The Trading Addict · Issue No. 90 · Monday September 28, 2026

We Don't Predict. We Do the Math.

No breaking stories this week — so Maria took the time to explain what actually happens behind the scenes at Math Makes Money: the backtesting, the statistics, and why SPX 0DTE is where so much of our automated trading lives. Plus a market tidbit on the trend-following pioneer who shaped today's trading bots, and October earnings to watch.

The Trading Addict Newsletter · by Maria Helmick
»  JOIN THE MATH MAKES MONEY TRADING TEAM  »
Rob Helmick, Maria Helmick & Nick Battista — Math Makes Money

The Trading Addict

Issue No. 90  •  Monday September 28, 2026

In This Issue

We Don't Predict the Market—We Do the Math — A behind-the-scenes look at how we backtest and build our SPX 0DTE strategies. Maria's BL inside.  Jump to this story →
42 Capital Fund — Accredited investors: learn more about our fund.  Jump to this story →
One Simple Idea Changed Trading — Richard Donchian, trend following, and the 70-year-old idea behind today's trading bots.  Jump to this story →
Math Makes Money · 40,000 Trades. 11 Months. — Go inside our SPX strategy. Nick Battista + Rob Helmick. Live access. One flat monthly fee. Cancel anytime.  Jump to this story →
Earnings Calendar — The weeks ahead at a glance, Sept. 30 through late October.  Jump to this story →
Day 236 · Fri Sep 25 Trading Update — $1M +$8,241 (274 tr) cum $713,307 (+71.33%). $30K −$1,080 (36 tr) cum $23,294 (+77.65%).  Jump to this story →
Today's Live Show — Watch Rob and Nick on YouTube — 9:15 AM & 3:15 PM ET.  Jump to this story →
 
We Don't Predict the Market—We Do the Math (tap to enlarge) We Don't Predict the Market—We Do the Math — page 1 (tap to enlarge) We Don't Predict the Market—We Do the Math — page 2 (tap to enlarge)

Maria's Bottom Line

I trade differently. I still love selling premium on individual stocks, looking for my entry and having more time on the clock. But the more I've watched what we've built at Math Makes Money, the more I've come to appreciate what automation can do. For me, the most interesting part isn't that a computer places the trade. It's everything that had to happen before we trusted the computer to place it. Thousands of trades, winning percentages, losses, drawdowns, different entries, different stops and a whole lot of testing go into deciding whether a strategy deserves to be traded at all. We're never going to eliminate losing trades, and we're never going to know exactly what SPX is going to do tomorrow. We don't need to. We do the math first. Then we let the bots follow it. And that, quite literally, is Math Makes Money.

 
42 Capital Fund — gold-on-navy logo

For more information, click here.

42CapitalFund.com →

» TODAY'S MARKET TIDBIT

One Simple Idea Changed Trading — Richard Donchian and trend following (tap to enlarge)
Math Makes Money — 40,000 trades, 11 months. Go inside the strategy. Page 1

Meet Nick Battista

A former tastylive host and now a full partner in Math Makes Money, Nick built his teaching approach around the questions traders actually ask. On Options Trading Concepts LIVE, he worked through options concepts with viewers in real time.

Members get that same practical approach through live discussions, instruction, and direct access for questions. Bring a trade, a setup, or something you do not understand, and work through it with someone who knows the options market.

Meet Rob Helmick

Rob began trading stocks in 1985 and moved to full-time options trading in 2020. He was an attorney, the Founder and CEO of eCollege.com, which he took public and retired at age 42. He brings decades of market experience and a background in business and technology to his trading.

His SPX bot grew out of millions of backtests examining entry times, premium target, exit, stop loss settings, and many other variables. He turned those findings into programmed trading rules, trades the strategies himself, and continues to monitor and review their performance daily.

Your membership, put to work. VIP membership includes trades, bots, live access, and community. Join here. Page 3

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» EARNINGS CALENDAR

Earnings Calendar, Sep 30 through Oct 2026 (tap to enlarge)

» DAY 236 · FRI SEP 25 · DAILY TRADING UPDATE

Daily Trading Update Day 236 - Fri Sep 25 2026 - $1M +$8,241 (274 tr) cum $713,307 (+71.33%), $30K -$1,080 (36 tr) cum $23,294 (+77.65%)

Tap the dashboard to see the full summary online

» TODAY'S LIVE SHOW

Today's Math Makes Money Live Show (tap to watch on YouTube)

» Tap to watch today's live show — 9:15 AM & 3:15 PM ET Monday through Friday, plus Sunday 5:55 PM ET

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MATH MAKES MONEY

Rob and Maria Helmick and Nick Battista · The Trading Addict Newsletter

MathMakesMoney.com

Educational only. Not investment advice. Trading options involves substantial risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.