Basics of Options

Posted on May 27th, 2011 admin No Comments

All stories should start at the beginning, so the option basics you should begin with are the definitions of terms that pervade all options trading.

Option Definition – An option is a right, but not an obligation, to buy or sell and underlying asset at a specific price and on or by a stated expiration date.

Call Option – A call options is the right, but not the obligation, to purchase an underlying futures contract at a specified price at a specified time.

Put Option – A put option is the right, but not the obligation, to sell an underlying futures contract at a specified price at a specified time.

Option Premium – The premium is the price you pay for the option. It represents the maximum risk you experience when you don’t exercise the option.

Strike Price – The predetermined price in the options contract at which the underlying asset is bought or sold.

At the Money –  An option is at the money when the strike price is close or equal to the current futures price.

In the Money – An option is in the money when the strike price is less than the market price of the underlying security.

Out of the Money –  The call option is out of the money when the strike price is higher than the market price of the underlying security. Puts are out of the money if the strike price is less than the market price of the underlying security.

Delta – A measure of the effect of change in the price of the underlying asset on the option’s premium. It represents the amount of the change in the price of an option for each move in the price of the underlying asset equal to one point.

Volatility – A measure of how fast and by how much prices of the underlying asset change. It is a measure of the rate of price fluctuations.

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The Basics of Stock Option Trading Strategies

Posted on May 20th, 2011 admin No Comments

Directional Trading Strategy

Going in line with the market and exploiting the trends of the market is termed as directional trading. This proves to be perfect for beginners when they enter into the area of options trading.

Bullish Stock Option Trading Strategies

These strategies are useful when the value of a stock goes up. But the evaluations of the extent to which the stocks will be up and the timeframe for which this tends is likely to continue play a vital role in optimizing this strategy. Bull Call and Bull Put Spread are the couple of strategies that come under this category. The billing stock option trading strategy that is usually taken up by a newbie is to resort to a simple call option that often proves to be profitable in bullish markets.

Bearish Stock Option Trading Strategies

The bearish stock option trading strategies are incorporated by traders when there is a downward movement of the stocks with the intention of getting profited in options’ trading. Beginners just opt for a simple put option in case of the bearish market trends. Brea call or put strategy can be used case of bearish markets to make profits with ease.

Neutral Stock Option trading strategies

They can internally be categorized as bullish and bearish on volatility. The very common neutral trading strategies are straddle, strangle, butterfly, time spread and condor Straddle and Strangle are stock option trading strategies that entail equal number of call and put options with the same expiration date. The only distinguishing factor is that the strangle strategy ahs a couple of strike prices associated with it while the straddle has only one. Butterfly spread involves puts and call in bullish/bearish markets. Three strike prices are associated with this spread. The lower two are for a bull spread and the highest of the three prices is for a bear spread. Condor is analogous to butterfly. The difference is the different strike prices associated with the short put and short call.

A stock option trading course can further elaborate on the other stock option trading strategies in detail. Get to know the pros and cons of each and arrive at your own unique strategy to help you succeed in options trading in the long run.

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The Covered Call Options Strategy

Posted on May 11th, 2011 admin No Comments

When the market is neutral to bullish on the underlying stock, the covered call is an options strategy that is used by investors. It is a classic strategy that is also called a Covered Buy Write or a Covered Call Writer.

This common strategy refers to a situation where the investor writes a call option contract and at the same time owns an equivalent number of shares of the underlying stock. It is when the underlying asset is bought at the same time as the call contract is written that the strategy is called the Covered Buy Write or “buy-write.”  When the investor already owns the stock and then buys call contracts then the strategy is called an “overwrite.”

Generate Monthly Income

This options strategy is used by many beginning investors because it is fairly simple. It is also a strategy used to generate additional income or a monthly income through the sale of call options against the stock. The intent is that the covered call provides some protection against a short term fall in the price of a stock.

The true income comes from the fact the investor is able to keep the premium generated from writing the call. The investor also owns the underlying stock and is still earning dividends. Of course, if the written call is exercised the shares will have to be sold.

The covered call is used when the stock price is expected to be stagnant but the investor still wants to make monthly income from the stock. The covered call is also a good options strategy when the stock price is expected to experience a small price dip.

Easy to Implement

The covered call is easy to implement. You would write 1 contract for out-of-the-money call options for the standard unit of 1000 shares of the underlying stock. There are 3 ways the order can be placed.

You can write the out-of-the money call option at the same time you buy the stock. Another option is to buy the stock after the contracts have been written and you expect the stock to rise a bit in the near future. In that case the stock is bought to hedge against the increase in the stock price.

The third option is to write the options contract on stock you already own. This protects the stock that you expect to fall a bit in price in the near future.

The profit that is earned at expiration if assigned is equal to the premium plus the difference between the stock purchase price and the strike price.  The profit that is earned if the expiration is not assigned is equal to the stock value increase plus the premium received.

The most profit that can be made is when is the price of the underlying stock is at least equal to or above the strike price of the call option. You can lose money if the price of the underlying shares falls as the written call options expire. You can lose the difference in the stock price between the price you bought it at and the price it falls to by the call’s expiration and you can lose the premium received when you sold the call.

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Bought Strangles: Options Pay-off

Posted on March 24th, 2010 admin No Comments

A bought strangle is made up of a bought call option and a bought put option. Combine these two trades together and if there is a different exercise price you have a strangle. A bought strangle pay-off is demonstrated below.

Bought Call Bought Put
Bought Strangle


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bought Strangle Psychology

Posted on March 24th, 2010 admin No Comments

There is a time and a place for bought straddles and strangles. Ideal market conditions are when volatility is low and expected to increase. The bought strangle is a non-directional trade with the share price able to move upwards or downwards to profit in this strategy.

The idea with bought strangles is to identify a large share price move. This share price move can be either an increase or decrease in share price. To identify these moves you can look at technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis tried to identify a break out pattern, while the fundamental analysis indentifies a particular announcement that may cause a large move in share price.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Disadvantages of Bought Strangle

Posted on March 24th, 2010 admin No Comments
  • It is possible to lose more money if the stays still or within the breakeven range than if you simply bought a call or put option.
  • If the share price rises above the strike price or falls below the strike price but remains below the upper break even or above the lower break even you will still incur a loss on the position.
  • If volatility falls for both or either option, the position could lose with or without a move in share price.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Advantages of Bought Strangle

Posted on March 24th, 2010 admin No Comments
  • It is possible to profit no matter if the share price goes up or down.
  • A strangle has a lower net debit than the bought straddle.
  • A higher profit in percentage terms than a straddle on the same move in the underlying stock, provided that breakeven point has been exceeded.
  • Since both options are out-of-the-money, time decay on the options is not as rapid as they are with the bought straddle.
  • Unlimited profit if the underlying asset continues to move in one direction.
  • Since the trade is non-directional your outlook can be wrong and still profit from this strategy.
  • The maximum loss is limited to the debit paid.
  • If volatility is low at the time of purchase and volatility rises, both options could profit even without an appreciable change in the stock price.
  • Smaller capital outlay to trade strangles than trading the underlying shares.


To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bought Strangle – Max Profit – Max Loss – Breakeven

Posted on March 24th, 2010 admin No Comments

Maximum Profit

Profit is attained when the share price increases or decreases substantially past the break even points. The maximum profit of a strangle is unlimited.

Maximum Loss

The maximum loss is possible if the share price is between the strike prices of the bought call and put option at expiry. This means both the call and the put would expire worthless and the maximum loss would occur. The probability of the maximum loss depends the distance between the strike price of the call option and put option. The closer the exercise prices are the less likely there will be a maximum loss as one of the options should be in-the-money and have intrinsic value. If the exercise prices are further apart time decay will be a major factor and maximum loss is possible.

The maximum loss for a bought strangle or straddle is limited to the net debit paid. The net debit paid is the premium paid for the call options and the premium paid for the put option. Therefore it is possible to lose your initial investment but no more.

Break Even

There are 2 break even points to a straddle. One breakeven point if the underlying asset goes up this is called the upper breakeven point. The other breakeven point if the underlying asset goes down which is the lower breakeven point.

Upper Breakeven Point: Strike Price + Net Debit Paid

Lower Breakeven Point: Strike Price – Net Debit Paid

To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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The Bought Strangle Strategy

Posted on March 24th, 2010 admin No Comments

The bought strangle, is a volatile option trading strategy that profits when the stock goes up or down strongly. The Strangle is a similar to the bought straddle. The strangle is in essence a technique used to place a straddle at a cheaper price. The strangle requires a lower debit amount to put on and works exactly like a straddle. One should use a strangle when one is confident of a move in the underlying asset but is uncertain as to which direction it may be. These uncertain moves can be identified through both fundamental and technical analysis.

Establishing a strangle simply involves the simultaneous purchase of an out-of-the-money call option and an out-of-the-money put option on the underlying asset. An out-of-the-money call option allows you unlimited profit to upside when the stock moves higher than the strike price with limited loss to down side. An out-of-the-money put option allows you unlimited profit to downside when the underlying stock moves lower than the strike price with limited loss to upside. Combine them both and you will have a strangle which profits when the underlying stock moves up or down beyond the strike price of the respective options. As the out-of-the-money options in a strangle is cheaper than the at-the-money options in a straddle, a strangle is sometimes described as a “cheap straddle”.

Author: Matthew Gartrell

To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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Bought Strangles

Posted on March 22nd, 2010 admin No Comments

The e-book will have detailed information about the bought strangle strategy. This is because this is the most common strategy and the strategy that I find most profitable. The bought straddle is very similar and references to the strategy will be made throughout the e-book. The sold straddle and strangle are great strategies but have much higher risks, therefore is you would like more information please contact me directly.

To receive ASX Option Recommendations or to learn more about straddles and strangles please request the complete Straddles and Strangles eBook by contacting us on 1300 368 316 or info@totaloptions.com.au

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