IMHO with options making money can be very easy and comfortable. E.g. I bought different option series in NOK a couple of days ago. Today I sold with huge gains of about 800% 1200% and more than 1500% and it was that easy. I didn't watch for the positions for some days. In stock trading I need at least half a year to accomplish this performance with lots of work and lots of knowledge. In futures you have to be at the screen all day long and it's not that pleasant to trade them. At the moment I think it ain't worth the time to do so. Just my thinking.
The sword cuts both ways. And with options it can be a very sharp sword. They are appropriate only for traders who have proven to be very successful in trading the underlying, and even then the deck is stacked against you with time decay and spreads.
When you are willing to lose 100%, making 1000% on occasion is very easy. Let us know how you do over time.
I've started trading more options recently. I noticed in my stock trading (I'm a swing trader), that I'm often more proficient in projecting where the market ISN'T going, rather than where it IS going. With options I can construct a position that makes money if the market remains flat or moves in the opposite direction of where I think it won't go...that way I only get hurt in one direction. For instance, if I'm trading pullbacks within a downtrend, I'll put on a calendar spread that will make money over the next two months if the stock stays put or sells off.... Still in testing mode, but so far so good....
Try to use the spread to my advantage, which works out, but you need patience. Ok, time decay remains, but I also write options, so I can even use time to my advantage.
I'm not a beginner. Trading stock,options and futures for several years now, but intensified trading options in the last 12 months. IMHO I will give up trading futures, because options it the place to be(at least for me). Of course the Nok trade stands out and this performance is an exception. Also some luck involved. But still this isn't the first 10- bagger for me.
You should write a book and start selling it with those same claims. Probably make more money that way. I know bout the high reward of options trading but please do not act like that you can easily turn 50k into 500k. A very high majority of traders got very carried away and then bet the wrong amount on the wrong trade because they lost their focus of the big picture.
I#m not saying that you can make 1000% on your portfolio, except you are a gambler. But you can make 1000% on single option trades with relatively small amounts in relation to your portfolio. I wanted to point out that it's more easy to make some good option trades than successfully daytrading stocks or even futures. IMHO that's because a lack of discipline doesn't destroy you with options, because the SL is the price you paid for the option.
I am happy for you and your NOK profit. But nobody should ever get (or, IMO give) the impression that options are a path to success. Whether short or long, they're a very dangerous road for anyone without considerable success in trading, and a very strong stomach for losses. Just as in the market runup in 2000, we can all soon expect to be seeing plenty of claims for how well options strategies have done in the past few months. (Wade Cook, where are you now?) But let the market start to turn, and there will be options traders blowing up all over the place. Everybody's brilliant when the market is soaring. And I'm sorry, but I've gotta take real exception to your comment that you don't need to use as much discipline with options. Losing your premium, which happens quite often, is still losing 100% of your investment.
Ok, I see your point lindq. But still, IMHO options are the place to be now. ...But let the market start to turn, and there will be options traders blowing up all over the place. Everybody's brilliant when the market is soaring... Who says a put can't be just as nice? ...Losing your premium, which happens quite often, is still losing 100% of your investment... Who says you can't write options? Best wishes