I generally think their market theory is pretty sound, i.e. underlying movement is random (geometric brownian motion), law of large numbers, IV rank etc. I don't generally trade options. So, how does one trade probabilistically without using options? Buy low/sell high?
I just watched their latest research Tasty rade research team is like those ads where people dress in white to look like a doctor to pretend they have authority. TastyTrade doesn't understand the basic Scientific Method and how to test a theory. Their research probably works like. Tom: We need a segment to bash BlahBlah Research: We will come-up with some numbers Tom:Great I do agree that most TA are not useful but that is not how you show it lol you backtest provide data not only an argument and anecdotal evidence "Jacob said that momentum cannot have any predictive power. He said, "In fact, attempting to use whether momentum is positive or negative as a signal to execute a trade is exactly like trying to go long every time the underlying goes up and short everytime it goes down, except that you only do this when momentum crosses from positive to negative; still for Black-Scholes or Black-Sholes like underlyings, you expect infinitely many crossings adjacent to any given crossing." Jacob's takeaway was that, "it was almost perfectly useless." Jacob's take was they are not useful and the user of such studies has only a 50/50 chance of being right. Check out the segment to get a deeper understanding of how momentum really works!"
People here who support TastyTrades wholeheartedly have no idea what they are supporting. Xenomorph and the other contrarians are absolutely on the money. I called out Jacob and the research team on this segment regarding extending to "compensate" for lower volatility: They argued with me back and forth and then finally agreed that I was right... It's the inverse squared of the current fractional multiplier to volatility. No corrections on the segment, no comments, so purposely spreading false information. People watching who have no idea about B-S model clap and believe this to be true because some dude who just woke up, didn't bother brushing his hair or put on a shirt, talks in a quirky way and gestures like the stereotypical 'geek' is on the tube telling them to drink the coolaide. The whole show is a dog and pony show. Jacob is the resident 'geek' UofC Math Grad student. The whole point of him being on the show, aside from comic relief and making Tom and Tony look like they don't know HS math, is to sell the aforementioned beliefs of B-S model and 'back testing.' Alex Weisenbach or the "Kid Option Trader" is on there so that Tom and Tony can find him a job when he finally grows up and becomes a professional bookie betting on horses... I mean invest other people's money. This is no different than Ron Dennis pumping up the career of Lewis Hamilton. Xenomorph already discussed the dangerous tactics of Karen so I don't need to go there. What I felt after watching the show for a bit is that Tom and Tony are very self centered in their beliefs and have a very limited knowledge of the real world outside of trading since it is what they have been doing their entire life. Their common belief is that trade small and often and boy does that sound good for the exchanges just like when Black Scholes paper came out. "Everyone" should manage their own money and it is so simply that anyone can do it... These guys and their superstars put on anywhere from 10, 30, upwards of 50 positions at one time and attempt to manage across various markets. This is looked upon as a 'good' thing even though the other experienced traders like TP or Scott say no more than 10 and keep focused... In the off chance that everyone gets "smart" about risk there would be no market since risk is systematically reduced when everyone becomes rational. So in fact, if you think about their mission, it is counter-intuitive. When everyone becomes educated the system gets smart banking that extra premium becomes scarce... The latest show I watched was where Tom and Tony discuss various ways that the exchanges can keep the 'game' more fun by introducing more products for people to trade because that's the job of these exchanges is to keep the flow. TTrades get the kick back herding people into this trading style and once people rationalize on the existing products... They make up more! Wonderful isn't it? If you are patient you can learn more from a good book on volatility than watching TastyTrades since you can actually skip thru the rants/anecdotes. The ONLY way that the show is bearable is by putting it on 1.5-2x speed but watching it live is rather annoying. To be quite honest. The best way to learn is to ask people here and read the threads here for quality Q&A. Maybe ala carte a few TastyTrades episodes if you know what you are searching for beforehand. The main purpose of the show is to keep the ex-traders on there busy during their retirement years, draw attention of millienials by putting people like Rachel Fox on there, and of course taking a handsome kickback from TDA on the commissions. Dough is a glorified gambling platform but IBKR's TWS does it way better. ToS is only pretty for charts.
Lucas, this is actually contrary to what I was told by "Gracer" on the research team. He claims that they DO include all the commissions in their backtests and get this... They test on 1 lot! How do you expect to make ANY money on one lot? There is no liquidity risk or anything... What they do is they run a routine of pumping up different "rising stars" on the show to convince people that it is entirely risk-free with win ratios of 90% or better like this dude: So when you scratch trades or roll them they all of a sudden become winners... Don't go to school, become a spin instructor, binge Market Measures, and you too can have an outstanding win ratio! Might as well go all in on GOOGL 700 the week before last and pray that it works out for the best.
How would you describe a "professional trader." For example is it someone who has passed FINRA's Series 4 Registered Options Principal Test? Or could it be any person who earns their living from a specified activity such as options trading? Or something else? I make a living trading options using TDA's ToS platform. I was making a living flying a Boeing 777 but then retired and now do options. Full time. Just thought I'd ask. Best
AT may be #1 in customer satisfaction, but that's not because of TOS. Only a small fraction of AT customers use TOS. The platform does not even support automated trading.
Retired from PanAm and now doing options. That sounds like a good synopsis for an autobiography. Maybe TastyTrades can have you on there as a guest. Just kidding Steve. On a serious note, are you trading with your own funds or leveraging it with a prop firm? I.e. T3 Pro means you can bank because a lot of people have paper but no real paper to show for it. Das Supertraderz use ToS exclusively as well. I guess she is also pro...
I watched that video. I don't mind the mannerisms but someone needs to tell Jacob to lose the greasy taxi driver/porn actor look from the 1970s. He gets paid as a teacher (asst professor?) and he gets paid for being on the show - he can afford a decent haircut and to keep a clean, crisp shirt at the TastyTrade office. I think the producers are taking the "catering to millennials" look a bit far, but what do I know; maybe millennials like to get their investment advice from guys who look like poor slobs.