Market Insights

The world of trading is always evolving, especially when it comes to options. Do you know about some of the big innovations recently introduced by TradeStation?

One breakthrough has been the introduction of new data points for clients on both the mobile and desktop platforms. In order to help you know whether to pick a certain contract, our options chains recently added the ability to display these new data types:

1. The probability of a contract expiring in the money or out of the money. Options have leverage because they can go worthless if a stock is on the wrong side a certain level on a certain date. TradeStation can now tell you the statistical likelihood of that happening.
2. The odds of breaking even. This is a little different because, even if a contract is in the money, it can still be worth less than you paid. This measure tells you the chances that a given option will turn a profit.

There can also be stress when you’re trying to manage your trades. When markets are moving and your money is on the line, it’s easy to get stressed and emotional. That’s why we improved the positions interface.

Options usually require more maintenance than simply holding shares. You might want to roll a winning position, which means selling one contract you already own and enter a new one. You might be long one option and sell another against it as part of a spread — or leg out of a spread.

Transactions like that can be cumbersome with old-fashioned order tickets. The new mobile interface eliminates several steps along the way, combining all the necessary buying and selling into a single button. This makes it easier than ever to manage even complex strategies with a single hand from a small mobile screen.

In our next post, we’ll discuss some of the new functionality recently added on the desktop application.

This post is the first in a summer series about recent improvements to TradeStation’s award-winning technology.