I guess this is what algorithmic trading looks like?
Is there a guide to all this sort of stuff? What do tell the newbies? It's really hard to find good information about trading of the enormous amount of spam out there.
I believe most algorithmic trading is considerably less sophisticated than this. This in particular is options trading, which is more complex than the trading of equities or debt.
Algorithmic just means using a computer to decide what to do, and often to execute the trades too. What I described can and was done by manual options traders.
As for a guide yes it's hard due to all the get rich quick adverts. Perhaps read Wilmott to get an overview of how things are priced.
To newbies? Buy the S&P 500, set up aoutoinvest and walk away. Options are something people with PhD's in stochastic calculus use to make money off of retail trade.