Recent Posts

Jan 2010 Pullback...

Last week (Jan 19th to 22th) we saw a pullback in all three major indexes associated with the uncertainty surrounding regulation for the banking industry and whether Fed Chairman would be confirmed for a second term.  Over a period of 4 days, the DOW dropped almost...

Bear Call Spread (Short Call S...

Bear Call Spread (Short Call Spread)
A BEAR CALL SPREAD (short call spread) is a fundamental bearish spread in options trading, composed of two call options with different strike prices that expire in the same month, where a HIGHER call strike is purchased and a LOWER call strike is sold, simultaneously....

Bull Call Spread (Long Call Sp...

Bull Call Spread (Long Call Spread)
A bull call spread is a fundamental bullish spread in options trading, composed of two call options with different strike prices that expire in the same month, where a “LOWER” call strike is purchased and a “HIGHER” call strike is sold,...

Introduction to Option Vertica...

Introduction to Option Vertical Spreads
In the basic strategies section, we covered the 4 basic option trading techniques and amongst the four were two strategies (short call and short put) that had unlimited risk exposure.  In addition, you may have also realized that buying call or put options can get...
Options 101 Options Greeks Explained: Theta
Options Greeks Explained: Theta Given that options are a contract that expires at one point or another, the option greek “theta” provides a measure of time decay or the change in an options value with each passing day.  Remember that at expiration, options only contain “real” value as the “time” value...
Basic Strategies Top Reasons Why Beginners Lose Money
Top Reasons Why Beginners Lose Money Trading options is not easy…… It takes time to learn the various techniques and get a feel for how options work, but its not any different than trading stocks and to be successful you have to put in the time.  I am going to cover the TOP 5 Reasons why beginners fail to make money or lose money...
Advanced Strategies Bear Call Spread (Short Call Spread)
Bear Call Spread (Short Call Spread) A BEAR CALL SPREAD (short call spread) is a fundamental bearish spread in options trading, composed of two call options with different strike prices that expire in the same month, where a HIGHER call strike is purchased and a LOWER call strike is sold, simultaneously.  By combining a long call option...
Market Thoughts Jan 2010 Pullback
Last week (Jan 19th to 22th) we saw a pullback in all three major indexes associated with the uncertainty surrounding regulation for the banking industry and whether Fed Chairman would be confirmed for a second term.  Over a period of 4 days, the DOW dropped almost 500 points since it peaked on 19th Jan,...