Education
Greek of the Week: Theta

Greek of the Week: Theta

Editor’s note: This post, part of a four-part series about options Greeks, was originally published on Tuesday, August 28, 2018. So far, we’ve looked at delta and gamma. This week, we’ll turn to theta. Theta: T is for “time decay.” Theta measures how...

Greek of the Week: Vega

Greek of the Week: Vega

Editor’s note: This post, part of a four-part series about options Greeks, was originally published on Tuesday, September 4, 2018. So far we’ve reviewed three options “Greeks,” with memory tricks for keeping them straight: Delta: D is for direction.Gamma: G is for...

The Basics of Options

The Basics of Options

Options are an important tool for many retail investors. They can either replace trading shares, or make it easier to position oneself in stocks. Let's consider the first things options traders need to know. An Option's Price Is Usually Called 'Premium' There are some...

The Structure of Options Trades

The Structure of Options Trades

While options can be traded by themselves, investors often use them in conjunction with other securities. So before going further, let's consider the four basic ways that options trades are structured. You Can Trade Options by Themselves As we learned in a previous...

Buying and Selling Options

Buying and Selling Options

Most clients understand buying and selling stocks. Options are similar, and can be traded in the same brokerage accounts. However, you should know some basic differences. Bid / Ask Spreads Matter A bid/ask spread is the difference between where you can sell a security...

Art of TradeStation: Getting Ready for Earnings Season

Art of TradeStation: Getting Ready for Earnings Season

Earnings season is a key time because it lets the market assess the finances of individual companies and whole industries. Earnings season is also a time of increased volumes and price movements, creating potential opportunities for investors and active traders. While...

Art of TradeStation: Go Deeper With Market Breadth

Art of TradeStation: Go Deeper With Market Breadth

Market breadth analyzes the strength of the overall market by showing how stocks are performing in aggregate. It's a kind of technical analysis that looks deeper than the simple price performance of market-cap weighted major indexes like the S&P 500 and...