
The Option Alpha Podcast
At Option Alpha we are devoted to empowering traders with simple, powerful tools supported by world-class research and education. For far too long the options industry has been fragmented, lagging, and unnecessarily complex. By developing industry-first automation technology, enhancing data and information accessibility, and nurturing our thriving community at every level, Option Alpha is changing the way people trade options forever. We’re more than just a software company; we’re leading a movement of traders at every level who are unlocking more freedom through improved and expanded options.
Latest episodes

Aug 1, 2022 • 2h 40min
223: Building a Bot for All Market Conditions: The "Hexabot" Story
Learn about the Hexabot, an automated trading strategy built by the Option Alpha community. They discuss the process of designing and testing the bot, determining market trends, position sizing, and allocation strategies. They also cover the importance of bid-ask spreads, open interest, and the rate of return threshold in options trading. The episode explores the value of tagging and tracking positions, managing positions based on expiration week timeframes, and different profit targets and strategies.

Jul 25, 2022 • 41min
222: A Holistic View of Option Strike Prices
Dive into the world of option strike prices and discover their critical role in trading. Learn how strike prices differ from breakeven prices, and gain insights on locating them through brokerage platforms. Unpack the complexities of in-the-money, at-the-money, and out-of-the-money options, and see how their dynamics influence profitability as expiration nears. The discussion wraps up with an invitation to engage further through community resources and upcoming workshops on automated trading.

Jul 7, 2022 • 49min
221: How to Setup & Trade A Synthetic Covered Call Strategy
Dive into the world of synthetic covered calls! Discover how this strategy serves as a stepping stone for stock traders into options trading. Learn about the nuances of call credit spreads versus single-leg short calls for better risk management. Explore how to adapt trades for varying market conditions and the benefits of improved margin efficiency. From poor man's covered calls to strategic flexibility, this discussion unpacks key concepts to enhance your trading toolkit.

Jun 29, 2022 • 27min
220: Four "Wicked-Smart" Ways to Use SmartPricing
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show220In today's show, I'll walk through four clever, dare I say "wicked-smart", ways to leverage our proprietary SmartPricing technology for routing orders intelligently to the markets. If you're already trading with us at Option Alpha then you'll learn some new techniques that will help improve the efficiency of your bots and automations. If you're not trading with bots yet and are still manually entering all your opening and closing orders yourself, waiting for your trade to fill, canceling and replacing the order with a different price if it doesn't fill, waiting again for the trade to fill, and on and on, then you'll love how much time you save when you start using SmartPricing.

Jun 23, 2022 • 1h
219: How to Calculate Break Even Prices for Option Strategies
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show219Calculating break even prices for different option strategies isn't as complicated and overwhelming as it might seem. Yes, you do need to perform some basic math functions to find different break even prices but it's certainly not rocket science. Plus, it's an invaluable concept to master because it's critical to your success as a trader. In today's show, I'll help you understand what break even prices are and how to calculate them for all of the most popular option strategies. Yep, that's right, we're going to walk through everything together step by step so you can finally master it once and for all. Let's get started.

Jun 15, 2022 • 48min
218: How to Survive Bear Markets Trading Options
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show218In life there are three things that are certain; death, taxes, and bear markets. For many new options traders, the current bear market we've found ourselves in might just be your first. An inconvenient reminder that risk is present when trading, particularly when trading options. But alas, as the old saying goes, "It's just part of the game..." and my goal today is to make sure that this bear market isn't your last. That's right, I want to help you survive this bear market, maybe even thrive in this volatility, and ensure that you live to trade every bear market that comes in the future.

May 5, 2022 • 37min
217: Shop Talk: Autotrading Expectations, Trading Routine and Consistency, and Market Update
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show217Hey everyone this is Kirk here again from optionalpha.com, working every single week to make this the most popular investing podcast offered online because it's based on one thing and one thing only and that's. . . Helping you consistently place SMARTER trades. Thank you so much again for tuning in and welcome back!

Apr 25, 2022 • 55min
216: Shop Talk: Twitter Bid, Oil Volatility, and Strategy Selection
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show216Hey everyone this is Kirk here again from optionalpha.com, working every single week to make this the most popular investing podcast offered online because it's based on one thing and one thing only and that's. . . Helping you consistently place SMARTER trades. Thank you so much again for tuning in and welcome back!

Apr 12, 2022 • 35min
215: The 15 Trading Psychology Questions to Ask Yourself If You Don't Have a Trading Coach
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show215On 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 be your own worst enemy when it comes to your mindset. We cannot predict or control the markets, though we all try on some level, but we absolutely can learn to focus and control our minds if we give it the attention it deserves. To help frame our trading psychology session together we'll walk through 15 questions you should ask yourself right now.

Mar 16, 2022 • 1h 19min
214: Build A Fully Automated Options Portfolio with $3,000 in 1-Click
Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show214New 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 discussed and manually implement and execute the trading strategy yourself. Well, the days of manually trading are history. We've entered a new era with autotrading technology and on today's show we'll blow your mind as we introduce a new bot template you can clone in 1-click that was specifically built for traders with a small portfolio around $3,000.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.