I'm interested in trading options - can anyone reccomend a book or on-line course to get me going? Have come accross 21st Century's Mastering Options Trading on their website plus the course book - "Investor's Guide to Understanding and Mastering Options Trading" - was wondering if this is any good??? Course is free but the book is $100. Thanks
Go to www.thinkorswim.com That would be a good place to start, as they have a lot of free stuff under their Option Planet link. Don
If you are in the SF area, I recommend taking an in person option course at the psx from Market Compass. www.marketcompass.com
ScottS, Welcome, are you new to trading as well, or just options? Here are some good places on the web with free information. You'll also find some good links at my web site http://www.options-trading-resources.com/EliteTrSig 888Options âWhat is an Option?â http://www.888options.com/basics/whatis/default.jsp Chicago Board Options Exchange âOptions Overviewâ _http://www.cboe.com/LearnCenter/cboeeducation/Course_01_01/mod_01_01.aspx I have also listed several books on my website: http://www.options-trading-resources.com/Options-Trading-Books.html Regards, Steve http://www.options-trading-resources.com/EliteTrSig Option trading information and tools the pros wish they had! A former Chicago Mercantile Exchange employee reviews stock option trading software, books, and web sites and online income opportunity.
I've met Michael Williams a few time through a friend that used to trade with him. He's very impressive but the full course runs a couple thousand dollars. That's alot of money to spend when you're just "interested in trading options", if you're trading for a living that's a different story. I personally think there are better ways for a beginner to learn. 888OPTIONS ( as someone else mentioned) and OIC free seminars. As far as books, I'd say start with "Options: Essential Concepts and Trading Strategies" (CBOE Options Institute) and McMillan then move on to Hull and Natenberg. Just my opinion...
21st Century has been recomended before....personally I don't know. You will find $100 for a book not terribly expensive. I would echo hopback's recommendation on Laurence McMillian "Options as a Strategic Investment" I bought it at a discount at either half.com or Amazon. In addition I picked up the workbook for the first 25 chapters and treated it like a college course eg. study the chapter then test myself with the workbook and go over what I was still unclear with. The biggest help is the "raw" knowledge....definitions, terminology and the basic verbage used in Option trading. After the 1st 25 chapters it becomes more esoteric and directed to mutual fund/hedge fund arbitragers...stuff you really don't need to know (right now)but it is interesting. As most everyone on ET who trade options will tell you Sheldon Naterberg's "option volatility & pricing" will really help you understand HOW the GREEKS influence the price and WHY its important to know. Again you can find this at a discount on line but the total of these two books and the workbook I'm sure will be over $100 and worth every penny. There are plenty of good books out there. Before investing in any go to the Book store and skim a bunch to find what trips your trigger then go on line to see if you can get it a little cheaper. Absolutely go to everything on line and at seminars that is FREE and don't sign up for expensive softwear until you have a very good foundation. Good luck
here's a couple of sites that have a good selection of books and usually have good prices. http://www.traderspress.com/ http://www.traderslibrary.com/
Thanks to those who replied. I received CBOE's "Options: Essential Concepts and Trading Strategies" and McMillan's "Options as a Strategic Investment" from Amazon today.
I hope you have already understood -- that you DO need to know how to trade stock before you can profit with options. I mean you do need to have a prognosis of where the stock is going (up, down or sideways) before applying an appropriate option strategy.