Hi GYP Community,
Today marks an exciting new chapter for Grow Your Pile!
For the first time, we’re bringing together the trading experience of Tony Battista and Tony Rihan, our real-money GYP portfolios, and the technology of PeakBot to introduce automated trading to our community.
Imagine following the trades we make in our portfolios without having to sit in front of your computer, watch for alerts, or manually enter every order.
That’s exactly what our new partnership with PeakBot is designed to make possible.
In our latest Office Hours, we welcomed the PeakBot team for a special presentation, live demonstration, and member Q&A about the future of automated options trading.
We also discussed the current market environment, portfolio risk management, and why automation can be particularly valuable for investors who want to follow a disciplined trading process but cannot spend their entire day watching the markets.
And to celebrate the launch, we have a special 15-DAY FREE TRIAL offer!
More on that below.
1. Why We Decided to Introduce Automated Trading
Since launching Grow Your Pile, we’ve heard from subscribers who love our strategies but face one major challenge:
They simply cannot follow every trade in real time.
Some members have demanding jobs. Others are traveling, spending time with family, or living in different time zones.
And even when you receive our trade alerts, there’s still work involved.
You need to open your trading platform, locate the correct option contracts, enter the order, verify the price, and monitor the position.
If we roll a position or close a trade, you have to repeat the process.
That’s manageable for some investors, but not everyone.
Our objective with PeakBot is simple:
We want to make it easier for subscribers to participate in the GYP trading process without having to execute every transaction manually.
Importantly, we’re not changing our investment philosophy.
We’re simply introducing another way to follow it.
2. Meet PeakBot: The Technology Behind the Automation
During Office Hours, we introduced the PeakBot team, including co-founder Dylan Del Rosso, who explained how the platform works.
PeakBot has been developing automated trading technology for years, well before artificial intelligence became the dominant technology conversation.
The company focuses on connecting trading strategies directly to brokerage accounts through authorized integrations.
The concept is straightforward:
Grow Your Pile generates a trade in one of our portfolios.
The trade information is transmitted through PeakBot.
PeakBot sends the appropriate order instructions to your connected brokerage account.
Your broker handles order execution.
You can monitor the activity directly through your brokerage account and the PeakBot platform.
The key distinction is that PeakBot is an automation technology provider, not the brokerage executing your trades.
Orders remain subject to brokerage approval, buying power, market conditions, liquidity, and execution availability.
This is not a black-box trading system inventing trades on its own.
The goal is to automate the execution of the GYP strategies that Tony B and Tony R are already managing.
3. Choose the GYP Portfolio You Want to Follow
One of the most exciting features demonstrated during the session is the ability to select which Grow Your Pile portfolio you want to automate.
Subscribers can choose:
Portfolio 1 — Growth Portfolio
Our portfolio designed around longer-term portfolio growth, options premium collection, and disciplined exposure management.
Portfolio 2 — Active Portfolio
Our more actively managed portfolio, where we use options strategies, shorter-duration opportunities, and portfolio adjustments as market conditions evolve.
Or Follow Both Portfolios
Members interested in both approaches can select both, subject to their account’s capital, margin permissions, and risk tolerance.
You remain responsible for deciding whether automation is appropriate for your circumstances.
And here’s something important:
You do NOT have to use AutoTrading to remain a GYP member.
Our existing membership continues as before, including trade alerts, educational content, Office Hours, portfolio updates, and member resources.
Automation is an optional additional service.
4. Connecting Your Brokerage Account
During the live demonstration, the PeakBot team walked us through the process of connecting a brokerage account.
At the time of the presentation, supported brokers included:
tastytrade
Charles Schwab
Tradier
Additional brokerage integrations were discussed as part of PeakBot’s development plans.
One important point emphasized during the demonstration was how the brokerage connection works.
When connecting a tastytrade account, for example, users are directed to tastytrade’s own authorization page.
The brokerage handles the login and permission process.
PeakBot receives authorization to submit trades through the brokerage’s API rather than requiring users to hand over their brokerage passwords.
The team explained that these trading permissions do not authorize PeakBot to withdraw or transfer money from the account.
Nevertheless, allowing any third-party technology to place trades in a brokerage account is a significant decision. Members should carefully review the permissions, security disclosures, and risks before enabling the service.
5. Automation Does Not Eliminate Trading Risk
This was one of the most important messages from the entire webinar.
Automated trading does not mean guaranteed profits, perfect execution, or freedom from losses.
A trade can lose money whether it is entered manually or automatically.
Automation also introduces additional considerations, including:
Orders that may not fill at the same price as the model portfolio
Insufficient buying power
Brokerage order rejections
Differences in account size and existing positions
Technology interruptions or connectivity issues
Conflicts with positions already held in your account
For example, if you already own shares or have options positions in a particular stock, activating automation on the same underlying could potentially create unintended interactions.
That is why it is essential to understand your existing portfolio before enabling automated execution.
PeakBot also explained that its system provides notifications when certain execution problems occur, such as an order being rejected because of insufficient buying power.
Automation can reduce the manual workload, but it does not eliminate the investor’s responsibility to monitor risk.
6. Our Trading Philosophy Remains Exactly the Same
Tony B and I emphasized that Grow Your Pile is about portfolio management, not day trading or scalping.
We manage real-money portfolios, make adjustments based on market conditions, and focus on risk, probabilities, and capital efficiency.
Our approach generally includes:
Maintaining a thoughtful level of long delta exposure
Collecting options premium through positive-theta strategies
Managing buying power and capital allocation
Diversifying positions and expirations
Rolling or closing positions when appropriate
Adjusting risk when market conditions change
Sometimes we trade frequently.
Other times, we may go several days without initiating new positions.
In fact, during the webinar we discussed how we had recently reduced exposure and had not placed new trades for approximately 48 hours.
Why?
Because we don’t believe in trading simply for the sake of trading.
Our objective is to make intelligent portfolio decisions, not maximize the number of transactions.
That philosophy remains unchanged whether you follow our trades manually or through automation.
7. Important: Account Size and Position Sizing
Another critical discussion concerned how automated trades are sized.
At launch, the platform was designed to replicate the number of contracts traded in the selected GYP portfolio, rather than automatically adjusting every trade proportionally to each subscriber’s account size.
For example, if a model portfolio trades two contracts, the automated account may attempt to trade those same two contracts.
This means subscribers must carefully consider whether their account has sufficient capital and whether the resulting exposure is appropriate.
The PeakBot demonstration included account-size requirements and risk acknowledgments before activating a strategy.
We strongly encourage everyone to review these carefully.
Just because a trade is appropriate for a $250,000 or $500,000 portfolio does not mean it is appropriate for a smaller account.
8. What Does GYP AutoTrading Cost?
We worked with PeakBot to create special pricing for our community.
These are the prices discussed during our launch webinar. Review the current terms on the enrollment page before subscribing.
For existing GYP members, nothing changes about the membership you already enjoy. The automation subscription is entirely optional.
For non-members, the new service also creates an opportunity to access our trading strategies through the PeakBot offering.
9. Special Launch Promotion — 15 Days FREE!
To celebrate the launch of this exciting partnership, we’re offering a special opportunity to experience GYP AutoTrading through PeakBot.
Try GYP AutoTrading FREE for 15 Days
https://growyourpile.peakbot.com/lp/gyp-launch-promo-member
If you’ve been curious about automated trading, this is an opportunity to explore the technology and determine whether it fits your trading process.
10. What If You Want to Stop AutoTrading?
Another question addressed during the webinar was how to stop the service.
The PeakBot team explained that subscribers can cancel their subscription and disconnect an automated strategy from their accounts.
However, an important distinction must be understood:
Stopping automation is not the same as closing existing positions.
Any open trades in your brokerage account remain your responsibility. You should review them and determine how they need to be managed.
This is especially important for options positions that may have assignment risk, expiration risk, or significant buying power requirements.
11. Watch the Complete Office Hours Replay
We covered much more during the presentation, including a live walkthrough of the platform, brokerage connections, security considerations, and answers to questions from our community.
If you’re considering automation, I strongly encourage you to watch the full session before activating the service.
🎥 WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE:
Final Thoughts: A New Chapter for Grow Your Pile
When Tony Battista and I started Grow Your Pile, our mission was to share our real-world trading experience and help investors become better portfolio managers.
We wanted to show our trades, explain our decisions, discuss our mistakes, and teach the principles we’ve learned over decades in the markets.
Today, we’re taking that mission one step further.
We’re combining trading education, real-money portfolio management, and technology to make our strategies more accessible.
You can continue following our trades manually, just as you always have.
Or you can explore automation through PeakBot.
Either way, our commitment remains the same: helping you become a more knowledgeable, disciplined, and confident investor.
Thank you for being part of the Grow Your Pile community.
Let’s keep growing our piles!
Tony Rihan & Tony Battista
Grow Your Pile
Important Risk Disclosure: Grow Your Pile provides educational information, not individualized investment advice. Options trading involves substantial risk, including the possibility of significant losses. Automated trading introduces additional execution, technology, connectivity, and operational risks. Trades in subscriber accounts may differ from model portfolio trades in execution price, timing, fills, and results. Past performance is not indicative of future results. PeakBot is a separate third-party technology provider. Review all applicable subscription terms, brokerage permissions, risk disclosures, and cancellation conditions before enabling automation. A free trial does not eliminate trading risk.