Are Your Options Losing Value?
Today we'll be discussing the differences between investing with stocks and options. Let's first tackle the less complex investing vehicle, stocks. Most of the world already knows, but in case you don't, stocks are directional trading vehicles. If we are long the stock, then we make money when the prices of the asset rises, and we lose capital as the underlying asset drops in price. We can also sell a stock short in which the profit comes when the stock falls. In any case when investing with stocks, the direction is what matters. We don't need to worry about market volatility or time.
So those are the basics about stocks, but what about trading options? Options are like trading 3 dimensional vehicles...direction, time and volatility. Let's look at a real-trading example to clarify the difference in the trading world:
Let's say that AAPL moved up 20% in one year. The stock holders would have made 20% in return for holding on to the stock all year long. Now, if an option trader was holding a Call contract all year, he may have just lost his investment.
The reason the option buyer may have just lost money is because of Time Decay. His option just lost a whole lot of Time Premium because the trade took so long to develop. Also, since the volatility of the underlying asset probably went down, this could have also caused the Call option to lose value. Options lose premium over time.
So, hopefully you can see that in order to trade options, we really need to be educated. Entry level option traders usually buy Calls and Puts, and they don't understand why they lose money when the underlying asset goes the direction they are hoping. Remember, when trading options, you are not trading a single dimension; you are really trading a 3 dimensional asset. Finally, the exciting thing about options is that once you understand them, they allow you to be very flexible, creative and can be traded in any type of market. - 23212
So those are the basics about stocks, but what about trading options? Options are like trading 3 dimensional vehicles...direction, time and volatility. Let's look at a real-trading example to clarify the difference in the trading world:
Let's say that AAPL moved up 20% in one year. The stock holders would have made 20% in return for holding on to the stock all year long. Now, if an option trader was holding a Call contract all year, he may have just lost his investment.
The reason the option buyer may have just lost money is because of Time Decay. His option just lost a whole lot of Time Premium because the trade took so long to develop. Also, since the volatility of the underlying asset probably went down, this could have also caused the Call option to lose value. Options lose premium over time.
So, hopefully you can see that in order to trade options, we really need to be educated. Entry level option traders usually buy Calls and Puts, and they don't understand why they lose money when the underlying asset goes the direction they are hoping. Remember, when trading options, you are not trading a single dimension; you are really trading a 3 dimensional asset. Finally, the exciting thing about options is that once you understand them, they allow you to be very flexible, creative and can be traded in any type of market. - 23212
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posted by X - Men @ 4:44 AM
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