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.

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

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.

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.

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.

The complete package for succeeding in options! This exciting combo from experienced options trader Michael Sincere provides an A-to-Z education on low-risk options trading. If you’re interested in building a powerful options portfolio, the Ultimate Guide to Understanding and Trading Options: Two-Book Bundle has everything you need. This unmatched investing package provides the foundational knowledge you need to get started with confidence, along with effective hands-on methods for generating profits—with minimal risk. Now considered an investing classic, Understanding Options explains all the basics, including overcoming assignment anxiety, LEAPS, the Greeks, protective and married puts, collars, credit and debit spreads, straddles, strangles, and options tips. Then, Make Money Trading Options provides battle-tested strategies for finding the best stocks, identifying the overall market environment, deciding whether to go long or short, and using a ground-breaking method to determine which stocks are “in play.” Most important, you’ll learn money management techniques to avoid the most common pitfalls that blow up traders’ accounts.

The practical, visual guide to the complex world of options investing loaded with tactics and tips for market success Options provide a diverse, strategic, advantaged approach to trading that can significantly limit the overall risks of a trade or yield additional returns. For many people, investing in options seem so risky that they fail to capitalize on this potentially lucrative opportunity that can unlock doors you would never imagine. The Bloomberg Visual Guide to Options uses full-color charts and other illustrations to help readers understand the mechanics and actionable details of the marketplace and how to profit from options trading. An accessible reference volume for investment professionals of all levels of experience, the book takes a direct and to the point approach to the topic, enhanced by colorful and visually effective graphs and charts of the options market. Discussing the functions of the exchanges, how they work, and the strategies for taking advantage of the market while steering clear of risk, this is the ultimate visual guide to understanding the world of trading options. Immerses readers in the exciting world of options trading through the use of full-color graphs and charts Provides tips, tricks, and real scenarios for successful trading, whether trading in a bull, bear, or neutral market Presents detailed, unique strategies for understanding and succeeding in the real options market Includes special learning aids, such as Key Point Summaries, Do-It-Yourself Exercises, Step-By-Step Instructions, and much more Putting even the most complex options trading issues at your fingertips in an easy-to-understand, readily accessible format, Bloomberg Visual Guide to Options is a must-have trading reference for professional investors.

Provides the tools to measure the risks and benefits of this new generation of high-tech products.