What Strategy to Trade?

Posted on March 18th, 2010 admin No Comments

Bull Call Spread
The primary reason for buying a bull call spread is an expected increase in share price. This is a directional trade and the aim should be a high percentage return. The reason for placing a bull call spread is that the calls are expensive so sell an out-of-the-money call will reduce the cost of the trade. This strategy is suited for break out trades and trading trends.

Bear Put Spread
The main reason for buying a bear put spread is an expected decrease in share price. The aim of the directional is to have a high risk vs. reward ratio. The bear put spread can be traded when buying puts is too expensive due to high volatility and selling an options against the bought puts reduces cost, breakeven, volatility effect and time decay effect. The trade is suited to a share price in a downtrend. This strategy is suited for break out trades and trading trends.

Bear Call Spread
A bear call is traded when you are expecting a sideways share price movement to a slight decrease in share price. The bear call spread is a credit spread and can be traded as a type for income. The risk vs. reward can be set up depending on the aim of the trader whether to have high probability small profits or low probability high returns. This trade is suitable when volatility is high and expected to decrease. The bear call spread is traded to take advantage of time decay.

Bull Put Spread
A bull put spread is best suited for a sideways to upward trending share price. The bull put spread is a credit spread and can be used as an income generating strategy. The bull put spread is best implemented when there is high volatility in the puts your outlook is volatility to decrease. This may be because the share price is just above a major level of support or at the bottom end of a trading range. The bull put strategy is traded to take advantage of time decay.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bull Put Spread vs. Sold Put

Posted on March 18th, 2010 admin No Comments

A number of advantages are evident when trading bull put spreads compared to selling puts (naked puts). A bull put spread has considerable lower risk than just selling a put which has a much larger risk. The bull put spread has a much better risk vs. reward than selling naked puts. Selling puts can have benefits when combined with portfolios that can help produce income and purchase stock below market value. This strategy is detailed in the Income Strategy E-Book and will be available later in the course.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bull Put Spread: Trade Analysis – Risk vs. Reward

Posted on March 17th, 2010 admin No Comments

Trade Analysis

Analysing your trade is essential before placing the trade. You need to make sure you have the necessary detail and go through the following checklist:

  1. Stock Selection: Double check your analysis on the stock and make sure your outlook on the share price reflects the bull put spread.
  2. Determine max loss and check that that is suits your risk profile and how much of your trading account you are risking.
  3. Determine premium received when entering trade, most important as it is also your maximum profit.
  4. Make sure you risk vs. reward suits the trading strategy.

Risk vs. Reward

The risk vs. reward will be different for every strategy. Credit spreads have a lower risk reward meaning the maximum profit (reward) is quite low relative to the maximum loss (risk). This trade can be positioned to risk $0.50 to make a $0.50 this is when the bull put spread is traded at-the-money. The trade can be more cautious by selling out-of the money options where you risk $0.80 to make $0.20. Both trades work well at the right time but the first example only requires a 50% success rate to break even while the second example requires an 80% success rate to break even.

Author: Matthew Gartrell

To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bull Put Spread: Technical and Fundamental Analysis

Posted on March 17th, 2010 admin No Comments

Technical Analysis

Identifying bull put spread can be assisted through technical analysis. Technical analysis allows identification of expected price movement through indentifying trends through momentum indicators and trend lines. The types of chart patterns you are looking to identify a bull put trade are:

  • Strong support levels
  • Uptrend
  • Lower end of trading range
  • Oversold indicators – MACD and Stochastic.

Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis can determine if the bull put outlook is aligned with the company news and research. There are a number of fundamental factors that influence the option prices of a stock. When identifying a bull put spread you have a bullish to neutral outlook on the share. Therefore you are looking for positive news in the company or sector. As this trade also makes money if the share price does not move, if there is no news coming out of the company for the next month this can also be a positive for this particular strategy.

To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bull Put Spread: Advantages and Disadvantages

Posted on March 16th, 2010 admin No Comments

Advantages of Bear Put Spread

  • The loss is limited if the underlying share price falls instead of rises.
  • If the share price fails to stay above the strike price of the sold put option, the profit yield will be greater than just buying call options.
  • Able to profit even when the share price remains completely still.
  • Lower risk than simply writing naked put options as maximum downside is limited by bought put option.

Disadvantages of Bull Put Spread

  • There will be no more profits possible if the underlying asset rises beyond the strike price of the sold put option.
  • Because it is a credit spread, there is a margin requirement in order to place the trade.
  • As long as the sold put options remain in-the-money, there is a possibility of it being assigned. You may then have to purchase the underlying stock to meet the sold put obligation.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bull Put Spread: The Strategy

Posted on March 11th, 2010 admin No Comments

A bull put spread is a moderately bullish option strategy that profits when the underlying share price stays still or increases. A bull put spread is similar to a bull call spread. The bull put spread involves simultaneously selling of a put option at a strike price while also buying the same number of put options of the same asset but at a lower strike. A bull put spread is also a technique to selling naked puts but buying lower puts to reduce the maximum loss. Because the bull put spread is a credit spread, you also make money if the underlying asset does not move through time decay. The bull call spread, on the other hand, would not be able to profit if the stock did not move upward beyond its breakeven point.

Maximum Profit

To achieve maximum profit the share price must be above the sold put strike price at expiry. The maximum profit for a bull put spread is the net credit received.

Maximum Loss

If the stock price decreases below the bought put at the expiration date, then the investor has a maximum loss. The maximum loss is the difference between the sold put and bought put strike price less the net credit received.

Break Even

The breakeven is higher than just selling a put; however the maximum loss is reduced significantly. The break even point is the strike price of the sold put minus the net credit received.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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BHP Bear Call Spread Example

Posted on March 11th, 2010 admin No Comments

BHP Bear Call Spread

Trade

Sell 5 BHP Feb 09 3200 Calls @ 96

Buy 5 BHP Feb 09 3300 Calls @ 68

Net Credit = 28 cents

This trade requires margin requirements.

Maximum Profit

The ideal result is for the share price to stay below the lower strike price of $32.00.

Max Profit = Net premium received

= 96 -68

= 0.28 x 5 contracts

= $1400

Maximum Loss

This will occur if the share price is above the bought call option at expiry

Max Loss = Total spread less Net Premium Paid

= 0.72 * 5 contracts

= $3,600

Breakeven

Lower strike plus net premium received

Breakeven = 32.00 + 0.28

= $32.28

Risk vs. Reward

Risk 28 cents to make 72 cents profit.

Risk vs. Reward = 1: 0.3889

Main Benefits of Strategy

  1. Provides leveraged exposure to a fall in the share price
  2. Takes advantage of time decay
  3. The ideal result is for the options to expire worthless, which means the client will save on brokerage not having to close the position to take a profit.

Technical Analysis

  • Downtrend
  • Trade is above resistance
  • Share Price is below short-term moving averages


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bear Call Spread: Bear Call Spread vs. Sold Call

Posted on March 11th, 2010 admin No Comments

A number of advantages are evident when trading bear call spreads compared to selling calls (naked calls). A bear call spread has considerable lower risk than just selling a call which technically has unlimited risk. The bear call spread has a much better risk vs. reward ration then a sold call option. Selling calls have a number of benefits when combined with shares or portfolios that can help produce income. This strategy is called covered calls and will be in another e-book.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bear Call Spread: Strategy Risks

Posted on March 10th, 2010 admin No Comments

It is important to always be aware of the strategy risks. The primary risk when placing a bear call spread is when the share price increases past the sold call option and an ever greater concern is if the share price increases above the bought call option (protection). Since you receive a premium to enter this trade there is a required margin. This margin can increase to as much as 1.2 times your maximum loss. For example if you were risk $5,000 the cash margin required in the account can increase to $6,000 (5000 *1.2) which includes the premium received. So it is important to know your maximum risk and make sure there are enough funds to cover the worst case scenario.

Another risk inherent with selling options is volatility. When you open the bear call spread you want the volatility to be high so you can sell the call options for as much value as possible. Once the trade is placed you want the volatility to drop off and time decay to kick in. So even if the share price stays still but volatility increases the position may not profit in the short-term. Increased levels in volatility mean to close out it will cost more to buy back the sold call option. If the share price increase above the sold put option prior to expiry there is potentially a risk of exercise.

Exercise

The main risk of credit spreads is the risk of being exercised. If the sold call option is exercised it means that you are obligated to sell shares at the exercise price of the sold call option. This can have a negative impact in terms of you have sold shares you do not own which means you need to buy them back at the higher level and therefore locking in a loss on that position. If the share price is above the bought call option (protection) when exercised then you can sell the call option which will reduce the loss from being exercised. It is still not possible to lose more than the maximum risk before entering the trade. Another disadvantage of being exercised is the brokerage on the share sale and purchase so it is a good idea to try an avoid exercise. To avoid being exercised you need to monitor your position and more importantly the delta of the sold call option. If the share price is above the sold call option an indication of the likelihood of being exercised can be identified by the delta. If the delta on the sold call option is above 0.95 there is a chance being exercised. If the delta is above 0.98 then it is necessary to implement one of your exit strategies.

To avoid exercise there are two options. If you think the share price will keep increasing you can close the trade for a loss. If you think you view is correct and the share price will fall from this level and want to keep the position you can roll out to the next month. What this means is you can close the positions you have an open the same position for the next month and do this for no cost or a small credit. Therefore if the share price then decreases below the sold call by the next month you can still make maximum profit. This options is normally recommended unless your analysis, technical or fundamentals, indicate a change is trend or market conditions.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bear Call Spread: Trade Analysis – Risk vs. Reward

Posted on March 10th, 2010 admin No Comments

Trade Analysis

Analysing your trade is essential before placing the trade. You need to make sure you have the necessary detail and go through the following checklist:

1. Stock Selection: Double check your analysis on the stock and make sure your outlook on the share price reflects the bear call spread.

2. Determine premium received when entering trade, most important as it is also your maximum profit.

3. Determine max loss and check that that is suits your risk profile and how much of your trading account you are risking.

4. Make sure you risk vs. reward suits the trading strategy.

Risk vs. Reward

The risk vs. reward will be different for every strategy. Credit spreads have a lower risk vs. reward meaning the maximum profit (reward) is quite low relative to the maximum loss (risk). Bear call spreads can be positioned to risk $0.50 to make a $0.50 this is when the bear call spread is traded at the money (Risk vs. reward 1:1). The trade can be more cautious by selling out-of-the-money options where you risk $0.80 to make $0.20 (Risk vs. reward 4:1). Both trades work well at the right time but the first example only requires a 50% success rate to break even while the second example requires an 80% success rate to break even.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread Strategies please request the Option Spreads eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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