The Options Playbook

The Options Playbook was created to demystify option trading and teach investors different option plays for all market conditions. No confusing jargon. No unnecessary mumbo-jumbo. Just clear, easy-to-understand explanations of more than 40 of the most popular option strategies broken down into a play-by-play format including:Play Name: Long Call, Short Call Spread, Iron Condor, etc.The Setup: The goals and reasons to run each playWho Should Run It: Rookies, Veterans or All-Stars, based on degree of difficultyWhen To Run It: Describes each play as bullish, bearish or neutralThe Strategy: A detailed overview of each strategy, their risks and the specific costs associated with multi-leg strategies. descriptionFor the first-time option trader The Options Playbook features a "Rookie's Corner," addressing the basic definitions and concepts you need to understand this market, tips to avoid common beginner's mistakes, and suggested strategies to "get your feet wet".For more experienced option traders, an expanded section on implied volatility explains how this handy variable can be used to find the potential range of the stock over the options life. A detailed section on pricing variables (Greeks) helps you understand how an option's price is affected by changes in market conditions. You will also learn how time decay and a change in implied volatility can affect your trade after it's in place and how to recover if things don't go according to plan.The Options Playbook features "Options Guy Tips" from Brian Overby the author and founder of Options Playbook, Inc. Like any good coach, Overby's handy insights help you put theory into successful real-world trading.This expanded 2nd edition includes 10 new plays and 56 new pages of handy content describing a brief history of options, five common mistakes options traders make and how to avoid them, an expanded glossary, how to manage option positions by rolling to a different month and strike, to explaining the difference between index and stock options, managing early exercise and assignment and how to calculate position delta and use it to manage overall position risk of a multi-leg option strategy.

"Guy Cohen is the master when it comes to taming the complexities of options. From buying calls and puts to iron butterflies and condors, Guy explains these strategies in a clear and concise manner that options traders of any level can understand. His chapter on options and taxes is especially welcomed (and needed). The Bible of Options Strategies is a straightforward, easy-to-use reference work that should occupy a space on any options trader's bookshelf." –Bernie Schaeffer, Chairman and CEO, Schaeffer's Investment Research, Inc. "The author delivers clarity, insight and perception making learning about options a joy, and practicing the art of making money that much easier: truly a bible from a guru." –Alpesh B. Patel, Author and Financial Times Columnist "Guy Cohen truly makes learning about options easy in this fact-filled guide. Bullet points make for a quick and enlightened read, getting to the heart of what you really need to know about each options strategy. This book is a must for any serious trader's library." –Price Headley, Founder, BigTrends.com Pick the right options strategies...implement them step-by-step...maximize your profits! Introducing today's first and only comprehensive reference to contemporary options trading! OptionEasy creator Guy Cohen identifies today's popular strategies...and tells you exactly how and when to use each one and what hazards to look out for! It's all here.... Basic Strategies including Buying and shorting shares, calls, and puts. Income Strategies including Covered Call, Naked Put, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Long Iron Butterfly, Long Iron Condor, Calendar Call, Diagonal Call... Vertical Spreads including Bull Call Spread, Bull Put Spread, Bear Call Spread, Bear Put Spread, Ladders... Volatility Strategies including Straddle, Strangle, Guts, Short Butterflies, Short Condors... Sideways Strategies including Short Straddle, Short Strangle, Short Guts, Long Butterflies, Long Condors... Leveraged Strategies including Call Ratio Backspread, Put Ratio Backspread, Ratio Spreads... Synthetic Strategies including Collar, Synthetic Call, Synthetic Put, Synthetic Straddles, Synthetic Futures, Combos, Box Spread... ...and many more strategies... Plus essential tax-saving information, and more! No other book presents this much authoritative, current information on options trading strategies Covers all of today's best income, volatility, leveraged, synthetic, and sideways market strategies Discover why each strategy works, when it's appropriate, and how to use it—step by step Includes a full chapter on tax issues associated with options strategies By Guy Cohen, whose OptionEasy application has helped thousands of traders achieve breakthrough results! The Bible of Options Strategies is the definitive reference to contemporary options trading: the one book you need by your side whenever you trade. Options expert Guy Cohen systematically presents today's most effective strategies for trading options: how and why they work, when they're appropriate, when they're inappropriate, and how to use each one responsibly and with confidence. The only reference of its kind, this book will help you identify and implement the optimal strategy for every opportunity, trading environment, and goal. © Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Want to become a truly great trader – either for yourself or for a proprietary trading firm? This book will help you get there. This unique approach is the closest thing to signing up for a “trader boot camp” yourself! You’ll learn by watching new traders walk through actual trades, explain what they’ve tried to do, and try to survive brutally tough expert critiques. One trade at a time, The Playbook reveals how professional traders must think in order to succeed “under fire,” how they assess their own performance, and how they work relentlessly to improve. Using concrete, actionable setups drawn from his extensive trading and training experience, Bellafiore walks through an extraordinary array of trades, showing readers how to maximize profits and avoid disastrous hidden pitfalls. He covers support plays, bull-and-bear flags, opening drives, important intraday levels, bounce and fade trades, pullbacks, scalps, technical opportunities, consolidation, relative strength, market trades, and more. He also presents indispensable insights on psychology and trader development, based on his work with hundreds of traders on a major commodity exchange and an elite prop firm’s trading desk. Packed with color, personality, and realism, this is an exciting guide to real-world trading.

In order to survive and thrive in today's financial markets, you must seriously consider the use of options in your investment endeavors. Options allow you to reap the same benefits as an outright stock or commodity trade, but with less risk and less money on the line. The truth is, you can achieve everything with options that you would with stocks or commodities?at less cost?while gaining a much higher percentage return on your invested dollars. After numerous years as a market maker in the trenches of the New York Mercantile Exchange, few analysts know how to make money trading options like author Lee Lowell. In this well-rounded resource, Lowell shows both stock and commodity option traders exactly what works and what doesn't. Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, Get Rich with Options provides you with the knowledge and strategies needed to achieve optimal results within the options market. The book quickly covers the basics?how options are priced, strike price selection, the use of Delta, and using volatility to one's advantage?before moving on to the four options trading strategies that have helped Lowell profit in this arena time and again: buying deep-in-the-money call options, selling naked puts, selling option credit spreads, and selling covered calls. Using these strategoes decisively, he says, is the fastest route to riches in the options trading game. Get Rich with Options is packed with real-life examples of actual trades and detailed discussions of how options can be used as a hedging, speculating, or income-producing tool. You'll learn how to set up a home business with the best options trading software, tools, and Web sites. And you'll begin to see options in a whole new light and discover how to become part of a small group of investors who consistently win.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Options trading is a way for savvy investors to leverage assets and control some of the risks associated with playing the market. Options can be complicated and risky, however, and not all strategies may expose you to theoretically unlimited losses. #2 For rookies, I've created a brief overview of how options work and outlined some strategies to get you started. These techniques will help you get used to the option market without leaving your rear end exposed to risk. #3 The Option Playbook is a resource for more experienced option traders. It contains the construction and risk profiles for many different strategies, so you can stay focused on forecasting or analyzing The Greeks instead of having to remember how to calculate your break-even points.

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.