Vertical Spreads – An Imaginary Spread Scenario

March 18th, 2010

Let’s put together what we’ve been talking about, develop an
imaginary spread scenario and set it in real life events.

In October, let’s say that you begin to hear about IJK stock. It
looks interesting, so you then use a variety of sources to learn
about IJK: news, charts, outside analysts, internet research
etc. From your investigations you decide that this stock is
poised for a strong upward move and you’d like to take advantage
of it.

However, each share is $50.00 and you question whether you want
to put out the capital for enough shares to make the trade
worthwhile.

Now is the time to investigate IJK spreads. Since you are
bullish on the stock, you investigate the bullish plays of the
call spreads and the put spreads. You check the pricing of both
since you are aware that implied volatility and time decay will
affect both your purchase price and your selling price if you
decide to sell out the spread before expiration.

Let’s say that you set the spread’s maximum potential gain at
$10.00 using our formula. Then you decide you want to buy a call
spread, so you buy 10 IJK Nov. 50 calls and sell 10 IJK Nov 60
calls. The spread is called Nov. 50-60. The spread’s cost is
$3.50, which means you pay $3500 for the trade, inexpensive when
you consider that to purchase 1000 shares of IJK stock would
have cost you $50,000!
Now, you wait and follow the stock price of IJK. If you hold the
position to expiration, you face the following losses or gains.

First, if the stock does not move up as you expected and stays
at $50 or decreases in value, your spread is worthless and you
lose the $3500 that you paid for the spread. Second, if the
stock begins to move up, you first recoup your investment and
then move into profits. After the stock has moved up $3.50 you
are at the breakeven point. Every money advance after that
represents profit.

The chart below represents the spread’s losses and gains and
your total profit

This chart is based on stock prices at expiration Friday in
November. Until then the spread’s value fluctuates between $0
and its maximum (the difference between strike prices) of $10.00

At any time until expiration, you can sell out of the spread but
what you receive for the price may be influenced by implied
volatility and time decay and that will change your profit or
loss. If you hold the spread until expiration and your bullish
lean proves true, your maximum profit on your $3500 investment
is $6500.

You paid $3500 for the spread and received $10,000 at expiration
with the stock at $60.00. That represents a $6500 profit which
is a 186% return.

If you had invested $50,000 for 1000 shares of IJK and at
expiration sold the stock for $60,000, your profit is $10,000
for a 20% return.

For many investors the reward/risk scenario of the spread is
attractive because investors can limit the capital at risk and
the time of risk/reward exposure. The spread also offers
protection if your lean is bullish or bearish. Finally, the
spread has the potential of a large percentage return on
investment.

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[tags]vertical spread,scenario,strategy,options education,options trading,spread[/tags]

How to Rake in Profits When The Markets Don’t Do Anything

March 18th, 2010

Opportunity can be disguised in many ways, and the creative among us must continually be wary of the nuances that may eventually make a profit. Many traders will dutifully follow the standard buy on breakout, sell on breakdown pattern to get their profit. But what happens when the markets don’t go anywhere? Most will just wait it out, until some volatility returns.

But what if there’s profit to be made when the markets don’t move? Well, there is a way to make a profit when you’re relatively sure your market is range bound for the indefinite future. Here’s how.

If you know the upper and lower range of your market, the way to profit is to buy an option spread on the upper and lower range limits of your market. What is a spread?

It’s when you sell an option at a higher dollar amount (closer to the current price of the underlying commodity) and simultaneously buy an option at a strike further away (and thus cheaper) than the underlying commodity. The net difference is a profit that you can pocket. If the market doesn’t move, then you keep the profit when the options expire. If the market does turn on you, then you’re only at risk for the difference in the strike prices between the option you sold and the one you bought. If you buy a spread on each side of your range bound market, you can pocket healthy returns. Suppose it takes off to the high side and takes out your spread there, well you still have the profit from the spread on the low side to cushion your losses.

The best markets to do this in are the indexes (For example, an airline or transportation index). You can get a list of these from any decent online brokerage site. Why indexes?. Think about it. Indexes are a basket of stocks that are grouped together. They provide stability yet allow you to trade a sector when you have an idea where that particular sector will go (Or not go in this case). Most importantly, their options are very liquid, which allows you to trade them effectively (One of the biggest shortcomings of options are that if they are thinly traded, your profits go way down, both because you will have difficulty buying or selling them in that situation, and the spread will be too great. By nature, index markets are less likely to spike in either direction than a single stock or commodity, and thus make them an ideal prospect for this type of trade. Try it out the next time you see the markets in the doldrums.

Paul Nickel is an active trader and his financial writings can be viewed at http://www.lowrisktrading.info.

[tags]options,trading,index,call,put,investing,stocks,commodities,commodity[/tags]

Day Trading for a Living – How Lucrative Is It

March 15th, 2010

Have you ever thought about becoming a day trader? Is day trading for a living a lucrative field? What about the risk that is associated with day trading?

If you are at all interested in becoming a day trader and day trading for a living, then read on. There is a lot of information out there for day trading. Everybody has their own formulas and everybody will want to give you advice. Some of this advice will be worth it and some will not.

Let me be the first to give you some advice. Make sure you feel comfortable with your investments and make sure that you trust your gut instinct. Do not risk more money than you can afford to lose, at first, just to be safe. Take your time building up your portfolio and give yourself time to learn the trade.

This is a very lucrative field and there are many millionaires that have made their money by trading stocks, currency, bonds, and investing in mutual funds. The most successful day traders have a strong balance between short term investments and long term investments.

There are a few risks to consider before you start investing. There is always the possibility of losing money, and most successful day traders make mistakes and lose money at some point. It is a numbers game. You have to have strong long term investments that are going to produce nice gains over a 10 year period.

You will also want to have strong short term investments, but allow for some chance and mistake in this area. So what if you lose a few dollars in one short term investment, the next one might be the one that you triple your money on. As long as you come out ahead in the end you will be successful.

Open your online day trading account today with as little as $25. Start making the money you deserve by going to the following website for more information.

http://www.ready-repair-my-credit.com/forex.htm

[tags]Day Trading for a Living, day trading, stock trading, investing, currency, invest, make money online[/tags]

Increasing The Bottom Line With Your Options

March 15th, 2010

You are the proud owner of a web site that is experiencing some success, yet you still haven’t achieved the golden chest of web site revenue. Consider increasing your revenue stream by trying a creative approach. With a modest investment this steam of revenue does not require the use of new software, website tools, or a blasting search engine service.

They fuel your future profits by being placed in your option trading account. Perhaps you think you know your stock trading activities from your options. Here we do not use the stock market for your options. We use the futures contracts of the vast commodities markets of this country instead of stock options.

You can best think of options trading as a side business working in conjunction with your online business. Using this options account enables you place trades with several markets such as corn, pork bellies, soybeans, gold or the S & P 500 index.

For your options trading account to be set up you will need an online trading broker who handles your trades and forwards them to the one who handles the commodities you trade. Don’t ask your broker for advice since the large majority don’t know any more than you which way the market is going today. It is best to work with a broker who allows you to do your trading online without assistance, and doesn’t charge unreasonable commissions on you trades.

Use wire transfers, a cashiers check, or as a last resort your personal check to fund your trading account. Once your account is open you may begin to use your online trading broker, but before you start trading do a little research. This is widely available and will serve you well.

Article space does not provide me the time to discuss this aspect of your new side line business. Don’t let this discourage you. Just go online where you will find many excellent sources of information on this topic.

Stock market trading, and futures market trading moves at a faster pace than the options trading. This slower pace has the advantage of being more manageable. This will prevent the knee jerk syndrome people have when a futures market moves against them too rapidly.

After your options business is up and running with some trades placed it almost works on its own. All this takes very little time, unless you peak an interest. Then time is all up to you in keeping up with your future markets.

Trade carefully and conservatively and you will benefit from your options trading.

Thanks for reading. If you found this article helpful you can get more options trading information, tips, and more articles on my website: http://www.learningoptionstrading.com

[tags]options,options contracts,futures trading[/tags]

E-currency Exchange Program Investing Reviewed

March 12th, 2010

One of the first things you will find when you are just learning about Electronic Currency Exchange will be, to put it in one word, confusion.

Does it take any special skills to make money? How much money will I make? In how much time can I make it? While you may ask yourself this, the important thing to realize is that this system is already working for other people. Granted it is a complex system to learn. At first you need to have a proper strategy to make “big money” fast.

The bright side of Electronic Currency Exchange, is that you can get started and make money from the first day, without any special knowledge or skill, and anyone can do it. Here are some of the facts about this system:

-When you get started with the E-currency Trading Program, you make money from day 1.

-It shouldn’t take you more than 6 months to take your portfolio from 3 figures to 5 figures. Tip: Always re-invest your profits until you hit 5 figures.

-In my first three weeks I experienced an 84% ROI.

-Your interests range anywhere from 0.5% to 5% DAILY. The real power of Electronic Currency Exchange begins when you reinvest your profits. That’s when the money really starts to grow.

If you are reading this it means you want more money in your life. It means you want more freedom. Those are the reasons why we got started and recommend Electronic Currency Exchange.

Want to have more time for your friends? Want to be able to spend time with the people you enjoy? More money and more time allows you these things. If these are the things you want, then I honestly believe the Electronic Currency Exchange can help you get there.

Let’s assume you’ve made the decision to start your portfolio with the E-currency Trading Business. You now want to make money, and you want to make it right away. What better way to start right? We have one path we recommend: Getting started with a training program. Although if you are on a tight budget you could find in free resources, this is one of the fastest ways to start.

If you believe this, you won’t want to miss out. If you were offered $500 a month without much work for the next two years would you take them? What if it was more? These are life changing opportunities we need to take advantage of when they are in front of us. Have a great time investing

What are the best ways to learn about e-currency exchange, visit my site (http://www.currencytrading-center.com) for the inside scoop on my E-currency exchange program review.

[tags]e-currency exchange[/tags]

It Starts In Your Mind

March 12th, 2010

For many people the difficult part of becoming a FOREX trader is initially getting started. It is something new and can be intimidating or even frightening. This article will be the first in a series aimed at helping you make the first steps to becoming a successful trader.

You will need to get yourself in to the proper frame of mind before you start. This is not a “Get Rich Quick” scheme despite all the hype that is floating around. You will not start with a mini account and make $50,000 in your first week of trading.

To be successful as a trader you will need to treat your trading like a small business. You need to have a plan and budget and that plan should include time-spent educating yourself about the market. If you want to make money with your trades you can expect to spend a lot of time learning in the beginning.

There are several different types of orders that you can use to open and close your trades; you will need to become familiar with them. You will need to learn to perform analysis and what type of analysis to use when. You will need to learn to read and understand various charts that will help you decide what currencies to trade when and at what prices.

There are a lot of news stories that can affect the price of a currency. You will have to know where you can find this news and how to interpret it and what effect it is likely to have on the market.

All brokers use software to perform the actual execution of your trades. You will need to become familiar with the software and comfortable using it. You will have to pick a good broker that has the services available to suit your trading style.

The most critical thing is that you will have to learn patience and discipline to become profitable in a timely manner with out losing money on your trades during the learning curve. The most important thing you can do to avoid costly learning mistakes is to spend significant time paper trading.

What is paper trading? Paper trading is a term used to describe opening pretend trades without any money. The term originates from the stock market where people would write on paper the trade they wanted and then watch the market and see how they would have done if they had actually executed the trade. This is the best way to learn the markets without risking any money.

Today almost all of your brokers have demo accounts that you can use for practicing. A demo account will act exactly like a real account except the money in the account is not real. This has the added benefit of using the same software that you will use with a real account. So not only do you learn how the market behaves you also get a chance to become familiar with the system you will be using. You should paper trade until you are turning a profit on a regular basis before you risk your money with real trades.

If you believe that you have the right mind-set to become a trader the next step is to select a broker and open an account. We will discuss this in the next installment.

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[tags]forex, forex trading, forex online, make money online, wealth buildign, investing, currency[/tags]