Sold Straddles vs. Sold Strangles

Posted on March 22nd, 2010 admin No Comments

If you are a straddle seller you have a greater maximum reward (credit for selling the options) but also a larger risk of losing all the reward and more if the stock moves too far from the strike price. If you are a strangle seller, you have a lower maximum reward (less time premium sold) but also a lower risk that the stock will move outside of the strangle strike window to lower the reward or even go to a deficit. The sold strangle has a lower potential profit than the sold straddle, however it offers greater protection since the share price must move further to result in a loss.

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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Sold Strangle

Posted on March 22nd, 2010 admin No Comments

The sold strangle is the converse of the long strangle. The call and put options are sold instead of bought. The investor loses if the underlying security increases or decreases enough; but if the stock price remains stable then the options expire and the investor gets to keep the premiums.

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 Straddles vs. Bought Strangles

Posted on March 20th, 2010 admin No Comments

The biggest differences between a straddle and a strangle are the cost of the positions and how far the stock needs to move to produce a profit. Because a straddle is at-the-money both the put option and the call option will be much more expensive than the call and the put in a strangle. If you play either a strangle or a straddle around earnings, you will find that among volatile stocks, the strangle will have to move quite a bit more than the straddle to make the position profitable.

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

Posted on March 19th, 2010 admin No Comments

The bought strangle involves buying both a call option and a put option of the same underlying security. Like a long straddle, the options expire at the same time, but unlike a straddle, the options have different strike prices. The owner of a bought strangle makes a profit if the underlying price moves far enough away from the current price, either above or below. Thus, an investor may take a bought strangle position if he thinks the underlying security is highly volatile, but does not know which direction it is going to move. This position is a limited risk, since the most a purchaser may lose is the cost of both options. At the same time, there is unlimited profit potential.

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 Straddle

Posted on March 19th, 2010 admin No Comments

A bought straddle involves purchasing, both a call option and a put option on some stock. The two options are bought at the same strike price and expire at the same time. The owner of a bought straddle makes a profit if the underlying price moves a long way from the strike price, either above or below. Thus, an investor may take a long straddle position if he thinks the market is highly volatile, but does not know in which direction it is going to move. This position is a limited risk, since the most a purchaser may lose is the cost of both options. At the same time, there is unlimited profit potential.

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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Straddles and Strangles eBook

Posted on March 19th, 2010 admin No Comments

This Straddles and Strangles eBook is and introduction into trading strangles and straddles. These are non-directional trades that take advantage of large share price movements. The information will teach what market environment a bought straddles and strangles are suited for.

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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Bull Put Spread: Trade Example

Posted on March 19th, 2010 admin No Comments

This is a past recommendation on PBL which demonstrates how the bull put spread strategy works in real life.

Trade:

Bull Put Spread

Sell 10 PBL39 Oct 1950 Puts @ 22

Buy 10 PBL36 Oct 1900 Puts @ 12

Net Credit = 10 cents

This trade requires minimal margin requirements.

Maximum Profit

The ideal result is for both options to expire worthless, so that maximum premium is retained from the credit spread.

= Net Premium Received

= Sold Put Premium – Bought Put Premium

= (0.22 – 0.12) x 10 contracts

= $1000

Maximum Loss

This will occur if the share price is below the bought at expiry

= Difference between strike prices less net premium received

= 50 – 10

= 40

= 0.40 x 10 Contracts

= $4000

Breakeven

Upper strike less net premium received

= 19.50 – 0.10

= 19.40

Main Benefits of Strategy

1. Provides leveraged exposure to a rise 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.


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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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: Strategy Risks

Posted on March 17th, 2010 admin No Comments

It is important to always be aware of the strategy risks. The primary risk when placing a bull put spread is when the share price decreases past the sold put and an ever greater concern is if the share price decreases below the bought put (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 $2,000 the cash margin required in the account can increase to $2,400 (2000 *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 bull put spread you want the volatility to be high so you can sell the put 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 put. If the share price decreases below the sold put 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 put is exercised it means that you are obligated to buy shares at the exercise price of the sold put. This can have a negative impact in terms of you have bought shares you do not own which means you need to sell them back at the lower level and therefore locking in a loss on the share position. If the share price is below the bought put (protection) when exercised then you can sell the put 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 purchase and sale 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 on the sold put. If the share price is below the sold put an indication of the likelihood of being exercised can be identified by the delta. If the delta on the sold call is below -0.95 there is a chance being exercised. If the delta is below -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 decreasing you can close the trade for a loss. If you think you view is correct and the share price will rise 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 increases above the sold put by the next month you can still make maximum profit.

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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