Option Trading: How To Achieve Superior Returns As A Trader
What is option trading?
Option trading is a way of entering a market with a relatively small upfront investment, but with the possibility of netting you a much bigger return on investment than if you had traded in the underlying instrument. What you are doing in option trading is purchasing the right to buy or sell the underlying security within a specified time period.
Generally these option periods last a month and a specific day of the month is decided for termination of the contract. This is the third Saturday of the month or any other day specified by the exchanges who monitor such trades. The expiry of the period expunges all the rights of the option trader and he cannot make the trade after the date is over.
Basics
You would have to be deeply involved in stock market trade to understand the difference between stock trading and option trading. If you as a newcomer still want to be involved in option trading you must make an effort to understand terminology used and the ideas behind the concept. The terms by used by traders in option trading are quite specific and have their own meanings. When you go in for option trading you would have to decide a price for the stock you want to trade in , the number of shares, and the time period in which you would make such a trade.
The option trader who buys options has no obligation to act whatsoever, and is only obligated to pay the premium to buy the option in the first place. He retains the right to exercise his options in the future, should the opportunity arise and should he wish to do so. The option “exercise price” locks in the specified price at which the underlying stock can be bought or sold for the lifetime of the option. If you are the owner of a call option, giving you the right to buy stock at the exercise price, and the stock price rises above the exercise price during the lifetime of your call option, you can exercise your option to acquire the stock at that exercise price instead of the prevailing price in the market, which may be far higher. In other words, you are buying stock cheaper than the market value.
The stock price may drop or just remain lower the exercise price, the buyer of call option cannot use at all, but can also sell the option and in that way exit the position at a loss or breakeven. Instead, he can hold onto it with the hope that there will be rise in the option of the market value, by depending upon factors such as volatility, expiry time and much more.
Generally though, because of the leverage that options provide, you can control a far larger amount of the underlying stock for a relatively small capital outlay compared with buying or selling the underlying instrument. That is what makes options so attractive because there exists the potential to make far higher return on capital than through merely trading the underlying instrument. When you know what you are doing, there are also far more trading opportunities with relatively lower risk compared to merely buying or selling the underlying.
Terms in usage
Option trading for stocks is generally in blocks of 100 shares
The option giving the right to buy the underlying instrument at the strike price is called the “call” option.
The selling option the underlying instrument at the strike price is referred to as a put option.
Strike price: This is the price of the stocks for agreed on when the option trading contract is made.
In option trading, for call options you are “in the money” if your strike price is below the market price of the stock. For put options, if the strike price is higher than the current market price, you are again said to be “in the money”.
Similarly, if while option trading, you own calls and the strike price is higher than the current market price, your call options are said to be “out of the money”. With put options, you are “out of the money” if your strike price is lower than the current price.
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