The Option Alpha Podcast

Trading doesn’t have to consume your life to be effective. 

In this episode, long-time Option Alpha member Jack Krupey shares how a background in real estate and private equity shaped a steady, market-neutral approach to options trading. Instead of chasing excitement, the focus is on building systems that work across market cycles and fit naturally into daily routines.

Discover how defined risk and consistent habits support long-term...

Short-term trading moves fast—but without a long-term mindset, it often leads to burnout, overtrading, and inconsistency. 

This episode explores why sustainable success in short-term options trading depends on thinking far beyond individual trades. It introduces the concept of longtermism and explains how focusing on process, risk management, and systems can dramatically change outcomes.

Learn why dopamine-driven decision-making is d...

Going live with real money brings realities that paper trading simply cannot replicate. In this episode, Kirk walks through the five essential things every trader should understand and consider before transitioning from paper trading to live trading. 

From the limitations of paper trading to the execution challenges of real markets, we explain why strict expectations, conservative assumptions, and a solid understanding of liquidity ...

In this interview, Kirk sits down with Kevin, a long-time Option Alpha member who began trading in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Kevin shares how he turned his small beginnings into a consistent, structured approach that scales with his portfolio.

Kevin details how he spent years learning before placing his first options trade and how those early experiences shaped his disciplined, rules-based philosophy. He explains h...

Markets rarely behave as predicted by mathematical models, and extreme events occur far more frequently than traditional models anticipate. This episode explains why understanding probabilities, fat tails, and risk is essential for long-term success.

We also explore how traders can build more resilient systems by focusing on recovery time, appropriate position sizing, and avoiding strategies vulnerable to black swan events. Discover...

0DTE options are transforming the way traders approach opportunity and risk. This episode breaks down why these contracts are so powerful (and popular), why 0DTE volume has surged, and how you can trade them with clarity instead of chaos. We dispel common myths and highlight the real advantages of these short-term strategies, such as rapid time decay, high liquidity, and faster statistical learning cycles.

You’ll also learn about th...

In this episode of the Option Alpha podcast, Kirk sits down with his business partner and fellow founder, Jack Slocum, to share the full story behind Jack’s journey as a trader, developer, and entrepreneur. Jack talks about how he first turned to options trading to generate extra income for his family, how his early experiences “crashed and burned,” and why he has spent years since then learning as much as possible about markets an...

As an options trader, how closely should you be watching gamma and gamma exposure (GEX)? This episode will help you better understand gamma, interpret volatility, recognize inflection points, and build more context-aware strategies.

Kirk sits down with Mat Cashman from the OIC to discuss gamma, explore how market makers hedge their positions, and why 0DTE options are so “gamma-rich.” 

Mat explains why hedging dynamics can create shar...

Gamma is one of the most misunderstood yet powerful forces driving options markets. In this episode, Kirk sits down with Lex from Tradier to break down gamma exposure (GEX) — what it is, why it matters, and how it quietly shapes market movement. 

Together, they unpack how professional traders use gamma to stay delta-neutral, manage risk, and interpret shifting liquidity, while retail traders can use it to better understand price beh...

Welcome to the Top Traders interview series, where we hear from Option Alpha community members who have delivered strong results over a meaningful number of trades. 

In this kickoff episode, FK breaks down his disciplined, probability-driven options trading strategies. We'll explore FK’s approach to selling premium with defined risk, sizing positions conservatively, and running a dual-track portfolio that balances longer-term s...

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. 

This reboot of the OA podcast recaps the b...

We're joined by Adam Cohn, Vice President and Head of Trading Operations at TradeStation, an award-winning trading platform known for its comprehensive trading tools, advanced charting capabilities, and extensive market analysis features. 

Adam brings a wealth of experience, not just from his role at TradeStation but also from his extensive background in options trading in the Chicago pits and as a market maker. His d...

Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show232

Navigating options expiration is a critical skill for traders, especially with the rise of daily expirations.

This week’s podcast explores the top 7 automated tips and tricks you can use inside Option Alpha to set up your portfolio for better options expiration management.

See all 7 tips here

1. Adjust exit options as you near expiration
2. Check the extrinsic value of your positions/l...

Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show231

This week we explore the latest and most pressing challenges emerging for investors who have embraced autotrading.

As automation revolutionizes the financial markets, traders find themselves navigating uncharted psychological territory. From trusting bots and algorithms, coping with reduced decision-making control, and the novel complexities of autotrading that demand a ...

Show Notes: https://optionalpha.com/show230

This week I explore a deep and philosophical viewpoint into the world of automated trading and its inevitable rise for investors. I explore the evolutionary nature of human decision-making and its limitations in complex financial markets by examining cognitive biases and their impact on manual trading.

I’ll also discuss the technological advancements driving this shift...

AI is the hot new buzzword these days, sparked by the release of ChatGPT a few months ago. Since then, it seems everyone has used OpenAI’s software in fascinating (and sometimes scary) ways.

So, I jumped into ChatGPT and asked it to come up with the top questions that new and advanced traders ask about options trading.  This week's podcast explores the 15 questions - and answers - that options trades want to know.

How long does it take a stock to get back to even after a large daily move down? And does the magnitude impact how long it takes the position to recover the loss?

We’ve all been in losing trades and wondered if we should hang on to the position for a little longer or cut it loose. So, to help answer the question, we studied the short-term performance of stocks and ETFs after different daily loss totals.

The study ...

Stocks have been described as a rubber band, and we often assume they will snap back and revert when prices become overextended.

So, we wanted to know: How likely is a security to continue or reverse its momentum above and below major moving averages in short, medium, and long-term timeframes? And does the security’s proximity to a moving average impact its performance?

We researched 20 years of data on 286 symbo...

"The trend is your friend." It’s a popular saying amongst traders, and we hear it all the time. But is there validity in the statement?

We backtested directional option selling strategies with a long-term trend filter to see if there is a significant impact on performance.

We used Option Alpha's backtester to review the data for  SPY, GLD, and TLT short put spreads and short call spreads. Short put spread tes...