Long option strangle is a neutral strategy in options trading. It involves simultaneous buying of a slightly out-of-the-money put or call of the same underlying stock and expiration date. Long options strangle has unlimited profit. This means that it has limited risk strategy which is taken once the option trader thinks that the underlying stock has significant volatility in the near term. Long option strangle strategies are debit spreads because net debit is taken to the enter the trade. When it comes to long gains, long option strangle strategy is viable especially if the underlying stock price makes a very strong move either upwards or downwards at expiration.

When it comes to risk, long option strangle can hit maximum loss when the underlying stock price on expiration date is trading between the strikes prices of the options that are bought. In this case, both options expire valueless and the trader losses the whole initial debit taken when entering the trade. In short option strangle, the trader either write or sell a Call and Put Option. This means that the trader is short on the options. Here, both the Call and Put have the same expiry date and lies on the same stock or index. Short option strangle is basically the option strategy wherein you sell Call and Put instead of buying them.

Short option strangle works effectively at stable markets where equities are fairly priced. For a trader, it is a big no-no to enter a position in short strangle just before announcement of the quarterly results or the key financial data. In short option strangle, the loss that can happen is unlimited. Therefore, it is recommended to buy two deep out of the money Call and Put so as to limit your losses. Short option strangle is a limited profit yet has unlimited risk. It is a credit spread because the net credit is taken to enter the trade.

Maximum profit for the short option strangle happens when the underlying stock price on expiration date is trading between the strike prices and sold options. At this price, the option strangle doesn’t have a value and the options trader must keep the whole initial credit as profit. Huge losses in short option strangle can only occur when the underlying stock price makes a powerful move either upwards or downwards at expiration of the option contract.

This may sound like you are getting rather a lot, but believe me, it is all vital for giving you the world class education that you need to trade stock options. As a step by step guide, the Option Profits Success System will get you to the desired place where you know, in detail, more about trading stock options then the majority of other traders out there. This home study course will put you well on course to a successful and long term career in stock option trading – Guaranteed!

In Trading Stock Options, experienced option trader Brian Burns, explains the basics of stock options and shows you how to trade the most successful option strategies. As you begin your journey on the option path, you’ll have the luxury of real-life trade examples to show you the way. The diagrams and charts help turn the complex world of options into easy to visualize and simple to understand strategies that even the most novice of traders can utilize. Trading Stock Options will show you how you can use options to: * Get paid to buy and sell your favorite stock * Purchase stocks for less than their current price * Buy insurance on stocks in your portfolio * Profit when stocks lose value * Perform short-term trades with less money than trading the stock From the Introduction “Through my experiences with option trading, I have tried almost every strategy I could find. In this book, I will be discussing the strategies that I use the most and feel are the bes (more…)

In case you don’t know what a stock option is let me explain. Simply, a stock option gives you the right to control the ownership of a stock for a fraction of the price to buy it. There are two types of options; the first is a Call Option which is the option to buy a share of a certain company for a predetermined price before a predetermined date. The second is a Put Option, which is the option to sell a share of a certain company for a predetermined price before a predetermined date.

For example if you purchased 100 shares in ABC Company that traded at $50 each, you would have to invest $5000 to buy those shares. However you could buy 100 Call Options priced at $5 each, with the right to buy ABC Company at $50 any time up to a date in the future (say November 16th) and you would control the same amount of shares for only $500. If the price of ABC Company goes up by $5 and you owned the shares you would have made $500 or 10% on your $5000 investment, however because the Call Options give you the right to buy the shares at $50 and they are now worth $55 the price of the options would go up $5 as well and you would have made $500 or 100% on your $500 investment. This example demonstrates the great leverage stock options provide.

Call Options are used when you expect the price of a stock to rise, if you expect the price of a stock to fall you can buy Put Options, which as mentioned before, give you the right to sell a stock at a predetermined price. So in the example above if the price of ABC shares fell to $45 and we had bought Put Options giving us the right to sell ABC at $50, the Put Options would be worth money because you could buy ABC shares in the market for a cheaper price than you could sell them for. Wonderful isn’t it, you can make money if the stock market is rising or falling!

To summarize a stock option has four components to it:

1. The underlying stock

The stock that the option is traded on (ABC Company in the example above).

2. The exercise date

The predetermined date, before which, you can use or exercise your option. Options always expire on the third Friday of each month (November 16th in the example above).

3. The strike price

The predetermined price you can buy the stock for ($50 in the example above). 4. The type of option

Either a Call or a Put option.

Here is the first key to successful stock options investing. It is very simple: practice, practice, practice. I cannot stress enough how important practice will be to your success as a stock options trader. Trading options is an inherently risky endeavor, however by learning the keys to successful stock options trading it is possible to mitigate this risk and maximize your gains. Options are a zero sum game, which means for every winner there has to be a loser. I’m sure you want to be a winner and not a loser, right? So you must take the time to learn the fundamental theories of options trading and practice the strategies behind options trading before you risk any of your hard earned capital in the market. It is only when you are winning seven out of ten trades on paper and you are confident in your trading plan and money management techniques that you should trade in the market for real. By the time you have finished reading these articles you will have a plan and know just what those money management techniques are. Look out for Key #2 coming soon.

US Government required disclaimer: Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Prior to buying or selling an option, a person must receive a copy of the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. Copies of this document may be obtained from your broker, from any exchange on which options are traded or by contacting The Options Clearing Corporation, One North Wacker Dr., Suite 500 Chicago, IL 60606 (1-800-678-4667).

There are many situations where option rollouts may be used. For purposes of this article, being limited in scope, I will just touch on two of the more practical uses of the rollout process. The first is the benefits it gives the covered call player. The second is the remarkable ability of the rollout feature to offer protection against the potential for loss that faces the naked option writer.

How does a roll out benefit the covered call player? Consider this scenario: you own 500 shares in a company which you originally bought some time back at a price of $50. Assuming the market has recently gone on an uptrend and your stock has now appreciated to $60. You are tempted to sell and take in profits from your investment. At the same time you don’t want to miss out on any further upward movement the stock may take in the face of what appears to be a strengthening market. Yet you are also afraid that the market might reverse direction and you could then lose some of the profits you’ve already achieved. Selling call options against your stock enables you to participate in any future appreciation of your stock, and the profits generated from the option sale provides some protection if the market should change direction forcing you to exit your position. If the stock continues rising and hits the strike price at which you sold the calls, you are faced with two nice choices. Let the option holder call the option (exercise his right to buy the stock at the strike price you sold it for) or, roll out the options to a farther expiration and strike price once again allowing you to participate in further gains if the stock continues its upward trend. If you let your options be called you have gained not only the money from the option sale but also from the appreciation price of the stock at the time the option is called. But if you roll out the calls you could continue to stay in the game for a further appreciation in the value of your stocks. Of course there is always the potential of a market reversal and losing the potential for further appreciation. Even so you still have gained the premium money you obtained in the sale of the calls. If the market continues uptrending you can ride the appreciation wave by rolling out your positions several times up to and until you run out of future strike prices. By this time you would have gained substantial profits.

Now let’s see how the roll out benefits the naked option writer. When you sell a naked option, be it call or put, you theoretically face the risk of unlimited losses in your position due to the fact that if the underlying security moves against you the potential for loss is unlimited. The term “theoretical risk” is used here because this risk has been blown out of proportion and grossly exaggerated. While the potential risk of loss does exist it’s a negligible one if you employ appropriate strategies to defeat it. Please see another article on this subject entitled “Risk of ‘Unlimited Loses’ In Naked Option Selling Is A Myth” where it talks about this theoretical risk being totally controllable using proper defensive strategies. One of the defensive strategies mentioned in that article is the use of roll outs.

Here’s a scenario that may face an option writer. Let us suppose you sold naked puts several strikes out-of-the-money with expiration forty to sixty days away. Some time during its life the market turns against you and begins to drop down to the price level of the strike you sold. Many option traders would just close out the position buying back the puts at a higher price and taking a loss. You being the smart trader would roll out your puts by buying them back at the now higher price and at the same time sell new puts farther out in time and several strikes out-of-the-money at a higher price than you bought back your puts. You’ve just converted your original 40 or 60 day puts into longer expiration puts thereby avoiding taking a loss at this point in time. The process of closing and opening positions can be done as a spread trade and in this way you are paying reduced brokers commissions. If the market continues its downward trend you can also keep rolling out your positions repeatedly till you reach a point where there are no more available future options to roll out to. At this point your puts may be so far out in the future that even if it goes deep in the money chances of it being exercised are slim. There is an e-book written on this subject titled “Stock Options: The Greatest Wealth Building Tool Ever Invented” where the roll out process is described in much detail together with other protective strategies for naked option traders. The e-book contains numerous actual trading illustrations of the use of the roll out process. See this article’s author profile for more information.

If you are going to be an option trader or already are one, rolling out is a must strategy in many of your option trades. You will find the strategy highly rewarding and in many cases offers a wide variety of choices to your trading styles. Not only does it enable you to increase your trading profitability but more importantly it affords you the ability to protect your trade positions against certain adverse conditions. As this article is written today, we are in the midst of a financial crises as never seen in a long time. The stock market has now depreciated to panic lows with investors seeing the value of their investments evaporate into thin air. Yet for many option traders extensively using the roll out process they will weather the storm much better than others and they will certainly recover much faster when economic conditions turn for the better.

In fact, there are two types of options that are call and put option. Call option gives its owner the right to buy 100 units of share of a company at a specified price that has been agreed between the call option owner and the seller within certain period of time. So, within this period of time, if the stock price goes up, the call option price will also go up and vice versa. The second type of option is put option. This option gives its owner the right to sell 100 units of share of a company at a specified price that has been agreed between the put option owner and the seller within certain period of time. Put option seems like the opposite of call option. If the stock price goes up within this period of time, the put option price will go down. Either call or put option can be bought or sold. As long as there are people willing to sell, there will be people willing to buy. There are four permutations that are possible exist during the transaction of an option. The first one is buying a call option meaning that buy the right for yourself to buy 100 units of share. Second is selling call option meaning that sell the right to buy 100 units share from you to someone else. The third one is buying a put option meaning that buy the right for yourself to sell 100 units of shares. The last one is selling a put option meaning that sell the right to sell 100 units of share to you to someone else.

The other way to make these differences clearer is always remember that the call option buyer hopes the stock price will go up and the put option buyer looking for the price per share to fall. For the opposite side, a call option seller is hoping the stock price will maintain or fall. Whereas, put option seller is hoping that the stock price will go up. If the option buyer no matter dealing with the calls or puts option is correctly predicting the price movement of the stock, then they will gain profit from their action. For option, there is another obstacle we have to face besides estimating the direction of the stock price movement. This obstacle is that the change of the stock price has to be taken place before the deadline of the option. As a stockholder, we may be able to predict a stock’s long-term prospects by waiting for a long-term change of the stock. However, for option holder, we may not have that kind of opportunity. This is because options are finite; they will lose all their value within a short period of time, usually within a few months. However, it has long-term options that can last up to one to three years. Due to this limitation, time will be an important factor to determine whether an option buyer can earn a profit or not.

Foremost, option is granting the buyer an intangible right to buy or sell 100 units of share at an agreed price between the buyer and seller of the option. Therefore, option is just an agreement regarding to 100 units of share of a specific stock and to a specific price per share. Therefore, if the buyer buys an option at the wrong timing, then, the buyer will not able to make any profit. Wrong timing means that the stock price does not move or does not move substantially when the deadline has arrived. When we buy a call option, it seems like we are agreeing that we are willing to pay the price that being asked to acquire a contractual right. The right provided that we may buy 100 units of share of stock at a specified fixed price per share, and this right exists at the time we purchased the option until the deadline of the option. Within the time we purchased the option until the deadline of the option, if the stock price goes up more than the fixed price indicated in the option agreement, this call option will become more valuable. Just think that we buy a call option that granting us the right to buy 100 units of shares at the price of USD 70 per share. Let said before the option deadline, the stock price has gone up to USD 90 per share. As an owner of this call option, we have the right to buy 100 units of share at USD 70, which is USD 20 less than the current market price. This is the situation when stock market price is more than the fixed contractual price indicated in the call option contract. In this example, we as buyer would have the right to buy 100 units share, which is USD 20 less than current market price. Although we own the right to do so, we may unnecessarily to execute our right. For an example, how about if the stock price has gone down to USD 50. We would not have to buy shares at the fixed price of USD 70 and we could select not to take any action.

In the early years, the options market was very small, with only a handful available on the larger blue chip stocks in the Dow 30 and other major indices. Today, the American market is enormous, with over 12,000 equity options available to trade. In the UK it is just under 100 (the blue chip shares mainly) which can be rather limiting, but if your trading is mainly in UK shares it is not a bad place to start.

OK, let me start with some definitions, and I will try to keep this as simple as possible (not because you will not understand) but because the terminology can be very confusing for newcomers. It took me 6-9 months to get comfortable with this so do not expect to pick it up straight away. Firstly there are two type of options as follows :

A Call Option – A contract representing the right for a specified time to BUY a specified security at a specified price

A Put Option – A contract representing the right for a specified time to SELL a specified security at a specified price

An option is a contract which gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date. Right, let me try and explain. Suppose you are buying a classic second-hand car. You visit the owner, love the car, and agree a price, but explain that you will not have the cash for 4 weeks. The owner agrees to hold the car and the price for you for only 4 weeks, but on condition that you pay a small non – refundable premium for his trouble (this is in addition to the full price of the car)

This is what an option contract is – the car owner has effectively written an options contract to give you, the contract holder, the right to buy the car within the four week period, at the agreed price. Now, as the option buyer ( or holder ) you have an option to buy, but you do not have to if you change your mind. Which is why in the above definition it says ‘ the right but not the obligation’ – if you change your mind you just walk away. All you have lost is your premium which the buyer keeps (even if you do decide to go ahead). The car owner, who has written the contract, has a contractual obligation to deliver the car at the agreed price, and he or she must deliver.

In summary, as an options buyer, you have choices – you can exercise the contract or walk away. As an options seller, you do not have any choices – if the contract is exercised you must deliver the asset. If we take the example a stage further (I know its not ideal but I hope it gives a feel for what these things are all about). Let us assume that whilst you are waiting for the bank to supply the cash, so that you can go ahead and buy the car, the original factory where the cars were made is destroyed by fire. Suddenly these cars increase in value sharply. You, however, have a contract in writing at an agreed price, provided you buy within the next four weeks. Now, you as the buyer or holder of the contract have two choices. Firstly, you exercise your contract by paying the seller the agreed price, and immediately put the car on the market and sell at a profit, or alternatively you sell your contract on to someone else, as it now has a higher ‘premium’ value due to the increase in value of the underlying asset (the car )

Now, as the seller of the car ( the writer of the contract option )you have no idea who will exercise the contract, which could have been bought and sold many times over during the 4 week period. But one thing is constant. If it is exercised, you will have to deliver the asset at the price agreed.It is a contract. This is how the options market works.

If we now look at some of the unique features of options these are as follows:The contract is for a specified time, normally 4 weeks, but there are options called LEAPS which extend for years. As there is a specified time, this is a wasting asset. If you buy an option it will be worthless in 4 weeks if not exercised. Each has an agreed contract price fixed for the life of the option. This is based on the underlying asset ( the share ). The option carries a premium. This is paid to the seller of an option by the buyer and is always kept by the seller. CALL options increase in value as the underlying asset increases, whilst PUT options increase as the underlying value of the asset decreases.

OK, lets just recap the above. When you buy an option the purchase price is called a PREMIUM. If you sell an option, the premium is the amount you receive. As a buyer you have rights, but no obligation. As a seller you have an obligation to deliver the terms of the contract. An option seller is also called a WRITER. Options are a derivative product, they are derived from something else. Equity options are derived from the equities market so the underlying asset is the share or stock price. The premium will vary minute by minute, up and down as the underlying value of the asset changes in the cash market. Options are leveraged instruments and therefore higher risk. Most equity options are ‘Physical Delivery’ which means that shares must change hands if the contract is exercised. Now one last point before we move on and it is simply this – as an option writer (seller ) you do of course have one choice – you can buy yourself out of the obligation by buying the contract back – this will naturally cost you more if the premium has increased in value! ( if the premium has decreased you may want to close out the contract for a small profit, or just leave it to expire for 100% profit on the premium ) As you can see from the above, the same option can be bought and sold many times before it is either exercised or expires worthless. Whatever happens, the option seller keeps the premium received from the initial buyer 1. As you can imagine all this trading has to be tightly controlled to ensure that buyers and sellers are matched correctly, and that contracts are fulfilled by sellers. In the UK, the options exchange is called LIFFE ( London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange ) and this is where all equity options are managed and traded. In the US there are several exchanges, but the principle ones are CBOE ( Chicago Board of Options Exchange ), AMEX and Philadelphia Exchange. Everything to do with trading, managing and exercising the options is conducted by the exchanges. You do not have to worry about actually doing anything – it all happens automatically. So if, for example, you have sold a call, and the contract is exercised, this will all happen automatically and the broker will transfer the shares out of your account at the agreed contract price and replace with cash. Finally there are two ’styles of options’ – American style and European style. American style options can be exercised at any time as in our example above, whilst European can only be exercised only at expiry. Most equity Options will be American style but please check and make sure beforehand.

Whilst the terminology of equity options may seem strange at first, it is worth the effort. In their simplest form they can simply be bought and sold like any other financial instrument. Remember however that these are assets with a time value, they cannot be held for long periods as they all have an expiry date as part of the contract. Many traders simply buy and sell options throughout the trading day, making their money from the increase or decrease in the options value. Others use them in combination with the underlying stock to write calls. There are many ways to benefit from an understanding of these sophisticated instruments and I would urge you to dip a toe in the water!

Everyday we listen  about Nifty Option price closing up or down,Call Option,Put Option, market bullish or bearish .We wonder how to trade in Nifty Option and earn profit with limited loss and unlimited profit. What are the points we have to keep in mind while trading Nifty Option, how to calculate the profit and loss.First of all we have to determine the direction of the market whether market will  be up or down.We can take the position in Nifty Option in the expected direction bullish or bearish.If we are bullish then we can buy Nifty Call Option and if bearish then we can buy Nifty Put Option.What trade we can execute and what would be our position in terms of profit and loss are explained below with examples.

If current price of Nifty is 2900 and Nifty Call Option Strike Price 3000 and Put Option Strike Price 2800 in January is 100=00 INRs and last date of expiry is on nth January. What trades we can do in Call and Put Option of Nifty and what will be our profit and loss position is as stated below.

 If bullish we can Buy Nifty Call Option

(1)Buy Nifty Call Option January Strike Price 3000@100 INRs.  Lot Size 50

Premium Paid=100*50=5000 INRs.

Maximum Loss=5000=00 INRs.

Maximum Profit=Unlimited

Break-even Price=3100

We can sell Nifty Call Option which we have bought anytime till last day of expiry i.e., nth January and can book profit or loss. If we do not sell Nifty Call Option we have bought till lasts day also then our trade will be automatically squared off at the settlement price of Nifty on last day of expiry decided by the exchange.

.Different Possibilities with our Nifty Call Option Buy position

(1) Nifty Call Option price 140 and sold before expiry then

140-100=40*50=2000.00 INRs. Profit

(2)Nifty Call Option price 60 and sold before expiry then

100-60=40*50=2000 INRs. Loss

(3)Nifty settlement price 3200 and we have not sold  Nifty Call Option till expiry then

3200-3000=200*50=10,000-5000=5000=00  INRs. Profit

(4)Nifty settlement price equals to or below 3000 and we have not sold Nifty Call Option till expiry then

5000=00  INRs Loss

This is the maximum loss we can have even if Nifty falls to any level beyond 3000.

(5)Nifty settlement price 3100 and we have not sold Nifty Call Option till expiry then

3100-3000=100*50=5000-5000=0.0 INRs. No Profit No Loss

If bearish we can Buy Nifty Put Option

(1) Buy Nifty Put Option Strike Price 2800.@100 INRs. Lot Size=50

Premium Paid=100*50=5000.00 INRs.

Maximum Loss=5000.00 INRs.

Maximum Profit=Unlimited

Break-even Price=2700

We can sell  Nifty Put Option bought anytime  till last day of expiry i.e., nth January and can book profit or loss.If we do not sell Nifty Put Option we have bought till lasts day also then  our trade will be automatically squared off at the settlement price of Nifty on last day of expiry decided by the exchange.

Different Possibilities with our Nifty Put Option Buy position

(1) Nifty Put Option  price 140 and sold before expiry then

140-100=40*50=2000.00 INRs. Profit

(2)Nifty Put Option price 60 and sold before expiry then

100-60=40*50=2000 INRs. Loss

(3)Nifty settlement price 2600 and we have not sold  Nifty Put Option till expiry then

2800-2600=200*50=10,000-5000=5000=00  INRs. Profit

(4)Nifty settlement price equals to or above 2800 and we have not sold Nifty Put Option till expiry then

5000=00  INRs Loss

This is the maximum loss we can have even  if Nifty rises to any level beyond  2800.

(5)Nifty settlement price 2700 and we have not sold  Nifty Put Option till expiry then

2800-2700=100*50=5000-5000=0.0 INRs. No Profit No Loss.

What is the advantage of buying Option compared to Future.Maximum loss is fixed and predefined.We cannot lose more then the premium paid to buy the Option under any circumstances and it is known to us before we trade.We can square up the Option  position anytime after buying just like Future.We have to pay only amount of premium and not the margin which is required for buying future.