Dot Com Bubble or Profitable Growth?
June 5, 2017 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education
A handful of well-known technology stocks have been leading the stock rally this year. Considering the narrowness of where investor money is going, is this another dot com bubble or profitable and sustainable growth for the likes of Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google (Alphabet), Amazon and Microsoft? Or are we seeing the [...]
Profitable Strategies for Trading Options
July 21, 2015 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education
The point of trading options is to contain risk and leverage trading capital. With these points firmly in mind here are two profitable strategies for trading options. In options trading the buyer of an option pays for the right to buy in the case of a call option or sell in the [...]
Options Trader
March 29, 2014 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Tips
So, you want to make money trading options. Then you need to develop the knowledge base and skill sets of an options trader. If you are already a stock trader you should realize that there a difference between stock and options trading. However, each type of trading requires fundamental and [...]
Use Puts to Protect Profits
March 1, 2014 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Tips, Profitable Options Trading
A good idea when you have a stock that has had a good run up is to use puts to protect profits. When the stock market has had a good run it is always time for the investor to look to protecting his profits. In fact, the old saying is that you [...]
Difference between Options and Futures
December 6, 2013 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Tips, Options Trading, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Strategies
In options trading one can trade options on futures contracts as well as on equities themselves. Having a clear sense of the difference between options and futures is essential in this regard. To understand the difference between options and futures let us start with a couple of basic definitions.
Futures Contracts
Futures [...]
Options, Dividends, and Volatility
November 11, 2013 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading, Option Trading Education, Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Strategies, Options Trading Tips
There is an excellent discussion of specific options trades in the current online issue of Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/stockoptionschannel/2013/11/11/interesting-april-2014-stock-options-for-cisco-systems/). The article discusses put and call options for April 2014 for Cisco (CSCO). At issue are the price of the put option or call option, the dividend paid by Cisco, and potential market volatility. [...]
The Leverage of Trading Options
November 6, 2013 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Education, Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Strategies, Options Trading Tips
The leverage of trading options is perhaps its greatest attraction. With the simple investment of a premium a trader can nail down a price at which he or she will be able to buy or sell an equity, no matter high or low the price may go. The leverage of buying and [...]
Technical Analysis of Options
November 3, 2013 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Education, Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Tips
Technical analysis of options tells the trader what the options market will do next. Analysis of stock and market sector fundamentals will give the trader and investor an accurate picture of the long term prospects of the underlying equity. Investors and traders will often buy the underlying equity based upon [...]
Options Trading Volatility
October 23, 2013 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading Education, Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Tips
The talk these days in options trading seems to be all about volatility. Options trading volatility is nothing new. The prime reference for options trading volatility is the VIX. According to the CBOE web site, “The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®) is a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed [...]
Options Trading Volume
October 9, 2013 by Jim Walker
Filed under Option Trading, Option Trading Education, Option Trading Tips, Options Trading Education, Options Trading Tips
Options trading volume varies with the belief that prices of underlying equities will fluctuate. For example, institutions that are writing puts in options trading may not believe that a stock or commodity price will fall but those buying puts do. It is not the change in price of the underlying that drives interest and increases [...]