The Option Alpha Podcast

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I'm going to actually take a look at unique investment outside the stock market that is comparable to how we should be trading options.My hope is that you'll clearly see how being successful with Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending is extremely similar to the requirements for long-term options trading success. In fact I'd even go as far to say that most investing requires the same underlying fundamentals for success regardless of where you money physically goes.Of course 2 years doesn't make a trend but the connections between these two markets are fascinating. So tune in as I take you though my personal account with Lending Club over the last 2+ years.Don't forget to add your comments at the bottom of the show notes and let me know your thoughts since this episode was slightly "outside the scope" of what we normally do.

Investing money can be scary (no doubt). . .In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I want to help you overcome the 3 biggest fears that people have when they start trading options. You see, as kids we were scared of all kinds of things; monsters, our siblings, "Dad" etc. As adults now we still get scared and when we combine the "unknown" with our hard earned money it becomes a nightmare. If I were to ask most investors about options trading their default response would be things along the lines of "it's too risky" or "it's way too complicated".But the honest truth is that these are excuses under the cover of fear; 3 in particular which haunt most new and experienced traders alike.You could be going through these right now or have gone through them in the past. Regardless, I'll bet with 100% odds of success that you'll experience these emotions again in the future at some point.Where's the good news Kirk? Right here because I'm going to help you get past these hurdles in today's show.Fear #1: I'll Go BrokeFear #2: I Need More MoneyFear #3: I'm Not Smart Enough

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast we talk with long-time trader Kim Klaiman from SteadyOptions.com. As you'll hear in this interview, Kim's goal is to trade trade variety of non-directional trades with low correlations.One topic that we dive into a little deeper is the strategy of buying straddles pre-earnings to profit from the rise in implied volatility. And while I personally prefer to trade the IV crush you'll hear Kim's take on how his backtesting research has found some likely candidates where IV does consistently rally ahead of earnings.

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I want to help you be a better trader even if you are currently still working a full-time job. Because the reality that even though I stay at home with my daughter, she's a full time "boss" if you know what I mean.So over the last year and a half I've had to change and adapt my own trading style to be even more efficient and productive. This means cutting back and hyper focusing in on the things that really matter in order for me to be successful.Today I'll share 7 smart tips to help you save time while still working your day job. Try 1 or 2 out this week and let me know how it worked out.

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast we'll have an in-depth talk about trading commissions and broker fees. Specifically, people always ask me about commission and with more members now than ever it’s becoming more and more important to negotiate great commission rates.So I'm here to help you save money by getting your trading commissions reduced. And I give nearly the same answer to everyone each time they ask but there's a special twist on how I did it and why it dropped my rate by 17%. Ready to reduce your commission costs? Let's go then!

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I had a chance to flip the script on Joshua Belanger from www.OptionSizzle.com. A former CME runner in Chicago, Josh has been a long time industry trader both on the professional and retail level. What's so great about his story is that over the last 10 years he's been able to learn how markets work from many different angles including being a broker, raising private equity, managing money, and running orders on the CME floor. During our interview he'll explain how his overall trading plan has evolved and also opens up about his more specific strategy for looking at (and profiting from) unusual options activity.

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I'll explain why you shouldn't be afraid of the assignment and exercise process when it comes to trading options. You see, all too often it's just a lack of understanding as to how the process really works. Who are the parties involved? How do they select who gets assigned? How long do I have to manage my new risk?I'll answer all of these questions and so much more in today's show and by the end you'll finally be empowered with all the information you need to professionally handle assignment. Plus we'll go through 2 very cool post-earnings trades we made in HAL and MS which still have very high implied volatility even after announcing their earnings.

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I completely break-down one of the worst trade alerts we've ever seen using a debit spread. And it honestly gets to the heart of why I started this website and blog more than 8 years ago; because there are still horrible companies and services out there publishing crap that doesn't help investors.In this show we'll compare and contrast this unnamed company's call in NFLX vs a trade we look at live in HPQ. At the end you'll be the judge and add your comments below to let me know what you think of both - which one would you choose? You don't have to choose our trade, I seriously want to hear if you believe this is a good trade in NFLX coming up.

In this session of The Option Alpha Podcast I had a chance to interview Henrick Santander, the guy behind http://www.the-lazy-trader.com who currently works a full-time job but is passionate about creating a trading system that fits his lifestyle.You'll hear how this long time Cuban (of 26 years) moved to Canada and is now trading very successfully each year making smart bets in the major indexes like SPX and RUT. Plus, we'll talk through his most recent SPX iron condor trade including his complete logic behind the entry, strike selection, risk management, etc.

Ever wonder how often going back in history the stock market "crashes"? I mean we know that cyclical markets means another one will eventually happen (it's just a matter of time) but when? Or how often?We did the research for you and analyzed the market data going back to 1928 (as far as we could get it). In this podcast we'll take a look back in time for you and present our case study findings. You'll finally have a clear understanding of how often stocks "crash" and also how bad we are as investors at predicting the next possible move.