Do you believe buy & hold is safe? Or that selling short is risky? Read below the top 4 myths that are widely believed, and keeping people from their trading potential. When you properly understand these myths, you will be leaps ahead of everyone else.Myth #1 Selling Short Is RiskyThis trading myth comes from the fact that some stocks can trade down to zero while there is no limit to how high that stock can trade. So losses for long positions are limited on the downside, but short positions can suffer unlimited losses.But the belief that short selling is risky is preventing you from minimizing risk and preventing you making money. You see, selling short works just as well as buying long if done properly. The level of a positions risk depends on good money management methods.A small percentage of traders have realized this and have developed a trading strategy to sell short and profit easily regardless of which way the stock market is moving.Myth #2 Buying & Holding is SafeThis would have to be the most common trading myth, that stems from the belief that the stock market always goes up in the long run. This is true enough, but it can also take an extremely long time. Some markets have been known to drop dramatically, and not return for 25 years! Like the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1929 to 1954.It dropped so low during this time that no one would sit through it. Money managers who can duplicate the performance of the general market are very rare. You need an exit strategy that limits risk for every strategy, whether investor or trader.A small percentage of traders are using a trading method that will actually apply to any market. This potentially gives them a winning edge. They aren’t simply buying, holding, and hoping like most traders do.Myth #3 Trading is easyIf making money consistently from the stock market was easy, everyone would be doing it, and all be wealthy from it. Yeah, the physical part is easy enough, but many people have this idea that trading is easy, but they were never given the tools that make it easy. It’s not that trading needs to be difficult, but it requires a solid trading method, and diligence on the traders part to stick with it. And unless you also trade with discipline and use good money management principals like the most successful traders, you can only hope to be less than successful.Myth #4 The existence of the Holy GrailI see far too many traders hopping from method to method, pursuing the next guaranteed thing only to be repeatedly let down. Newbies tend to think they should be able to win practically every trade. Thinking they should be having a straight line of wins without any major setbacks. When armatures try something, they conclude that their system doesn’t work after the first few losses in a row. So they jump on something else. How can anyone expect to succeed this way. Unless you want to continue to suffer losing trades, and eventually give up, stop chasing this holy grail nonsense.The holy grail of trading doesn’t exist. It would seem more than 90% of traders are wasting years of their life with this myth. Think of the progress, the money that could have been made, if they had spent that time and energy on a solid trading system, and a good trading method.

Where to go from here:Well first, simply understand and clear your head of the above stock, and trading myths. Free yourself from these beliefs that restrain your potential as a trader. This will automatically put you in front of most traders.There are a few traders however, less than 1%, who understand the above and more. who are quietly making a killing from the stock market, and are spending no more time trading than you. A lot of them keep their winning system and their successful trading secrets to themselves, but there are a few who will share this information with the publicJust remember, none of these super traders are born geniuses. And they don’t have a crystal ball forecasting the stock market. They simply have found a winning system that isn’t restricted to any time frame or market. The most successful traders are nobody special, apart from the stock market secrets they learned and diligence to put them in action.Regardless of whether you trade Stocks, Options, Futures or Forex, or your level of experience, you can’t afford to keep buying and hoping. Stop leaving your success to chance when you can take control. It isn’t necessary to keep wasting all this time and money on the common trading methods. Even if you are ahead, the average trader could trade far more efficiently.You too can become one of the very small percent of traders. Seriously, you just need to learn how to properly, plot the chart, the right setup conditions, the best entry point, stop loss point, and place your profit target point. To learn how to do the things listed above, and for actual insider trading secrets on how the most profitable traders really do it – Read on.

 

Treasury Bills, Commercial Paper, Corporate Bonds, Certificate of Deposits and Repurchase Agreements. Collectively are referred to as Money Market Instruments.

Money market instruments are short term debt obligations generally regarded as low risk, low to medium return investment for the holder. They are essentially IOUs issued by governments, financial institutions and large corporations. These instruments are very liquid and considered extraordinarily safe. Because they are extremely conservative, money market securities offer significantly lower risks than most other securities. They have maturities ranging from one day to one year.

Treasury bills

Treasury bills are issued by the Central banks such as the Bank of England or government treasury departments. The Treasury sells bills at regularly scheduled auctions to refinance government projects and obligations. It also helps to finance current government deficits.

Commercial Paper

Commercial Paper is short-term loan that is issued by a corporation use for financing accounts receivable and inventories. Commercial Papers have higher denominations as compared to the Treasury Bills and the Certificate of Deposit. The maturity period of Commercial Papers is a maximum of 9 months. They are very safe since the financial situation of the corporation can be anticipated over a few months.

Corporate Bonds

A corporate bond is an IOU issued by a public company, such as BT, ICI or Marks & Spencer. When you invest in a corporate bond, you are lending money to the company. In return you will receive interest at a fixed rate and the promise that your capital will be repaid at a certain date in the future.

Certificate of Deposit

A certificate of deposit (CD) is a time deposit with a bank. CDs are generally issued by commercial banks but they can be bought through brokerages. They bear a specific maturity date (from three months to five years), a specified interest rate, and can be issued in any denomination, much like bonds. CDs offer a slightly higher yield than Treasury Bills because of the slightly higher risk for a bank but, overall, the likelihood that a large bank will go broke is pretty slim. (Northern Rock Plc being the exception of course).

Repurchase Agreements

The Repo or the repurchase agreement is used by the government security holder when he sells the security to a lender and promises to repurchase from him overnight. Hence the Repos have terms raging from 1 night to 30 days. They are very safe due to government backing. Due to this short turnaround time, these agreements are the most liquid of all money market investments, they are very similar to bank deposit accounts, and many corporations arrange for their banks to transfer excess cash to such funds automatically.

Its is however important to note that Although securities purchased on the money market carry less risk than long-term debt, they are still not entirely risk free. After all, as we all know banks do sometimes fail, and the fortunes of companies can change rather rapidly. But it has to be said that the range of possible outcomes is less for short-term investments than for conventional equity and fixed income investments.

 

Options Trading Body of Knowledge, The: The Definitive Source for Information About the Options Industry

This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version. The Comprehensive, Up-to-Date Reference for Every Options Trader   By Michael C. Thomsett, author of the global best-seller Getting Started in Options Illuminates virtually every technique and form of options trading–including options on futures and ETFs Helps you consistently choose the right options strategies and understand your true risks  For millions of traders and investors, options have become an indispensable tool: not just for increasing profits but also for systematically controlling risk. Now best-selling author Michael C. Thomsett has brought together all of today-s most important options strategies in a single authoritative reference. Using this readable, practical guidebook, you can select the right strategy for any application or market environment, clarify all your risks, and structure trades that accomplish (more…)

 

In this series, we screened for 6 parameters:

1. High Dividend Yield – Above 5 % (The S&P 500 average dividend yield is approximately 3.42%).

2. Moderate Dividend Payout Ratio – Below 50 % (The S&P’s payout ratio is approximately 59 %).

3. Less Than 40 % above 52-Week Low

4. Options Available

5. Current Ratio: Over 1.5

6. Long Term Debt to Equity: Under .5

These conservative screens yielded two solid high dividend stocks.

We then detailed the impressive yields that you could earn by either, buying these stocks outright and selling covered calls, OR, by just selling puts against them.

Given the high yields that both of these strategies afford, which is the best way to go?

As with most investing decisions, much of the answer to this question lies with your outlook for the market and for the particular stock, given your own individual investing goals. We’ve found it useful to have a checklist or “decision table” when deciding which way to invest in a well-researched stock that you believe in.

1. Market Outlook: Based on current trends, and upcoming events, where do you think the market is headed?

- Bullish: Sell Covered Calls

- Less Bullish: Sell Puts

2. Compare Annualized Yields: Since different strategies have different time horizons, the only way to truly compare them is by annualizing their yields.

Here’s a simple formula you can use for this:

(Yield % divided by number of days till expiration) times (365)

OR, you can get a quick and rough estimate by using months:

(Yield % divided by number of months till expiration) times (12 months)

You may have a long-term trade that pays you MORE money than a shorter term trade, but because your principal is tied up for longer, the annualized yield may actually be lower.

3. Cash Yield Timing: Since these 2 strategies require more cash than buying options, try to determine if you need all the cash right away vs. having it spread out in time.

- Staggered Payout: Sell Covered Calls

- Payout Now: Sell Puts

4. 52-week Low/High: Is the stock at a 52-week high, or is it still near its 52-week lows?

Selling puts that place your net cost basis near a stock’s 52-week lows has been a very successful strategy over the past 9 months for many value investors.

Likewise, selling covered calls also hedges your risk, and offers a high yield.

5. Dividend Payout/Timing vs. Option Payout/Expiration: Many financial websites have option chains that tell you how much dividend $ you’ll earn before expiration. Compare this to what you’d earn from selling puts during this same period.

6. Dividend Reinvesting: This is a powerful tool for accumulating wealth. If you’re able to reinvest your dividends, then, of course, selling covered calls is the way to go.

(These articles are written for informational purposes only and author will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions herein or any actions taken by third parties after reading these articles).

 

Trading is usually simple but most of the people make it a very complex game. It depends how you approach it whether for quick riches or stable income every month. Trading wants you to have a positive and a neutral mind. Successful traders follow rules all the time and earn their living trading just two hours a day. Many failed traders already develop their mind of particular direction. Neutrality itself requires that there is no direction of the market. Whenever there is a setup formed according to the given rules, one should act quickly without any confusion and hesitation. What actually happens that failed traders hesitate at the time of signal but execute trade as per their emotions. Here comes the discipline.
Successful trading in futures, emini, stocks, options, forex or any market requires sound strategies and discipline. Discipline has more weight than strategies. Learning the great and profitable strategies will not make you successful unless you have conviction to follow rules religiously. A good strategy can be applied to stock trading, currency trading and emini futures because rules are universal. Technical analysis and price action cover every market. There are some analysts in the market who teach that rules apply to one market only and at particular time. Objective analysis covers every market exhibiting number of opportunities in a week for daytrading as well as swing trading. If you have discipline to limit your risk effectively you can do daytrading or swing trading in any trading instrument. It means if you learn rules of trading you have great exposure to trading in every time frame whether it is emini, dow futures, S&P 500, commodity trading, futures trading, options and stocks. Stock trading itself presents multiple opportunities because there are hundreds of stocks in stock market. Another considerable market is a currency market with great volatility. Currency trading usually called forex trading offers huge potential of income if you are equipped with best risk management strategy. Many large brokers are now offering currency trading requiring very low margin. The important point is how you discipline yourself and control your emotions.
Nobody can deny the importance of stop-loss. People who are afraid of taking small loss incur a big loss and are usually wiped out in just few days. Discipline of taking loss will keep you in the trading game forever if you have profitable strategy. Nobody in this world can win every trade. Some traders are very disappointed after taking loss. They lose control and trade immediately in the hope that they will recover loss quickly. It’s a huge blunder. You should come back with fresh mind after spending considerable time away from your computer after making a losing trade.
Many new traders try to trade live immediately after they have learned how to trade and it is a huge mistake because they are playing with their real money. Paper trading with discipline could give substantial amount of confidence over a period of few months. What differentiates successful traders from irresponsible traders is quick decision at right time.

 

Writing covered calls is an excellent way to use options in a low risk way, to generate additional income on your existing portfolio of shares. If you buy shares at the same time that you write the calls then the transaction is known as a buy-write. If you write calls on shares you already hold then it is called an over-write. The covered aspect comes from the fact that you own the underlying stock or share. If the contract is exercised then you have the underlying goods to fulfil the contract ( like the car in our first example). There is another type of call writing called naked. NEVER, EVER write naked calls – you are exposing yourself to UNLIMITED RISK.

The first technique is called over writing, so let’s take a look see how it works. Before we start there is one difference between UK equity options and US equity options. In the UK one option contract relates to 1000 shares, but in the US one option contract relates to 100 shares of stock.

Imagine you have a portfolio of shares that you have held for some time and these are mainly UK ‘blue chip’ companies. One of your shares is British Airways which you have held for some time, and you have 1500 shares bought at 200p. The market price at the moment is 365p per share. It is June and you decide to look at the current option chain for the next expiry period which is September. The option expires on the 15th September. You look at all the strike prices available and see that there are contracts at 330p, 360p, and 390p. You check the premium of the contract at 390p and see that the premium is currently 16p. You decide to sell ONE contract for which you receive a premium of 1000 x 16p = £160. (the premium is multiplied by the number of shares for one contract i.e. 1000). Please note – you still have 500 shares left in your portfolio as you do not have enough to write a second contract. You have now sold 1 contract which obligates you to supply 1000 BA shares at 390p on or before the 15th September (Amercian Style Contract) to the owner of the contract if exercised in the period. In return for this you have been paid a premium of £160 which is yours to keep whatever the outcome of the contract. OK – lets look at the possible outcomes of this contract as follows:

Outcome A – the company becomes a takeover target and shares jump to 520p

In agreeing to the contract at 390p per share, you have lost out on the takeover news and have missed the opportunity of ‘making’ 1300 (130 x 1000) on your share holding. This is the downside of writing a call option on your shares, that you could miss out on a rise in prices during the contract period. This is undoubtedly true, however there is no guarantee that you would sell your shares at this point, in other words it is only a paper profit had you kept them. The £1300 lost ‘opportunity’ profits are offset by the premium you have received to £1140.

Outcome B – the share price falls to 295p as competition increases in the industry

The price has fallen during the period, and the contract expires. Whilst the price has declined by 65p, this is partly offset by the premium you have received, reducing your ‘paper loss’ to 49p per share. You still retain your shares and any future dividends.

Outcome C – the market is quiet and the share price closes at 390p

You have made a small ‘paper profit’ here, and a real profit of £160.You have kept your shares and any future dividends. The reason you would probably keep your shares is that with dealing costs etc it would not be worthwhile for someone to exercise, although you can never be sure. I have been exercised when the strike and market price close at the same price, but I have also been left unexercised with prices very slightly above the strike. It depends how your broker closes out positions and reconciles their contracts – sometimes you may be lucky, other times not.

Now, with B and C, you still retain your shares so what might you do? – write another call to earn some more income. You look to the next series (probably Dec) and write another option earning more income. With B, where the share is now trading at 295, you might look for a strike at 320 – 340, and with C, probably around 430 – 440. And so on, until on one contract you will be exercised. The most options I have written on the same block of shares is 4! Finally on the 5th contract the price went up and I was exercised. Please remember it is possible to write a contract so that you have built in a loss. Suppose you purchased some shares for 250p which then declined in price , and you wrote a contract at 225p with a premium of 10p. If it was exercised you would be receiving 235p (225+10) for shares you had paid 250p. Now, on occasion I have done this deliberately where I wanted to get rid of the stock for some reason. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS BY ACCIDENT. There are lots of packages around that will give you a graphical display of the breakeven point – most of these are free.

Finally, I mentioned dividends a couple of times above. Naturally, whilst you hold the shares you receive any dividend payments from the company. You should be aware when dividend payments are due for two important reasons. Firstly you may decide not to write an option as a dividend is payable in the next few weeks and you decide to wait. Secondly If you do write a call and a dividend is due shortly, the likelihood of exercise is much higher right before a dividend payment. The perfect outcome of course is where you keep your shares, your premium, and a dividend is paid during the contract ! – it does happen.

 

In part 1 of this series, we used the following 6 screens to identify an undervalued, high dividend stock, Cal-Maine Foods, (CALM), with a strong balance sheet:

1. High Dividend Yield – Above 5 % (The S&P 500 average dividend yield is approximately 3.42%).

2. Moderate Dividend Payout Ratio – Below 50 % (The S&P’s payout ratio is approximately 59 %).

3. Less Than 40 % Above 52-Week Low

4. Options Available

5. Current Ratio: Over 1.5

6. Long Term Debt to Equity: Under .5

We then used the conservative bullish approach of selling covered calls to increase Cal-Maine’s already high dividend even further.

But, what approach can you take if you’re not so bullish on the market, which has gained over 35% since March 9, 2009, or, if you want to accumulate CALM at a lower entry price?

Instead of buying CALM at $24.93, (its June 1, 2009 opening price), a more conservative approach would be to sell covered puts on it, at a lower price. Selling a put on a stock means that you are selling someone the option to sell, or “put” the stock to you by a future date. Each put contract corresponds to 100 shares of the underlying stock.

Normally, most options aren’t exercised until near or on the expiration date,so the timing of possibly having the stock sold to you will depend upon what expiration month you choose. Due to the time value of money, if 2 options are at the same strike price, the one that’s further out in time usually commands a higher price. However, you should compare them on an annualized basis, in order to get a clear comparison of their returns.

How would this work?

First, you’d want to get an idea of this stock’s 52-week price range, which is $17.01-$48.80.

Due to the market’s decline before the current rally, and higher volatility, it has been possible in the last 8 months to profit by selling puts at or near a stock’s 52-week low. This is a rather conservative approach, allowing investors to “nibble around the edges”, instead of jumping in at a current higher price.

Looking at the option chain for CALM, and using the strategy of trying to sell a put as close to the $17.01, 52-week low as possible, we see that the August $20 put, (QKMTD), is currently priced at a $.75 bid, which equals 16.7% on an annualized basis.

There are 2 possible outcomes to this trade:

1. The stock has declined to or past your $19.25 breakeven point, (your $20 strike price less the $.75 put premium). You would then be sold 100 shares for every put contract you sold. The sale price would be $20.00, but your true net cost would be $19.25, (the $20 strike price less the $.75 put premium).

Owning CALM at $19.25 would place you just 13.2% above this stock’s 52-week low.

In addition, your $19.25 cost is 22.8% lower than the current price of $24.93.

ALSO, the $1.73/share dividend would equal an 8.98% dividend yield at this level, as opposed to the current 6.9% dividend yield level.

2. The stock doesn’t decline to or past your breakeven point. In this case, you’d walk away with a $.75/contract, 16.7% annualized profit.

Cash Reserve requirements: Brokers will vary on how much cash reserve they make you put up for selling puts. Currently, Schwab mandates a cash reserve equal to 100% of the value of the strike price times the shares you’d end up having put to you.

In our example, if you sold one $20 contract, which corresponds to 100 shares, you’d have to put up $2000.00 cash reserve.

Other brokerages, such as Options Xpress, require less cash reserve, which increases your leverage and your margins. However, if the stock does start to decline closer to your strike price, the broker may ask you to put up additional cash in reserve.

So, if you like a stock, but you think the market’s gotten ahead of itself, selling puts is another way to profit.

Disclosure: Author is long CALM.

Disclaimer: This article is written for informational purposes only. Author not responsible for errors, omissions, or acts taken by third parties as a result of reading this article.

 

The Complete Investment Book: Trading Stocks, Bonds, and Options With Computer Applications (404p)No description for this product could be found, but have a look over at Amazon for reviews and other information.

© 2012 Options as a Strategic Investment Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha