Expanded Bot Performance Stats & Win Rate Charting

The January 2023 platform release includes new stats and charts to give you upgraded visual tools when monitoring your bots’ activity and key metrics.

Platform Updates

Introducing In-App Help Docs

In-app help docs and the new 'Get Started' checklist will guide you around Option Alpha to find everything you need to know as an autotrader.

Platform Updates

Exit Options Now Support Customizable SmartPricing

The latest upgrade to Exit Options now supports custom SmartPricing settings for each scenario, plus we added the ability to send Market Orders if you choose.

Platform Updates

Exit Options "Presets" Means Faster Trade Entry

Create Presets for your Exit Options to quickly reuse custom settings for long and short option positions.

Platform Updates

Say Hello to Trade Ideas, Our Newest Tool for Options Traders

Trade Ideas calculate probabilities for millions of potential options positions using live market data so you can make smarter trades.

Option Alpha January 2023 Release

The first major platform release of the year is here! Check out all the updates, including the all-new Trade Ideas.

Option Alpha is Free with a Qualifying Tradier Brokerage Account

Learn how you can get a free Option Alpha Pro+ account when connecting your qualified Tradier Brokerage account.

Research Insights

Trading the Opening Range: Mean Reversion vs Trend Following

How has market volatility impacted intraday mean reversion and trend following strategies? We analyzed the first trading hour in SPY to understand intraday mean reversion vs. trend following signals.

Platform Updates

Faster Position Management with 1-minute Auto-Exit Options

Introducing faster position management! Pre-set your exit options when opening a position and let automation manage your position every minute.

Platform Updates

Manual Trading Reimagined and Easily Connected to Auto-Management

Manual trading is getting a huge upgrade. We reimagined the user experience of manual trading to solve problems and simplify your life.

Platform Updates

Upgraded Bot Logs Add "Highlights" & Quicklinks to Positions

New, interconnected bot logs show you exactly what's happening in your bots and automations. Right where you need them.

Platform Updates

Upgraded Backtester Offers Increased Precision

The backtester now includes expanded settings so you have even more precision when testing your options strategies.

Platform Updates

Introducing Interactive, Real-Time Options Payoff Diagrams

Every position now includes an interactive real-time option payoff diagram that uses live pricing to update key metrics and probabilities, so there's no guesswork on your position's current status.

Platform Updates

Backtester Now Includes Technical Indicators

You now have expanded criteria for researching option strategies so you can customize your ideas with more detail.

Introducing $0 Commission Free* Trading with Option Alpha and TradeStation

Announcing $0 commission-free trading for Option Alpha members using TradeStation in the autotrading platform.

Introducing $0 Commission Free* Trading with Option Alpha and Tradier

Option Alpha announces $0 commission-free trading through our exclusive agreement with Tradier Brokerage.

Automated Trading

How To Manage Assigned Autotrading Positions

A step-by-step guide to help you manage position assignments with bots.

Research Insights

0DTE Options Strategies: Insights from 25k Trades

We analyzed over 25,000 0DTE option positions traded in the autotrading platform to assess what worked and how traders set up short-term trading strategies.

Strategic Thinking

Options Wheel Strategy Explained

The wheel strategy is a popular options strategy investors can use to generate income selling options and potentially owning stock. Learn how to trade the options wheel strategy.

Bot Inspiration

How to Automate a MACD Strategy with Bots

Learn how to automate a strategy that sells credit spreads when the MACD indicator signals an overbought or oversold condition.

Platform Updates

New Open High Low Close (OHLC) Stock Decisions

Unlock new autotrading opportunities with these two decision recipes that evaluate a symbol's open, high, low, or closing price using a specific look-back period.

Platform Updates

Create Bots Instantly from Any Backtest

Option Alpha’s new ‘Backtest to Bot’ feature lets you instantly create an automated trading strategy from any backtest in our database.

Platform Updates

Introducing the Bot Wizard

Creating a bot has never been easier! The new bot wizard helps you go from idea to automated strategy in a few simple steps.

Bot Inspiration

How to Automate a Bollinger Band Strategy

Learn how to build an automated Bollinger Band bot using debit and credit spreads to trade breakouts.

Research Insights

We Analyzed 20,000 Options Trades: Here’s What We Learned About Position Swings

We studied over 20,000 trades to measure the average time between return extremes over the life of a trade. From all that data and research, see what stands out.

Research Insights

3 AAPL Bullish Options Strategies Backtested

Bullish on AAPL stock? Use Option Alpha to backtest three bullish strategies and compare the results, or search a database of AAPL options strategies.

Platform Updates

Crowdsource Backtests in the Community

Crowdsource options backtests like never before. Share strategies, upvote performance results, and comment on backtests in the Community.

Platform Updates

Enhanced Bot Performance Stats

We’ve improved the bot dashboard significantly in the latest platform update. The equity P/L graph is enhanced so you can now view more detailed bot performance stats. Plus, you can edit your closed positions and order history.

Platform Updates

New Community Groups For Targeted Conversations

Easily discover and explore targeted Community conversations on specific topics in four main categories.

Platform Updates

Master Your Decision Timing With These Automation Sequencing Improvements

Two new updates improve sequencing so you have more control. Bots now have more intelligent decision timing when looping symbols and running automations.

Platform Updates

Standard Deviation Decisions Improved to Decimal Precision

We’ve upgraded standard deviation properties so you can use decimal precision for pinpoint accuracy.

Platform Updates

Expanded Strike Selections Give You Even More Control

We’ve expanded the way you can select strike prices. There are now four options for choosing a strike price, so you always have pinpoint accuracy and control of your positions.

Platform Updates

Easily Edit Automation Paths With Negated Decisions

Edit automation paths with negated decisions to save time and increase flexibility.

Platform Updates

Manage Your Positions with Return on Risk

Intelligently manage your positions with this new decision recipe that evaluates return on risk to exit positions at defined targets.

Platform Updates

Now You Can Schedule Automations to Run After Market Open & Before Market Close

With this platform update, you have even more control of your bots' event automations. You can now automatically check in on your automations and positions at the beginning and end of every trading day.

Platform Updates

Compare Multiple Backtests for Unparalleled Strategy Development

You can now compare multiple backtests side-by-side to see exactly how they stack up to each other for unparalleled strategy development.

Platform Updates

Increased Automation Flexibility With "Stock or ETF" Decision Recipe

Now you can split automation decisions using a recipe to evaluate if the underlying ticker symbol is a stock or an ETF.

Platform Updates

Backtester Enhancements Unlock Research Superpowers for Options Traders

The Option Alpha backtester has improved every aspect with the newest update. You now have expanded research tools to discover your perfect options strategy.

Research Insights

Rising Interest Rates: Taper Tantrum or Opportunity?

Investors expect interest rates to rise this year. We studied four similar environments to deliver the context you need for today’s market.

Research Insights

Is the “Golden Bull Market” Finally Ending?

20 years of data suggests this bull market may not be over yet, and the positive momentum could continue into the new year.

Autotrading Is Here: The Doors Are Open

We are sending invites to traders on the Waitlist! Share the news, get to the front of the line, and start autotrading!

Platform Updates

New Decisions to Check Bot Trade History & Active Orders

Four new decision recipes help you reference a bot’s trade history and active orders. Find out what this means for you and your bots!

Platform Updates

Bot & Position Tags: Where Precision Meets Flexibility

Now you can create, add, and remove bot and position tags to take your automations to a whole new level.

Bot Inspiration

Building an RSI Swing Trading Bot with Credit Spreads

Discover how to automate a popular swing trading strategy that opens bullish and bearish credit spreads based on RSI value.

Platform Updates

We Just Introduced Bot Warnings for Smoother Autotrading

Bot errors are divided into two categories to help you identify soft and fatal errors and troubleshoot their impact on your portfolio.

Platform Updates

4 New Updates to Make Autotrading Easier

Check out these new updates that are all about improving your experience.

Platform Updates

Introducing Automation "Switches"

Bot switches make your automations more flexible by allowing you to turn parts of an automation on or off.

Platform Updates

Automatically Scan a Watchlist of Ticker Symbols Inside Your Bots

You can loop through symbols to create and scan a watchlist of tickers inside your bots. Learn how this powerful feature lets you apply a single strategy to multiple ticker symbols.

Platform Updates

Import Your Positions from Your Brokerage Account to Option Alpha

You can now import positions from your brokerage account into Option Alpha for your bots to manage!

Platform Updates

Now Your Bots Can Make Decisions Using Market Days or Calendar Days

You can now specify market days or calendar days in an automation. This new feature gives you pinpoint accuracy and flexibility when making decisions.

Automated Trading

3 Smart Ways to Use SmartStops

SmartStops are not your traditional trailing stop. SmartStops are a proprietary feature that can change the way you exit positions. Learn how SmartStops can be a game-changer for your portfolio.

Option Alpha Announces Tradier Integration

Tradier is now available for live trading access! Plus, when you connect your account, you'll enjoy exclusive pricing on all trades.

Platform Updates

All Your Automations Are Now Saved to Your Library

The automations library now gives you more organization and customization in your portfolio.

Automated Trading

Create Your Own Custom In-App Notifications

Create and customize in-app notifications to alert you of specific market and bot activity in real-time.

Using Folders for Organizing and Grouping Bot Automations

We’ve made it incredibly easy for you to group all your automations inside your library. Discover how folders will help you organize your portfolio.

Research Insights

5-Year SPY Put Credit Spread Backtest

Using our Backtester, we explored the historical performance of SPY put credit spreads to help determine the entry and exit criteria that best fit your trading objectives.

Automated Trading

The Power of Reusable Automations Across Multiple Bots

Reusable automations are a powerful tool that enables you to use a single automation across multiple bots simultaneously.

Option Alpha Announces TradeStation Integration

TradeStation is now available for live trading access! Plus, when you connect your account, you'll enjoy exclusive pricing on all trades.

Bot Inspiration

Automated Trading Using Multiple Moving Averages

Automate your trend following strategy with these two decision recipes that reference multiple moving averages when filtering opportunities.

Automated Trading

Leveraging the Power of Bots to Scan for Trading Opportunities

Leverage the power of bots to automate your strategies, scan for trading opportunities based on multiple market conditions, and open new positions when your criteria are met.

Research Insights

Tail Risk Pricing Post-Pandemic

VIX and SPX tail risk pricing is astronomically high compared to before the pandemic. What has happened to the price of downside protection? Find out here.

Automated Trading

Share Bot Automations Just as Easily as Bot Templates

Collaborating on your trading strategy has never been easier. You can now share automations in the Community, save an automation to your library, modify its decisions, and instantly add it to a bot of your choice.

Bot Inspiration

How to Automatically Avoid Trading When Markets are in a Downtrend

Do you want to avoid trading when certain stocks are in a downtrend? Use a simple moving average decision recipe to filter for new position opportunities.

Test Automations Directly Inside the Automation Editor

Test your bot’s automations directly inside the automation editor to see how your logic performs in live market conditions.

Platform Updates

Choose Your Path with these Automation Editor Improvements

The Automation Editor just got a lot better. Now you can customize your automations with improved “choose your path” flexibility.

Platform Updates

Strike Price Selection Enhancements Released

Learn how the strike price selection process is enhanced with our new platform update. It’s never been easier to choose the right contract!

Platform Updates

Use Bot-Level Decisions for Added Flexibility

New bot-level decisions give you more capital and position flexibility when building bots.

Platform Updates

Scanner and Monitor Ordering Released

New scanner and monitor automation ordering gives you even more customization options for your bots. Check it out!

Research Insights

Bid-Ask Spread Anomalies: 5 Questions Answered

We answer five key research questions about bid-ask spread volatility and explain how these answers can threaten or inform your trading decisions.

Platform Updates

Account Management Improvements Released

We've added new platform features to enhance your account management, organization, and portfolio visibility. Check it out!

Platform Updates

Order Controls Released

Order controls got a major upgrade in our latest platform update. Keep reading to learn about all the new improvements!

Platform Updates

SmartPricing Released

SmartPricing is Option Alpha’s proprietary technology that uses timed intervals to dynamically adjust pricing to optimize your entries and exits.

Platform Updates

Bot Template Versioning Released

The new bot template versioning update keeps your freshest ideas in the spotlight.

Research Insights

Bid-Ask Spread Expectations

What is the "personality" of your favorite ticker? Do you know what the bid-ask spread of the specific underlyings you trade should resemble? Learn about bid-ask spread expectations here.

Research Insights

Bid-Ask Spread Anomalies: Risk and Opportunity

Learn how bid-ask spread anomalies bring unique risks and opportunities in options trading with this SPY case study.

Research Insights

Bid-Ask Spread Volatility Explained

This case study examines the intraday price volatility of a TLT iron condor to illustrate the forces at play beyond the options Greeks affecting a position's bid-ask spread.

Automated Trading

Automated Trading Decisions Based on a Symbol's Price Change

Do you manually check a stock's price movement before placing an order? Use this simple but powerful decision recipe to reference a symbol’s price change when making automated trading decisions inside a bot.

Automated Trading

Automated Trading Using AND/OR Decision Criteria

Do you use multiple multiple indicators when evaluating new trading opportunities? Learn how to use And/Or decision criteria to group recipes in an automation.

Grouping and Nesting Decisions for More Powerful Automations

Do you evaluate more than one set of market conditions before entering a new trade? This video shows how grouping and nesting decisions create flexible bots with dynamic automations.

Automated Trading

Managing Multiple Strategy Types with Monitor Automations

Does your portfolio have multiple strategy types? Learn how to use monitor automations to manage different positions inside a bot.

When to Group Decisions Together and When to Separate Them into Multiple Steps

Learn when you should use and/or functionality to group multiple decisions together, and when you should separate and analyze individual criteria before moving through an automation.

Bot Inspiration

How to Setup Your Bot Automations to be Incredibly Flexible

You don’t need to continuously enter the same information over and over across multiple automations. Learn how to use custom inputs to add flexibility and efficiency to any bot.

Automated Trading

Automatically Exit Your Option Trades Before Expiration

If you want to avoid expiration, automations can use a decision recipe to automatically exit an options position a defined number of days before expiration if no exit criteria have been met.

Automated Trading

Combining Multiple Moving Averages to Trend Follow with Bots

Use bots to identify trending stocks and automate the trade entry process using multiple moving averages.

Bot Inspiration

How to Add a Global VIX Filter to the Beginning of an Automation

Let your bot scan the market for high volatility before entering new positions. Add a global VIX filter to any automation to quickly check if market volatility is above a defined level.

Strategic Thinking

4 Rules for Generating Profits During Market Declines

Covered calls can help generate income and mitigate losses when the market declines Protective puts can help protect against adverse market moves. Here are four rules to help you in a bear market.

Strategic Thinking

The Three Best Option Strategies for Earnings

Here are the three best options strategies to use for earnings, and how to better understand the effects of volatility on options pricing.

Strategic Thinking

How to Set Up a Broken-Wing Butterfly Option Strategy

A broken-wing butterfly is similar to the long butterfly in structure, with slight variations. Learn how to set up a broken-wing butterfly option strategy.

Strategic Thinking

Mastering the 4 Different Types of Option Orders

Master the four different option order types. Learn to use limit and market orders to open and close positions.

19 Top Places to Get Real-Time Stock Market Quotes and News

There are a lot of resources for real-time stock market quotes and news. Here is a list of the most reliable sources for market information.

How Can I Exit a Vertical Option Spread Without Getting Creamed?

If you have a vertical option spread that you need to exit but you don't want to get creamed closing the position, here are some helpful tips so you can safely look for the exit doors without watching your profits evaporate.

Strategic Thinking

What Your Mother Didn’t Tell You About Trading Iron Condors

Learn everything you need to know about iron condors (especially the secrets nobody tells you). Here is the essential information to help you set up the strategy and what to do if the position moves against you.

Strategic Thinking

4 Must Know Options Expiration Day Traps to Avoid

Here are our Top 4 MUST-KNOW traps to avoid on options expiration day. Plus, some advice for managing tricky positions.

Strategic Thinking

How Can a Call Option Decline in Value When a Stock Rises?

Confused about why your call option has declined in value even though the stock has gone up? Understanding the factors that influence options pricing is critical.

Strategic Thinking

13 Stock Chart Patterns that You Can’t Afford to Forget

Stock chart patterns play an important role in technical analysis and can be a powerful asset for all traders. Learning to recognize patterns will help you profit from breakouts and reversals. Here are 13 stock chart patterns you must know.

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