Guide To Options Trading: Special Report
Guide To Options Trading: Special Report
Introduction
When you talk about options, most people think are a few things you must keep in mind:
of risk... Dangerous leverage... Speculation...
Truth No. 1: Buying and selling options is about
Gambling...
the least risky and potentially most rewarding
I guess there is that aspect to it, if you don’t know game on Wall Street.
what you’re doing.
Options master Victor Sperandeo racked up a
See, most people don’t understand options. The nominal rate of return of 70.7% without a losing
reason they were created in the first place is to year between 1978 and 1989. With his astounding
reduce risk. In fact, the original options were track record, we’d be foolish not to pay attention
designed to help investors hedge their portfolios to what he has to say:
against bad moves in the market. Unfortunately,
“Options are, many say, the riskiest game
what’s happened over time is what happens to
in town. Certainly they are by far the most
a lot of good ideas on Wall Street... options have
challenging, flexible, and potentially profitable
morphed into a commission-generating vehicle
financial instruments available. But if you trade
they sell to folks as a way to get rich quick.
them prudently, if you apply sound principles of
If you think trading options will help you get rich money management, trade only when the risk/
quick, I’ve got some bad news for you. While using reward ratio is highly in your favor, and execute
options can make you a lot of money, it’s not going your trades with diligence and patience, then in
to happen overnight. Trading options is a process. all likelihood you will be profitable over the long
And if you want to be in the options market for any term. I can say, conservatively, that at least 40
length of time... you have to do it the “right way.” percent of all the returns I’ve made in my life
have been with options.”
Learning the “right way” to use options might
involve a little extra effort on your part if you want Truth No. 2: Want to be a winner? Watch your
to trade in the market successfully. But I can help losers!
you master the basics... I’ve traded options for
To succeed in trading options, you really need to
nearly three decades. During that time, I’ve also
limit your trading to opportunities that have at
been teaching folks just like you how to reduce
least a 3-to-1 payout. A 5-to-1 reward-to-risk ratio,
their risk with options and add a little bit of “pop”
of course, is better. But at minimum, you want to
to an otherwise conservative portfolio.
have the potential to pocket $3 in return for every
This report contains everything you need to know dollar you risk.
about options, and nothing you don’t. First... here
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You accomplish many things by forcing a to fold ‘em. But you’d sure hate to fold ‘em and
minimum 3-to-1 discipline on yourself. For one, take a total loss with a big bet on the table... So
it forces you to think in terms of reward and don’t ever put yourself in that boat. Limit the size
risk, which is extremely important. Most failed of your positions. You should only have 2%-3%
options traders, even ones that may have had of the money you’ve set aside for trading at risk
good trading systems, fail because they didn’t pay on any one trade. We really can’t imagine any
enough attention to risk. If you’re willing to lose combination of circumstances where you should
50% on a position, you’d better be expecting a consider putting more than 10% of your trading
gain of 150% or more – at least. That’s a tall order. money on one play. Don’t do it!
If you’re willing to lose it all (meaning have the To end up like Vic Sperandeo over the long run,
potential for a negative 100% return on a position), you’ve got to stick to the program. Limit the size
then you’d better be expecting a 300% to 500%- of your positions. (We’ll explain how to do this
plus gain in that position. later on in this report.) And limit your downside by
never allowing a small loss to turn into a big loss.
When you see it in terms of risk versus reward, and
Traders who follow this have a chance of being
you realize that 500% winners don’t come along
winners in options over the long run. Those who
every day, you can see “risking it all” is a bad bet.
don’t do this will be quickly drummed out of the
Options are a lot like poker. Your hand is only a club, taken for every penny.
small portion of the battle. Betting appropriately
Now, I’d like to turn your attention to the basics of
for the entire game is really what’s important,
call and put options. The next section comes from
which leads us to...
my colleague and friend, Dr. Steve Sjuggerud.
Truth No. 3: Big winners make small bets It’s one of the best explanations I’ve seen on the
subject…
You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em and when
There’s a piece of land on the beach that I have my around here, but I don’t want to tell him that. And
eye on. Empty lots on the water are hard to come I need a little time to do my homework and get my
by around here – they rarely go on the market. finances together.
And when they do, they’re snapped up pretty fast.
Here’s the deal I offer: “I’ll give you $10,000
I drive by it around dusk one day on my way to a right now – that you can keep – if you can give
dinner party and see an old man on the property. me a piece of paper giving me the right to buy
I get out of my car and strike up a conversation, this property for $1 million any time in the next
looking over the water. It turns out he’s the owner. 30 days. If I decide not to buy it, you keep the
I ask him if he’d ever consider selling the property. money.”
“Sure,” he says. “A million firm.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal right there,” he says,
Right on the spot, I try to work a deal. I think a happy to pocket the no-risk $10,000.
million is actually a good price for oceanfront
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I head out to the dinner party. At the party, I meet market, basically just like the New York Stock
some folks who’ve been looking to buy on the Exchange. Only it’s the options exchange. And it’s
ocean for months, but nothing has come on the in Chicago.
market. They mention that they’ll snap up the first
The reality is, nobody goes through the hassle
thing available, even over $1 million.
of exercising their right to buy, just like I didn’t
Long story short, I sell them the old man’s when it came to the land. I didn’t want the land
oceanfront lot for $1,050,000.I made a 400% profit transferred to me before I sold it to the couple.
in a few hours, by selling an asset that I controlled, And the same is true for stock options. Because
but didn’t own. there is an options exchange, people are trading
these options all the time.
I could have completed the transaction two ways:
Those are the basics of a call option. Now let me
1) I could have exercised my right to buy the land,
cover the basics of a put option...
and gone through all the paperwork hassles and
documents, taxes, and fees, only to turn around USING YOUR HOMEOWNER’S POLICY TO
and go through all that again with the sale. UNDERSTAND PUTS
2) I could have simply sold my “right to buy” piece Every time you buy an insurance policy, you are
of paper to the couple for $50,000. essentially buying a put option.
For $10,000, I had the “option” to buy this land Take your homeowner’s policy as an example.
over the next 30 days. I could either buy the land When you sign on the dotted line and write your
or sell my right to buy. That’s exactly what an check, you are essentially buying the right to sell
option is... your house back to the insurance company for
a certain value, under certain conditions, for a
Okay, I confess, this isn’t a true story. But it is a limited period of time. By accepting your money,
perfect example of buying a call option. the insurance company has taken on an obligation
to buy your house back from you under the same
A call option is the right (but not the obligation)
terms. The longer your policy has to run, the more
to buy something at a particular price. That’s
the insurance company will charge you. A six-
pretty much it. I paid $10,000 to the old man for
month policy costs less than a 12-month policy. It
the option to buy his property. I paid $10,000 for a
works exactly the same way with put options. The
call option.
longer it’s good for, the more it costs.
A call option has an expiration date. In this case,
As put-option buyers, we have two big advantages
in 30 days, my call option would have expired
over insurance-policy holders. First of all,
– worthless. Options are worthless after their
most options are not subject to the terms and
expiration date. You’d better either exercise the
conditions of many insurance policies. A disaster
option by buying the property or sell the option
is not necessary for them to “pay up.” In the case
to somebody else before it expires.
of put options, the stock has to go down. That’s it.
With stock options, you have the same choices as
Secondly, unlike the insurance-policy holder,
I did. You can either exercise the right to buy the
buyers and sellers of options are free to change
stock at a certain price (like the $1 million figure),
their minds about a position for any reason. You
which is called the strike price... or you can sell
can always exit or add to your position by simply
the option to somebody else through the options
buying more or selling it in the market.
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For the most part, options are as easy to buy In short:
and sell as stocks. This makes them an ideal
Buyers of call options want the stock to go up.
investment for those who wish to take advantage
They only make money if the stock goes up.
of big moves, because it can be done without the
expense and risk of buying or selling huge chunks Buyers of put options want the stock to go
of stock. down. They only make money if the stock falls.
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Some chart patterns resolve quickly. Rising this move should look to buy an option with a May
and falling wedges, for example, usually lead expiration date – just to be on the safe side.
to sudden moves in the stock once support or
I recently put together a full options video
resistance is taken out. In these cases, you can
course, covering everything from the basics
trade options with short expiration dates.
(understanding options) to the advanced (how to
But in the case of SLV, we’re looking at a complex project where a stock is headed next). You can
inverse “head and shoulders” pattern. This is access all of these videos in the Delta Report
a potentially bullish formation that could lead Training Center.
to huge gains. In this pattern, symmetry is
The bigger move, however, will come if the inverse
important, and it’s going to take some time to play
“head and shoulders” pattern plays out and SLV
out. On the next page is SLV’s chart in April 2012...
breaks above the neckline. The pattern projects
There are two potential price targets on this an $8 move higher, which is the distance from
chart. The first is the top dark red resistance line the head to the neckline. This move should take
(neckline) at about $34.50 per share. The more another two months to complete. Here’s how we
significant target is the blue resistance line at figure that out...
$42.
The decline from the neckline down to the head
If this pattern develops into an inverse “head and started in late October and finished in late
shoulders” pattern, SLV should form the right December – a period of two months. The rally
shoulder by rallying up to the neckline. The right from the head back up to the neckline also took
shoulder began forming in late September and hit two months. So again, for the sake of symmetry...
the neckline in late October. So it took one month once SLV breaks above the neckline, it should take
to form the shoulder. two months to complete the projected move.
The left shoulder looks like it started forming To sum it all up... SLV should rally back up to the
around mid-March. So to create a symmetrical neckline by mid-April. Then, a breakout and a rally
pattern, SLV would need to rally back to the up to the $42 resistance line should take another
neckline by mid-April. Anyone looking to trade two months. That brings us to mid-June.
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Traders looking to take advantage of this trade Let’s take another look at our mock options trade
should look at the July series of SLV options. The from earlier: buying the SLV July options. Let’s
May contracts don’t give us quite enough time. narrow down which strike prices offer the best
And there’s no need to pay extra for the October setup for the trade...
options (the next month available), since this
Here’s a look at the pricing of some of the July call
pattern should play out well before then.
options with strike prices close to the price of SLV
Selecting the appropriate expiration date is one shares as of April 2012 ($31.50)...
of the basics of picking the right options trade for
STRIKE PRICE OPTION PREMIUM
you. Next, we’ll look at the key concept a successful
options trader needs to understand before jumping $30 $2.95
it’s important to only consider trades that can $30 $4 36% $11 273%
produce 200% gains or more. Of course, we’re $31 $3 25% $10 317%
not holding out for gains of 200% on every trade.
$32 $2 5% $9 374%
That’s unrealistic. And we won’t be suffering 100%
$33 $1 -33% $8 433%
losses all of the time, either. But the potential for
a 200% gain has to exist for a trade to offer the $34 $0 -100% $7 483%
proper risk/reward setup.
In every case, these options offer the potential for
That potential is what I look for most when at least a 200% return on the trade if SLV rallies
deciding which strike price to buy on an option. to our upside target. So we have a favorable risk/
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reward setup. The July $30, $31, and $32 call the option loses half of its value. That seems like
options, however, are profitable at the lower $34 an easy enough thing to do. But most people –
price target. including experienced traders – have a tough time
cutting their losses. It can be emotionally painful.
The July $34 call option offers the highest potential
So here’s a different tactic...
return, given our expectation of SLV rallying to $41
by July. But it also has the most risk if SLV can’t get If you struggle with discipline, you need to find a
above the initial resistance level of $34. way to limit the dollar amount of your losses if the
option goes to zero. In the previous example, we
I prefer to go with the trades that have the highest
were willing to risk $1,475. But if the option goes
probability for a profit. At first glance, that would
to zero, the loss would be far worse – $2,950.
be the SLV July $30 call option. The stock doesn’t
have to rally much to recoup our initial premium Instead, we could take an option position where
of $2.95 per contract. And it’s a profitable trade at the initial investment is less than $1,475 at the
both the $34 and the $41 price targets. outset. We could buy 10 of the SLV July $34 call
options for a total of $1,200 ($1.20 premium x
Since each option contract covers 100 shares of
100 shares per contract x 10 contracts). If we’re
stock, it would cost $2,950 to purchase 10 SLV
right and SLV rallies to $41, these call options will
July $30 call options ($2.95 premium x 100 shares
be worth at least $7,000. That’s a gain of $5,800.
per option contract x 10 contracts). A trader would
Yes, that’s less than we’d make with the SLV July
have the potential to make $8,053 on this trade if
30 calls if we’re right on the trade. But the risk is
SLV rallies to $41 per share.
now just $1,200 – even if the option goes to zero.
Now let’s move on to how to protect your (Again, this is just a sample trade. I’m not saying
downside... you should go out and buy the SLV July $34 calls. I
just picked them to show you how the math works.)
HOW TO LIMIT YOUR LOSSES
When trading options, the emphasis is on
In the case of SLV, I’d probably set a stop of 50%
limiting your risk.
on the trade to limit my losses. That means if the
options lost 50% of their value, I’d admit I’m wrong Figure out how much you’re willing to risk on a
on the trade and get out of it with a $1,475 loss. So trade, and then select the option that offers the
we’re risking $1,475 here in an effort to potentially best risk/reward scenario based on your risk
make $8,053. That’s five times as much potential tolerance. Be honest with yourself. If you struggle
reward as risk. That’s a good setup. with cutting your losses – and most traders do
at one point or another – set up a trade where a
Of course, this setup requires that you actually
100% loss is less in dollar terms than the trade
stick to your original plan and cut the losses if
with the best setup.
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The Seabridge Gold January $15 calls were trading Traders should use options as a substitute for the
for just $1.40. And based on the chart pattern, I set underlying shares. In other words, if you typically
a minimum target price for the stock at $20. buy 1,000 shares, then you should buy only 10
contracts. If you trade in lots of 500 shares, then
When I made the trade, I knew if the stock made it
you should buy just five contracts.
to $20 before option expiration in January, the SA
January $15 calls would trade for at least $5. So Of course, most people don't think that way. Most
my readers were essentially risking $1.40 to make people think, "I can deposit $10,000 and sell short
$3.60 – a little better than a 2.5-to-1 reward/risk 1,000 shares of Company X at $10 a share, or I can
ratio. purchase $10,000 worth of put options."
If I set a 50% stop loss on the option, we were This type of thinking is foolish. Rather than
really risking just $0.70 (50% of $1.40) to make using options to reduce risk, they've actually
$3.60 – a 5-to-1 reward/risk ratio and a terrific increased their potential maximum loss. Instead
trading opportunity. of substituting 10 puts for their normal trade of
1,000 shares, they've overleveraged and bought
HOW TO DETERMINE PROPER POSITION
100 puts, which cover 10,000 shares.
SIZING
The most common mistake option buyers make is One of the annoying characteristics of options
that they overleverage. In other words, they buy is that they have this nasty habit of expiring
far more options than their account size justifies. worthless. Consequently, you have to be willing
to accept the potential loss of 100% of the capital
Options are purchased in blocks of 100. So, for you put at risk in options.
example, if the Microsoft April $30 calls are priced
at $2.30, you'll pay $230 for one contract, a call So you should never, never, NEVER buy more put
option on 100 shares of Microsoft. options than that which is necessary to control
the number of shares you normally trade.
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Determining Profit Potential
Profit potential for both buying and selling options also cut losses in losing positions by doing the
is typically figured at expiration. At expiration, same thing.
hard-to-figure pricing variables, such as time and
The vast majority of options are not carried
volatility, drop from the equation... making profit
through until expiration at all. Rather, they are sold
calculations much easier.
on the options-exchange market.
However, that doesn't mean you need to hold an
On the next page, there are some simple formulas
option until expiration, and you do not need to
for determining risk and profit potential, based on
exercise your option to profit from a position. To
the market price of the underlying instrument at
take a profit on a put or call, simply sell it. You can
expiration.
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Buying a call:
Let’s say you think Company X, now at $29.50, has a rosy future. You expect the stock
to hit $35 in the next six months, so you buy the Company X April $30 calls at $1.20.
Here’s how to figure what you would need to break even and what your profit would be
on expiration day if Company X moved in the right direction…
The market price of the stock needs to be above the breakeven price at expiration
for a call to be profitable.
Buying a put:
Let’s say, conversely, you think Company X is going downhill. You expect the stock to
sink to $25 in the next six months, so you buy the Company X April $30 puts at $1.50.
Here’s how to figure what you would need to break even and what your profit would be
on expiration day if the stock took a turn for the worse:
The market price of the stock needs to be below the breakeven price at expiration
for a put to be profitable.
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A Brief Options Glossary
Anatomy of an Option strike price. Puts are "in the money" if the price
of the underlying instrument is LOWER than the
strike price. (A put with a $20 strike price is "in the
money" with the stock at $19.)
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In Conclusion
Despite the learning curve, options are one of pivotal to your trading success. And in the Delta
the most powerful tools to trade the markets. It’s Report, I aim to provide option trading ideas that
resulted in a number of life-changing gains for follow this trading philosophy, and set you up to
both me and my subscribers. earn multiples on your money, each and every
week.
If you’ve read this guide and taken the time to
understand them, you’re already well ahead of Best regards and good trading,
the vast majority of investors who never have.
And you’re far better prepared than the scores of
traders who learn “the wrong way” to use options.
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