Would you ever exercise an American option on a stock prior to maturity?
454757
Yes and it does have to do with dividends.  You'll want to exercise early if the stock is about to pay a dividend and the "time value" of the option is less than the dividend.  \n\nWhat does that mean?  Well, a stock's price should drop after a dividend is paid so if the current market price is just slightly above your option's strike price, the option could go from an "in the money" option (meaning if you exercise you'll get some cash) to an "out of the money" option (meaning you'll get nothing).  Still, even this wouldn't mean that you'd definitely want to exercise the option unless the expiry date of the option was also coming up.  I.e. the stock price doesn't have a reasonable chance of recovering from the dividend payment to get back "into the money".
682035
I do not believe that you can, but call Etrade and ask them if they have the ability. Many foreign stocks however are traded on the U S pink sheet if they are not traded on an exchange. A couple of other options open to you are to trade the foreign indexes or to trade the mutual funds that specialize in foreign markets.
62647
Stock options give you the ability to purchase new shares of stock directly from a company (typically your employer).  In order to exercise them, you must first understand the vesting schedule will outlines when you are allowed to exercise your shares.  Typically the shares vest in annual increments over 3 to 5 years.  You exercise the shares by contacting someone in the finance organization within your company for information about this.\n\nYou will also need to understand if the shares are Pre or Post IPO shares as the tax treatment of the shares is different for each type.
527864
If your sure about the fundamentals of the stock then its adviceable to take anywhere between 30-45% positions in a pullback as this will bring down ur average, Although i have also sen people taking 100% or more to get to a good average if the stock has taken lot of beating... in all my advice would be 30-40% but dont ignore the market reality before to take such a call
79238
If I were you, I'd not take a whole lot of stock in a pension.  Remember, IBM just froze theirs and they are a financially sound company.  If I were you, I'd make sure I had enough money invested to make sure I could retire well - Don't believe it.
1117541
Yes, anyone can. Just make sure that your are working with a good brokerage company or a good website like ameritrade.
639839
Several years ago there was a commodity traded, maine potatoes.  Every year for something over two-dozen years, the price would go up in the middle of January through early February.  Information was not as free back then, I could track causes better today on the Internet.  So I had some money and practiced trading in corn, making a little bit while getting the ropes.  The target was this, the smallest increase was 8 cents a pound, 50,000 pound contracts.  I caught it on a down tick and felt like a surfer catching a wave.  Unfortunately, it was a tsunami.  There were several millionaires who had also spotted the trend and they thought they could buck it.  So the price went limit up, trading stopping after the first couple of minutes, doing this for a few days, then limit down, again stopping trading after a few minutes into the next trading day.  I got a margin call, but it was for more money than I had, so the brokerage confiscated my position.  When the dust settled, the price had indeed gone up as I antcipated, but I was trapped out, unable to profit from it.  For that matter I was paying off that debt to the brokerage firm for years, instead of paying off my mortgage, which is what would have happened if those guys hadn't been greedy.  Meanwhile, it bankrupted something upwards of 100 rich traders who had tried to turn the market, and sent something like 60 to prison.\n\nThis doesn't happen all the time.  Just be careful, you can lose more than you put in, although trading the option MAY limit that.  For instance, even in stock options, if you sell a naked option and things go against you and someone calls that option and you haven't had a covering option to cancel, you are on the hook for supplying the shares.  Be careful of trading too close to the expiration.  I remember positioning for one thing expected to go up, and by the time the events began driving it up, my option was close to expiring, I got almost nothing out of it.\n\nA good plan is a wonderful thing.  But with commodities and commodity options, there is still uncertainty, and definitely danger.
1104813
If the interest is about the same between the guaranteed and un-guaranteed investments, I would without question take the guaranteed option.  Even if the interest is slightly higher in the unguaranteed option, having that security is worth the reduction in the interest rate.
50554
Look at how much you invested and how much you've lost. Then, figure out how much you could "lose" before you HAD to get out. If the calls are still worth more than your exit point, you COULD keep going.\n\nWhile we're about 5 weeks away from the expiration of your options, time decay will start kickingin soon. Playing with options close to expiration is very risky.\n\nLearning point : When you invest in options, set two exit "points". The lower one will serve to limit your loss. The upper one will require some mental discipline and limit your profits.\n\nMany investors with a profitable stock/option want to let it ride. Unfortunately, even good stocks/options can quickly turn sour, costing you $$$. In the words of Jim Cramer...\n\nBulls make money.\nBears make money.\nPigs get slaughtered.\n\n\nGood luck!
9902
Yes, you can own a percentage of a stock share with divident reinvestment.  It is up to the individual companies, but no major companies will allow you to buy partial shares, however with dividents, you can have them.
929657
Yes.  But read the prospectus, since it may have a provision whereby the administrator automatically reinvests the dividends rather than paying them out.
48240
Not unless you like lots of risk. Google is a very volatile stock.  There is no doubt that Google is over valued but let me remind you of the internet bubble of 1998-2000. These stock were overpriced in 1998 but that did not prevent them from rising another 5 fold--some of which were not worth the paper the certificates were printed on--Global Crossing comes to mind. Cisco was selling at 20 in 1998 and 100 in 2000. Now it under 20. And it is a good company. Google is too. \n\nIf you really, really have a hanckering to short Google two ways to do it to minimize your risk are as follows: 1) is to buy a put on the stock. The put will give you a period of time to sell Google at a particular price. \n\nFor example a 370 put expiring in the end of June 2006 will currently cost you $2100 for 100 shares. If the stock closes below $348 by the expiration date in June you will make money. If not you will loose your $2100 but nothing more. Of course you may ask why does the put cost so much when the stock is currently selling at 435.  Because a lot of people think it might be over priced. \n\nAs the price of Google rises and falls, the price of the options also rises and falls and as the option approaches the expiration date, its value also falls.\n\n2) short the stock and buy a call option. The call option gives you the ability to buy the stock at a given price for a given length of time. That way if Google rises 30 points the day after you short it, your loss is limited to the cost of the call option.
672553
Stock Derivatives: Options and Futures\nArguably the most volatile and risky investments possible, options and futures are "derivative" securities, meaning their value is "derived" from that of another security or commodity. Options and futures are both very volatile because they often carry an incredible amount of leverage. For instance, each option contract on an individual stock controls 100 shares of that stock for a fraction of the stock's current value. Since option traders have only invested a small percentage of the stock's price, any move in the price represents a big percentage change for their investment. Say they paid $5 per share for an option on a stock that sells for around $50 a share. If the price of the stock goes up $5, that's a 10% move in the price of the stock, but it's 100% of the option trader's investment. So a relatively small upward movement in the stock can be a huge upward movement for the option.\n\nThis potential for gain is offset by the fact that the entire purchase price of an option is at risk. If an investor holds an option and the underlying stock does not exceed the target price within the given time period, the option expires worthless and the entire purchase price is lost. (Most options end up worthless on their expiration date.) Traders also have to cover the price of the option. That five-dollar increase in the value of the stock wouldn't actually make the trader any money if the option expires at that point. It would just have covered the cost of the option. And if you think this is getting complicated, we've barely scratched the surface!\n\nThe Motley Fool does not consider options and futures to be worthwhile investments. Some people make a living trading derivatives -- they make their living trading against people like you. The chance of losing money with derivatives is much too high for options to be considered a useful part of any completely nutritious investment strategy.
819275
Yes.  The US stock markets are open to all.  And you are not restricted to the US; large brokerage houses have the capacity to buy and sell on all the free-entry exchanges around the world.\n\nYou will have to fill out US tax forms as a resident, though.  Sorry.  It's called "pay to play."
584340
Yes, it is possible.  You generally have to apply through your brokerage and state your occupation and salary just in case so they know.  \n\nBuying on Margin is more risky since you are borrowing. Be sure to check your brokerage's interest rates and their margin requirements and when they might do a margin call.\n\nIf you do get into trouble, I would advise selling your stock before raising more cash for your account.
70900
Yes you can.  And I recommend it.  ETrade IRAs give you more control and may be less costly.  I have been a customer of ETrade for over 5 years and the company has only gotten better as time goes on.  Their online instructions are easy to follow and there is always a live person to talk to (although try not to call during the peak time of day because you may have to wait more than 30 minutes to talk to someone live.)
1185175
YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING !!!   No one should have more than 5 % of their total investments in any one stock.   If you purchased it at $ .50 (total investment = $ 5,000 ), wait til it hits $ 1.00 and then sell off half.  You now have all of your investment back and no matter what happens,  you are safe.  If it goes to $2.00,  sell off another half.    Then just sit back and hope that it goes to $ 10 and splits.  In a few years, you could have 10,000 shares worth $ 100,000 but, in the meantime, you have had no sleepless nights worrying about it.