Hello, I trade live intraday futures so I am not a rookie. But I have only a rudimentary knowledge of options. I would like to develop (over time) some option-based swing/position type trade methods. Can anyone suggest a good web site or simulator program that will allow me to paper-trade some of the more "complex" options strategies? "If I have this particular vertical call spread open, and the market does ___, then what impact will this have on the position?" That is the kind of experience/demo/information I am seeking. Can anyone recommend a good options sim program for newbies looking to expand their knowledge - something that has both basic and advanced capabilities? PS I am a bit dumb and slow to learn sometimes so please don't recommend the rocket-science version.
+1 for the thinkdesktop. Lets you trade options with a visual intuition, i.e., you don't need to be a math genius to get a feel for what's going to happen to your position in various "what-if" scenarios. (But don't stop there, do continue reading Natenberg, Hull, or whatever piques your interest.)
i have to +1 thinkorswim's thinkdesktop it helped me learn tremendously faster what was going on and how vol, time, interest, underlying affect option price.
I used three softwares... optionvue with back trader. Very good software. You can go back in time and trade, forward and see how it perfoms. It gives very good "what if" scenario. Beauty of this tool is you can enter commission rates, dividends etc and it gives true profit/loss factoring all expenses. You can enter intrest rate if I remember correctly. This costs around $1750 with backtrader. Optionetics Platinum: This is completely online and costs around $200/month or $1000/year. I don't remember if they had back trader or not.... OIC Position simulator: If you want to simulate 3 or 4 options legs on same stock, this is great and it is free... http://www.optionseducation.org/resources/options-positions-simulator.jsp Hope this helps... Good luck.