Books on options trading - recomendations?

[johnny333]

With the wild market gyrations been thinking of using options to reduce exposure to the risks from the market.

Does anyone have a recommendations on a beginner & intermediate level books on this subject. More interested on the application side vs theory

TIA

 

[Muthukali]

With the wild market gyrations been thinking of using options to reduce exposure to the risks from the market.

Does anyone have a recommendations on a beginner & intermediate level books on this subject. More interested on the application side vs theory

TIA

Sorry but I have come across NLB which have alot for beginners. What I can said, option maybe easy on one side, but complicated on the other.

 

[johnny333]

Sorry but I have come across NLB which have alot for beginners. What I can said, option maybe easy on one side, but complicated on the other.

I would be surprised if some librarian from NLB was able to select good books on such a specialised topic as this.

You really need someone who's into trading to know which books are really useful

 

[Confuseous]

Check out the Dummy series on Options - available at NLB.

Or.......check this out

http://www.investopedia.com/university/options/#axzz1VODaMKwo

Good luck - just be aware that 95% of options players lose their pants and have extreme cases of insomnia.
Never mind what the advertisements say about making $1million in 12 months.

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

no point lah...............options................



try spread trading instead..............

 

[kingrant]

All you got to do is a bit of google..

try books by Guy Cohen, Michael thomsett, or Fontanills..

join free webinars by Cohen..

After learning, you can also open a free account to do some paper trading for practice before putting in money.

As with such instruments, it's not the mechanics of the tool - which is not rocket science -but the ability to read the markets...

I was able to make a small pile merely short selling options. Money is deposited when you sell short unlike usual share trading, and you dont have to cover.

Good luck!

With the wild market gyrations been thinking of using options to reduce exposure to the risks from the market.

Does anyone have a recommendations on a beginner & intermediate level books on this subject. More interested on the application side vs theory

TIA

 

[johnny333]

Check out the Dummy series on Options - available at NLB.

Or.......check this out

http://www.investopedia.com/university/options/#axzz1VODaMKwo

Good luck - just be aware that 95% of options players lose their pants and have extreme cases of insomnia.
Never mind what the advertisements say about making $1million in 12 months.

Don't need 1 million lah, already have that:o

Thinking of the future & exploring ways to have a steady income as painlessly as possible. Looking at dividen investing, as well as trading ETFs using options as a means to achieve this.

 

[Muthukali]

no point lah...............options................



try spread trading instead..............

U into spread? Care to share doing what spread? Spread trading comm must be beli low then can do.

 

[HedgeTrader]

Never mind what the advertisements say about making $1million in 12 months.

That's the best advice. Nobody who can make millions waste time on seminars except to con your money.

 

[kingrant]

To become a millionaire, you have to take big risks, and that's not advisable. It's simple reward/risk ratio at work.

If you want a small but regular income, options are far safer than shares and warrants. You can control yr shorting losses if you set buy/sell stop limits, and position sizing. There's hardly any options market in Singapore or Malaysia. The big ones are in U.S. and Canada, and if you are into equity options you need local knowledge (as always). Otherwise, safer to stick with index options. That way, you can bet over a longer time horizon and options allow you to roll over to capitalise on changes that may cut yr losses.

 

[Spiky]

With the wild market gyrations been thinking of using options to reduce exposure to the risks from the market.

Does anyone have a recommendations on a beginner & intermediate level books on this subject. More interested on the application side vs theory

TIA

Trading Options for Dummies by George Fontanills - Basic. Good enuf and if the purpose is to hedge your stock portfolio(US, Hong Kong etc) with index futures options (Singapore stocks, got to get quotes from derivative houses, investment banks and they will eat you alive with lousy prices. So actually no point hedging with options, just hedge with SiMSCI futures will do.)

Option Market Making by Allen Jan Baird - Intermediate. Active option traders delta-hedge and hedge their options exposure with other options. In other words, they do lots of options spreading.

Dynamic Hedging by Nassim Taleb - Advanced.

All these are available in NLB Lee Kong Chian reference library. Hope this helps.

 

[johnny333]

Hey guys, thanks for the useful info. Take a while for me to digest all the info. Looks like it's going to be a long-errr term project.

Now I can understand why people just flip properties. It's easier & can be more lucrative
Should have started planning earlier for retirement :o

 

[johnny333]

If you want a small but regular income, options are far safer than shares and warrants. You can control yr shorting losses if you set buy/sell stop limits, and position sizing. There's hardly any options market in Singapore or Malaysia. The big ones are in U.S. and Canada, and if you are into equity options you need local knowledge (as always). Otherwise, safer to stick with index options. That way, you can bet over a longer time horizon and options allow you to roll over to capitalise on changes that may cut yr losses.

Most of my holdings are in US equities. Given up on Spore because I don't have any connections like the elites. I was thinking of using Technical Analysis rather than fundamentals as I'm thinking of scalping. In todays market there's too much volatility.

 

[Unrepented]

Hey guys, thanks for the useful info. Take a while for me to digest all the info.

1. If you wanna go technical, then most common currently taught to students is the black scholes pricing model, use several other models if you want to. Gotta brush up on calculus at least.

1.1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black–Scholes

1.2 http://wn.com/Black-Scholes (also check my thread on finance 101 with the youtube explanation on black scholes model on pricing options)

2. Are you currently zero on options knowledge? Maybe this will help or maybe refresh. As start, go thru and download the various parts if you need from the embed video. There are quite a few parts to the video, but I will not embed all here, incase kenna fuck by sam for posting videos in this section.

3. Get info from several sources. Reading can be quite dry though:(

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/is5Whul7KUg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KSgmKpO9g54" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Unrepented]

@ johnny333, in case you miss this which I find is quite basic and simple on "spread", as this term was mentioned by another forumer. Maybe you can ask for forumers opinions and views about the videos too. And best of luck.


<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JPUJjH1PIrs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R7zMdlG0Kuo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[kingrant]

Guy Cohen's Options Made Easy will be good start with graphs showing breakeven analysis etc. There are many strategies and you dont need or even know how to to use all. Usual ones like call, put, straddle and strangle and at most a collar will be good enough for most situations. These are strategies for a uptrending, downtrending and sideways moving market. Things like condors, iron condors etc will not be really necessary, as they are for really kiasu trades, and in the end, you will not make much.

If you know where the market is about to move, a simple call or put option is enough. If it moves neither up nor down, try straddle or strangle, or a bear/bull spread etc.

 

[Muthukali]

Most of my holdings are in US equities. Given up on Spore because I don't have any connections like the elites. I was thinking of using Technical Analysis rather than fundamentals as I'm thinking of scalping. In todays market there's too much volatility.

If scalping, futures will be good for u?

 

[Unrepented]

Incidental to you mentioning this; a senior gentlement who worked as a clerk whom I mentioned in one of the threads many moons ago used this strategy and made a couple of millions over a few years. He did this in the forex, and he had a lot of discipline.

If scalping, futures will be good for u?

 

[johnny333]

2. Are you currently zero on options knowledge?

Yes I must admit to having zero knowledge about options. All these years I've only bought & sold stocks using the buy & pray method


In fact I've talk to others who would also like to learn about options.
Some are old hands at investing. The biggest obstacle has been where to learn it from No offense but with the local gurus offering these courses, one can't be sure if he/she isn't a mini bond salesman As someone pointed out why would someone successful be teaching(in Spore)?

 

[johnny333]

If scalping, futures will be good for u?

Heard that futures is risky and that ETFs is a safer area?

My project is to learn about options & ETFs. Then I can better decide which playground to go to:o
I'm currently heavily invested in stocks. My intention is to diversify & protect my principal. I'll be happy to generate a few thousand/ month of pocket money. Can do so now if I buy dividen yielding stocks like Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson,....