The Option Alpha Podcast

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/robinhoodOften 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/show113Often 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/show112Depending 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/show111You 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/show110Why 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/show109Unlimited 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/show108If 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/show107Today 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.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show106As some point or another new option traders worry about their option contracts being assigned. Namely short call options getting short stock assignment. But it's never as bad or horrifying as it may seem and in today's latest show I want to walk through our TLT iron butterfly trade in which we ended up getting assigned 200 shares of short stock just days before expiration.

Show notes: http://optionalpha.com/show105The further the markets continue to run higher, the greater the risk that another major market correction or market crash will happen in the near future. After all, as we pointed out in Show #15, the stock market has fallen 9 times at least 30% which is once every 10 years. Right now we're riding a 10-year bull rally that's losing steam fast. So, how do you protect your portfolio in a down market? That's the question and today's show will give you the answer.