The Rookies Guide to Options The Beginners 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 option pricing, function and equivalents, which will help you trade more effectively. Learning to adopt more advanced option strategies, like iron condors and double diagonals, will help protect your nest egg and, at the same time, earn healthy returns. Unlike many options guides, this book features step-by-step instructions, with extensive examples that outline the costs and benefits of each choice along the way everything you need to plan and execute each trade on your own. Wolfinger shows you how to analyze alternatives and explains why each may be appropriate for a particular investor with certain investment objectives. You ll develop a basis for deciding what is suitable for you and your investment philosophy. A thorough understanding of option basics will help you move on to powerful strategies to earn high returns with limited risk. Wolfinger s strategies will help ensure that your portfolio survives a market downturn. Stock options first traded on an exchange a mere 35 years ago and have exploded in popularity in recent years. Today nearly two billion options trade every year in the United States alone. Many people dabble in options without really understanding how they work and how they can be used most effectively. The Rookie s Guide to Options: The Beginner s Handbook of Trading Equity Options will give you the basic trading tools you need to start trading options profitably, as well as help you move on to more advanced strategies. Options were created to allow risk takers to hedge part of that risk. This book will help you learn to use options they way they were originally intended to manage risk and increase profits. You ll be guided step-by-step as the author guides you through the decision-making process in terms of puts, calls, strike prices, expiration dates and strategic equivalents. This book, aimed at the beginning options investor, will help you gain a clear understanding of how you ve been using options for years, even if unaware of doing so. If you have bought car insurance, accepted a rain check at a discount store or used a bus transfer, you already understand the concept of using options. If you thought options were too complicated, Wolfinger s clear and detailed explanations put that myth to rest. You ll see how to adopt basic options strategies, how to use them to earn profits and how to manage risk effectively. You ll move on to learn about the versatility of options and master advanced strategies, such as iron condors and double diagonals all selected to help you minimize risk and maximize profits. Learn how you can use options to: 1. Sell your stock above market value. 2. Turn a non-performing stock into a profitable investment. 3. Protect your holdings against a disastrous bear market and even profit in a bear market. 4. Create steady income. 5. Manage risk. 6. Earn profits more often than those who buy only stock. 7. Limit losses. 8. Own investments that earn a profit when the market moves higher or lower. The Rookie s Guide to Options: The Beginner s Handbook of Trading Equity Options shows you how you can get the most out of these versatile tools to protect your investments, create steady income and generate substantial profits.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars The Best Investment You Wiill Make in Options
Well, I’d like to start with this. When learning investments I have found that it pays to get your advice from people who meet the following two conditions:
1. That they are experts in their field.
2. That they have YOUR interests at heart.
These two conditions are superbly met throughout this book. The author spent decades trading options as a market maker and for his own account. He has made and lost money and in reading this book you are educated to make trades that fit your style and comfort zone, all while Mark shares real-life experiences and examples as well as the why’s of specific trading strategies.
At first, I felt a leaning towards labeling this a textbook, except that would not do the book justice. While its content, examples and insights are what you would expect from a textbook it is much more than that. It is well written and I found it extremely readable. As one of the other reviewers noted, I too have found the author extremely gracious about answering what in hindsight (after reading the book), were very basic questions that I had emailed.
After trading options for the last few years with losses (even after paying some of the advisers that we all see advertised)I feel positive that if I had read this book first (it wasn’t available then) I would have prevented losses and increased profits 50K or more. That’s not a bad ROI! Needless to say I recommend this book.
5 Stars Not Just for Rookies
I imagine my quest to successfully trade the market was fairly typical. Eventually I arrived at a fork in the road, one direction lead to washout– the other an epiphany that not losing money was infinitely more important than pushing for gains. When I picked up Wolfinger’s book I was at such an inflection point, and regretfully I’ll admit it wasn’t my first visit.
Mark’s writing style is sensible, easy to understand, obsessively objective and thought provoking. He has a unique way of presenting obvious but frightfully neglected facts such as an admission that, he personally; does not possess the “skills” required to determine in advance where the market is going. Of course nobody does but he’ll let you admit that to yourself… if you’re so inclined…
It’s a book for absolute neophytes up through experienced traders but the “rookie” title makes me chuckle as I find myself explaining things I’ve learned to peers (full-time professional traders).
Read this book (then read the chapter on equivalences- again). You may lose all desire to trade or own stock (as I have) or learn to effectively protect your investments, or you may decide that options aren’t for you. Either way– you’ll gain an understanding sure to advance your probability of success in the market.
5 Stars 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.
5 Stars 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
5 Stars One of the 5 best options books
Mark participates in an online options forum. I praised his book there and he asked if I would be willing to review it here. I’m not sure I can add much to what has already been written here. Donald West’s review is especially detailed.
This book actually holds your hand through profitable methods of trading. You still have to understand options to be successful, but this book is more practical than most. Most importantly, the emphasis is on decreasing risk. Options can be used like lottery tickets or can be used to make investing much safer than buying stocks, as the average investor does. Mr. Wolfinger is not a gambler, and he advises you not to gamble either.
Is this the only options book you need? Perhaps. I can’t be sure, since I already understood options well before I read it. If you are serious about taking control of your investments, then options can give you real advantages. But don’t think that you’ll skim over any book and then sit on a tropical beach the rest of your life making a few trades. Options are complicated and will leave you baffled at first. If you make the effort then they can be very rewarding. The good news is that this book is clearly written and practical. It really is one of the 5 best books I’ve read about options.
Buy/More Info