Options Trading Strategy

How To Short Stocks For Beginners

How To Short Stocks For Beginners

If you’re looking to take advantage of declining stock prices, then this strategy might just be the one for you. However, before diving into the world of short selling, you need to understand the key factors that can make or break your success. From selecting stocks with high short interest to carefully considering market sentiment and technical […]

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Crude Oil Is About To Surprise A Lot Of People

Crude Oil Is About To Surprise A Lot Of People

Crude oil is about to surprise a lot of people… The energy trade has been one of the most consistent plays in the market over the last few months. But my analysis is quite clear on the matter: start looking for an exit now. Here’s what’s been going on in the oil markets… This post originally […]

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Mastering Break And Retest: Catching Big Moves

Mastering Break And Retest: Catching Big Moves

Are you looking to get ahead in the stock and options markets? Do you want a simple way to take advantage of market movements? Using the break and retest strategy could be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s an effective strategy that can give traders an edge but it requires knowledge about how these types […]

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Three Rules For Trading During A Bear Market

Three Rules For Trading During A Bear Market

Novice traders treat bull and bear markets the same. “I just trade like a bull market in reverse!” It’s 100% not that simple. Bull markets tend to move steadily up… bear markets are incredibly volatile. That’s not to say you can’t make money during this crazy market. You simply need some rules of thumb to […]

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To Hedge Your Portfolio For Free

To Hedge Your Portfolio For Free

An intriguing way to hedge your portfolio’s downside risk for essentially no cost is by using a put spread collar. A large zero-cost put spread collar was placed last week on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).  The trader sold calls and used the proceeds to purchase a put spread.  The position will give a […]

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Covered Call Writing

Why I Love Trading Covered Calls

Why I Love Trading Covered Calls

If you’ve been trading options for any time now, you no doubt have heard of covered calls. It’s a great trading strategy to generate instant cash for options traders. The trade is simple. First you buy 100 shares of stock. Second, you sell one call option and collect the premium. Simple right! Yes it’s simple, […]

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Boost Your Covered Call ETF Returns

Boost Your Covered Call ETF Returns

Covered call ETFs offer the combination of investment exposure to a selected index, plus high-yield income from selling call options. I am considering a tactic for this type of fund that should help boost total returns. In April, I made a presentation at the Las Vegas MoneyShow covering covered call ETFs. I discussed how they […]

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Generating Cash Flow From The Energy Sector

Generating Cash Flow From The Energy Sector

The energy sector has been far and away the best performing sector over the last year with both oil and gas prices having been on the rise.  A popular way to trade the energy sector as a whole is through the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE). XLE has been a solid gainer for 2022, […]

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The Synthetic Dividend Option To Generate Profits

The Synthetic Dividend Option To Generate Profits

Many companies regularly distribute a portion of their profits in the form of a dividend to attract investors and incentivize them to remain long-term shareholders. But most companies, ETFs, and commodities don’t pay a dividend at all. When there’s no dividend, the only opportunity for income or a profit comes from a capital gain (or […]

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How To Calculate Your Impressive Covered Call Returns

How To Calculate Your Impressive Covered Call Returns

Talking about investment yields and returns can be confusing, and actually understanding what happens can be even more daunting. However, we are trying to make money on our money, and understanding potential returns – both as percentages and dollars – helps separate good opportunities from those that are less attractive. If you have dabbled with […]

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Options Trading Strategies

6 Strategies For Diversified Long-Term Options Trading

6 Strategies For Diversified Long-Term Options Trading

Many people might be put off of options because they’re seen as too high of a risk for short-term trading. However, when you apply a diversification strategy, you can reduce the risks and set yourself up for longer-term gains. Expanding your range of options trades ensures you don’t rely solely on one strategy or instrument. Instead, […]

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Get Ready To Trade These Stocks

Get Ready To Trade These Stocks

Gold stocks are one of my favorite markets to trade. Many investors hate gold stocks because they tend to go up and down like a yo-yo. But that’s exactly what makes them so profitable for traders. Good traders don’t care if the market is going up or down… they just care that there’s movement and […]

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3 Stocks To Sell Now

3 Stocks To Sell Now

As impressive as last week’s 6.6% rally in the S&P 500 was, it didn’t change the structure of the entrenched downtrend. Instead, it was a garden-variety retracement returning prices directly into resistance. Those who viewed the rebound with suspicion were vindicated on Tuesday when sellers returned en mass at the declining 20-day moving average. With a new […]

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Roblox Stock May Have Bottomed

Roblox Stock May Have Bottomed

For months, the deep discount in Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) has beckoned to bottom fishers. But so far, trying to nail the low has resulted in bruised egos and battered accounts. The selling has been relentless, and there have been too many failed bounces to count. RBLX stock has cratered 85% from peak to trough in the largest […]

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3 Of The Most-Shorted Stocks With Bearish Charts

3 Of The Most-Shorted Stocks With Bearish Charts

Once more, the bears in the market are successfully defending against would-be bargain-hunters this week. And right now, with stocks under increased pressure, the price charts in these most-shorted stocks are offering investors well-qualified bearish entries to trade with the trend. It has quickly turned into a third straight week where Wall Street’s bad actors […]

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Options Volatility Watch

One Way To Take Advantage Of The Volatility In Tech Stocks

One Way To Take Advantage Of The Volatility In Tech Stocks

Tech stocks have the started the new year with elevated volatility and quite a bit of selling pressure.  The most popular tech index, Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), is down 5% for the year and has seen a handful of large percentage moves already. One strategist is looking to take advantage of the volatility by using […]

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Why December Is Shaping Up To Be A Very Volatile Month

Why December Is Shaping Up To Be A Very Volatile Month

It looked like we might coast into the end of 2021 on a calm and seasonally bullish note with the major indices up some 25% for the YTD.  But, a new Covid variant and stubbornly-high inflation have thrown a wrench into that outlook. I think December will be unusually volatile, which equates to unpredictable, which […]

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Market Volatility: Trade Cautiously But Without Fear

Market Volatility: Trade Cautiously But Without Fear

Being a market prognosticator often means spewing thoughts and opinions to create content well beyond the reality of underlying activity.  I should know, after working with Jim Cramer — the sound bite-creating master — making table-pounding proclamations and outrageous predictions, all the while, under the surface, acting as a rational, risk-averse portfolio manager. I give […]

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Is The Low Volatility Market At An End?

Is The Low Volatility Market At An End?

2019 can be roughly divided into two market regimes. There were periods of high volatility and market choppiness, notably in June, August, and early October. Then, there were the stretches of low and falling volatility – January through May and mid-October through the end of the year. It certainly seemed like January of 2020 was […]

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Options Trading

Don’t Forget – Options Are Meant To Reduce Risk

Don’t Forget – Options Are Meant To Reduce Risk

I have a good general rule for life… “Don’t be stupid.” And this rule is especially good for option traders. Like most good rules, though, we don’t really understand their importance until we break them. And when it comes to trading options, doing stupid things can be an expensive lesson… This post originally appeared at […]

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This Indicator Warns Of Tough Times Ahead

This Indicator Warns Of Tough Times Ahead

High yield bonds just fired a warning shot. The action in the junk bond market tells us a lot about the average investor’s willingness to take risk. That, in turn, tells us about the potential for a rise or fall in the stock market. When high yield bonds are rallying, it’s a “risk-on” environment. That […]

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Strategic Buy And Sell Indicators For Traders

Strategic Buy And Sell Indicators For Traders

Successful traders rely on proven indicators to make trading decisions, and the most powerful among those used as buy and sell indicators. These tools can help you identify trends, predict market movements, and determine the best entry and exit points for your trades. Technical Indicators Covered Price Action Signals Moving Average Signals Stochastics Signals Day […]

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How To Trade Zero Day Options

How To Trade Zero Day Options

They’re back! The speculative trading frenzy that dominated the markets’ during 2021, and then went into hibernation during the 2022 bear market has reemerged. The piling into meme names, FOMOing, YOLOing, bidding up shares of money losing companies, even those bordering on bankruptcy, and squeezing shorts with single day moves in excess of 20% are […]

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Steps To Follow While Options Trading

Steps To Follow While Options Trading

62.58 billion. That’s the total number of futures and options contracts traded globally in 2021, according to data released by the FIA (Futures Industry Association). That’s up 33.7% from 2020. Last year was the fourth year the “global exchange-traded derivatives markets set a record above the prior year in terms of total trading activity.” These […]

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Options Trading Basics

Finding Support And Resistance Levels: Complete Guide

Finding Support And Resistance Levels: Complete Guide

In the world of trading, support and resistance levels act as the market’s natural floor that can indicate where prices may tend to pause or reverse. Learning how to find support and resistance levels starts by studying past price behaviors, noting areas where prices have historically been bounced from, and by using tools like trend […]

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The Many Uses Of Option Delta

The Many Uses Of Option Delta

In an option chain, the delta for a given option strike price can vary from -1 to +1. Call options have a positive delta for option buyers somewhere between 0 and +1. Calls increase in value when the underlying increases in value. Put options have a negative delta somewhere between 0 and -1 as Put […]

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Trading Options 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Trading Options 101: A Beginner’s Guide

“What is an option?” This may be a question you’ve asked yourself before. If so, options trading might be a suitable investment for you! An options contract offers the buyer the opportunity to buy or sell the underlying asset depending on the type of contract they hold. Unlike futures, the holder is not required to […]

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Death, Taxes, And Time Decay

Death, Taxes, And Time Decay

Few things are certain in life.  But as the old saying goes, there is nothing quite so certain as “death and taxes”.  As an Options Trader, I would enthusiastically add option time decay to that list. Options offer traders and investors more leverage and risk mitigation than just purchasing shares outright. For example, if I were to […]

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Are You An Options Buyer Or An Options Seller?

Are You An Options Buyer Or An Options Seller?

Options are an increasingly popular financial product that gives traders numerous ways to manage risk while significantly leveraging capital. They are a powerful trading “tool” that can be bought, sold, and combined in a seemingly limitless number of ways to achieve a specific objective. One of the bigger questions for new — and even experienced […]

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