Co-founder and lead instructor, TheoTrade
Don Kaufman
Options trader and educator. Former CBOE market maker, former Chief Derivatives Instructor at thinkorswim, and former Director of the Trader Group at TD Ameritrade. In 2015 he co-founded TheoTrade to teach traders how volatility, probability, and risk really work.
- 2000Joins thinkorswim as Chief Derivatives Instructor
- 2009Director of the Trader Group after TD Ameritrade acquires thinkorswim
- 2015Co-founds TheoTrade
- 25+ yearsTrading and teaching options
About Don Kaufman
Don Kaufman has spent more than 25 years trading options and teaching self-directed traders how professionals think about volatility and risk. His approach is simple to state and hard to practice: trade the probabilities the market is pricing, define your risk before you enter, and never confuse a forecast with an edge.
From the trading floor to thinkorswim
Don learned options from the dealer side as a market maker on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, pricing and hedging contracts for a living. That experience, seeing how the people on the other side of retail trades actually manage risk, is the foundation of everything he teaches.
In 2000 he joined thinkorswim as Chief Derivatives Instructor, where he helped build the options education that turned the platform into the leader in retail options trading. When TD Ameritrade acquired thinkorswim in 2009, Don stayed on as Director of the Trader Group. For six years he oversaw thinkorswim content and client education, including the design and delivery of the programs that became the standard for retail trading education.
Co-founding TheoTrade
In 2015 Don left TD Ameritrade to co-found TheoTrade. The goal was to give everyday traders the same volatility-first, defined-risk framework professional desks use, taught by people who trade it every day. Today he oversees TheoTrade's firm-wide strategy, leads instruction and risk management, and teaches a live session with members every trading day.
Don's work at TheoTrade spans free daily writing in Don's Trading Desk, on-demand options strategy classes, live masterminds, and a family of alert services, from butterfly and Christmas tree income trades to earnings setups and the Shadow Clocks volatility timing indicator.
What Don focuses on
Don's specialty is options strategy, volatility trading, and professional-level risk management. He trades index options like SPX and XSP alongside stocks and ETFs, and he spends much of his teaching on what happens beneath the surface of the market: how dealers hedge, why implied volatility gets overpriced, and how to structure a trade so the worst case is known before the order goes in.
He also speaks at MoneyShow and TradersExpo events, where his sessions cover implied versus historical volatility, the expected move, and trading options around both. TheoTrade is based in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with an office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
How Don Kaufman trades
Probability over prediction. Don starts with what the options market is pricing, decides whether that price is wrong, and sets how much he is willing to lose finding out.
Expected move
Every trade starts with how far the market is priced to move over a set period, and whether that range is too wide or too narrow.
Implied volatility
Options are priced on volatility, not direction. Don looks for the gap between the volatility the market implies and what it actually delivers.
Defined risk
Verticals, butterflies, and Christmas trees where the maximum loss is known before the order is placed, sized to a fixed share of the account.
Time decay
Many of Don's income trades are built to collect theta, letting the passage of time do the work rather than a big directional call.
Market structure
Dealer hedging and order flow explain moves charts can't. Don reads positioning to understand where the market is likely to be pushed.
Execution
Limit orders, fills, and bid priority matter. Don teaches traders to stop paying the mid-price and keep edge that sloppy execution gives away.
Don Kaufman's services
Six alert services, one lifetime bundle, and a live mastermind, all built on Don's volatility-first, defined-risk approach. Pricing for every service is on the Don Kaufman services page.
Options income alerts
Xmas Tree Alerts
Christmas tree spreads are multi-leg option structures, related to the butterfly, that let a trader get paid when fear is overpriced instead of guessing direction. Don sends each alert with the full structure and teaches how to manage it through expiration.
- 10 to 20 trades a year
- Built around time decay and overpriced volatility
- IRA-friendly structures
Options income alerts
SuperFly
A defined-risk options income strategy that uses time decay and market structure to capture the overnight session. Trades follow clear risk parameters and the same management rules every time, so each alert takes only a few minutes to act on.
- Up to 6 alerts a week, sent before the close
- About six minutes a day to place and manage
- Defined risk on every trade
Earnings alerts
Earnings Flips
Earnings announcements are the most volatile days of the quarter for a single stock. Earnings Flips uses defined-risk options setups positioned to benefit from the volatility shift after the report, so the wildest weeks of the quarter work for you instead of against you.
- About 15 alerts per earnings season
- Four earnings seasons a year
- Defined-risk setups only
Stock and options alerts
Catapult Trades
Catapult Trades looks for stocks coiling in a tight range and positions for the breakout. Don pairs each idea into a structured trade built to capture strong directional momentum once consolidation ends.
- One paired trade every week, 52 weeks a year
- Stock and options setups
- Focus on moves after consolidation
Volatility timing indicator
Shadow Clocks
Shadow Clocks is Don's proprietary volatility timing indicator. It tracks volatility cycles to flag potential market turning points, helping traders position before large directional moves instead of reacting after them.
- 12 to 15 timing-based alerts a year
- Built on volatility cycles
- Designed to catch major turning points
Short-term alerts
Pocket Profits
A tactical strategy for short-term opportunities with clear entry and exit rules. Pocket Profits focuses on precision timing and disciplined trade management. Available as a lifetime membership on its own or as part of Don Unlimited.
- Short-term trades
- Rules-based entries and exits
- Included in Don Unlimited
Live mastermind
Don 0DTE Mastermind
A live mastermind with Don on zero-days-to-expiration options: how same-day options are priced, when the expected move gives an edge, and how to size trades that can go from full value to zero in hours. Sessions are recorded to the member archive.
- Live sessions with Don
- Focused on SPX and XSP same-day options
- Full recordings in the archive
| Service | What it trades | How often | Included in Don Unlimited |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xmas Tree Alerts | Christmas tree option spreads | 10–20 trades a year | Yes |
| SuperFly | Defined-risk overnight income trades | Up to 6 a week | Yes |
| Earnings Flips | Options around earnings | About 15 per season, 4 seasons | Yes |
| Catapult Trades | Stock and options breakouts | 1 paired trade a week | Yes |
| Shadow Clocks | Volatility timing signals | 12–15 a year | Yes |
| Pocket Profits | Short-term tactical trades | Ongoing | Yes |
| 0DTE Mastermind | Same-day SPX/XSP options | Live cohort | No, sold separately |
Don Unlimited
Every Don Kaufman alert service for one payment, for life. Don has spent 25 years building trading systems, 15 of them inside thinkorswim and TD Ameritrade watching how institutional order flow moves. Don Unlimited packages all of it: lifetime access to every alert service he publishes, with no renewals, no price increases, and no expiration.
It also comes with a lifetime price lock and every future upgrade to all six systems. If you already own one of Don's services or have TheoTrade credits, call 623-244-5657 before checkout so you only pay for what you don't already have.
Get Don Unlimited- Earnings FlipsAbout 15 alerts per earnings season
- Catapult TradesOne paired trade every week
- Xmas Tree Alerts10 to 20 trades a year
- SuperFlyUp to 6 alerts a week
- Shadow Clocks12 to 15 timing alerts a year
- Pocket ProfitsShort-term tactical trades with clear entry and exit rules
- PlusVIX Volatility Mega-Bundle (97 sessions), entry to Don's next Mega Mastermind, and a quarterly seat at The Founders' Table
Where to start with Don
Pick the path that matches how you trade and how much time you have.
New to options
Read Don's Trading Desk daily and take Options 101 and Options 201 in the class library. When you're ready for alerts, Pocket Profits gives you clear entry and exit rules on every trade.
Income from time decay
Xmas Tree Alerts for a small number of high-conviction trades a year, or SuperFly for frequent overnight trades that take minutes a day.
Event and momentum trades
Earnings Flips for the four earnings seasons, and Catapult Trades for a weekly breakout setup after consolidation.
Timing the big turns
Shadow Clocks flags volatility cycles that can precede major moves, a handful of times a year.
Active same-day traders
The Don 0DTE Mastermind for SPX and XSP same-day options, and Pocket Profits for short-term tactical trades.
Everything Don does
Don Unlimited covers all six alert systems for life, plus the VIX Mega-Bundle and The Founders' Table.
Classes and masterminds with Don Kaufman
On-demand classes from the TheoTrade library and live masterminds, from your first options trade to selling premium for income.
- Options 101: The Basics and BeyondFive-part series covering calls, puts, and how options are priced
- Options 201: Vertical and Calendar SpreadsThe two spreads every options trader should know
- Options 301: Volatility and Expected MoveReading implied volatility and the expected move
- Selling Options for a LivingPremium selling, building an options inventory, and capital allocation
- High Probability Trading with In/Out SpreadsDefined-risk In/Out spreads, step by step
- Beginner's Guide to Ratio ButterfliesStructuring butterflies with a directional lean
- VIX Volatility Mega-Bundle97 sessions on volatility and the VIX
- Don 0DTE MastermindLive cohort on same-day options
Options concepts Don teaches
The vocabulary behind Don's trades. If these are new to you, start here.
- Expected move
- The price range the options market is pricing for a stock or index over a set period, commonly estimated from the price of the at-the-money straddle.
- Implied volatility
- The volatility level built into an option's price. When implied volatility is high, option premiums are expensive; when it's low, they're cheap.
- Time decay (theta)
- The daily loss of an option's time value as expiration approaches. Option sellers collect it; option buyers pay it.
- Defined risk
- A position whose maximum possible loss is known when the trade is opened, such as a vertical spread or butterfly.
- Butterfly spread
- A three-strike options position that profits most if the underlying finishes near the middle strike at expiration, with risk limited to the cost of the trade.
- Christmas tree spread
- A multi-leg relative of the butterfly that uses uneven quantities across three strikes to express a view on both price and volatility.
- 0DTE options
- Options with zero days to expiration, meaning they expire the same day they're traded. SPX and XSP list them every trading day.
- XSP
- Mini-SPX index options, one-tenth the size of SPX. They're cash-settled and European-style, which makes them a smaller way to trade the S&P 500.
- Dealer gamma
- How market makers' hedging needs change as price moves. Depending on positioning, dealer hedging can dampen moves or accelerate them.
- VIX
- Cboe's index of the 30-day implied volatility priced into S&P 500 options, often called the market's fear gauge.
Latest from Don's Trading Desk
Read the full archiveFree content from Don and TheoTrade
Start learning from Don without spending a dollar.
Don's Trading Desk
Don's daily email: what he's watching, what he's trading, and what everyone else is missing. Every trading day.
Read Don's Trading DeskFree TheoVideo Report
Video market breakdowns from Don and the TheoTrade instructors, free to watch.
Watch the TheoVideo ReportThe Rebel's Guide to Trading Options
Don's free ebook for new options traders, covering how options work and how the pros use them.
Get the free ebookGet Don's Trading Desk in your inbox
Every trading day: Don's market read, trade ideas, and volatility notes. Free.
Don Kaufman in the media
Where to hear Don outside TheoTrade.
MoneyShow
Don is a featured MoneyShow expert. See his MoneyShow profile.
TradersExpo
At TradersExpo New York, Don has presented on the difference between implied and historical volatility and what it means for traders.
TheoTrade on YouTube
Free sessions, market breakdowns, and webinars with Don. Watch on YouTube.
Don Kaufman FAQ
Who is Don Kaufman?
Don Kaufman is an options trader, trading educator, and the co-founder and lead instructor of TheoTrade. He is a former market maker on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, former Chief Derivatives Instructor at thinkorswim, and former Director of the Trader Group at TD Ameritrade.
What did Don Kaufman do at thinkorswim and TD Ameritrade?
He joined thinkorswim in 2000 as Chief Derivatives Instructor and led its options education. After TD Ameritrade acquired thinkorswim in 2009, he served as Director of the Trader Group, overseeing thinkorswim content and client education until he left to co-found TheoTrade in 2015.
Was Don Kaufman a market maker?
Yes. Don was a market maker on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). That experience pricing and hedging options from the dealer side shapes how he teaches volatility and risk today.
Is Don Kaufman a real trader?
Yes. Don has more than 25 years in the options business and leads a live session with TheoTrade members every trading day, walking through his market read, trades, and risk in real time.
What is Don Kaufman's trading style?
Probability over prediction. He builds trades around implied volatility and the expected move, uses defined-risk spreads such as butterflies and Christmas trees, hedges portfolios with options, and reads dealer positioning and order flow rather than relying on chart patterns alone.
What services does Don Kaufman offer?
Don's services are Xmas Tree Alerts, SuperFly, Earnings Flips, Catapult Trades, Shadow Clocks, and Pocket Profits. Don Unlimited bundles his alert services with lifetime access, and he also runs the Don 0DTE Mastermind. Compare Don's services.
What is Don Unlimited?
Don Unlimited is a one-time purchase that gives lifetime access to every alert service Don publishes: Earnings Flips, Catapult Trades, Xmas Tree Alerts, SuperFly, Shadow Clocks, and Pocket Profits. It also includes the 97-session VIX Volatility Mega-Bundle, entry to Don's next Mega Mastermind, and a quarterly seat at The Founders' Table.
Which Don Kaufman service should a newer options trader start with?
Most newer traders start with Don's free Trading Desk email and his Options 101 and Options 201 classes. When they are ready for alerts, Pocket Profits is the most straightforward service, with clear entry and exit rules on every trade.
Does Don Kaufman teach 0DTE options?
Yes. Don runs the Don 0DTE Mastermind, a live program on trading options that expire the same day, and covers 0DTE setups in his daily session and Trading Desk notes.
What is Don's Trading Desk?
Don's Trading Desk is Don's free daily email. Every trading day he sends his market read, trade ideas, and volatility notes.
Neither TheoTrade nor any of its officers, directors, employees, or representatives is a licensed financial adviser, registered investment adviser, registered broker-dealer, or FINRA, SIPC, or NFA member firm. TheoTrade does not provide investment or financial advice or make investment recommendations.
Trading stocks, options, futures, and options on futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Alert frequencies describe how often a service typically sends alerts and are not a promise of results. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.