This straightforward, accessible guide clearly explains what options are and how they work, their pros and cons, their relationship with stocks, and how to use them to gain leverage, generate extra income, and protect against adverse price movements.
THE OPTIONS INVESTING BESTSELLER--WITH CRITICAL NEW INSIGHT FOR TODAY'S TUMULTOUS MARKETS Written in an accessible, easy-to-read style, this new edition of Understanding Options provides everything you need to get started on the right foot in the increasingly popular options market. You'll learn what options are and how they work, their pros and cons, their relationship with stocks, and how to use them to gain leverage, generate extra income, and protect against adverse price movements. Understanding Options covers everything that has made it the go-to guide for novice investors--plus it has brand-new information and features, including: Updated facts, charts, and figures Expanded coverage of collars, credit and debit spreads, mini-options, the Greeks, and protective puts Key strategy insights from master options traders A critical look at trading options on ETFs Options simply are not as confusing as the other books make them seem. Written specifically for the novice, Understanding Options is the best, most inviting guide available for building a solid foundation in options investing.
The first premise of this book is that farmers need access to options for improving their situation. In agricultural terms, these options might be manage ment alternatives or different crops to grow, that can stabilize or increase household income, that reduce soil degradation and dependence on off-farm inputs, or that exploit local market opportunities. Farmers need a facilitating environment, in which affordable credit is available if needed, in which policies are conducive to judicious management of natural resources, and in which costs and prices of production are stable. Another key ingredient of this facilitating environment is information: an understanding of which options are viable, how these operate at the farm level, and what their impact may be on the things that farmers perceive as being important. The second premise is that systems analysis and simulation have an impor tant role to play in fostering this understanding of options, traditional field experimentation being time-consuming and costly. This book summarizes the activities of the International Benchmark Sites Network for Agrotechnology Transfer (IBSNAT) project, an international initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). IBSNAT was an attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of understanding options through systems analysis and simulation for the ultimate benefit of farm households in the tropics and subtropics. The idea for the book was first suggested at one of the last IBSNAT group meetings held at the University of Hawaii in 1993.
Proven ways to increase profits while reducing risk in one of today’s fastest growing markets Finding a safe investment in today’s markets makes looking for that needle in a haystack seem easy. With a single whale able to move a market, herds of elephants ready to stampede after it, and a global computer network executing high-frequency trades in milliseconds, an investor might think stuffing cash under a mattress is safe financial planning. But those dollars have lost about 40 percent of their buying power in the last 20 years. Understanding ETF Options is the best way to protect and grow your assets in the financial climate ahead. This hands-on guidebook gives you a unique audience with options expert Kenneth Trester, who has traded on the exchanges since their inception in 1973. This book culls his experience in systems analysis, operations research, and investment management to help you diversify risk while profiting on market volatility. Through conversational explanations and real-world examples, it lays out how ETFs offer retail investors easy access to diversified financial value and demonstrates effective techniques to acquire, safeguard, and accrue wealth by trading options on these unique securities. Whether you are an experienced investor or have never executed a trade, Understanding ETF Options can get you up and running on the exchanges with confidence and control. It comes with such essential tools as the Fair Value Option tables and covers everything you need to know to trade ETF options successfully, including: An insider’s explanation of ETFs How to identify valuable ETFs How to avoid rogue waves Strategies for achieving your goals among the elephants, whales, and computers Professional traders’ secrets for option buying and writing As far as options are concerned, everything comes down to time and movement. Now is your time to make a move and put your future wealth into your own hands with Understanding ETF Options.
Exotic options and structured products are two of the most popular financial products over the past ten years and will soon become very important to the emerging markets, especially China. This book first discusses the products' recent development in the world and provides comprehensive overview of the major products. The book also discusses the risks of issuing and buying such products as well as the techniques to price them and to assess the risks. Volatility is the most important factor in determining the return and risk. Therefore, significant part of the book's content discusses how we can measure the volatility by using local and stochastic volatility models — Heston Model and Dupire Model, the volatility surface, the term structure of volatility, variance swaps, and breakeven volatility. The book introduces a set of dimensions which can be used to describe structured products to help readers to classify them. It also describes the more commonly traded exotic options with details. The book discusses key features of each exotic option which can be used to develop structured products and covers their pricing models and when to issue such products that contain such exotic options. This book contains several case studies about how to use the models or techniques to price and hedge risks. These case analyses are illuminating.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build. Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy. Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B. We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.
It's not hard to understand why options trading continues to growin popularity, especially among sophisticated investors with largestock portfolios. Options are a cheaper and therefore, inherentlyless risky way of speculating on the price movements of stocks orother under-lying goods, yet, due to their volatility, they providemore price action per dollar than do stocks. And, when traded inconjunction with stock portfolios, options can significantlyenhance an investor's ability to manipulate the risk and returncharacteristics of their entire investment. Yet, despite these andother advantages of options, many investors shy away from thishighly lucrative type of speculation because of the seemingimpenetrability of many of its underlying concepts and technicalprinciples. Now in a book that demystifies options for financial professionals,Professor Robert W. Kolb, one of the nation's leading authoritieson the subject, provides readers with a solid grounding in theprinciples and practices of options trading. An excellent resourcefor investors who need to quickly get up to speed in options,Understanding Options offers a balanced presentation that buildsswiftly from the most basic concepts and terms to advanced tradingstrategies and techniques. Written in plain English and filled withreal-life examples and case studies, it schools readers in: * All essential terms, concepts, principles, and practices * Popular trading techniques and their payoffs * Option strategies * Option hedging * Formal trading models, including the Binomial and Merton models * Options on stock indexes, foreign currency, and futures * Option pricing in both the American and European markets * The options approach to corporate securities * And much more Concise yet comprehensive, authoritative yet highly accessible,Understanding Options gives you everything you need to feel rightat home in the lucrative world of options. Comprehensive, practical, authoritative--the fastest, mostaccessible route to the lucrative world of options From the basics of what an option is to advanced techniques forprofiting from options in a variety of markets, UnderstandingOptions covers all the bases. Written by a leading internationalauthority on options trading, this practical, hands-on guide offersdetailed, step-by-step coverage of option trading techniques andtheir payoffs, option strategies, European and American optionpricing, option hedging, and much more. It also explores options onstock indexes, foreign currency, and futures, and takes a closelook at the options approach to corporate securities. A concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to options for financialprofessionals * Gets you quickly up and running with all the essential knowledgeyou need to break into the options markets * Featuring a balanced presentation that moves swiftly from basicterms and concepts to advanced trading models * Packed with easy-to-follow examples and case studies that lucidlyillustrate all points covered
Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.
Financial and commodity futures and options can greatly enhance and grow stock exchange activity. Likewise, these products improve the overall condition of a country's financial community and economy. The material in this book is both introductory and comprehensive, starting with the basics and expanding into the many practical and business applications for futures and options. Growing Your Stock Exchange with Futures and Options illustrates how these exchange-traded financial instruments benefit all customers: speculators and hedgers, portfolio managers, corporations, farmers, food wholesalers, oil producers, and others who deal in buying or selling securities and other commodities. It also discusses the risks and concerns associated with these derivatives. Drawing on his broad professional experience, Mr. Rubin is available for consultation and implementation of these financial products tailored to the specific needs of stock and commodity exchanges. About the Author Charlie Rubin has been CEO of both stock and futures brokerage firms. Previous to that, he held senior management positions at stock and futures/commodity exchanges. He was responsible for the modification of the New York Stock Exchange settlement system that became the system for the New York Futures Exchange. Over the past fifteen years, he has delivered workshops and consulted on a variety of securities and commodities topics for exchanges in developing countries.