Options Trading - Advantages and Disadvantages

What is Options Trading?

An option is simply granting someone the right to buy or sell something in the future. In the case of Dow index futures options, when someone buys a Dow call option they are buying the right to purchase that underlying Dow future at a specific price, known as the "strike price," at a future point in time, known as the "expiration date." When an investor buys a put, they are essentially selling the market; a call essentially buys the market. Likewise, selling a put essentially buys the market; selling a call essentially sells the market.

In order to receive the opportunity to buy an option on this future, investors pay a "premium." If the market does not reach the strike price of the option, then that option will expire worthless on the expiration date. If the market does reach the strike price of the option on the expiration date, then the investor will be assigned the underlying future at that strike price.

Advantages of Options Trading

Flexibility. Options can be used in a wide variety of strategies, from conservative to high-risk, and can be tailored to more expectations than simply "the stock will go up" or "the stock will go down."

Leverage. An investor can gain leverage in a stock without committing to a trade.

Limited Risk. Risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned).

Hedging. Options allow investors to protect their positions against price fluctuations when it is not desirable to alter the underlying positon.

Disadvantages of Options Trading

Costs. The costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is significantly higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock, and these costs can drastically eat into any profits.

Liquidity. With the vast array of different strike prices available, some will suffer from very low liquidity making trading difficult.

Complexity. Options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance.

Time decay. The time-sensitive nature of options leads to the result that most options expire worthless. This only applies to those traders that purchase options - those selling collect the premium but with:

Unlimited Risk. Some option positions, such as writing uncovered options, are accompanied by unlimited risk.

Overall Options present a good opportunity to formulate plans which can take advantage of volatility in underlying markets as well as price direction. However for most traders the disadvantages are significant and online futures trading is usually a better option.

Tim Wreford runs Online Futures Trading, a website that provides information and resources for traders. Tim also provides a free day trading system, the results of which are updated daily on the site.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Currency Trading Information:

Related Articles


Is The U.S. Dollar About To Reverse Course?
For the first time in several years the U.S.
6 Critical Factors For Successful Trading
Success in any profession can be broken down into a number of critical factors. Trading is no different.
How Currencies are Traded in the FOREX Market
Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called "lots". At 100:1 leverage, one lot is equal to $1000 which controls $100,000 of a given currency.
Where to Get Forex Training
For those of you who are interested in forex trading, you may want to start off by getting some good forex training. Forex training is a necessity for anyone with this interest.
The Margin Advantages of Trading FOREX.
There is one aspect that is considered as one of the best advantages of FOREX Trading. This is related to the amount of money you need to place a trade, this is known as "margin", and in short, this is all that can be lost in a the case you had a bad trade.
The Nature of the Trading Business
Consider the following: As a trader you are in a business. Your strongest opponent has plenty of capital.
Financial Crises, Global Capital Flows and the International Financial Architecture
The recent upheavals in the world financial markets were quelled by the immediate intervention of both international financial institutions such as the IMF and of domestic ones in the developed countries, such as the Federal Reserve in the USA. The danger seems to have passed, though recent tremors in South Korea, Brazil and Taiwan do not augur well.
E-currency Exchange Trading
If you are reading this article you are probably one of the many people who have spent countless hours searching for unique ways to make money on the internet. Very few people have gone on to succeed and most have failed miserably time and time again.
Money Management - The Holy Grail Of Trading
Money management determines how much to risk on each individual trade. This is a vital element of any trading system - risk too much and the chances of going bust are too high, risk too little and the reward for trading is too low.
Your Mother Could Make Money In Forex Trading
The question would be not whether she could but rather would she enter the Forex trading market. The Forex day trading arena is a veritable snake pit ripe for scam artists to bilk money out of unwary investors.
Be a Smarter FOREX Currency Trader: Three Basic Principles
Below I will describe three basic principles that may come in handy for currency traders. They are very easy to implement and potentially take advantage of as you will see.
Creativity in Trading
"Is it important to be creative in your trading?"I'm not sure I can describe it in terms of importance. The creative process is somewhat of a mystery, even to scientists who study it.
A Fools Game
I received an email this week with a question (below) which caused me to think about the wisdom of pursuing trading as a career. Regardless of your trading time span, the skills and concerns of active short-term trading are relevant to all market particpipants.
Forex Signal, Forex Signals Advice
There are lot's of Forex signals providers out there. New Forex traders might be thinking of looking for a reliable Forex signals provider.
An Evaluation of the Devaluation
A Minister of Finance is morally right to lie about a forthcoming devaluation and a woman has the right to lie about her age. This is the common wisdom.
How To Handle A String Of Losses
Everybody hates to lose and unfortunately no one is blessed with the ability of foresight, therefore losses are an unavoidable part of trading. When we enter a trade we will either be right, or wrong, and even if we broke-even we'd still be classed as being wrong - as nobody enters into a trade just to break-even! When unsuccessful traders encounter a string of losses they begin to engage in self-destructive patterns that help them escape the pain they are experiencing.
Day Trading - Moving Averages vs Support and Resistance
When day trading the SP and Nasdaq futures, do you rely on your moving averages more than your support & resistant areas?During the first hour of trading, the support and resistance zones on the SP and Nasdaq futures are the most important things to watch. The moving averages have not yet had a chance to come into play.
Factors Influencing a Currency Pair Exchange Rate
IntroductionThe exchange rate refers to the value of the US dollar against the values of currencies of other countries. Such a rate helps determine how much we pay for imported goods and services and how much we receive for what we export, among other things.
The Seven Most Traded Currencies in FOREX.
Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called "lots". Onelot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency.
Example of a Profitable Transaction in FOREX
To make a profit, in the FOREX, a trader can enter the market as a *buy position* (known as going "long") or a *sell position*(known as going "short").For discussion, let's assume you've been studying the EURO.