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...

Let’s say that you are of the opinion that Microsoft is poised to perform well in the future because of its recent release of Windows 7 and its Xbox 360 gaming system.  Through technical and/or fundamental analysis you form a BULLISH opinion on MSFT and given your options trading knowledge, you...

By selling a put option (short put), you are taking on an obligation to accept (buy) 100 shares of an underlying.  To review the definition of a short put, please refer to ”Introductions to Options“. The short put is an UNLIMITED RISK strategy with limited reward potential and has a bullish...

By selling a call option (short call), you are taking on an obligation to deliver (sell) 100 shares of an underlying.  To review the definition of a short call, please refer to ”Introductions to Options“. The short call is an UNLIMITED RISK strategy with limited reward potential and has a...

In ”Buying a Put Option – Part 1/2” we looked at an AAPL option chain and bought a Jan 185 put option for $4.65 and defined the positions potential reward, maximum risk and breakeven point. With this information we can now draw a risk profile, a graph that shows the value of the put option...