Options strategies, free webinars and trading guidelines to help volatility work for you
Options 101
Many underestimate the challenge of making money with options. Learn how to avoid that mistake with our downloadable educational chapters.
Trading stocks is reasonably easy, at least in theory. If you think a stock is going up, buy it. If you think it is going down, sell it; or sell it short if you are a real risk-taker.
As one top hedge fund manager said, "the only way most people really do well in the markets is to be long and leveraged". Buying calls is the best way to be "long and leveraged".
Use covered calls to generate income in your account. It is highly conservative and therefore widely popular. In fact, many stock traders begin trading options this way.
Have some insurance for your portfolio - or any stock position - by using put options. Buying puts is a limited risk way to protect your positions.
Many retail traders use this conservative strategy to generate income in their accounts. Short puts can be an excellent way to acquire stock or generate income in your account.
Lower your exposure to high premiums and implied volatility while increasing your probability to profit by using vertical spreads.
Long calendar spreads provide a limited-risk way to take advantage of time decay inherent in different expiration dates.
Butterflies and Condors involve buying two options, at a net debit, to establish a position which profits if the underlying stays within a given range. Learn how to take advantage of high implied volatility.
By using long "straddles" and "strangles", you'll have a strategy to profit from big moves in a stock - no matter what the direction.
Various factors - including implied volatility and time decay - help influence an options price. Understand all the factors to reduce risk while increasing your probability to profit.
The option "greeks" come from the pricing model that gives us implied volatility and quantifies factors such as directional shifts, volatility, time decay and changes in interest rates.
Volatility is the key factor both in option pricing and in the profitability of any options trade. Thus, it is crucial to understand volatility data to be a successful options trader.
Disciplined Trading
You want to take control of your financial destiny. You know you should be proactive. You have taken steps; maybe you even have a few pieces of the puzzle in place. But you have yet to find the success that you are looking for and you aren't as comfortable with you are doing as you would like.
Successful trading and investing require discipline and a repeatable process that you follow every time you place a trade. Our approach goes like this: Do your homework. Find a strategy. Craft a strategy. Analyze and test your strategy. Execute. Plan your exit. Adjust as necessary.
What's the Trade?
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Free Webinars
6 Steps to the Trading Process
Jeff McAllister - OptionsAnimal 3:30 pm CT
Dan Sheridan - Sheridan Mentoring LLC 3:00 pm CT
John Kmiecik - Market Taker Mentoring 3:30 pm CT
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