Options Trading
Revealed: How Stock Splits Help Options Traders
Stock splits re-entered the trading lexicon and grabbed the headlines when “Apple (AAPL),” and then “Tesla (TSLA),” announced they would be conducting a 4-for-1 and 5-for-1 stock split, respectively. Following the announcements, shares of each are up 18% for AAPL, and TSLA has zoomed up 40% in just six days. You couldn’t ask for two better […]
Options Trading: Understanding Put-Call Parity
If I had a nickel for every time someone told me they love covered calls for their conservative income generation, but would never sell a naked put because that’s too risky, I could retire from trading. The fact is a covered call is exactly the same, in terms of both risk and reward, of selling a […]
Using A Stock Replacement Strategy To Reduce Risk Without Limiting Upside
The last time we discussed using a stock replacement strategy was back in February when the “SPDR 500 (SPY)” was hitting an all-time high. With nothing but clear skies, no visible ‘overhead’ on the charts, and an economy seemingly firing on all cylinders, investors might have rightly viewed advice to temper their bullishness with skepticism. […]
Why It’s Not Too Late To Protect Your Portfolio
A few years ago there was an Interactive Broker (IBKR) commercial that used to run with frequency showing a woman arriving late for dinner saying, “Sorry, the market’s a mess, it’s down 2% and everyone’s selling, I needed to get some hedges on.” Can you imagine a 2% decline inducing a rush to hedge? What […]
What Percentage Of Options Expire Worthless?
One of the persistent and pernicious myths regarding options is that 80% of all options expire worthless. The number belies the fact that most options get closed well before expiration and can create some misleading belief that selling premium is the only sure way to make money trading options. We’ve all seen the marketing emails […]
3 Mistakes To Avoid When Trading Options
As Charles Schwab (SCHW) led the charge into zero commission trading — which was quickly followed by everyone from other discount brokers such as E*Trade (ETFC) to full-service funds such as Fidelity – was rightly viewed as a boon for most traders. But one of the unintended consequences might have been that ‘no transactions fees’ […]
The 6 Rookie Mistakes Options Traders Should Avoid
As most normal people are winding down the year and finishing up their holiday shopping, I thought this would be a good time to review some of the common mistakes traders make when using options. As shoppers have become increasingly savvy in finding online bargains and discounts, we see similar behavior spilling into other aspects of […]
Understanding A Covered Call Strategy
The other day, I wrote about how people are piling into funds, then employ option premium-selling strategies, particularly covered calls or buy-writes. I figure it’s a good time to drill down into exactly what these strategies entail and highlight both the pros and cons. The covered call strategy is one of the most popular options strategies especially among investors that […]
3 Steps For Using Options To Protect Your Portfolio
With the stock market having a sizzling run to new all-time highs, investors are rightfully asking how they can protect their gains while still retaining upside exposure. This is where options trading can be extremely helpful. The most straight forward and simplest form of hedging or limiting downside risk is buying put options. While it is essentially true […]
An Easy Covered Call Shows How Powerful This Trade Can Be
Greetings from the Las Vegas MoneyShow! This event is always one of my favorites to speak at every year. It’s a great place to meet with other options traders or traders who are looking to learn how to start using options. This year I’m presenting primarily about overwriting (selling options in conjunction with owning stocks) […]
