Stock Options Trader

10 Tips for Creating Wealth from the Stock Market - free article ...

2013-08-14T17:54:00.001-07:00

1. Do not spread your money too thin.

My friend has a little over $200,000 invested in the stock market through 27 different Mutual funds. In my opinion, 27 Mutual funds is 27 too many collecting load fees, management fees, commission fees, operating and advertising fees. Diversity is important, but just as important is over-diversification. Also, in my opinion, $200,000 should not be put into more than 12 stocks, let alone 27 different Mutual funds.

2. Do not pay commission fees to purchase a stock.

If you are going to invest your hard earned dollars into a company, the least the company could do is provide you a way to invest in their company commission free – and they do!

3. Only purchase those companies that pay a dividend.

The same company that you invest in commission free should also offer you another incentive for you to invest – a dividend for the use of your money.

4. Only purchase those companies that have a history of raising their dividend every year.

The same company should continue rewarding you for your faith in their company by increasing the amount of their dividend every year. Rising dividends are also the proof that the company is dong something right.

5. Dollar-cost average into each stock position.

By dollar-cost averaging (buying the same stock at different prices through the years) you’ll never pay too much for the company’s stock, even if the initial purchase is at a 52 week high. Have all the dividends from each company rolled back into more shares of each company, until retirement. The companies you invest in should do this for you, automatically, commission free.

6. Forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from your stock portfolio.

That’s right! Forget making a profit. The burden is now lifted - no more pressure on making a buck in the stock market (Instead of trying to bend the spoon, that is impossible, instead just think of the spoon as – omigosh! - I’m in the Matrix). When you focus on the amount of money your holdings are providing in dividends – and when those companies selected have a history of raising their dividends each year – a lower stock price allows the dividends that are being rolled back into the stock to accelerate your income. The total value of your portfolio may go lower, but your income from that lower priced portfolio would increase dramatically. Profit by income!

7. Make every stock purchase with the intent that the purchase will be a long-term investment.

Do not trade in and out of your holdings. There have been many up and downs in the stock market. The down markets only accelerate your income. GE has raised their dividend for 28 years in a row. Why sell it? 100 shares of GE ten years ago has turned into 1200 shares today due to stock splits, and that is not counting how many shares you would have now if the dividends were being rolled back into more shares of the stock through those years.

8. Understand that a lower stock price, after your initial purchase may be a blessing in disguise.

The income from your stock holdings should grow every quarter, no matter what the total amount of your stock portfolio is worth. (If your Mutual fund declines in price from one year to the next and if your income is not increasing (accelerating) from that fund, why are you in that fund?) A company pays their dividend not on how much their stock is worth in the market place. For example, a company pays a quarterly dividend of 50 cents a share. A company has little control on how much its stock price is worth in the market place on any given day. You will receive 50 cents a share per quarter whether the stock price is at 50 dollars a share, or drops to $40 a share or goes up to $70. While the stock is down at $40 a share your dividend reinvestment is loading up on more shares.

9. Develop a savings plan to add to your holdings each quarter to help your dividend reinvestments to accumulate more shares on a dollar-cost averaging basis.

The savings could be as little as $5.00 a week. Why put that savings in a savings account at 1.2 percent, when there are so many companies out there that are paying a 4 to 5% dividend yield and increasing their dividend every year? And since none of the companies you are investing in charge a commission, all of that $60.00 a quarter you saved and invested would help your dividend reinvestments to dollar-cost average into your holdings. Every cent you save and invest would work toward your ROI (Return on Investment).

10. Read my book ‘the Stockopoly Plan’ soon to be released by American Book Publishing.

I believe it will profit you and your family for the rest of your lives.

For more excerpts from the book ‘The Stockopoly Plan’ please visit http://www.thestockopolyplan.com

Forex Day Trading: How To Create Massive Wealth From Forex Day ...

2013-01-11T06:20:00.001-08:00

Hello, how do you do?

Until now, you may have never known how easy it is to make fast money from forex day trading, because nobody has ever given you the correct information, as I will in this article.

Most people from middle class make their money from investments in real estate, stock trading, bond trading, mutual funds, CDs, auction programs and various internet programs and other small businesses.

They may have never heard about day forex trading, which is where multi-millionaires and billionaires make their money.

Forex day trading is the most profitable and attractive investment opportunity because you can do it from home or office and from any country in the world.

In forex day trading, you don’t need to do any marketing or selling or internet promotion to succeed.

In forex day trading, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to do any internet promotion.

In forex day trading, you don’t need any stocks or warehousing.

In forex day trading , all that you’ve to do is open an account with one of the brokers with as little as $300 or $2000.

Then follow simple instructions to buy and sell the currencies.

When the price of the currency is low, you buy.

In a few seconds or minutes, the price will go up, and you sell it and make a profit.

By so doing , in a day, you can easily make $500-$1000 by just buying, selling and trading these foreign currencies for about 3 or 4 hrs!

The more money you put in your forex day trading account, the more money you can make.

You can use $1 to control $200 investment in foreign currencies.
$200 to control $50,000 investment.
And $1000 to control $200,000 cash.

And get this:

You don’t even have to be stuck sitting behind your computer buying and selling these foreign currencies.

You can enter all your buy trades and specify the sell prices you desire and then log off.

Whenever the values of these foreign currencies rise and your selling prices reach, the currencies will be automatically sold for you and you make money!

If you put $300 in your LIVE "Forex day trading", you can generate a minimum of "$10 in 10 mins." or about "$50" minimum daily, 6 days/wk!

If you put $1000 in your LIVE "Forex day trading", you can generate "$100 in 10 mins." or about "$400" minimum daily, 6 days/wk!!

If you put $10,000 in your LIVE "Forex day trading", you can generate "$300 in 10 mins." or "$1000" minimum daily, 6 days/wk"!!!

If you are very ambitious build your live account to $50,000-$100,000 account, you may possibly rake in $1,000,000 in 1 year!

You can do forex day trading and at the same time keep your day job, because in forex day trading, there is no work to do.

In the future when you have made hundreds of thousands of dollars, you may then quit your job and just keep doing forex day trading forever and go on permanent vacation!

To understand the beauty of forex day trading Picture this:

In the morning, you get up from sleep at 6 am.

You go to your bathroom and have your shower.

At 7am, you hurry and eat your breakfast.

At 7.20 am, you login into your forex day trading account on the internet and spend 10 minutes to buy about 3 or 4 different currencies, [for example British Pound, Euro, CHF (Swiss Currency) and Yen (Japanese currency).]

You can specify the price at which you wish to sell each currency.

Then you can log off.

By 9 am, you’re at work in your office or business place.

You do your job as usual and by 5 pm, you’re finished and heading home.

When you get back home around 6.30 pm, you login into your forex day trading account to see how much money you’ve made.

Holy Molly, there in your account it says you have made $750!

“Is this for real?”, you wonder…

Yes, it is. (Your eyes are not deceiving you…)

$750 in a day for just clicking your mouse twice and doing no work?

(Whereas at your job, you work 8 hrs, but make only probably $150..)

This is how easy it is to make money from forex day trading.

But before you use real money to open a live forex day trading account, you have to open a free trial (demo) forex day trading account and practice first, to understand how it works and to acquire the right skills.

This free demo (trial) forex day trading account (forex simulation trading) will help you to reduce a lot of risks that can lead to loss.

In forex day trading, you can choose how much money to invest, how much money to make and when to make it.

You can make money daily, 365 days all year from forex day trading.

Your computer can be transformed into a personal, home “ATM” machine that cranks out cash for you daily (without large investment or hassles) from forex day trading.

In forex day trading, you can choose what type of risk you can manage, when to invest and when not to invest.

In forex day trading, you’re the boss. You may do as you please.

When forex day trading is compared to other investment programs such as stock trading, bond trading, mutual funds, real estate and regular business, it is evident that forex day trading is the fastest and greatest way to make money in the world.

Forex day trading is a 2.5 trillion dollars daily business and it is larger than all the stock trading in the world combined.

These are some of the reasons why I believe that forex trading is the fastest and best way to create fantastic wealth.

Perhaps from reading this article you’ll now come to know why forex day trading is the secret behind the greatest wealth on earth and why it has been kept hidden from the average people of the world and therefore little known to the masses.

May these forex day trading insights open your eyes to the possibility of infinite wealth and success that can be yours from forex day trading.

Please feel free to print or publish this article anywhere and read and also send to your friends and well wishers and please preserve the author’s resource box below.

Warmly,

Ikey Benney

(Stocks) Steal Warren Buffet's Stock Market Lesson Plans? - free ...

2013-01-04T05:33:00.001-08:00

Why should you want to steal someone else's stock market lesson plans?

First, let me tell you that a trading plan is only useful if you follow it. Following your plan will make you successful, yet many traders circumvent the stock market lesson plans that they have carefully created. They become emotional invested in a trade, to the point where they ignore all warning signs. Remember, when the market corrects itself, which it always does, no position is immune, no matter how strongly your ego may be tied to it.

Many investors have stock market lesson plans that watch as their portfolio values are cut in half or more, yet they will still hold their positions. They may fear being left out of a big gain, or be so deep in loss that they felt they couldn't possibly sell at that point. But even if you believe that all positions will recover from their losses, and the truth is that not all of them will, this is a terrible way to trade.

You tie up too much capital, and your rate of return plummets. Just as you shouldn't become emotionally involved in a trade, you should also never become tied to ideas. By this I mean becoming so fond of a particular strategy or trend that you cling to it even after it has stopped working. You need to have strategies, and to have plans, but you must also be aware of the shifts and swings of the market, the beginning and the ends of trends.

When you first form your plan for a trade, you should consider what price or price range you think the stock is likely to reach. This is often called a target price, which gives some traders the wrong impression. A target price is not a price that the stock has to meet. A stock does not have to do anything. If you treat your target price as a goal, it can lead to many problems. Your target price should only be used as a guideline.

The target price helps you figure out your risk to reward ratio, and it gives you an exit point in your trade. At the least, it should give you a point where you'll reassess the trade's ability to continue to moving upward. But your trade may never reach your target price. Many market factors can interfere with its progress, and you may have set your target higher than you should have. Since there's no way all your trades will hit your price targets, it is a good idea to sell half your position at a more conservative target. Routinely taking profits will reward you in the long run.

There are a number of things that can interfere with a stock's movement and force you to close your position sooner than you'd anticipated. Your stock market lesson plans should cover all of these possibilities, but here are some reasons that should always prompt you to close a position:

1. The end of a trend. All trends end some time, and you should be prepared for this.

2. The stock's upward movement has slowed or been abruptly broken, ending its momentum.

3. The stock is approaching a major psychological barrier, perhaps reaching 100 dollars or 200 dollars a share, which should have been anticipated in your plan

4. The stock is about to reach a resistance level it has been unable to break through before.

This technical barrier should also have been anticipated in your plan.

5. A sudden market wide decline, or the threat of one, or some other serious uncertainty,

which leads to unsafe market conditions.

Exiting a losing trade is not a big deal. Ending a position whether or not the stock reaches its target price, in accordance with your stock market lesson plans, is good trading. The best traders would rather lose a small profit than take an unnecessary risk. You don't have to win on every trade; no one does, and it's dangerous to try. In fact, by limiting losses, a good trader can be profitable overall, and make money on only 40 percent of his trades. Cut your losses and start fresh with something else when you need to. You'll be happier, and you'll make much more money.

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How To Start Forex Trading � Very Useful For Forex Beginners Who Have Low Budget To Start!

2012-07-23T16:25:00.001-07:00

Every forex beginner knows what is forex trading but the only one question for them is to how to start. As of now there are many tools, trading systems and software that are in use in daily trading. The big mistake that every beginner does is that they get tempted to the hype of forex trading robots or to some forex trading software and they start trading and finally end up with loss.

I am not against to the forex trading robots or to any software, but my point here is that it is not the right time to use a forex trading robot or a software when you are as beginner. We can use the robots and software at a later stage.

Here is a step by step plan on “How To Start Trading”. So let's start.

Plan For The First 15 Days – Phase 1:

Before you start trading you should always know the basics of forex trading and the terminology related to the forex market. This is not a big problem. If you goolge it, you can get lot information which you can't even digest. Or visit my website and subscribe to the free e-course in which you will be provided with all the needed knowledge and information on forex trading. At this stage nothing to hurry up, first finish off the basics of forex trading. Normally 10 to 15 days of time is really good enough for any average joe to be ready with basics. But we shall put it to 15 days of time.

Note: At this stage my kind request is not to get tempted to start real trading. Please do not start.

When you start learning basics in the first 15 days, along with it you also need to get register with any forex brokerage firm which is in this industry for a long time and very reliable. I suggest you to go for Easy Forex Brokerage firm or Forex Yard Brokerage firm as they are very reliable and the registration is completely free. After registering you can use their demo accounts for your practice and they will never force you to start real trading. So you can take enough time to practice on their demo accounts. Practice on the demo accounts as much as possible until you feel comfortable with them and this practice is really needed.

Be patient. There is still a long way for us to go and do not start real trading!

Plan for the Next 10 Days – Phase 2:

Now in phase 2, you need to learn when to start a trade by finding the entry points and also need to learn when to exit the trade by finding the exit points. For this you need to learn in depth of what technical analysis is and what fundamental analysis is. You can google them, but you cannot put them in an order to learn. If you subscribe to our forex beginner course, you will also be provided with free e-books on technical analysis and fundamental analysis at the end of forex basics course. I kindly request you to go through all of those e-books steadily, but do not hurry up. This is very critical phase which you need to concentrate a lot because this is the point where you exactly learn what is the real forex trading and this phase leads you to become a forex winner. To learn about all the useful technical analysis methods and fundamental analysis methods, normally 10 days is good enough.

Even now please do not start real trading.

Plan For The Next 15 Days – Phase 3:

The next 15 days you need to apply what you have learned till now and practice on demo accounts of either Easy Forex Broker or Forex Yard Broker.

Watch any of the TV channels such as NBC News, CNN Money, Forex News Channel, etc which provides you the Forex news. Now pick the points in the forex news. Now start co-relating the news with what you have learned in technical analysis and fundamental analysis and you need to find the entry and exit points for a trade.

Daily try to find at least 8 to 10 profitable entry points and exits points and start trading on your demo account. Make a note of all the entry points which have given you the profits and also remember the factors depending upon which you have derived that profitable entry point. Practice this for at least 15 days and at the end of 15th day you will be able to find at least 5 best profitable entry and exit points a day. Finding the best profitable trades is nothing but building a forex strategy for your trading.

So end of 40th day you will be in a position to trade forex on real account. Till now you have practiced the trades on a demo account so there will not be any involvement of emotions but once you start trading with real account emotions come in and they may lead you into loss. So you need to control your emotions and need to exit the trades as per your calculated exit points. Now you can go little advanced and try some automated tools such automated forex trading signal software which can generate the entry and exit points for you.

All the hard work in 40 days needs to be done by you as there won’t be any mentor for you other than yourself. Right now there are some online forex mentors who can mentor you such as FAP Winner as they are the best till now in mentoring the beginners. But they will charge you around $300 a one time payment. It is up to you to decide it or practice by yourself.

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Option Trading Strategies: Earn a Living Trading Options - Video 1 Part 1

Option Trading Software - TheWizard.com

2012-06-20T16:47:00.001-07:00

The Wizard covers over 3, 000 stocks including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of thirty of the biggest and most widely held public companies in the US. The Wizard also covers 600 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in different categories such as market capitalization and asset class. They have a variety of product offerings for whatever investment style and market you choose. With The Wizard, simply view their subscription packages and start your portfolio the right way.

Their property trend indicators offer long and short term trends for various markets that include DJIA 30, BSG trend, Russell 2000, the U. S dollar and 10 year treasury. The Wizard also covers a total of eighteen different currencies as such EURCAD, EURGBP, GBPJPY and AUDJPY. The Wizard allows you to browse stocks in their database of industries and sectors.

Signals are available for both weekly as well as daily timeframes. You will get precise entry and exit signals. Both the conservative and aggressive scan methods are available. Conservative scan offers specific profit targets for every trade. Aggressive scan holds the whole position until it is reached. If you choose an industry and sector which is bright, then any kind of trading becomes easy. The Wizard picks out penny stocks as well as it picks out the higher price stocks.

Option trading software is one of the more powerful software available to traders. If you want current detailed information for option trading, then The Wizard is your best bet. The advanced option calculator lets you explore which combinations have positive mathematical expectations. It also calculates implied volatility and Greeks, as well as creating a profit/loss graph of your option’s position.

Stock chart Wizard downloads existing stock market data for your individual stocks. It can even display technical charts and significant indicators. It includes easy to use watch lists along with a useful spreadsheet and user friendly interface. With the help of this stock trading software, it becomes very easy to know when to buy, sell or get out of the market. This software applies screening formulas to a vast population of stocks. Day trading software is unique software that is used to search for information and execute your trades.

Online stock trading software is a great investment tool that can handle all your trading tasks. Stock picking software is also useful for helping you dig through information on many different stocks before making your decisions. It is able to find new stock investing opportunities in seconds.

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Options Trading Course: Trading stocks and options using the RSI Relative Strength Index

The ABCs Of Stock Options

2012-06-15T16:55:00.001-07:00

As a performance incentive many companies are starting to offer employees the “option” to buy company stock as a part of their compensation packages. These “options” are referred to as stock options and they provide a unique opportunity for an employee to potentially increase his or her wealth along side company shareholders. The employee receiving company stock options should have a good understanding of the characteristics of the different types of stock options in order to maximize their potential benefits.
A stock option is a right granted by a company to an employee to purchase one or more shares of the company’s stock at a set time and predetermined purchase price. The employee benefits when the value of the company stock appreciates over and above the predetermined purchase price following the granting of the stock options, enabling the holder to purchase the company stock at a discount. There are two types of stock options: non-qualified stock options and incentive stock options.
Non-qualified stock options (NQSO) are more frequently offered to employees than Incentive stock options because of their flexibility and minimal requirements. NQSOs afford the employee the right to purchase a set number of employer shares at a specific, predetermined price. If the employee wishes to acquire the employer stock then he or she will exercise the option and purchase the employer stock at the predetermined (exercise) price. If the stock’s value has appreciated over and above the predetermined price the employee has received the benefit of acquiring the stock at a discount. The difference between the exercise price and the market value (commonly referred to as the bargain element) will be taxable income to the employee as ordinary income, potentially as high as 35%.
The other type of stock option is the Incentive stock option (ISO). In direct contrast to a nonqualified stock option, there is no income tax consequence when an employee exercisers the option to buy the employer stock. The difference between the exercise price and the market value (bargain element) is only taxable upon the ultimate sale of the employer stock. In other words, a gain is only recognized when the employer stock is sold and not when the option is exercised. If the stock is held the appropriate time period before being sold, all the gains recognized may qualify for long-term capital gains treatment, a maximum rate of 15%.
Being able to take part in an ISO program allows an employee to receive a number of tax saving benefits. But with these tax benefits comes added complexity to keep track of and to understand. For example , to qualify for the favorable long-term capital gain taxation, the employee must hold the stock for at least two years from the date the ISO was granted and for at least one year from the date the option was exercised. This is commonly referred to as the “2 year / 1 year rule”. If the employee sells the stock before these requirements are met, gain on the stock is taxed as ordinary income in the year of the sale, essentially converting the ISO to a non-qualified stock option.
An additional complexity of an ISO that should be kept in mind by the employee is the potential for an alternative minimum tax (AMT) consequence upon exercise of an ISO. For this and other reasons, it remains important to work with your financial advisor and tax professional when evaluating the strategies to take full advantage of the opportunities and benefits of stock options.

Put Option Writing | Stock Option Strategies

Newton�s Laws of Stock Market Trading

2012-06-13T19:52:00.001-07:00

Read the oldest stock market wisdom from the world renowned physicist.

This revelation had me surprised too. I was idly flipping through my old physics textbooks yesterday when it suddenly struck me. I was amazed to realize that Sir Issac Newton’s laws of physics points to so many profound and important rules in the stock markets today.

So , here we are… the physics of the stock markets.

Newton's First Law of Trading

“A Stock at rest tends to stay at rest and a Trending Stock tends to stay in trend unless acted upon by an equal and opposite reaction or an unbalanced force. ”

This law teaches us the same thing the old commodity traders will… that the trend is your friend. If a stock is trending sideways, it tends to stay sideways until a powerful enough market force takes it out of its trend. If a stock is trending up or downwards, it will tend to stay moving up or downwards until drastic changes happen to the company or the market at large creating an “equal and opposite reaction”. We should therefore always trade in the direction of a trend and always be vigilant for signs of an ”equal and opposite reaction” or the “unbalanced force”. Such a force may take the form of a drastic change in the market sentiment at large or drastic change in the performance of the specific company in question.

Newton’s Second Law of Trading

“The acceleration of a stock as produced by a market consensus is directly proportional to the magnitude of that consensus, in the same direction as the consensus, and inversely proportional to the mass of the stock. ”

This law teaches us that a stock moves up or down into a trend due to a force created by market consensus. How much a stock moves up or down that trend is determined by the magnitude of the market consensus and how “massive” a stock is. By “massive” we are talking about the price of a stock. The more expensive a stock is, the more well established the company has been and the lesser in percentage you will make out of the same move in absolute dollar versus a smaller, less massive stock.

The force of the market consensus is directly proportionate to the event that spurred it. If a company produces a breakthrough product on a worldwide patent, it creates an extremely strong market consensus that is likely to take a stock very far. If a company merely scores a marginally higher earning this quarter, it is unlikely to produce a market consensus that will go very far.

Newton teaches us to not only look at what the news is but also how well established the company is in order to determine how much momentum it will produce in a given trend. The same breakthrough that drives a small company’s shares up by hundreds of percentage points may perhaps move a big company’s shares only by a fraction of that percentage.

Newton’s Third Law of Trading

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. "

No need to explain this one in much detail, do I?

For every buying or selling, there must be an equal amount of buyers or sellers on the other side. The stock market is a zero sum game. For every buyer, there must be a seller and for every seller, there must be a buyer. The real question is, who is profiting from each of their buying and selling. There is really no such thing as more buyers today than sellers or vice versa. Every trader needs to understand that you can be on the wrong side of the table at anytime and only a sensible portfolio management system can help you go in the long run.

I have traded actively in the stock markets for over a decade and survived with ancient wisdom such as what you have read here. There is indeed wisdom to be found in every corner of our life and if we care to look carefully, we will never be in a lack of guidance.

For more of the wisdom that have prospered me so far, please visit http://www.MastersoEquity.com

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What Are Stock Options? - What Is A Stock Option?

Options � Your Choice In The Stock Market

2012-06-09T16:42:00.001-07:00

As you read this stock market article, you have a few choices. You could choose to continue reading, or you could choose to stop reading it and watch t. v. It’s your option. You don’t have the obligation to go and watch t. v, just the option.

For the average person, the share market is the most visible form of financial market, and perhaps the only market in which they have some direct contact. The options market is usually seen to be too risky or too complicated. Well, the truth is, the options market provides many benefits to share investors and traders, for those that spend some time learning what options have to offer.

Options warrant attention

There have been options traded on the Australian share market since the 1960’s, and they are still big business today. Exchange traded options (ETO’s) became very popular in the 70’s, as these allowed a greater number of traders to enter the market. So why are options so popular? Options provide a variety of benefits over ordinary shares, which, when used correctly, can drastically reduce the risks involved in owning shares.

But before we understand how options can help us, it is necessary to know what an option is.

An option is a contract between two parties regarding the price direction of a particular share. One party believes the price of the share is going to rise in a certain time, the other believes the price is going to fall in that time. Depending on which direction each party believes the price is going to go, they will either buy or sell an option.

The person who purchases the option has the right but not the obligation, to buy or sell a set number of shares, at a pre-determined price on or before a set date in the future.

As you can purchase the right to either buy or sell shares, there are thus two types of options, a Call option and a Put option. A Call option gives the owner the right to BUY shares, whereas a PUT option gives the owner the right to SELL shares.

For example , let’s say that you believe that XYZ limited shares are going to rise in value over the next month. They are currently trading at $1. 00 per share. You can either purchase 10, 000 shares right now, and invest $10, 000 or you could buy the right to purchase them at $1. 00, one month from now. For this right, you will pay premium. The premium you will pay will be approximately 4 cents per share. Therefore , you will invest $400 ($0. 04 x 10, 000).

If the share price of XYZ goes up to $1. 20 in the month, then you can exercise your right to buy the shares at $1. 00. You will therefore make a profit per share of 16 cents ($0. 20 profit – $0. 04 premium). With 10, 000 shares, you will make a profit of $1, 600, or 400% on your original investment.

Had you invested $10, 000 in the first place, you would have only made $2, 000, or 20% profit.

At the same time, had the price fallen below $1, say to $0. 80 cents, then you would not exercise your right to buy the shares and you would walk away, losing only your $400. You have the option to buy the shares, not the obligation. But , if you had bought the shares, you would have lost $2, 000, or 20% of your original capital.

Options can act as a risk management tool. That is, you can limit your losses, whilst still taking advantage of the share price increases.

One of the major advantages over purchasing shares outright, is that with options, you can also buy the right to sell, in case the share price falls. Therefore , you can profit from the market if it is rising or falling in value!

Options are a little more complicated than shares to understand, but with a little practice, you will discover that options are a fantastic financial instrument. With options you can “insure” your share portfolio, generate a monthly income and return 100% and more on trades. You just have to know how. The Platinum Pursuits report will feature many articles on options and we welcome you to attend our monthly seminars, where we will teach you how to profit with options.

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Understanding Stock Options - Part 1

Forex Trading Tips

2012-05-31T16:54:00.001-07:00

Why do hundreds of thousands online traders and investors trade the forex market every day, and how do they make money doing it?

This two-part report clearly and simply details essential tips on how to avoid typical pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.

Trade pairs, not currencies - Like any relationship, you have to know both sides. Success or failure in forex trading depends upon being right about both currencies and how they impact one another, not just one.

Knowledge is Power - When starting out trading forex online, it is essential that you understand the basics of this market if you want to make the most of your investments.

The main forex influencer is global news and events. For example, say an ECB statement is released on European interest rates which typically will cause a flurry of activity. Most newcomers react violently to news like this and close their positions and subsequently miss out on some of the best trading opportunities by waiting until the market calms down. The potential in the forex market is in the volatility, not in its tranquility.

Unambitious trading - Many new traders will place very tight orders in order to take very small profits. This is not a sustainable approach because although you may be profitable in the short run (if you are lucky), you risk losing in the longer term as you have to recover the difference between the bid and the ask price before you can make any profit and this is much more difficult when you make small trades than when you make larger ones.

Over-cautious trading - Like the trader who tries to take small incremental profits all the time, the trader who places tight stop losses with a retail forex broker is doomed. As we stated above, you have to give your position a fair chance to demonstrate its ability to produce. If you don't place reasonable stop losses that allow your trade to do so, you will always end up undercutting yourself and losing a small piece of your deposit with every trade.

Independence - If you are new to forex, you will either decide to trade your own money or to have a broker trade it for you. So far, so good. But your risk of losing increases exponentially if you either of these two things:

Interfere with what your broker is doing on your behalf (as his strategy might require a long gestation period);

Seek advice from too many sources - multiple input will only result in multiple losses. Take a position, ride with it and then analyse the outcome - by yourself, for yourself.

Tiny margins - Margin trading is one of the biggest advantages in trading forex as it allows you to trade amounts far larger than the total of your deposits. However, it can also be dangerous to novice traders as it can appeal to the greed factor that destroys many forex traders. The best guideline is to increase your leverage in line with your experience and success.

No strategy - The aim of making money is not a trading strategy. A strategy is your map for how you plan to make money. Your strategy details the approach you are going to take, which currencies you are going to trade and how you will manage your risk. Without a strategy, you may become one of the 90% of new traders that lose their money.

Trading Off-Peak Hours - Professional FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds posses a huge advantage over small retail traders during off-peak hours (between 2200 CET and 1000 CET) as they can hedge their positions and move them around when there is far small trade volume is going through (meaning their risk is smaller). The best advice for trading during off peak hours is simple - don't.

The only way is up/down - When the market is on its way up, the market is on its way up. When the market is going down, the market is going down. That's it. There are many systems which analyse past trends, but none that can accurately predict the future. But if you acknowledge to yourself that all that is happening at any time is that the market is simply moving, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to blame anyone else.

Trade on the news - Most of the really big market moves occur around news time. Trading volume is high and the moves are significant; this means there is no better time to trade than when news is released. This is when the big players adjust their positions and prices change resulting in a serious currency flow.

Exiting Trades - If you place a trade and it's not working out for you, get out. Don't compound your mistake by staying in and hoping for a reversal. If you're in a winning trade, don't talk yourself out of the position because you're bored or want to relieve stress; stress is a natural part of trading; get used to it.

Don't trade too short-term - If you are aiming to make less than 20 points profit, don't undertake the trade. The spread you are trading on will make the odds against you far too high.

Don't be smart - The most successful traders I know keep their trading simple. They don't analyse all day or research historical trends and track web logs and their results are excellent.

Tops and Bottoms - There are no real "bargains" in trading foreign exchange. Trade in the direction the price is going in and you're results will be almost guaranteed to improve.

Ignoring the technicals- Understanding whether the market is over-extended long or short is a key indicator of price action. Spikes occur in the market when it is moving all one way.

Emotional Trading - Without that all-important strategy, you're trades essentially are thoughts only and thoughts are emotions and a very poor foundation for trading. When most of us are upset and emotional, we don't tend to make the wisest decisions. Don't let your emotions sway you.

Confidence - Confidence comes from successful trading. If you lose money early in your trading career it's very difficult to regain it; the trick is not to go off half-cocked; learn the business before you trade. Remember, knowledge is power.

The second and final part of this report clearly and simply details more essential tips on how to avoid the pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.

Take it like a man - If you decide to ride a loss, you are simply displaying stupidity and cowardice. It takes guts to accept your loss and wait for tomorrow to try again. Sticking to a bad position ruins lots of traders - permanently. Try to remember that the market often behaves illogically, so don't get commit to any one trade; it's just a trade. One good trade will not make you a trading success; it's ongoing regular performance over months and years that makes a good trader.

Focus - Fantasising about possible profits and then "spending" them before you have realised them is no good. Focus on your current position(s) and place reasonable stop losses at the time you do the trade. Then sit back and enjoy the ride - you have no real control from now on, the market will do what it wants to do.

Don't trust demos - Demo trading often causes new traders to learn bad habits. These bad habits, which can be very dangerous in the long run, come about because you are playing with virtual money. Once you know how your broker's system works, start trading small amounts and only take the risk you can afford to win or lose.

Stick to the strategy - When you make money on a well thought-out strategic trade, don't go and lose half of it next time on a fancy; stick to your strategy and invest profits on the next trade that matches your long-term goals.

Trade today - Most successful day traders are highly focused on what's happening in the short-term, not what may happen over the next month. If you're trading with 40 to 60-point stops focus on what's happening today as the market will probably move too quickly to consider the long-term future. However, the long-term trends are not unimportant; they will not always help you though if you're trading intraday.

The clues are in the details - The bottom line on your account balance doesn't tell the whole story. Consider individual trade details; analyse your losses and the telling losing streaks. Generally, traders that make money without suffering significant daily losses have the best chance of sustaining positive performance in the long term.

Simulated Results - Be very careful and wary about infamous "black box" systems. These so-called trading signal systems do not often explain exactly how the trade signals they generate are produced. Typically, these systems only show their track record of extraordinary results - historical results. Successfully predicting future trade scenarios is altogether more complex. The high-speed algorithmic capabilities of these systems provide significant retrospective trading systems, not ones which will help you trade effectively in the future.

Get to know one cross at a time - Each currency pair is unique, and has a unique way of moving in the marketplace. The forces which cause the pair to move up and down are individual to each cross, so study them and learn from your experience and apply your learning to one cross at a time.

Risk Reward - If you put a 20 point stop and a 50 point profit your chances of winning are probably about 1-3 against you. In fact, given the spread you're trading on, it's more likely to be 1-4. Play the odds the market gives you.

Trading for Wrong Reasons - Don't trade if you are bored, unsure or reacting on a whim. The reason that you are bored in the first place is probably because there is no trade to make in the first place. If you are unsure, it's probably because you can't see the trade to make, so don't make one.

Zen Trading- Even when you have taken a position in the markets, you should try and think as you would if you hadn't taken one. This level of detachment is essential if you want to retain your clarity of mind and avoid succumbing to emotional impulses and therefore increasing the likelihood of incurring losses. To achieve this, you need to cultivate a calm and relaxed outlook. Trade in brief periods of no more than a few hours at a time and accept that once the trade has been made, it's out of your hands.

Determination - Once you have decided to place a trade, stick to it and let it run its course. This means that if your stop loss is close to being triggered, let it trigger. If you move your stop midway through a trade's life, you are more than likely to suffer worse moves against you. Your determination must be show itself when you acknowledge that you got it wrong, so get out.

Short-term Moving Average Crossovers - This is one of the most dangerous trade scenarios for non professional traders. When the short-term moving average crosses the longer-term moving average it only means that the average price in the short run is equal to the average price in the longer run. This is neither a bullish nor bearish indication, so don't fall into the trap of believing it is one.

Stochastic - Another dangerous scenario. When it first signals an exhausted condition that's when the big spike in the "exhausted" currency cross tends to occur. My advice is to buy on the first sign of an overbought cross and then sell on the first sign of an oversold one. This approach means that you'll be with the trend and have successfully identified a positive move that still has some way to go. So if percentage K and percentage D are both crossing 80, then buy! (This is the same on sell side, where you sell at 20).

One cross is all that counts - EURUSD seems to be trading higher, so you buy GBPUSD because it appears not to have moved yet. This is dangerous. Focus on one cross at a time - if EURUSD looks good to you, then just buy EURUSD.

Wrong Broker - A lot of FOREX brokers are in business only to make money from yours. Read forums, blogs and chats around the net to get an unbiased opinion before you choose your broker.

Too bullish - Trading statistics show that 90% of most traders will fail at some point. Being too bullish about your trading aptitude can be fatal to your long-term success. You can always learn more about trading the markets, even if you are currently successful in your trades. Stay modest, and keep your eyes open for new ideas and bad habits you might be falling in to.

Interpret forex news yourself - Learn to read the source documents of forex news and events - don't rely on the interpretations of news media or others.

Fiorenzo Fontana
http://www.forextrading-system.com - online trading, currency trading, financial service

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Commodity Trading Explained

2012-05-27T15:34:00.001-07:00

Many traders around the world indulge in buying and selling of different commodities. Global commodity exchange plays a major role in the buying and selling different raw commodities including crude oil, metals, food grains etc .

Bforex commodity trading has gained immense popularity in the recent times. It facilitates trading of three different things including crude oil, silver and gold. The website is putting in a lot of efforts to find the importance of trading different commodities that can be profitable for the customers relying on the platform. The customer can indulge in online commodity trade with the help of bforex. Bforex commodity trading can be much easier than what you think it is. The quality in the forex trading platform is maintained in the commodity trade too.

Bforex can be the best option for both beginners and experts. Both the classes can make huge profits out of the commodity trade market as the platform is simple to understand and easy to use. The website makes special efforts to make the deals become more profitable for you. The analysis and news offered by the website will act as a backing up factor for the commodity trading strategies formulated by you.

The traders will have the option to go for either short or long on commodities. This is the reason why the traders is said to get a great exposure to some among the most profitable commodities available in the market. Bforex will also offer regular updates from the top feed providers.

Bforex can make the commodity trading much easier for the people. Of you rely on the commodity-trading platform offered by the website; you will also get the option of trading mixed commodities.

The website concentrates on the trading of commodities by offering latest technology and the updates from the market to the customers. This will help you make the most out of all the opportunities that come your way. The traders will be offered the opportunity to trade the top commodities in the world.

The market is growing a rapid pace and it attracts more people to the market. However , if you are planning to make it bog in the commodity trade, you will have to gain in-depth expertise in the subject. If you have a clear understanding about the dynamic nature of the foreign exchange market, you can make huge returns from the commodity trading market too.

The traders should also be aware of even the minutest changes that are happening in the market so that they can make huge profits by taking advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. Gold is considered a currency in the forex market. Silver can only be traded against USD in bforex.

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Learn Options Trading Secrets Making Money Trading Options GOOG

Trade Options with a 90% Probability of Success

2012-05-26T14:48:00.001-07:00

It is common to see web site banners or other advertisements similar to the title of this article, touting the benefits of options trades with probabilities of success of 85-90%. Technically, these trades indeed have a high probability of success, i. e., if you placed a trade with the same parameters every month of the year, you should see about 10 or 11 trades per year be successful and one or two be losers. And the longer you traded in this way, the more likely your results would conform to these averages.

The underlying probability calculation assumes that the stock price movements are random events, like throwing dice. Of course , stock price movements are not purely random, but are affected by news, rumors, crowd psychology and many more factors. But it isn’t a bad approximation for the reality, especially when averaged over many stocks and over long periods of time.

The essence of the problem derives from the old financial adage, there’s no free lunch. If you were to establish trades with these probabilities, the returns will be rather small , of the order of 7% to 10%. But the losses would be huge, of the order of 90% to 100%. The bottom line is that the one or two losses each year would be large enough to wipe out all of the gains for the year. Thus, there is only a small probability of a losing trade, but when it happens, it will be a devastating loss.

Some traders will readily acknowledge that these high probability trades don’t make sense, and will sell the idea of so called “low risk” trades, where the potential loss is small , hence the label of low risk. These trades are simply the mirror image of the high probability trade. The low risk trade is characterized by a huge potential gain, of the order of 200% or more, but there is a very small probability of that successful outcome. In this case, one would lose a small amount on the trade 10 or 11 months out of the year and then have 1 or 2 large gains. The problem is that the large gains would not compensate for the large number of small losses.

In either case, the outcome is the same, a small net loss, especially after commissions and other costs of trading. So is options trading inherently a losing game? No, not necessarily, there are many examples of successful, long term options traders. They succeed by paying attention to two critical factors: 1) keeping one’s ratio of winning trades to losing trades as high as possible, and 2) minimizing the losses on the inevitable losing trades. But those topics require a much more extensive treatment than can be done in a short article.

One’s choice of either the high probability trade or the low risk trade is not a financial issue – neither is inherently superior. Neither trade will be successful long term without other considerations. One’s choice of the high probability or the low risk trade is primarily a matter of matching one’s trading style and risk tolerance with the right trade.

Puts and Calls - How to Make Money When Stocks are Going Up or Down (Part 1 of 2)

Option Trading � Developing An Option Trading System

2012-05-17T14:31:00.001-07:00

There are 2 kinds of option trading systems in general; Discretionary and Mechanical. A discretionary option trader follows no specific rules but chooses, enters and exits an option trade using all of his knowledge or gut feeling. A mechanical option trader is one who translates his knowledge of choosing stocks, entry and exit into objective rules. Such a system is commonly translated into a computer program in order to completely automate the option trading system. The advantage of mechanical option trading is obvious; the removal of human emotions in the trading process thereby reducing human errors.

I moved from discretionary to mechanical option trading years ago and only started becoming consistently successful in option trading after I developed my personal mechanical option trading system called the Star Trading System ( http://www.mastersoequity.com).

So , what are the steps to be taken in order to develop your personal mechanical trading system for option trading? Here is a guideline…

1 . Stock Selection

List down all the criteria you think must be true in order for a stock to qualify as an option trading candidate. Make sure all of these criteria are quantifiable. Example: a. Last close more than $10, b. Last price rising for the past 3 days c. PE must be positive. Finally, program a charting software with these criteria so that you can run a scan of all stocks that qualified within seconds daily. Technological advances have made possible to screen stocks within seconds. Traders used to have to spend hours going through each stock against a spread sheet in order to find trading candidates.

2 . Option Selection Procedure

Now that you have chosen your stock, you need to determine which option qualifies for your option trading system. Your personal option trading system may be based on OTM options or ITM options or even based on bullish or bearish spreads.

3. Entry Procedure

Now that you have determined what stock to watch and which option to buy, it is time to determine under what conditions to make that move to buy on. It may be as simple as to enter upon market opening or as complex as to watch the underlying stock movement for a pre-determined period of time before it qualifies for entry. Whatever it is, it must compliment your personal option trading style.

4. Exit Procedure

Now that you have an open position, you need to determine what must be true for you to take profit or to stop loss. There are 2 classes of exit procedure that you must establish; Stop Loss and Profit Taking. Stop loss in option trading can be simply based on a % loss of the option position or based on a % loss on the underlying stock. Profit taking can be based on the stock’s target price or a % gain on the option position. After you have done that, you would want to see how your broker can help to automate that for you. Commonly, people break their own stop loss or profit taking points due to emotional involvement, that is why many brokers have features which allow fairly complex stop loss or profit taking strategies to be automated. If your broker does not support such automation and you are the type who cannot properly enforce your own stop loss or profit taking strategy, then it may be good to consider switching to a broker that does.

Now, give that option trading system a name and paper trade it for at least 6 months. Do not expect to get it right the first time. Developing a profitable option trading system takes time, knowledge and experience and is something which cannot be rushed. My Star Trading System ( http://www.mastersoequity.com) took me years of work to arrive at a stage where even complete amateurs can follow easily and make a consistent profit from.

So , have fun translating your option trading philosophy into an option trading system and to watch it in action. I am sure it will be an extremely fulfilling experience whether or not the system turned out to be profitable.

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Learn Options Trading Secrets Making Money Trading Options GOOG