Paul S.
Reality is much bleaker than promotional Youtube videos
I followed Steve (via Youtube) for at least half a year. I have trading experience and use a trade similar to the FlyD (aka Flydagonal), but structured differently. But it wasn't "the" trade, just "a" trade, which failed regularly. So, I was intrigued that someone worked out mechanics and trade plan for the trade to make a clear winner. I started course after the big SPX run-up of April-May 2026 (+1300 points in 1.5 month). I took a few losses during that time, and sat disorganized and unsure, having a "trader's block". That's when, I thought, I need a good mentorship and good trading plans, to not be afraid of occasional losses and power forward with a solid strategy. One thing I immediately noticed with the course is that it's a lonely place. There was no chat or forum to let students communicate among themselves and with the mentor in a clearly visible manner (e.g. to avoid repeatedly asking the same question - one person asks, other can see it). The only way to communicate was to leave comments at the particular lesson, with Steve replying to them, but that's not that level of visibility at all. Next thing which I noticed is that some matters are omitted in the lessons, e.g. the question of the max loss on different variants of Flyagonal. But the most important thing, the course didn't offer a complete trade plan. Like, it offered discussion of mechanics, catalog of adjustments, and some other guidelines, but not a complete plan to consistently enter trades and deal with losing trades, to actually stay on the positive side of PnL. I thought that practical part would clear that up, and activated the Alerts Service. Turned out to be more lively place, with an active forum where participants and Steve himself regularly posted. That alone made it better value than the course itself. Next thing, I noticed that Steve still runs trades started during the big run-up, started from end-April to mid-May. I had similar trades and closed them for reasonable loss weeks ago. Steve kept fighting them, leading to close to max losses. There were no new trades for a while. I asked, free Youtube videos promised 4-5 trades, where are they? The response was: look, there're trades. Those losing trades started weeks ago and bleeding to max loss. Then, there's an PYPL wheel. If you remember, there was PYPL crash months before, I joined, and Steve got caught with it. In his list, that trade still takes up a slot, so you can't trade something new with it active. Then, finally a trade. Profitable trade. Closed for gross $80 profit in a day or two. That's when I learned that the stats provided by Steve actually don't include full commission costs. He counts some $0.25 per leg, which aren't true cost even for him, and for most people, it's $1.5+ per leg, so from $80 gross profit, you actually retain ~$50. Then there were more trades. Some profitable up to $200 or so. Some - and regularly - problematic, taking a lot of time, leading to losses. Over time, the pattern became clear - a problematic trade takes "slot" for long time, blocking new trades from being started. Then when bad trade is finally over, in a twist of "trader's luck", a newly started one also becomes problematic. Then vicious cycle repeats. So, I found myself in the same dreadful situation I was before taken the course: the bad trades prevailed, there was indecisiveness/fear (or bad planning if you want) to open new trades while the bad were running, and there was no trade plan to guide re: what's right and what's wrong. I provided feedback to Steve to address the problems described above, TrustPilot review limits don't let me got into details, bu they were: a) Add forum for the course itself - the only which was done; b) Release JSON data for previous analysis to help with community analysis; c) run paper trade campaigns towards establishing a trade plan. The last 2 were downplayed/ignored/rejected. My conclusions based on 3-month experience: * Flyagonal is highly risky strategy, requiring special tools to be successful * Based on watching Steve's trading and working, I don't think he has good enough idea of what he's doing * I didn't learn much - the course lacks crucial parts to apply strategy successfully, and the practice shows the same anti-patterns as I already knew - lack of clear plan, indecisiveness/blockage by bad trades, not enough repetitions to come to statistical edge (if it exists). * There's that feeling, when you know, you want to buy something expensive, e.g. a timeshare, when you're courted, provided with a lot of bright information and attention, but all turn much more bleak once you actually paid money. It may be ok for Steve to do it the way he does, but as a paying customer, I'm dissatisfied, and I wanted to share details with other interested parties, so they can assess themselves.
Response from Options Income AcademySep 7, 2026
Thank you for taking the time to write this out in detail. I'd rather have specific, honest criticism than silence, and much of what you describe is a fair account of your three months. Let me be straight about the part you have right. Performance did fall off significantly. From August of last year through April, I was opening three to five new trades a week and most were closing at profit targets within one to two days — at one point, 31 winners in a row. I said publicly at the time that a streak like that would not hold up. What I did not expect was how hard it would fall off. When SPX ran 1,300 points in about six weeks without a pullback, I held struggling trades too long, trying to work them toward a reduced loss or back to profitability. Sometimes that worked. Often it did not. I am not going to pretend otherwise. I strive to always keep my courses updated with current findings and in fact I have updated the Flyagonal course TWICE so far and working on another update that I hope to have out in 2-3 months analyzing the drawdown and offering additional insights - this is updated in every course at NO ADDITIONAL COST. So I do strive to provide my latest findings any time I can. Two important corrections to your statements. My published stats are calculated at $0.95 per contract per leg, not $0.25. Your net will differ if your broker charges more, but the results are not built on a token commission assumption. And on the community: you asked for one, and I built it. First of all purchasers of Flyagonal Packages got 90 days of alerts community included, but beyond that I set up a separate community that is permanently free for every Flyagonal owner — that was at your suggestion, and it has been live for a few weeks now. As far as tracking/reporting - Every trade I have ever taken is in the community: the opening orders, every adjustment, the close, the actual orders as they were placed, and a video explaining why I did what I did at the time. I also provide updated flyagonal results at least 1 time per month in my youtube channel where I show the latest stats (including drawdown) to all. I would not call the trade Highly Risky - it is a defined risk trade and if made in SPY it can be sized down to about $150 in total risk, in SPX one lot it is about $1,500 in maximum risk. On your request for me to do daily paper trades in the community - i did not and still do not see any value in that for most people. I was trading live and publishing all of it, and opening a paper trade every day would have added confusion and a flood of notifications for everyone in the community. Not to mention that every day is not necessarily conducive to opening trades (paper or live). Any trader who wants to paper trade is free to, and I'd encourage it. I am sorry it did not come together for you, and I mean that. I would rather you find what works for you than win an argument about it. If you ever want to talk any of it through, the door is open.