I've known and understood the basics of options for years. After rereading the john bender portion of stock market wizards I decided to get a better grasp of options as a whole and am having a difficult time. when I see these probability distribution equations I feel like I'm in the wrong class. I also don't completely understand the implied volitility concept. what exactly does it show? anyone willing to help or point me to a good starting place for these more advanced options ideas i would appreciate it. have people found significant edges using these formulas and strategies? john bender seems to have been pretty successful with them...
Larry (Lawrence) McMillan Options As a Strategic Investment It's the bible of options. Everything you need is in there. I was introduced to it by SOX market maker(Darkstar Trading). Trainees were required to read it.
To answer your question on implied volatility. Implied volatility is the volatility (one of the 6 variables required to price an option, and the only unknown variable) that is implied in the current market price of an option. Essentially, you take a pricing model such as Black-Scholes and then backtrack using the market price of an option to get the volatility. Implied volatility is the market's estimate of future volatility. However, I suggest you read the books recommended by others.
successful trading of anything seems pretty difficult to the unenlightened. but the dark ages was a thousand years behind us; there are books in the library, forums on the internet, courses to be taken, etc. Known knowledge is never too difficult to learn.