"The cart is dragging the horse down the street"

Get ready for 2026 or get run over by it.

"Everything that you do in zero DTE -- start with this premise."

That's my #1 rule for same-day expiration trading.

Assume you're going to be wrong 50% of the time.

Why? Because in a market where options drive underlying movement instead of the reverse, anything can happen.

The cart isn't just leading the horse anymore -- it's dragging the horse down the street. $1 trillion in daily 0DTE notional creates hedging requirements that move SPX regardless of fundamentals.

And as 2026 approaches, this is only accelerating.

You don't need to predict direction. You need to understand systematic positioning effects.

Buy something for 20 cents that expected move calculations suggest could be worth 40+ cents. The European Central Bank research confirms these patterns repeat systematically.

Wrong consistently? Still profitable with proper risk/reward ratios.

I spent 90 minutes this week breaking down the exact math:

  • How 0DTE offers the most advantageous risk/rewards in retail trading

  • Why expected move calculations provide statistical edge

  • How gamma positioning creates predictable patterns

But here's the urgent part: AI integration is coming to 0DTE next.

The systematic nature of gamma effects makes this ideal for algorithmic strategies. When AI can identify and exploit positioning more efficiently than humans, the current opportunities disappear.

Learn the framework now while human edge still exists.

Because 2026 isn't going to wait for you to figure this out.

To your success,

Don Kaufman