The options market allows savvy investors to assume risk in a way that can be very profitable, if the right techniques are used with the proper insight. In Trading Options as a Professional, veteran floor trader James Bittman provides both full-time and professional traders with a highly practical blueprint for maximizing profits in the global options market. This peerless guide helps you think like a market maker, arms you with the latest techniques for trading and managing options, and guides you in honing your proficiency at entering orders and anticipating strategy performance. Most importantly, it gives you access to one of the world's leading educators and commentators as he candidly defines the seven trading areas that are essential for successful options traders to master: Option price behavior, including the Greeks Volatility Synthetic relationships Arbitrage strategies Delta-neutral trading Setting bid and ask prices Risk management You will benefit from Bittman's exceptional understanding of volatility, his perceptive examples from the real world, and the dozens of graphs and tables that illustrate his strategies and techniques. Each chapter is a complete, step-by-step lesson, and, collectively, give you the best toolbox of profit-making solutions on the options trading floor. In addition, Trading Options as a Professional comes with Op-Eval Pro, a powerful software that enables you to analyze your trades before you make them by calculating implied volatility, graphing simple and complex options strategies, and saving analyses to review later. Don't be left guessing on the sidelines--trade with the confidence of a market maker by following the road map to higher profits in Trading Options as a Professional.

As an active trader in today’s market, you are faced with unprecedented challenges. Dramatic price swings in equity, debt, and currency have made it tougher than ever to manage and trade risk. But with great risk, of course, comes great opportunity—and Advanced Options Trading delivers a detailed system for successfully trading options in a highly volatile and unpredictable global market. Noted options educator and owner of his own brokerage house, Kevin M. Kraus explains the best practices for using options to capture premium, reduce equity purchase prices, manage the costs of buying options, and control portfolio risk—critical skills for finding steady profits in our ever-shifting economic landscape. He offers a close examination of the nature of volatility and what it means for investors, whether they’re just getting started or are veterans of the options market. Advanced Options Trading covers: The critical nature of forward-looking implied volatility Ways to level the volatility playing field with options Techniques for adding value to a portfolio while managing risk The functions of price hedging—and how to do it effectively Interest rate options and which factors drive debt markets Options analysis techniques Options are among the most valuable tools for hedging and risk management, and they also function as profitable investment vehicles, allowing you to make bearish trades through radical market shifts. Advanced Options Trading provides a solid foundation on the options market, along with the necessary skills for trading and managing risk in today’s constantly expanding and contracting market.

Disk contains OP-EVAL: "An easy-to-use educational tool designed to help investors develop realistic expectations about options price behavior"--Disk verso

A leading expert unveils his unique methodology for options trading Options provide a high leverage approach to trading that can significantly limit the overall risk of a trade or provide additional income. Yet, many people fail to capitalize on this potentially lucrative opportunity because they mistakenly believe that options are risky. Now options expert Andrew Keene helps aspiring investors to enter this sector by explaining the principles of the options market and showing readers how to utilize calls and puts successfully. Leading options expert Andrew Keene demystifies the basics of options trading Debunks the myth that call purchases are synonymous with being bullish and that put purchases are bearish Lays out in detail two distinct proprietary trading plans readers can follow Explains how to trade using market maker techniques and tricks from the trading floor to help with his probabilities in options trading Andrew Keene is best known for reading unusual options activity and seeing what others don't. Now he shares what he knows in a book that opens the opportunities of options trading to any investor.

TRADE OPTIONS LIKE A SEASONED PRO! A Trading-Floor Veteran Shares his Secrets "What I like about Dan's book is that it's obvious he isn't just telling you how to trade, he's telling you how he trades. There's always a big difference between those who teach trading from an academic standpoint and those who have traded and have the ability to walk investors step by step through the trade. For my money, I always seek advice and counsel from those that walk the walk and Dan Passarelli has walked the walk." Jon Najarian, cofounder Trademonster.com On Dan Passarelli’s first day as a clerk on the exchange floor, he spent the morning observing, practicing his hand signals, and running errands. Around midday, the veteran clerk he worked with said to him, “You’re up. I’m going to lunch.” Dan survived his trial by fire and went on to spend many years on the trading fl oor. He credits his success as a trader and educator to the hands-on experience he gained throughout his career. With The Market Taker’s Edge, Passarelli shares the knowledge and insights other floor traders keep tight to their chests—the knowledge you need to beat the market on a regular basis. This market maker turned market taker delivers a focused commentary on key concepts for operating in the options exchange like a pro. He offers a candid look at the ups and downs of his trading career and conveys the lessons he learned along the way in an informative and often entertaining way. After spending time on the floor in his shoes, you’ll understand: How professional traders attempt to make money—and why it’s different from the way you make money Why market makers are not the enemy How both market takers and market makers can profit while taking opposite sides of the same trade How to focus on what is important in a trade and avoid the noise Dan Passarelli has already taught thousands of people how to make a living as traders, and now with The Market Taker’s Edge, he can help you do it, too.

In Volatility Trading, Sinclair offers you a quantitative model for measuring volatility in order to gain an edge in your everyday option trading endeavors. With an accessible, straightforward approach. He guides traders through the basics of option pricing, volatility measurement, hedging, money management, and trade evaluation. In addition, Sinclair explains the often-overlooked psychological aspects of trading, revealing both how behavioral psychology can create market conditions traders can take advantage of-and how it can lead them astray. Psychological biases, he asserts, are probably the drivers behind most sources of edge available to a volatility trader. Your goal, Sinclair explains, must be clearly defined and easily expressed-if you cannot explain it in one sentence, you probably aren't completely clear about what it is. The same applies to your statistical edge. If you do not know exactly what your edge is, you shouldn't trade. He shows how, in addition to the numerical evaluation of a potential trade, you should be able to identify and evaluate the reason why implied volatility is priced where it is, that is, why an edge exists. This means it is also necessary to be on top of recent news stories, sector trends, and behavioral psychology. Finally, Sinclair underscores why trades need to be sized correctly, which means that each trade is evaluated according to its projected return and risk in the overall context of your goals. As the author concludes, while we also need to pay attention to seemingly mundane things like having good execution software, a comfortable office, and getting enough sleep, it is knowledge that is the ultimate source of edge. So, all else being equal, the trader with the greater knowledge will be the more successful. This book, and its companion CD-ROM, will provide that knowledge. The CD-ROM includes spreadsheets designed to help you forecast volatility and evaluate trades together with simulation engines.

Provides a thorough discussion of volatility, the most important aspect of options trading. Shows how to identify mispriced options and to construct volatility and "delta neutral" spreads.

An A to Z options trading guide for the new millennium and the new economy Written by professional trader and quantitative analyst Euan Sinclair, Option Trading is a comprehensive guide to this discipline covering everything from historical background, contract types, and market structure to volatility measurement, forecasting, and hedging techniques. This comprehensive guide presents the detail and practical information that professional option traders need, whether they're using options to hedge, manage money, arbitrage, or engage in structured finance deals. It contains information essential to anyone in this field, including option pricing and price forecasting, the Greeks, implied volatility, volatility measurement and forecasting, and specific option strategies. Explains how to break down a typical position, and repair positions Other titles by Sinclair: Volatility Trading Addresses the various concerns of the professional options trader Option trading will continue to be an important part of the financial landscape. This book will show you how to make the most of these profitable products, no matter what the market does.