How and what do you need to know to start playing in stock options market?
84731
Before you trade stock options you need to be a proven money maker in the stock market. Unless you can anticipate stock movements, you have no chance trading stock options.\n\nThe way I trade stocks, I cut my losses short at about 7% Several years ago I decided to take that 7% and put it in call options 3 to 6 months out instead of 100% in shares. \n\nYour risk is clearly defined, and you are offered some protection from events such as market closures or gap downs.\n\nI would never risk more than 1% of my entire portfolio on an option position.\n\nSpreads, straddles, and the ability to hedge are other benefits of options. Only trade stock options if you are an accomplished stock trader. You could lose alot of money.\n\nWriting options is statistically a losing proposition in the long run. The risk / reward is clearly unfavorable.
715858
You don't say how old you are, what kind of resourses you have or your knowledge of finance in general, I.E. do you know how the market works, listed vs over the counter, options, etc.?  Before you invest a dime remember the cardinal rule of investing: the public finds out after the money's been made.  In other words, if a stock is at a high it's not the time to get in.  Also, the corolary: if it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true.  Finaly, don't invest money that you can't afford to lose, especially if you're speculating (which it sounds like you are).  Go to Morningstar.com and sign up.  It will be the best money you spend for ideas, research and analysis.  Read the Wall Street Journal and look for companies with a future.  You might want to put money in an index such as the S&P 500 especially if you think the market will keep going up (and it won't - it will correct).  Bottom line is that there is no easy answer to your question.  \n\nAvoid the following:\n\nemails with stock tips\nfax messages with stock tips\nany stock selling for under $5.00 a share (unless you're willing to lose all you invest in it\npenny stock\noptions\ncommodities\nfriends who say they "know a guy who knows a guy who said..."\n\nDo the following:\n\nUse a reputable broker either bricks and mortar (Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros, etc, or a reputable on line broker like E*Trade, Scwabb, etc.\nPut half your money in a good mutual funds of either high or mid-cap companies - you'll have gains while you experiment\nPick a point at which you want to get out on the up side (on Wall Street the pigs get slaughtered) and stick to it\nIf a stock is falling, pick a point at which you want to cut your loss.  If it;s a good company you can always buy in at what you think the low is.\n\nGood luck.  If you find the secret let me know.  I stick to known companies with solid balance sheets and a track record.  Even so I've lost (Worldcom, GM and a few others).
302032
The best way to learn about the stock market is to open up a 401(k) account at work and pick some mutual funds to invest in. At least then, you will lower your taxes and you can start to get the feel for your money fluctuating in value.\n\nYou should not invest one dime in the stock market outside of your 401(k) plan until after you establish an emergency fund. This fund should be in cash (CD'S, money market, savings account etc etc) where you can get to it. You should have at least 3 months worth of living expenses in it.\n\nAfter you do this, you can invest all you want in the stock market....but you have to remember...the stock market is like a casino........dont be greedy.......make some money and get out........financial experts lie to you......the longer you are in the market (casino) the greater your risk is. Your risk doesnt decrease by time horizon.......your risk actually increases the longer your money is in the casino....opps...i mean market.
706736
Your question reveals the fact that you are a complete newbie with very weak basic, fundamental knowledge in the stock markets and is about to do something you might regret for a very long time.\n\nInvesting or trading the stock markets never start from asking how to buy a certain stock (lets not even get into why you want to buy SIRI in the first place because you won't be able to answer why either.)... it starts from adequate investment and trading knowledge. There are quite a number of things you need to learn before you can even start thinking of the stock markets ...\n\n1. You need to understand how the stock market works and what it is exactly about.\n\n2. You need to know what are the different styles of trading in stocks and shares. \n\n3. You need to read about why so many people lose their shirts in the stock markets so that you can avoid their mistakes and also decide if this is a risk you want to take.\n\nFor all these issues and more, you can read about them from some of the articles that I wrote at http://www.mastersoequity.com/articles.htm \n\nAfter you are adequately armed with the basic concepts and ideas, you need to know how to find profitable stocks to trade or invest in. You can do that the easy way by subscribing to stock pick services (example http://www.stockpickmaster.com ) or you can learn to use charting tools and softwares to find stocks with parameters that you can pre-define. (example http://www.worden.com ) \n\nAll in all, investment and trading is a lifelong education and non stop learning. No one is ever done learning and catching up with changes in the markets. \n\nIf you care to read about how I went from completely broke to retired millionaire trading stocks and options by 28 years old, you can go to http://www.mastersoequity.com/\n\nRemember, the slogan "Just Do It", Just won't do for the stock markets. If profiting in the stock markets is as simple as buying a single stock , then why are so many people still poor?\n\nAfter you have all the above mentioned knowledge, you need to ask the following golden questions before you can decide whether a stock is worth buying or not :\n\n1. Why are you of the opinion that this stock will rise?\n\n2. Is your opinion valid in the first place?\n\n3. When are you expecting it to rise? Can you hold on for that period of time or longer?\n\n4. What is your expected entry price? After what price would your expected profit margin be too thin to enter upon?\n\n5. Where is your expected stop loss point? What is your stop loss point based on? Where will you tell yourself that it is time to take a loss and get out?\n\n6. Where is your expected profit taking point? What is your profit taking point based on? \n\n7. Does the way you are buying the stock allow you to hold on until your expected profit taking point?\n\n8. How much of your money should you dedicate to this one trade?\n\n9. What is the level of primary, secondary and idiosyncratic risk you are undertaking when deciding how much of your fund to use?\n\n10. What is your cashflow need? Does your cashflow needs allow you to hold the full lifetime of the stock?\n\nAfter you are able to answer all these questions confidently, THEN you are ready to... PAPER TRADE your stock strategy. Yes, even at this point, you are NOT READY to trade for real. You should trade on PAPER for at least 6 months and become consistently successful BEFORE you take your stock strategy into real life.\n\nThen.. you are ready to start... but there is still no guarantee of success as paper trading is very different from real trading. You will need another maybe 1 year or 2 trading very little money and be consistently successful BEFORE you are ready to increase your stakes.\n\n\nSo, as you can see, success in the stock markets is not easy at all the the less knowledge you have, the more risk you undertake.  I lost hundreds of thousands in the stock markets before I become successful.\n\nTake heed and good luck.\n\n\n\n
358597
None.  IMHO, you should start by learning how to invest, determining WHAT to buy through Fundamental Analysis and determining WHEN to buy with Technical Analysis. \n\nIMO, newsletters only make narrow recomendations based on their system of analysis and investment strategies, and often they are compensated heavily for their recomendations and therefore dangerously biased.   I firmly believe that to get a clear picture about any stock, and to determine whether you're actually going to invest in it, it's best to do your own research and adapt a system that meets your investment needs, style and risk level.  There are many stocks ripe for the picking just about at any time if you know how and where to look.\n\nStart with Investors.com, it's William O'Neil's online version of Investors Business Daily.  The How To Invest section is the best place to start learning the importance of Fundamentals and the basics of Technical Analysis.   The site has the IBD 100, a cross index list of the market leaders, the Stock Checkup, a great tool for checking fundamentals on any stock, and articles and analysis of stocks and general market conditions.  They also run various screens every day which in addition to the other lists, (IBD100, New America, stocks under $10, CANSLIM select, ect) are very helpful for finding investment ideas with solid Fundementals that are ready to move.  The CANSLIM method alone is a very successful and popular trading system, but I prefer to use a combination of Fund & Tech Analysis, rather that just the rating system alone.\n\nFrom there you can move on to more detailed study of Technical Analysis.  \n\nStart with StockCharts.com, they have an excellent free Chart School which helpfully explains various chart patterns and Technical Indicators and overlays.  Pay particular attention to the Chart Patterns section, and make sure you learn about Zig Zag patterns, Bollinger Bands, Moving Average, Volume, RSI, the MACD (Mac-D), The Williams %er, Stochastics, and the Chaikin Money Flow.  Sounds complicated, but when you start chart reading you'll want about a half a dozen or so of these overlays and indicators.  I personally rely heavily on the ZIG-ZAG, MACD, Chaikin Money Flow, Volume, Moving Average and RSI.\n\nStockTA.com is also an excellent Technical Analysis site, with charted Fibonacci resistance and support lines and will tell you if the stock is bullish or bearish in the short, medium and long run.  The site also has an extensive Candle Pattern Glossary and a fantastic technical screener.\n\nThe above sites do have premium services, but all the services I mentioned are free.  After you've absorbed some of the Technical information, do some reading on Fibonacci numbers and Elliot Wave theory, there are good links in the "School" section of StockTA.com.  I've been using Elliot Wave and Fibonacci's to help refine my in and out points.  StockCharts.com's "ZigZag" overlay helps me plot and count the waves and that helps determine where I am in the overall pattern.  \n\nSo basically I'll find interesting stocks through the screens on Investors.com or StockTA.com, run them through the Stock Checkup at Investors.com, if they measure up I'll run them through the Analyisis & Fib Analysis at StockTA.com and do an extensive chart study, examining the 2 yr, 1 yr, 6 mth, 3 mth, 1 mth & 5 day.  I'll also do my due dilligence, studying the profile, key statistics, headlines, etc. through Yahoo Finance and web searches.  If it all measures up and the stock is in a base or in a pull back and it's starting a wave 1 or wave 3, it's time to buy.\n\nRemember, always protect your downside with a stop loss or a trailing stop loss.  Once you have absorbed a few of the things I've mentioned, the fog will begin to lift and you'll start seeing which stocks should be bought or sold and you'll be able to do your own analysis on any stock, no matter where
824807
Congratulations on getting started. It’ll help you more than you know! \n\nYour first dollars should be spent on getting educated on investing. You don't have to train to trade them professionally, but we are talking about your future here. So the more you learn, the more it'll help you! So let's start there.\n\nYou ask a very broad question, so be prepared for a pretty long answer. Just take it in chunks!\n\n\nHow to invest depends on what you already know. We'll assume that you're beginning since you say you're new!\n\nA good primer is How to Make Money in Stocks by William O'Neil. You can get it cheap just about anywhere. It’s widely available new or used.\n\nAnother good one is one of Jim Cramer's books (he’s got a few). \n\nBut books will only get you so far. At some point, you'll also want to get at least a little training. There are some great education companies if you want to make the investment. Investools.com or optionetics.com are both very good companies as is tmitchell.com\n\nFor free, you can start by visiting thestreet.com and investopedia.com. That'll get you a pretty good primer so at least you'll understand what the markets are and what a stock is, etc. \n\nIf you get a chance, watch Mad Money on CNBC. Don't trade any of his picks until you track many of them over time. Just use the show to get you to understand some basics and get a feel for the market itself.\n\nNext, subscribe to something like Investorsbusiness daily or something like that that can help you identify good stocks.\n\nOnce you understand stocks, go to 888options.com. It's a website that'll help you understand options (what they do, how they work, etc). You don't need to trade them, but the more you know, the more you'll see how options can really be the safest way to invest (once you're educated).\n\nFor discipline (which is crucial to successful trading), probably Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas or Mastering the Trade by John Carter\n\nI know that’s a LOT to absorb. Just take it one step at a time for now. Start with a book or two to give you an idea of where to begin. Take your time, and let it seep in. \n\nAs you get up to speed, you should papertrade to practice (highly recommended). This should help reduce your losses in the beginning as you get used to buying/selling.\n\nYou can practice for free on almost any reputable broker site (optionsxpress, scottrade, thinkorswim, etc). And yes, you can definitely deal easily online.\n\nStart slow, then as you figure things out, you can buy more shares.\n\nCongrats again on getting started. If you have any questions, please let me know. \n\nHope this helps!\n\n\nAdditional edit: I tried to answer your question, but you haven't confirmed your email yet, so I can't reply.
423889
The best way to do anything yourself is to learn something about it first. You'd be surprised at the thousands of books available on this one subject at your local library.\n\nBut most people spend more time deciding the color of their new car, than they do on a mutual fund advisor, for example. \n\nAre you really wanting to do this yourself, or are you asking about someone who is an expert who can do it for you?\n\nIf you invest in the stock market right now, or just buy into all the ETF's you can afford, it's a crap shoot, like rolling the dice, and the odds are probably not in your favor, whether you have an expert fund manager or not, because mutual funds are always "in" the market.\n\nThey say "Buy and Hold" for the long term is better, but that depends on when you get in, and what your definiton of "long term" is. \n\nThe Dow is now approaching all-time highs last seen in Jan 2000, so if your long-term definition is more than seven years, then you won't mind waiting another seven years for a profit.\n\nIn my opinion, the name of the game is capital preservation. When the risks are high, like right now, you get out of the stock and bond markets and park your cash in a interest bearing money market fund or CD or Treasury Bill.\n\nThis is simply not a good entry point for investors. Be patient, wait a few months, and you'll be able to buy much more stock a lot cheaper, the risks will be lower (even though they will seem higher), and your chance of success greater.\n\nIf you wish to research the “Buy and Hold Strategy” further, or perhaps trade yourself, I recommend two book titles. One is called "Which Is Better, Buy-and-Hold or Market Timing?" The other is "Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Market Timer?" They will give you plenty to think about.
1026567
First you should know what your options for investing are. \n\nIf you don't have a good deal of money (in the thousands), you shouldn't invest in stocks because you won't be able to diversify your holdings enough - you need a well balanced portfolio that fits your goals and spreads out risk.\n\nUsually mutual funds are the most convenient and practical way for most people to invest in the stock market, with fund minimums starting around $1000 for funds like Vanguard STAR (VGSTX, a fund for beginning investors), and most of them being around $3,000 (and certainly going past that).\n\nAnother option is exchange-traded funds. They are baskets of stocks that are traded like stocks, and have lower expense ratios (the percentage that the fund company takes from your total return every year, usually under 1%) than mutual funds. ETFs don't have minimums.\n\nHere's the "Learn" section of a very reputable securities analysis company called Morningstar - they make lots of books about investing which you might want to check out as well.\n\nhttp://www.morningstar.com/Cover/Workshop.html?pgid=hetablearn\n\nIf you take a lot of tests there (and do well on them), you can actually send for a free book. Of course, you'll be on their mailing list after that.\n\nhttp://www.investopedia.com is also another great website for reading about all the different options available to you.\n\nAs for the brokers that you will have to buy your investments through (unless you buy it straight from a fund company like Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, or Fidelity), you have quite a few choices. The more affordable, while still easy-to-use brokers are Scottrade and TradeKing, while E-Trade and TDAmeritrade are very well-established and user-friendly but more costly brokers.\n\nHope I helped.
791161
Basic advice: if you're new to stocktrading start with longer term horizons first, to get a feeling for what you are getting into.\n \nThen:\n1. Read everything about daytrading you can get your hands on\n2. Invest in some software\n3. Develop a system \n4. Paper trade the system for a few months\n5. If you didn't make profit at point 4. go back to point 3.\n6. Open an account with at least $20000\n7. Start trading your system\n\n70% of all new daytraders give up within a year, mostly because they skipped points 1,3,4 and 5.
995102
I trade stocks and options for my main source of income.  Flutuations are caused by too many variables to list.   Keep in mind that stock price is based upon whatever the market will provide at that exact moment in time.    There has to be someone willing to buy and someone willing to sell all the time and this number changes constantly.  Based upon there being differences in the trading volume this can fluctuate the price and so can world events like crude oil prices or the value of the dollar.   Bottom line is you need to buy for the medium to long term into a few stocks about 10 in different sectors to spread out your risk and you can change your weighting according to which sectors you think are going to do well currently or in the future.  I'd prefer investing in stable companies which you can look at their S and P star rating if you don't have time to do this research yourself.  4-5 star stocks with a  good outlook for future growth are a really good way to start.
480773
You can get a feel for the "game" and not own a share of any stock. Select some stocks you think might be a good buy and set up a portfolio on a spreadsheet. Follow the stocks over a period of time and see how you did. Have a reason why you picked each stock and see if it turns out to be correct.\n\nAlso pick a couple of good index mutual funds from Vanguard, Fidelity, T Rowe Price and see how they do. I'd bet in a year they will be doing better than the total of the stocks you pick yourself.
740737
If I were you I would definitely stay out of the stock market altogether right now.  You need WAY more knowledge than it appears you have and any money you "invest" without knowing what you are doing is basically just outright gambling.\n\nAlso, you say is there a good "stock" when in fact the most important rule is to diversify and buy many stocks. If you buy only one, it could go bankrupt, which has happened to me twice in the past when I was young and didn't know better.\n\nWhen you do buy stock though, one good strategy is to find a product or service that has just come on the market and you and your friends love it.  If it is that good, then probably lots of other people will love it as well, which means more sales and more profit for that company.  Just make sure it is a product/service that is innovative and just came out, like....krispy kreme when people were first getting into it.
355463
For you to understand option pricing at more than a superficial level you will need a certain mathematical level.  Ideally you will have had calculus and will understand the basics of differential equations and how to solve them.\n\nAssuming this, there is a very good book by John Hull which is called "Options, Futures and Other Derivatives" which is very expensive new but which you can get used for probably $60 used.  It will be worth the money.\n\nThis is the only options book I ever read (an earlier edition) and I have been trading derivatives since the early 1990s.
581725
a general understanding of commodity trading, portfolio management and economic trends would seem to be in order. Most jobs require at least a B.S. Most of the jobs I saw were looking for someone that had 5 years experience or an advance degree (Financial Engineering was hot last year).\n\nFXGame - Currency Trading Game might be a way to test some of your knowledge and skills without risking any cash.
505134
Good question.  I wish that more people would LEARN about how the stock market exists and participates in its usage.\n\nThe best way, first of all, is to understand the fundamentals of business.  Not just how it works, but what constitutes profit, earnings, etc. Once you have a fair understanding of how business works, then you are ready to understand the stock market.\n\nDON"T get into it, though, if you are just looking to make money WITHOUT doing any work, either in researching the companies, or in researching the people who research the companies (broker consultants)!  That is probably my only caveat. \n\nNow...start here for your stock market tutorial... Good luck!\n\nhttp://www.investopedia.com/university/stocks/\n\nRemember me in a few years when you are filthy rich so I can do research for you at 8 bucks an hour...
383728
What exactly do you want to do?  If you want professional software there is a lot of stuff out there.  If you just want to mess around with option pricing stuff you can look at \n\nhttp://www.derivativesmodels.com/DerivativesModels/index.php - and here is a great bunch of free option pricing spreadsheets:\n\nhttp://www.global-derivatives.com/spreadsheets.php
318491
Well first you need to find a broker. Like ameritrade, scottrade, e-trade, td waterhouse, shwab, ect. \n\nPersonally I use scottrade. only $7 to make a trade unlimited shares, market and limit, no maintenance fees, no inactivity fees or any fees unless you specifically use a service that has a fee, but you will know before you are charged.  \n\nThen once you have contacted a broker and opened an account you can start making trades. The key to success is to make an inversting strategy and follow it. A strategy can be anything, like you might buy stocks between 5-10 dollars, volumes greator than 1 million on a 3 month avg, that have recently had management changes. You then take that list of companies and choose the best one/s. You may also want to diversify by buying companies with negative correlations to decrease risk. But you can do what ever you want.\n\nFor more information call scottrade they have people sitting around that can answer any question you have about investing, even if you don't have an account.