Where Can I Find Stock Option Charts For Technical Analysis?

Posted by Pete Stolcers on March 9

Option Trading Question

I am relatively new to options and have been searching all over the web for resources to help me learn as much as I can. One of the things I cannot seem to find has been charts of option prices. Is there a site you can direct me to that provides option price charts?

Option Trading Answer

Most charting software will show option prices. You just have to know the required format. Some quote vendors put a “.” or a “+” before the 5 letter acromym. The bigger issue is the nature of your question. There is not much useful information in an option chart. Follow the stock, not the option. The stock price movement is rich with liquidity and information. The technical indicators and and technical analysis studies are valid.

The options are very ill-liquid and the charts have big gaps. The only option charts I look at graph the implied volatility. They allow me to gauge the relative price of the options. I know optionsXpress offers this in their paltform. If you know of a free resource for charting option implied volatility, please share.

Option Trading Comments

On 07/20, Hartwin Rill said:
"There is not much useful information in an option chart”.

I disagree. To gauge or estimate the possible movement of an option I need to know the previous day´s or month´s option movements in regard of the underlying stock.
So I can better calculate the entrance or exit point of my option to generate a satisfying return.

Best
Hartwin
On 07/20, Pete Stolcers said:
Thanks for the comment. I’m not sure how you can find value in a chart full of holes. Many options don’t trade for hours or in some cases days. If you are trying to gauge future price movement, you should use the “greeks” to guide you. Are you familiar with delta and gamma? There are many software programs that will allow you to perform scenario analysis.
On 07/22, Jeff Brook said:
Always check IV charts before buying any option IMO

http://www.ivolatility.com/options.j?ticker=grmn:NASDAQ&R;=0&x;=18&y;=8
On 07/22, Pete Stolcers said:
I agree. You don’t need all of the sophisticated pricing models. All you need is a relative comparison.
On 11/11, Ruffcut said:
I use bigcharts. com and use an = sign in the middle of the chain symbol, like cat=mz.
If the option is liquid enuff like aapl etc, then you may see some trending. BUt, it sometimes is just a quick look at the effects of the IV and the underlying together. A chain could trade for weeks at 25 bucks and then go crazy, up and down between 100 and 300 bucks. It can give a little background into what you might be buying?
On 03/26, Karma said:
Wondering if any option experts can answer my question.

I’m playing a stock that I believe will increase quickly so I bought simple calls on it. The problem is that I want to protect my profits without being whipsawed when I’m ahead.

Should I use a trailing stop, or a contingent order (based on the target price of my stock) to sell my options.

I know that with trailing stops, it is difficult to determine the bailout percentage since their are many variables involved and the chance of being whipsawed is high.

It is appreciated if anyone has some thoughts on this.
TY!
On 03/27, Pete Stolcers said:
I will post a reply in the Q&A;section tonight. It will be entitled, “Option Trading Whipsaw - How Can I Exit and Avoid It?”

Thanks for the great question.
On 07/31, Stock Forum said:
More important than a chart of option prices is a chart of option volatility. Ivolatility.com can provide this.

On 08/01, Pete Stolcers said:
I completely agree. Thanks for the post.
On 09/03, Joan said:
Is it Fine written. Positive certainly comes short, but read on one breathing. Tnx
On 02/26, Mike J. said:
I believe Yahoo finance has stock charts of options. Otherwise, all the pay packages like esignal have option charts. The problem with options is that many aren’t liquid, so there isn’t much to see on the chart.
---
Mike J.
On 10/23, Lewis said:
TOS has IV and HV charts that could be superimpose for comparison but they looked quite different from those found at iVolatility. Does anyone knows if there is any settings that can be set on TOS to reflect exactly the same as those in iVolatility? If it can be done, the time taken to check IV on every possible candidate can be reduced significantly.
On 06/19, fashion jewel said:
I found out after 15 years of option trading, that the more bells and whislels you use, the more you lose you focus.

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