Buying Stock Versus Stock Option Trading

There is quite a difference between buying stocks outright and purchasing stock options. When you purchase a stock option, you are betting on the direction of the stock price. However, stock option trading has very different characteristics than purchasing stocks and there is a lot of terminology and tricks of the trade that a new stock option trader should learn in order to successfully trade stock options.

There are two types of stock options - calls and puts. Purchasing a call option means that you have the right (however, not the obligation) to purchase the stock at the strike price at any time before your stock option expires. When you purchase a put option, you have the right (however, again not the obligation) to sell the stock at the strike price any time before the expiry date of the stock option. A call option is purchased when you expect the price of the stock to inflate, a put option when you expect the price to deflate.

The main difference between buying stocks compared to stock options is that when you purchase a stock, you own a piece of the company whereas when you purchase a stock option, you simply have a contract that allows you to buy and sell the stock at a specific price before the option expires. There are always two sides for every option transaction - a buyer and a seller so for each option, either call or put that you purchase, there is someone selling it.

Stock option trading can be compared to betting on the racetrack where you are betting against other people. Buying stocks is compared to gambling in the casino, where you bet against the house. Trading options is a ‘zero-sum game’, which means that the option buyers gain equals the sellers loss and vice versa - they are mirror images of each other so there is no positive or negative cost involved.

Stock option trading can be a very lucrative game and many stock option traders use options as part of their larger strategy based on a selection of stocks. It’s important that if you want to begin stock option trading that you understand the ins and outs of the market, the stocks and stock option trading before leaping in head first. There’s a lot to do with stock option trading and you can be quite successful if you take the time to learn these skills as well as research the company and stock history of the stock and company that you are looking to purchase stock option in.

Sam Perdue has been actively trading the markets for over 13 years and owns Trading Synergy, Inc. He has written a computer program that helps traders analyze the stock, Forex, commodities and options markets using Fibonacci ratios, Elliott Wave, option pricing and nonlinear programming algorithms. For more information, please see our option trading software.

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Discover The Danger Of Technical Analysis

Let’s cut to the chase…

The biggest and most critical danger of technical analysis is that, after a while, it starts to show you exactly what YOU WANT to see!

In quantitative studies, there is a phenomenon where your research starts showing you what you want to see instead of what is really happening and that is known as “Data Mining”. Data Mining occurs most frequently when there is a huge benefit to you if the results are showing one way instead of another. This is the exact same phenomenon in technical analysis.

In technical analysis, charts start showing you what you want to see especially when you have made a mistake and needs the stock to go one way instead of another! Suddenly, the deeper you dig into the myriad of technical indicators, the more “evidence” you seem to find supporting your mistake, giving you the eerie confidence that your mistake is going to turn out just fine.

We all remember how that turned out, don’t we?

Technical analysis is essentially a study of the various ways to interpret historical price and volume action in order to form an opinion of future direction. Because technical analysis methods have become so complex over the years with literally THOUSANDS of technical indicators that have been developed, the average amateur investor can always find ways to make a chart look the way they want it to and point towards a non-existent future direction!

Before anyone here thinks that I am against technical analysis, I am not. In fact, my main trading system, the Star Trading System is a technical analysis based option trading system that has made me money over and over again, year after year. So, what really is the problem? The problem is the misuse of technical analysis and the misuse of incompatible technical indicators! Until you really understand the formula and logic behind every technical indicator, the purpose for which each indicator has been developed for and what other confirming indicators works with each other, you will never be able to use technical analysis to form an educated opinion! You will continue to see only whatever you want to see. Some call it “Analysis Paralysis”, I call it pure ignorance.

Sadly, it takes years of research and heaps of lost money to get technical analysis right and it will only become harder and harder to get right with ever more complex and new indicators being developed everyday. A lack of knowledge and lack of time to attain that knowledge has always been the bane of all amateur traders. That is why following a developed and proven trading system with a proven, proprietary mix of indicators is the best thing an amateur trader can do.

So, the next time you look at a technical analysis chart, remember, are you merely looking to prove what you already have in mind? Because if you are, then you are very likely to find all the evidences you need to support your own views.

Jason Ng is the Founder and Chief Option Strategist of Masters ‘O’ Equity Asset Management (MastersoEquity.com) and author of OptionTradingPedia.com. He is a fund manager specialising in options trading and his revolutionary Star Trading System has helped thousands.

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