My Forex Trading News Online

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Options Trading Pointers

By Mindy Barnes

I've been a stock trader for the last ten years and I absolutely love the thrills of making a great trade. I find it quite addicting. Unfortunately, losing money on a trade can be just as disheartening, if not more.

I'm going to share a few things I've learned along the way in an effort to help you to as much success as you can possibly find. The world of options is an extremely tempting one, but a dangerous one at that. Some traders end up losing their whole investment on one bad trade.

The first thing I'd like to talk about is the time decay factor. Options tend to deteriorate in value over time due to the fact that as you're further out from the expiration date, the likelihood of volatility is higher.

Let's say you buy a contract for December while we're in the month of April. The stock price is at $13, and the strike price on the contract is $16. Clearly, there's a higher percentage chance that this stock will break $16 between now and December than there is between now and May. As a result, contracts with an expiration date that's further out will sell at a higher price.

You'll also want to hedge your bets whenever trading options. Try buying some puts to the extreme if you've bought calls, and vice versa if you've bought puts. This requires discipline, but it's standard practice amongst the most experienced and successful traders.

Try buying a few contracts in the opposite direction. That way if you lose out big time, those contracts will win big.

Had they hedged by giving up just a few dollars, they would have kept 90% of what they lost.

By adhering to these tips, I'm sure of the fact that you'll be well ahead of the typical novice. - 23314

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