The Complete Guide to Option Selling, Second Edition


Book Description

The growing popularity of selling options is undeniable, yet it remains one of the least understood concepts in the trading world. This clear and engaging guide helps you enter the market with the confidence you need and generate profits with a consistency that may surprise you. Now in its second edition, The Complete Guide to Option Selling is the only book that explores selling options exclusively. Since its original publication in 2004, much has changed in the world of options, and the authors have provided key updates to help you take advantage of these changes. You’ll find all the information you’ll need to start writing options profitably in equities, stock indexes, and commodities and maximize your returns, minimize your risk, and even manage “black swan” events. With more than 38 years combined experience in options trading, the authors explain: Basic mechanics of how professionals sell time premium The misunderstood subject of margins on short options Myths about option writing—and why they still circulate Key factors to consider when building an optionselling portfolio How to control risk—the right way Effective, time-tested strategies for selling premium Common mistakes beginners make and how to avoid them Option selling provides a high probability of success that is difficult, if not impossible, toachieve in any other investment. The Complete Guide to Option Selling illustrates how to take full advantage of this unique approach and make it a profitable, high-yield component of your overall portfolio. Don’t listen to the popular myth that option selling is only for professionals. The secret is out, and individual investors can now run with it. Read The Complete Guide to Option Selling and learn how you can level the playing field with the big guys. It’s a lot easier than you may think.




Advanced Options Trading


Book Description

As an active trader in today’s market, you are faced with unprecedented challenges. Dramatic price swings in equity, debt, and currency have made it tougher than ever to manage and trade risk. But with great risk, of course, comes great opportunity—and Advanced Options Trading delivers a detailed system for successfully trading options in a highly volatile and unpredictable global market. Noted options educator and owner of his own brokerage house, Kevin M. Kraus explains the best practices for using options to capture premium, reduce equity purchase prices, manage the costs of buying options, and control portfolio risk—critical skills for finding steady profits in our ever-shifting economic landscape. He offers a close examination of the nature of volatility and what it means for investors, whether they’re just getting started or are veterans of the options market. Advanced Options Trading covers: The critical nature of forward-looking implied volatility Ways to level the volatility playing field with options Techniques for adding value to a portfolio while managing risk The functions of price hedging—and how to do it effectively Interest rate options and which factors drive debt markets Options analysis techniques Options are among the most valuable tools for hedging and risk management, and they also function as profitable investment vehicles, allowing you to make bearish trades through radical market shifts. Advanced Options Trading provides a solid foundation on the options market, along with the necessary skills for trading and managing risk in today’s constantly expanding and contracting market.




The Complete Guide to Option Selling, Second Edition, Chapter 3 - Buying Options versus Selling Options


Book Description

Following is a chapter from the second edition of The Complete Guide to Option Selling, fully up to date and expanded to be useful in today's markets. It covers new strategies and new ways to approach selling options and futures so that you can continue to produce surprisingly consistent results with only slightly increased risk. This book remains the only guide that explores selling options exclusively, and is a cult favorite among the options-selling community.




The Option Trader's Hedge Fund


Book Description

In this book, a hedge fund manager and an option trading coach show you how to earn steady, reliable income selling options by managing your option trades and running your option portfolio as a real business with consistent, steady returns. Packed with real-world examples, the authors show you how to manage your own “one man” hedge fund and make consistent profits from selling options by applying the basic framework and fundamental business model and principles of an “insurance company”. This framework helps you to apply your option trading strategy to a solid, predictable, business model with consistent returns. For someone who has some knowledge of trading options and wants to become a consistent income earner. The authors provide a complete “operations manual” for setting up your business. Gain pearls of wisdom from both a professional options trader and coach, and from a hedge fund manager focused on managing an options based portfolio.




Trading Options Greeks


Book Description

A top options trader details a practical approach for pricing and trading options in any market condition The options market is always changing, and in order to keep up with it you need the greeks—delta, gamma, theta, vega, and rho—which are the best techniques for valuing options and executing trades regardless of market conditions. In the Second Edition of Trading Options Greeks, veteran options trader Dan Pasarelli puts these tools in perspective by offering fresh insights on option trading and valuation. An essential guide for both professional and aspiring traders, this book explains the greeks in a straightforward and accessible style. It skillfully shows how they can be used to facilitate trading strategies that seek to profit from volatility, time decay, or changes in interest rates. Along the way, it makes use of new charts and examples, and discusses how the proper application of the greeks can lead to more accurate pricing and trading as well as alert you to a range of other opportunities. Completely updated with new material Information on spreads, put-call parity and synthetic options, trading volatility, and advanced option trading is also included Explores how to exploit the dynamics of option pricing to improve your trading Having a comprehensive understanding of the greeks is essential to long-term options trading success. Trading Options Greeks, Second Edition shows you how to use the greeks to find better trades, effectively manage them, and ultimately, become more profitable.




The Complete Guide to Option Selling: How Selling Options Can Lead to Stellar Returns in Bull and Bear Markets, 3rd Edition


Book Description

The Go-To Option-Selling Guide--Updated for Today's Manic Markets Investing today is more complicated and unpredictable than ever before. The strategy of buy-and-hold has been replaced by buy-and-hope. Trying to grow your assets means worrying about how the next geopolitical crisis or government announcement will affect your portfolio. In an age of stunted economics and uncertain interest rates, attempting to guess market direction can seem futile. The good news is, you don't have to anymore. There is a better way to invest. It's time to borrow a page from the pros and radically change your entire philosophy to building a solid, high-yielding portfolio. The Complete Guide to Option Selling takes you through the process step by step. Updated to help you draw steady, high pro ts in an age of skittish markets, this classic text covers the ins and outs of: The Fundamentals of Option Selling Why writing options works so well, what kind of investor writes options, and how futures options could be the missing piece to your puzzle Option-Selling Strategy and Risk Management Choosing the right options to sell, the most powerful spread strategies, the mechanics of selling, and protecting yourself from downside risk like a pro Market Analysis and Writing Options How to find the best markets to take premium, the secret of seasonal trends, and tips on building your premium ladder You don't need a fancy Greek calculator to succeed in writing options. All you need is a little knowledge, a lot of common sense, and The Complete Guide to Option Selling. PRAISE FOR THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO OPTION SELLING: "A must-read. Cordier and Gross have covered all the bases in this book about the (arguably) best option strategy--writing options." -- LAWRENCE MCMILLAN, bestselling author of Options as a Strategic Investment and editor of The Option Strategist Newsletter and Daily Volume Alerts "The Complete Guide to Option Selling offers investors a truly unique, practical, and valuable perspective into another dimension of option strategy. A very cool book and interesting angle!" -- JARED A. LEVY, risk manager and author of Your Options Handbook and The Bloomberg Visual Guide to Options "James and Michael not only have an excellent ability to analyze market fundamentals, but more importantly, to design the appropriate option strategy to take advantage of their market outlook." -- DANIEL P. COLLINS, editor-in-Chief, Futures Magazine "The Complete Guide to Option Selling is an excellent reminder that selling options is less stressful and more forgiving than traditional direction trading strategies. This book has what it takes and is valuable to both novice and experienced traders." -- JACK WALKER, author of Volatility Trading Digest "Cordier and Gross comprehensively and convincingly demonstrate how options selling strategies can function not only as a facile income-producing technique but also as a performance-based investment strategy all on their own." -- GIL MORALES, Managing director of MoKa investors, LLC, and coauthor of the bestselling books Trade Like an O'Neil Disciple, How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short, and In the Cockpit with the O'Neil Disciples




How to Invest in Structured Products


Book Description

This book is essential in understanding, investing and risk managing the holy grail of investments - structured products. The book begins by introducing structured products by way of a basic guide so that readers will be able to understand a payoff graphic, read a termsheet or assess a payoff formula, before moving on to the key asset classes and their peculiarities. Readers will then move on to the more advanced subjects such as structured products construction and behaviour during their lifetime. It also explains how to avoid important pitfalls in products across all asset classes, pitfalls that have led to huge losses over recent years, including detailed coverage of counterparty risk, the fall of Lehman Brothers and other key aspects of the financial crisis related to structured products. The second part of the book presents an original approach to implementing structured products in a portfolio. Key features include: A comprehensive list of factors an investor needs to take into consideration before investing. This makes it a great help to any buyer of structured products; Unbiased advice on product investments across several asset classes: equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities; Guidance on how to implement structured products in a portfolio context; A comprehensive questionnaire that will help investors to define their own investment preferences, allowing for a greater precision when facing investment decisions; An original approach determining the typical distribution of returns for major product types, essential for product classification and optimal portfolio implementation purposes; Written in a fresh, clear and understandable style, with many figures illustrating the products and very little mathematics. This book will enable you to better comprehend the use of structured products in everyday banking, quickly analyzing a product, assessing which of your clients it suits, and recognizing its major pitfalls. You will be able to see the added value versus the cost of a product and if the payoff is compatible with the market expectations.




Mastering the Trade, Second Edition: Proven Techniques for Profiting from Intraday and Swing Trading Setups


Book Description

The essential guide to launching a successful career in trading—updated for today’s turbulent markets “Mastering the Trade is an excellent source for a basic understanding of market action, be it day and/or longer-term trend trading. A programmer will have a field day with the many ideas that are in this book. It is highly recommended.” —John Hill, president of Futures Truth magazine “John Carter’s new book focuses quickly on the critical area of trader psychology, a realm that will often separate the trader from his wallet if it is not mastered first. The in-depth trading strategies clearly show how to respond to market moves based on real-world examples.” —Price Headley, founder of BigTrends.com and author of Big Trends in Trading “Well written and packed with the kind of insight about the nature of trading and the markets that can surely benefit every level of trader.” —Mark Douglas, author of Trading in the Zone and The Disciplined Trader “This is a must read for all new traders, specifically for the psychological aspect of trading. I am recommending it to all of my clients.” —Carolyn Boroden, FibonacciQueen.com About the Book: When it was first published in 2005, Mastering the Trade became an instant classic in the world of day trading. Now, veteran day trader and educator John F. Carter has updated his time-proven swing trading technique to help you succeed in an environment vastly transformed by volatility and technology. Universally acclaimed for its sophisticated yet easy-to-execute methods, this practical, results-driven guide provides everything you need to make a lucrative career as a day trader—from preparing yourself psychologically for the unique demands of day trading to timing the market, managing risk, and planning future trades. Mastering the Trade sets aside timeworn basics and rehashed ideas to examine in detail the underlying factors that cause prices to move. Providing the tools you need to make the right decisions at the right times, it helps you enter market shifts early and either pull out before losses accrue or hang on for a long and refreshingly predictable ride. Mastering the Trade covers: The five psychological truths that will transform you from a mistake-prone novice into a savvy trading professional Exact entry, exit, and stop-loss levels for the intraday trading of stocks, options, ETFs, e-mini futures, 30-year bonds, currencies, and more Seven key internals, from $TICKS to five-minute volume—critical for gauging pending market direction from the opening bell Premarket checklists for analyzing recent market behavior and calculating on each trading day what you plan to do, how you plan to do it, and why Airtight risk control techniques for protecting trading capital—the most important component of a professional trading career After spending many years on various trading desks, Carter has developed an intuitive understanding of how the markets work. In Mastering the Trade, he gives you unlimited access to everything the markets have taught him—so you can make an exceptional living on the frontlines of professional trading.




Options Made Easy


Book Description

In Options Made Easy, Second Edition, Guy Cohen clearly explains everything you need to know about options in plain English so that you can start trading fast and make consistent profits in any market, bull or bear! Simply and clearly, the author reveals secrets of options trading that were formerly limited to elite professionals–and exposes the dangerous myths that keep investors from profiting. As you set out on your options journey, you'll learn interactively through real-life examples, anecdotes, case studies, and pictures. Guy Cohen is your friendly expert guide, helping you pick the right stocks, learn the right strategies, create the trading plans that work, and master the psychology of the winning trader. Master all the essentials–and put them to work Options demystified so that you can get past the fear and start profiting! Learn the safest ways to trade options Identify high-probability trades that lead to consistent profits Design a winning Trading Plan–and stick to it Understand your risk profile and discover exactly when to enter and exit your trades Choose the right stocks for maximum profit Screen for your best opportunities–stocks that are moving–or are about to move Discover the optimum strategies for you Match your trading strategies to your personal investment goals No bull! The realities and myths of the markets What you must know about fundamental and technical analysis




The Business of Media Distribution


Book Description

In this updated edition of the industry staple, veteran media executive Jeff Ulin relates business theory and practice across key global market segments—film, television, and online/digital—providing you with an insider’s perspective that can't be found anywhere else. Learn how an idea moves from concept to profit and how distribution dominates the bottom line: Hollywood stars may make the headlines, but marketing and distribution are the behind-the-scenes drivers converting content into cash. The third edition: Includes perspectives from key industry executives at studios, networks, agencies and online leaders, including Fox, Paramount, Lucasfilm, Endeavor, Tencent, MPAA, YouTube, Amazon, and many more; Explores the explosive growth of the Chinese market, including box office trends, participation in financing Hollywood feature films, and the surge in online usage; Illustrates how online streaming leaders like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, YouTube, Hulu and Facebook are changing the way TV content is distributed and consumed, and in cases how these services are moving into theatrical markets; Analyzes online influences and disruption throughout the distribution chain, and explains the risks and impact stemming from changing access points (e.g., stand-alone apps), delivery methods (over-the-top) and consumption patterns (e.g., binge watching); Breaks down historical film windows, the economic drivers behind them, and how online and digital delivery applications are changing the landscape. Ulin provides the virtual apprenticeship you need to demystify and manage the complicated media markets, understand how digital distribution has impacted the ecosystem, and glimpse into the future of how film and television content will be financed, distributed and watched. An online eResource contains further discussion on topics presented in the book.