Daily Option Trading Commentary

The Market Feels Heavy and SPY 105 Could Be Tested Soon!

I will not be posting market comments from August 2nd – 6th. Thursday, stocks retreated early in the day. The biggest news came from Colgate and Kellogg. Consumers are "trading down" to cheaper products and this has broad-based market implications. We have already seen deteriorating retail sales numbers and stores are reporting that consumers are focusing on necessities. Over 70% of our GDP is derived from spending and Americans are tightening their belts. I am writing this report before the GDP number has been released, but I believe it will come in at 2.5%. As we have seen in the…

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Option Trading Article of the Week

Option Trading - Option Trading Basics - Build Your Knowledge Base!

Posted by Pete Stolcers on November 11

In today's option trading blog I will address some important concepts for the novice option trader. Options trading gets so much press these days that it's hard for traders to determine where to go and who to trust. I believe there is a natural progression to the whole process and it can't be rushed. Options are not a get rich scheme that you can jump into. Do people make a lot of money trading options? Yes, they also lose a lot of money. The risk and reward is elevated and every mistake is magnified. Here are some points to consider…

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Stock Options Question of the Week

Where Should I Turn For Option Education?

Posted by Pete Stolcers on February 4

Question Today Kanu B. states, "I am interested in options and I have attended some free seminars. I paid for a 3 day seminar and learned nothing! Now they want me to commit to 3 more days @ $3500. I declined the offer but they are constant with the calls and e-mails. I'm confused and I want to learn very basic options strategies and I don't know where to turn. I'm willing to pay a reasonable fee to learn. Is this industry regulated?"

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Stock Option Trading Education

Time Decay and Options: Stock options are a wasting asset. From the day you purchase them, their value goes down if the... read more
Diagonal Option Spread: A Diagonal Spread is an option spread where the trader buys a longer-term option and sells a... read more
Accelerated Time Decay: Accelerated Time Decay refers to options that have less than a month to maturity decay at an... read more
Parity and Stock Options: Stock Option Parity means that the stock option is trading at its intrinsic value. If a $100 call... read more
Married Puts Options Strategy: In a married puts option strategy, the investor owns shares of stock and purchases an equal number... read more
Option Bid Definition: An option bid is the price an option buyer is willing to pay for the option. If the stock option... read more
Butterfly Option Spreads: In a Butterfly Spreadstrategy, all of the expiration months are the same. A trader buys a call... read more
Options Listed on Multiple Exchanges: Multi-Listed Stock Optionsare stock that have options that are listed on more than one exchange.... read more
Options and Time Value: The Time Value of an Option is the amount by which the price of a stock option exceeds its... read more
Option Pricing Models - Black Scholes: The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model is a financial model thatl was developed in 1973 by Fisher... read more
Intrinsic Value and Option Trading: For in-the-money call options, intrinsic value is the difference between the stock price and the... read more
Types of Option Spreads: An option spread is created when a trader simultaneously buys and sells options with different... read more
LEAP Options & Expiration Dates: LEAP stock options have more than six months until expiration. They can have a lifespan of up to... read more
Time Premiums, Value and Volatility: A time premium is the amount by which the price of a stock option exceeds its intrinsic value. If... read more
Definition of Option Vega: An Option Vega measures the change in the price of a stock option relative to a 1% change in... read more
Options in the Money: A call option is where the strike price is lower than the current price of the stock is considered... read more
Option Strategy: Options are one of the most dynamic investment vehicles available to traders and investors. Option... read more
stock option contract: An option contract gives the buyer of the option the right, but not the obligation to buy (call)... read more
Put Option & Equity Puts: A put option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to sell the underlying stock or... read more
Back Month Options Expiration : Back month stock options have more than one month before they expire. They are slightly less... read more
Option Premium Pricing and Intrinsive Values: An option premium is the price of the stock option. It is comprised of intrinsic value and time... read more
Derivatives & Underlying Stock Option Value: A derivative in the context of finance is a contract whose value is dependent on another... read more
Definition of Option Delta: An option delta measures the change in the price of a stock option relative to the change in the... read more
Option Trading for Investment, Speculation and Hedging: Option trading involves investors and speculators buying and selling stock options before they... read more
Definition of Option Theta: An Option Theta measures the rate of decline in a stock option due to the passage of time. Theta... read more
Options At the Money: When the stock price is the same as the strike price an option is considered at the money. The... read more
Synthetic Put Position: Option traders often construct synthetic put positions to hedge their short stock positions. When... read more
Strike or Exercise Price on Call Options: The strike price (exercise price) is the level at which the buyer of a call option can exercise... read more
Index Options and Indices: Index options include baskets of stocks that are combined from group or sector indices. The most... read more
Option Expiration Month & Lifespan of Options: Options have a defined life and option traders select the duration that matches their forecast.... read more
Call Options & Naked Call Writing: A call option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying stock or... read more
Definition of Option Gamma: An Option Gamma measures the change in Delta for every one dollar change in the underlying price... read more
Strategy for Synthetic Call Options: In a Synthetic Call Option, the investor can create a pseudo call position by buying puts that... read more
Option Ask Definition: An option ask is the price an option seller wants to receive for the option. If the option is... read more
When Options Trade at a Discount: An option that is trading below its intrinsic value is trading at a discount. For instance, a $50... read more
Option Exercise Price: An option exercise price is the price level where the option starts to take on intrinsic value. It... read more
Front Month Option Expiration: The nearest term stock option is referred to as the front month. In a four-week expiration cycle,... read more
Four-way Options Spreads: A 4-Way Option Spread is the same as an iron condor spread. The option strategy sells an out of... read more
Out of the Money (OTM) Options: A call option with a strike price that is much greater than the current stock price is considered... read more
Option Bid/Ask Spreads and Liquidity: The Option Bid/Ask Spread is the difference between the stock option bid price and the ask price.... read more
Iron Condors: An iron condor is typically a non-directional option spread where the trader sells an out of the... read more
10 up Option Market Definition: Ten-up Option Market - Market Makers provide liquidity and they are members of the exchange. They... read more

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