Syria Air Strike Scares South Korean Stock Market

There has been mixed reaction around the world to the US bombing a Syrian air base after Assad used nerve gas on civilians. But in one corner of the world reaction is clear, the Syria air strike scares the South Korean stock market.
As most of the trading world moves on from [...]

How Much Can You Make Trading Options?

Options offer several benefits to traders. Options are a good way to leverage your trading capital and options are a good way to hedge trading risk. If you are a speculator you trade options to make a profit. How much can you make trading options? There is an interesting article published on [...]

Three Options Trading Mistakes to Avoid

There are three basic options mistakes that both rookies and pros can make at times. These three options trading mistakes to avoid are trading non liquid options, not having an exit plan and doubling down to make up for losses. First we look at the matter of illiquid options.
Trading Non Liquid [...]

Easy Money Selling Options

The stock market is in pause mode. You own several stocks that you want to keep long term. How can you make a little extra money with your portfolio? It is possible to make easy money selling options when you already own the stock. A covered option is one in which are [...]

Profit versus Risk in Options Trading

As a rule aggressive trading strategies can offer substantial profits but at the risk of big losses. Conservative trading strategies contain losses but often end up with minimal returns. Is there an ideal approach to this dilemma of profit versus risk in options trading? A program that we have been following [...]

Stock Options for a Republican Congress

The Republicans gained enough seats in the midterm election to gain control of the US Senate in the next congress. They also increased their majority in the House of Representatives to the highest since 1946. The question remains for the stock market if this will make any difference and if so [...]

Options in a Stock Split

What happens when you have purchased calls on XYZ Company and their stock splits? Options in a stock split also split, so to speak. Many traders believe that the resulting bump in stock price that occurs with a split is beneficial to those who have purchased call options or sold put options. [...]

Difference between Options and Futures

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 [...]

Premium and Risk in Options Trading

Premium and risk in options trading go hand in hand. The premium that an option buyer pays conveys the rights of the option. The premium is set by the market and is not a standardized term or condition of the option. It is a payment in full for the right but [...]

Options, Dividends, and Volatility

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. [...]

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