marbles -> baseball cards -> stamps -> stocks -> options -> futures/options -> fx -> exotic options -> swaps -> scud missiles -> H3O -> plutonium -> uranium -> unobtanium -> ???
I used to just buy the options (Calls and Puts) and I made some money at it, but eventually I lost a lot more than I gained. I see that most options do expire worthless... Now a days I am on the other side. I have used Credit Spreads and Covered Calls to be able to sell the options instead of buying them. What a difference that has made on the cashflow. Nice to see it coming in instead of going out, and hoping that my option will be ITM before expiration. I now look forward to the up coming expiration and the Time Decay.
If you're short trading term, the underlying tends to be better since there's less slippage and you don't have the option issue of a delta of less than 1.00 Options have a lot of versatility and you can use strategies to accomplish different goals. It all depends on your comfort zone. Coach: Izzat u Phil?