The Rookie’s Guide to Options: The Beginner’s Handbook of Trading Equity Options
Learn to use options from veteran option trader Mark D. Wolfinger, who spent more than 20 years on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). If you are a seasoned stock trader or a casual investor who dabbles in mutual funds, this book is for you. Learn why stock options a versatile investment tool that has seen explosive growth over the past few years belong in your portfolio. If you re already trading options, this book is also for you. You will gain a thorough understanding of o
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Understanding Options
Did you know you can use options to make money every month or every quarter? And you can use options as insurance, for example, to protect your stock portfolio. And if, on occasion, you wanted to speculate, you could leverage your money to double or triple your profits. It will cost you a lot less than if you bought stocks. And finally, if you like to short stocks, it can be safer to use option strategies than to use the stock market.
Speaking of safety, with most option strategies you kn
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By far the wisest buy for earning income with options, rookie or otherwise,
Options are a complicated investment instrument, but if properly understood and implemented, they are far less risky than owning stock or mutual funds. And as a bonus, they are most often more profitable. Trading options, one can choose to be a risky gambler (not recommended) or a conservative income generator.
The trick is understanding options and understanding risk management. If you trade options WITHOUT understanding them, and WITHOUT any risk management implementation, then by default you are a risky gambler. You will be out of money before you know what hit you.
The option world has its own lingo. And there are myriad strategies to sift through before determining which one(s) suit your risk/reward desires. Placing the actual trade orders with your broker requires a thorough understanding and fluency of the lingo, as well as a confident understanding of the strategy you’ve chosen.
The good news is that this book will actually TEACH you what you need to know to be a conservative income generator with options. I can assure you it is the ONLY book that TEACHES this. I own all the major books on options that have been released in the last five years and this one is by far the best and most practical. And long overdue.
To me, in order for an author to teach options trading, he or she must provide the real world philosophy behind a strategy, real world examples, real world gotchas, real world “how”, and most importantly, real world “why”. Of all the books I own, this one provides the total package. The others do a good job of perhaps the philosophy and the how, but totally lack the rest. In short, no book until this one teaches the complete knowledge one requires to be successful at option trading for income.
I am a rookie in that I had not actually traded options until studying this book. I am NOT a rookie when it comes to attempting to learn how to trade options. The other books did not leave me confident in my abilities to consistently earn income with options. Thus I didn’t make any trades. This book gave me the confidence to start trading AND EARNING INCOME. That point alone truly sums up the value of this book compared to all other books on the shelves. The other books are simply lacking in regard to earning income with options. They are good resources for information but not for implementation.
The author’s approach is conservative. You will learn how to manage risk and see that options ARE a good, safe investment instrument if used with conservative strategies and prudent risk management techniques. You’ll also learn, perhaps by constructing a spreadsheet on your own (strongly encouraged by me), just how much potential income you can earn. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
However, a strong warning here: You MUST understand and comprehend what you are reading. You can’t skim this book and expect to do well. In fact, you’ll fail if you skim ANY book on options. Most likely, you’ll fail big time after a lucky string because you THOUGHT you understood. If you can’t commit to learning, and I mean intensely learning and understanding this book, then please steer clear of options. There are no free rides. You must invest brain power to do well. Recognize that most people do not WANT to invest the brain power required. It’s hard. It’s intense. It’s confounding. It’s WORTH THE EFFORT. Eventually it clicks. Decide if you do want to commit, and if so, buy this book. It’s the only one you will need to conservatively earn a steady income trading options. If you do invest the brain power, you will be proud of yourself and you’ll do well financially with your new knowledge.
I want to add that the author is an experienced floor trader, and a gracious man who has replied to all questions I’ve asked of him via email. If you are inclined to purchase $2000+ in software and another $2000-5000+ in so called “training” or “education”, please save your money and seed your options trading account with it instead. But before making ANY trades, nail down what this book teaches. It is all you need.
FYI, my own trading focuses solely on Credit Spreads (which have their own chapter in the book) and utilizing the author’s philosophy on risk management. But I had to understand the ENTIRE book prior to making that decision. You would be wise to do the same before deciding your own direction.
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|extremely practical advice for options traders,
Mark has written a terrific book that all options traders should read. He focuses on several popular strategies that you can find in many books, but the difference is that Mark gives you practical advice on how to trade, and even more importantly, how to stay out of trouble when you do trade. Mark’s advice is consistently conservative. He is not so focused on milking every trade for every last dollar. It’s more important to keep trades gone wrong from losing big. Over and over, you will find this important message coming through.
Mark writes in a style that is friendly, easy to read, but deceptively informative. You don’t feel like you’re being overwhelmed with theory, but when you look back, you find that you’ve actually picked up more than you thought. He demonstrates the surprising equivalence, for example, of covered call writing, which many people are comfortable doing, and selling a naked put, which sounds riskier but is in fact identical.
This book is full of really useful and practical information, and I believe anyone actively trading options would benefit from studying this book thoroughly. It’s not just rookies who will gain from Mark’s shared experiences. BTW, Mark maintains a web site and blog where he continues to share his knowledge. He is also most generous with his time, answering numerous questions from his readers.
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|esential reading for anyone trading options,
Before reading Create Your Own Hedge Fund (one of Marks other titles)I considered options to be far too risky and exotic and solely for the professional trader. However after reading the book options were no-longer anything to fear and I was completely sold on the idea of using options to both reduce risk and increase profits.
The Rookies Guide to Options takes the ideas that were previously introduced and takes them to the next level. Concepts are introduced and explained in a way that makes them easy to understand and completely transparent. You’re never left wondering – but what would happen if?
It’s a master class in options from a truly brilliant teacher.
I can’t recommend this book enough
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|Your launching pad into the world of stock options,
I was in the middle of writing my own book on retirement investing, which I have now finished. During that process I read many different books to get a well-around education on the subject. One area that always fascinated me – but seemed overwhelming – was the arena of stock options. I read the Futures and Options for Dummies book, only to then become more confused. I kinda gave up on the subject until I stumbled upon Michael Sincere’s book in the store.
Don’t let the size of the book fool you. The author packs quite a lot of information into these 221 pages. He explains the world of stock options in a very easy-to-understand format. Michael debunks many myths about options and shows you that while some types of options are highly risky, some are not.
This book is the launching pad to get you started in the world of stock options. You will eventually need to read more if you wish to purchase or sell options, but this book becomes your foundation. The nice thing about this book is that you will quickly learn whether or not options are right for you. Personally, I do not want to participate in options. However, I was able to make an informed decision based on the knowledge found in this book. I am still glad I read the book and highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about stock options.
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|Great style, poor contents,
Most people who are familiar with stocks and have never traded options before tend to treat options like stocks. The main strategies exposed by this book are the naked purchasing and selling of options with no spread, which are the very ones that a beginner will try to use (since they seem similar to stock trading) but should not. The only exception, the covered call strategy, has a low risk but also a very low return too and doesn’t protect the investor against a major contrary market movement.
One can’t deny that the author’s intentions seem to be the best possible. He has a friendly manner and tries to motivate the reader all the time. The writing is very pleasant. But, unfortunately, style and intentions are not substitute for a poor treatment of a subject matter.
Armed with the information from this book, the beginner will hopefully find that some key knowledge is missing. For example, the author’s explanation on how to adjust a naked call that didn’t go well pales in comparison with the outstanding treatment and alternatives presented by McMillan in “Options as a Strategic Investment” on the chapter on the naked purchasing of calls.
For a much better treatment and introduction than this book, try “Get Rich with Options” by Lowell. Its title could be improved, but its contents are just superb. Any comparison with this book under review is simply unfair.
As Einstein once said, “make it simple but not too simple.”
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|Highly Recommended !!,
Reading a book on Options Trading is usually a daunting task. While it is true that statistical probabilities, The Greeks and mathematically determining an overpriced or underpriced option all play a part in option trading, in the beginning, this often confuses and intimidates a novice.
Michael Sinceres’ book is different. He leaves the mathematics alone. In very simple language, Sincere walks you through the four basic option trades:
1. The Covered Call.
2. Buying a Call.
3. Buying a Put.
4. Selling a Put.
What you may not know is that most brokerages will limit a beginning option traders to these 4 trades anyway.
As if he were sitting at your kitchen table, Sincere actually takes you step- by-step, through each trade. No, this is not a complete treatise on option trading but it is a very good start.
It is true that the key to option success is choosing the right underlying stock. If you have never bought a stock, his book on stock trading would be a better choice. It is also true that options are a form of gambling and anyone who says their “system” guarantees success is probably selling something very expensive.
If you have experienced trading stocks and are looking for your first option book, this would be the one I’d recommend.
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