The trader who learned VIX from GFC floor blogs
Sat down this week with Jason Ruschel from Three Peaks Trading. Different kind of options trader from a lot of the guests I've had on, and worth the hour it took.
The one line I really liked:
"If you understand probabilities in this game, then you understand the risk. And by understanding risk, you can take more of it than a typical person might."
That's the whole thesis of the conversation. The intuitive move is to size down when a trade feels risky. Jason argues the actual safety comes from understanding the odds well enough that sizing up on purpose is the disciplined choice.
Some background on how he got there.
Jason trades his own book full time now. Before that he spent five years reading institutional option flow for a living, which is the kind of role that quietly shapes the way you look at every position.
He learned the VIX during the 2008 crisis from floor traders' blogs, while he was still in college. And he told me plainly that he's never really read an options book.
Things from the conversation I'm still turning over.
The 2008 education. He was a college kid on floor traders' blogs during the crisis. That's a specific kind of options grounding you can't get from a textbook, because the blogs were written by people trading through it as it happened.
Five years of tracking institutional options flow. He describes what watching real client tickets teaches you about positioning, and what it teaches you about the market makers on the other side of it. That kind of tape-reading education compounds in a way that isn't obvious until years later.
The size argument. If you understand the probabilities cleanly, sizing bigger becomes the disciplined choice. Jason walks through how that reframes what "risky" actually means to him.
No books. His entire framework was built from screens, flow, and floor traders talking through their own trades in real time.
The full interview is up on YouTube. Link below.
For me, the interesting bit about talking to traders like Jason is how consistently the good ones come from the same handful of formative experiences. Time on the tape. Time watching real flow. Time absorbing the way market makers think about the other side of every trade.
The specific books they've read tend to matter less than the raw hours spent watching a live tape.
The way I try to compress that kind of experience into a framework someone can actually pick up is what the masterclass is built around. The years of watching and learning still have to happen. The framework tells you what to watch for.
Free 60 minutes, linked below.
Watch my free masterclass (exclusive for serious option traders)
The interview is worth an hour. If you've been trading options for a while and you feel like you're still missing something structural, Jason's approach is a specific worked example of what it looks like when someone builds the structural view first and everything else after.
If you want to skip the masterclass and jump straight into our course, the Options Insight Advantage, this is the link.
Jump straight into our course, the Options Insight Advantage
Imran
Disclaimer (Your Gains & Losses, Your Responsibility): This content from Options Insight LLC (“Options Insight”) is for educational purposes only and does not provide individual investment advice or recommendations, nor should it be considered an offer to buy or sell any security. All information is general and not tailored to your specific objectives, financial situation, or risk tolerance. Employees of Options Insight may hold positions in the assets discussed. While we use sources believed to be reliable, we are not responsible for errors, omissions, or losses resulting from reliance on this content. Always consult a licensed investment professional.
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