Oct 29, 2010 | Option Trading Basics
Do you get frustrated when something doesn’t make sense? Me too. Here’s an example: You’re viewing an options chain of a great-performing stock in a great-performing industry and you note that the premiums are trading in $.05 increments. This is important information...
Oct 23, 2010 | Stock Option Strategies
As safe a strategy that covered call writing is, there is some risk…the risk is in the stock, not in selling the option. That is why some investors who utilize this strategy buy protective puts to alleviate some of the risk. Definition of a protective put: A put...
Sep 26, 2010 | Option Trading Basics
There’s a new man in town! A relatively new options product is now available called the Weekly Options Series or Weeklys. These weekly expiration options are listed on a Thursday and expire the following Friday. The exception is that weeklys are not traded the...
Sep 19, 2010 | Options Trade Execution
When instructing our online discount broker as to the actions we want taken, we submit a customer order. These orders can take several different forms depending on our investment strategies and objectives. We can buy or sell; request a specific price or simply the...
Sep 11, 2010 | Investment Basics
In my books and seminars I discuss determining market tone before making any investment decisions. One of the main factors I utilize in this evaluation is the VIX. The VIX is the ticker symbol for the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index, which is a...