Understanding Implied Volatility: infographic

Retirement is a time of life that many people look forward to, but it requires careful planning and preparation. One of the most important aspects of preparing for retirement is calculating your retirement needs and starting to save early. In this section, we will discuss some key points to consider when planning for your retirement.

By Kim, Friday at 08:05 PM

A seagull spread involves adding an additional short option to a vertical debit spread to reduce the net debit paid, often enabling you to enter a trade for zero cost. The name is derived from the fact that the payoff diagram has a body and two wings, imitating a seagull.

By Pat Crawley, Friday at 10:43 AM

The “wheel” trade is variously described as a beginner’s strategy, a combination to exploit features of both calls and puts, and as “perfect” solution to the well-known risks of shorting calls, even when covered. The options wheel strategy is an income-generating options trading strategy that both beginners and experienced traders can leverage for profit.

By Pat Crawley, Thursday at 07:46 PM

Covered calls have always been a popular options strategy. Indeed for many traders, their introduction to options trading is a covered call used to augment income on an existing stock portfolio. But this strategy is more complicated, and riskier, than it looks.

By Chris Young, Tuesday at 04:34 PM

Learning how options work is a key skill for any trader or investor wanting to add this to their arsenal of trading weapons. It’s really not possible to trade options well without having a thorough grounding of the mechanics of what these derivatives are and how they work.

By Chris Young, May 27

The protective put (sometimes called a married put) strategy is one of the simplest, but most, popular, ways options are used in the market. Here we look at this defensive strategy and when and how to put it in place. Options provide investors and traders with an extremely versatile tool that can be used under many different scenarios.

By Chris Young, May 24

During a discussion about my trading system, the question arose regarding the ability to exit positions entirely and mitigate substantial drawdowns during a crash-style event. This particular circumstance has caused concern about the effectiveness of the trading method. The common response to such concerns is often centered around the concept of maintaining a properly diversified portfolio.

By Karl Domm, May 18

Options can be an extremely useful tool for short-term traders as well as long-term investors. Options can provide investors with a vehicle to bet on market direction or volatility, and may also be used to collect premiums. A long options position is simple to use, and has defined risk parameters.

By Chris Young, May 12

We are pleased to announce that Market Chameleon is offering SteadyOptions members a 2 week free trial for their premium tools. Market Chameleon is a premier provider of options information, using both stock fundamentals data as well as options analytics to provide better insight for those who wish to make informed investment decisions.

By Kim, May 11

Everyone should be investing. After all, there’s no better way to increase your retirement savings and boost your spending power than by putting your money to work. Many people believe that investing is something that only wealthy people or financial experts can do, but that’s not the case.

By Kim, May 11