Founded in 2001 by traders for the trading community, Option Research & Technology Services (ORATS) is an options research firm dedicated to discovering untapped alpha-generating strategies. The company provides investment advisors and retail traders access to both industry-standard options data and a plethora of proprietary information, which includes forecasts, implied volatility summaries, and historical volatility readings.

“We turn the options data into meaningful and valuable insights by boiling it down to its raw form and then analyzing that data from a whole new perspective to uncover a pattern,” says Matt Amberson, Founder and Principal, ORATS.

ORATS’ quantitative research, options-related data feeds, and customized trading decision-support solutions enable it to deliver more precise market summarizations than commonly available technical indicators and options quotes. These services are built around a subscription model accessed by users through different methods, including a simple login to the website. Further, clients can leverage the services using robust APIs that facilitate straightforward delivery of huge volumes of options quotes.

ORATS has an all-in-one package for end-to-end options strategy development called the “ORATS Wheel.” The ORATS Wheel’s software empowers users to research, implement, and assess various options strategies by harnessing the power of deep data sets. The tool alerts, identifies, and helps traders stay in contact with their positions. The ORATS Wheel also provides insights on what traders should do in different market conditions.

ORATS possesses historical data going back to 2007 with strategies tried and tested by traders with over 30 years of expertise. Backed by this experience, they understand that options data tend to lose quality as the end of the business day approaches. Thus, unlike other players who utilize only end of-day or closing data, ORATS takes a snapshot of the entire market 14 minutes before it closes and simulates trading based on that snapshot for its backtesting. This method enables ORATS to make better assumptions, maintain a competitive edge, and equip its clients with opportunities throughout the trading day.

ORATS caters to many types of market participants: Investment advisors, quant traders, retail clients, and large brokerage firms, all utilize ORATS’ products for their unique trading requirements and styles. For example, one major pension fund uses ORATS’ backtesting service for reevaluating potential pitching strategies. Another large investment advisor has clients with distinctive options positions. The advisor uses ORATS’ theoretical values data to understand which options might be over- or under-valued and which makes trading decisions clearer. Similarly, a retail client can have better-informed strategies by identifying the best option trade using ORATS’ theoretical value. All these client success stories underscore the effectiveness of the company’s visual and graphical interface, helping the trading community easily recognize trading options.
ORATS’ educational approach further separates it from the competition. The company supplements products with educational materials, including blogs and podcasts. Matt is a recognized options trading expert and renowned podcaster in the options field. Moreover, the entire ORATS team is a go-to repository for entities like Reuters and the WSJ for news content.

As a registered investment advisor (RIA), the company provides consulting services as well.

ORATS constantly seeks feedback from clients so that it can design more products to address potential opportunities and strategies. As a technologically sound, data-driven company, ORATS continually enables traders to interact with the market via its modularly designed, purpose-built solutions. ORATS makes the entire trading process easier for many client types.