[digitaldrz]

Hey everyone,

I am Bob Zenhausern and am starting this thread on options for the uninitiated and beginners. I am not a professional and have learned via the school of hard knocks. There is a series of articles that will appear weekly that will speak to various option strategies and introduce the underlying theory of options slowly and hopefully painlessly.
Each article will be accompanied by an Excel spreadsheet that will allow you to interactively explore options. You can see the first article at: www.marketsynthesis.org/options

The purpose of this thread is to discuss options and options strategies whether or not they relate to my articles.

For more details see the KaboomStocks Newsletter

Enjoy,

Bob

[digitaldrz]

A new article has been added to the options series. It covers the bearish strategy of buying a put. I have also re-organized the package so that there will be a single spreadsheet with all the examples and a single word document with all the articles. You will notice that the spreadsheet also has an example of an option chain. It is a live chain and will be updated if you type Alt,D,R (with any cell in the chain selected) in 2003 or select Data, Refresh All from the ribbon in 20 The link is at Introduction to Options

[digitaldrz]

The introduction to option website is now fully functional at Market Synthesis
You can skip the introductory page (but you will miss a great shot of my grandaughter) by going directly to Options.

You will be beta testing the site, so let me know if things are not working well.

[digitaldrz]

The next article in the series is available at Market Synthesis where you will be able to read and download information on Option Chains, preliminary information on option pricing, and a clue on the process of buying options.

Questions on this material both welcome and encouraged on this forum.

Bob

[digitaldrz]

Up to this point we have been considering buying an option which might be compared to playing a slot machine -- low probability of high gain. Selling or writing an option is like playing the house -- high probability of a low gain. This article is an introduction to selling a Call as a way to increase your selling price when you want to get rid of a stock and one of the most common option strategies: the Covered Call. Options

[digitaldrz]

This is the latest article in the option for beginners series. It deals with the strategy of writing (selling) a put. This is a strategy that can be used to generate income when a stock increases, is stable, or even drops a bit. It is also a way to buy a stock at a discount that guarantees you will pay less on a stock you purchase.

You can see this latest installment at Options