163: FOMC Whipsaw, New Highs & Practical Income Setups

In this episode, I’m walking through an SPX Iron Condor setup I’m pricing out as volatility continues to rise and the market dips below key moving averages.Here's the link the video version: https://youtu.be/0NAAbb6bbcIWhen volatility spikes, option premiums expand — and that’s when I like to sell Iron Condors on SPX for wider ranges and better credits. I’ll break down:✅ How I’m positioning this Iron Condor between recent highs and lows✅ Entry criteria and credit received (~$3.25 on 10-wide wings)✅ How to calculate max profit and max loss✅ My profit-taking plan (~30%) and adjustment ideas if SPX moves sharply✅ Why higher VIX levels can offer better Iron Condor setupsWhether you’re learning to trade index options or refining your Iron Condor strategy, this walkthrough gives you a practical framework to plan your trades in higher volatility environments.📊 Tools Mentioned: AlphaCrunching.com — data-driven SPX options setups and backtested strategies.🎯 Related Topics:SPX Iron Condor strategy for volatile marketsSPX options trading explainedSelling premium when VIX spikesManaging Iron Condors and rolling spreads#SPX #IronCondor #OptionsTrading #Volatility #SPXOptions #AlphaCrunching #SPXStrategies #TradingSPX #VIX #OptionsIncome

In this episode, Brian shares his LEAP call strategy — a flexible options approach that uses long-dated calls as a stock substitute while selling weekly calls for steady income. He breaks down real trade examples on NVIDIA, Google, and other names, showing how the strategy can generate solid returns with less capital than owning shares outright.You’ll hear how Brian manages exits, adjusts when short calls get breached, and keeps risk in check even when the market moves against him.👉 Follow Brian over at stockmarketoptionstrading.net💬 You can also get his trade alerts inside Alpha Traders Club to see this strategy in action.

In this episode, Eric and Brian kick off the week with a look at the SPX options market, recent price action, and key gamma levels heading into FOMC week. Eric recaps his recent put credit spread trades from Alpha Crunching, discusses how he’s managing new positions into record highs, and explains how he’s balancing bullish exposure with call credit spreads and discretionary hedges. The conversation also covers upcoming events—including major tech earnings from Apple, Microsoft, and Google—and how they might influence market sentiment.Brian shares a practical example of a LEAPS diagonal trade on AVGO that’s been profitable even without much price movement, illustrating how selling weekly calls can generate consistent income against a long-dated call. The two also discuss covered call timing, hedging approaches, and using instruments like SSO to gain leveraged exposure with less capital.🎧 Whether you’re trading SPX spreads or building income strategies with diagonals and covered calls, this episode offers a mix of mechanical systems and discretionary risk management ideas you can apply right away.👉 Join the next live session at stockmarketoptionstrading.net or inside the Alpha Crunching Discord.

In this episode, Brian breaks down a bullish put diagonal strategy he’s been testing on individual stocks — a twist on the traditional diagonal that behaves more like a cash-secured put with built-in protection. He explains how he buys a longer-dated put and sells weekly puts against it to steadily collect premium, manage risk, and generate consistent returns.You’ll hear examples from trades in Google, AMAT, and Bank of America, plus how he handles adjustments when prices move.👉 Join us for the next live Zoom or meetup at StockMarketOptionTrading.net to see more strategies like this in action.Want backtested SPX strategies before the trading week begins? Use code SPX50 at AlphaCrunching.com to get started with a 50% discount.

👉 Join us live every Monday at StockMarketOptionsTrading.net to be part of the next Zoom call and get your questions answered in real time.📈 Market Recap & Trading Lessons:🚀 Big rebound after last week’s 200-point SPX drop — market shakes off China tariff and shutdown worries🍏 Apple headlines and possible government deal spark optimism📊 Moving averages still recovering — 5-day hasn’t crossed back above 10-day yet🧠 Eric explains how one huge candle can distort technical indicators short-term💰 Shows an Iron Condor entered during the volatility spike — wide wings, 25% profit target⚡ Volatility crush helped profits as VIX cooled off📉 Trend-following strategies paused last week but could resume if short-term averages recover❌ Reminder: selling call spreads during downtrends doesn’t backtest well — stick to data-driven setups🔗 Check out all backtested trade setups at AlphaCrunching.com for this week’s SPX strategies

🎯 Get 50% off AlphaCrunching.com with code SPX50 — your edge for data-driven SPX option strategies.In this episode, Eric O’Rourke breaks down what happens when an uptrend breaks — and how traders can stay grounded when volatility spikes. He covers the recent tariff shock, key SPX levels to watch (6650–6800), and why the market’s recovery above the volume trigger could signal renewed bullish momentum.Eric also discusses risk management in trend-following strategies, explains how short-term setbacks fit within high-win-rate systems, and shares insights from the latest Alpha Crunching forecast showing a cautious but stabilizing market outlook.Want to join our next Live Zoom call?Check out our Events calendar. It's free to join.https://www.stockmarketoptionstrading.net/events

In this episode of the Stock Market Options Trading Podcast, Eric dives into the concept of expectancy—a key metric that blends win rate, average win size, and average loss size into one number that helps traders understand whether a strategy has a real edge over the long run.We break down why a high win rate alone doesn’t guarantee profits (think 98% win rate ads…), and how expectancy provides better context by showing how much you can expect to make or lose per trade on average. Eric also shares updates inside Alpha Crunching: the Trade Ideas tab now includes expectancy alongside win rate, giving subscribers deeper insight when sorting potential setups for the week.You’ll also hear about future enhancements—like adding average win and loss values—so traders can better gauge risk-reward and decide which setups fit their personal style.👉 Try Alpha Crunching for yourself and get 50% off your first month here: https://alphacrunching.com

This episode centers on navigating markets at all-time highs after last week’s FOMC head-fake. We discuss how to balance staying long with reducing risk, trimming SPX put-credit spreads, and the trade-offs of skipping entries during volatile weeks.Brian joins to walk through his weekend watchlist and three core income strategies: in-the-money covered calls, poor man’s covered calls (diagonals), and broken-wing butterflies—including how he manages risk, targets returns, and selects trades. We also cover SPY covered calls vs. selling puts, an update on Intel’s surprise breakout, and practical ways to use mechanical strategies like Alpha Crunching’s Thursday PCS setup.Symbols mentioned: SPX, SPY, ETSY, BABA, RKLB, INTC.

Join us for another live session of the Stock Market Options Trading Podcast with Eric and co-host Brian as we dive into trading SPY options. We start by comparing SPY vs SPX — looking at the key differences in contract size, settlement style, tax treatment, and liquidity.Brian also shares details on his Delta Neutral “double diagonal” strategy with SPY, walking through trade setups, adjustments, and lessons learned from managing the position. We cover how rolling strikes works, how IV impacts results, and why this approach may fit best in lower-volatility environments.Eric wraps up by discussing how he’s using covered calls on SPY as a way to generate income and manage positions during the current market uptrend.👉 If you want to join future sessions live, visit https://stockmarketoptionstrading.net and check the Events tab for schedules and Zoom links. Replays are always posted here on the YouTube channel.

🎁 50% OFF: Option Omega (code SMOT) • Alpha Crunching (code SPX50) — grab both and build + automate your SPX playbook.This episode is a fun, nerdy deep-dive with Troy and Matt from Option Omega. We cover how to build realistic backtests for options (especially 0DTE) and when it makes sense to automate entries/exits so you’re not chained to the screen. We also walk through a few trade structures—including the much-misunderstood Reverse Iron Condor (RIC)—and talk about portfolio-level thinking: position sizing, diversification across edges, and why “one-lotting” more often than not can save your sanity.What we cover:Why end-of-day data lies for options backtests and how 1-minute, intraday pricing changes the conclusions (stops, profit targets, and whether you even got filled).The rise of 0DTE and why intraday realism matters way more than it did for 45–90 DTE trades.The “Punisher”: stress-testing backtests with slippage, fills, and tougher assumptions so results hold up in live trading.Liquidity matters: why OO focuses on top tickers (SPX, SPY, QQQ, etc.), and the pros/cons of instruments like XSP.RICs (Reverse Iron Condors) as long-gamma plays: when long premium + the right signal can still have positive expectancy, and sizing so a few losses don’t nuke the account.Credit-spread philosophy: structure ≠ edge. Edge comes from when you put it on (signals), then you pick the simplest structure that monetizes that edge.Automation better than willpower: broker-resting stops, time windows, and signal-gated entries so your plan runs even when you’re walking the dog.Sizing & psychology: allocations as a strategy; why many traders should downshift to one-lots more often; diversifying edges (theta harvest + long-gamma + price-action) on the same ticker.My ASD signal (Alpha Crunching): using Average Strength Deviation as a weekly, day-of-week filter; combining ASD with simple MAs/EMAs for “aggressive” ATM put-credit spreads; converting those rules into hands-off automations.Broker support today: Schwab, Tastytrade, Tradier (IB not currently supported for U.S. retail cloud API).Key takeaways:Backtests need intraday realism or they’re just stories.Structure is just the container; edge = timing + conditions.If your edge is “market stability”, credit spreads monetize it better than naked long calls.Automation lets you run more strategies with smaller per-trade risk and fewer emotional mistakes.Test harshly (slippage, fills, stops) so live results rhyme with backtests.Resources & links:🔧 https://OptionOmega.com (backtesting + automation) — Use code SMOT for 50% off.📈 https://AlphaCrunching.com (signals, forecasts, ASD/WTR/TTR, weekly trade ideas) Use code SPX50 for 50% off first year.