Universal Investment Strategies | Options Trading is a tricky concept. Many people are often misguided by saying that trading options are as same as trading stocks, which is not the case at all. Stocks are completely different from Options and are even traded in a completely different market. Therefore, to understand Options Trading better, you must understand the basics first.
What is Options Trading?
Options Trading, in its true definition, is a contract. This contract allows an investor/buyer to trade an underlying instrument, such as security, ETF, Stocks, at a pre-determined price for a specific time period.
Now, there are two types of Options that are most commonly traded, Call and Put Options. The Option that allows investors and buyers to buy shares at a later time is called “Call Option”. Whereas, the Option that allows selling your shares at a later time is called a “Put Option”.
The important thing to remember here is that there is a time limit. This time limit may be short or long, depending on the ability of the contract, but once the time limit is over it holds no value. However, the best thing is that you can walk away from it whenever you want. Also, Options are considered low risk and its premium is just a percentage of the asset.
The reason they are considered less risky is that the contract allows investors to exercise the option till the time limit, but does not oblige them to. Due to this system, Options are also considered as derivative securities, since their value can be derived from the valuable assets in the market.
Why Trade Options?
The whole idea behind trading options is to bet on whether the value of your assets in the market will go up, down, or to the hedge. Having options will allow you to control the value of your asset for an extended period of time even if the actual market value deviates.
For instance, consider that you own a few shares in a company. Now, the value of shares fall and you incur a loss on your trade. However, if you have a “Put Option” for your shares, then you can sell these shares at a pre-determined price for a specific period of time. Let us understand this with numbers.
Consider the value of the shares you own to be $100. Now, after a month, the value falls to $80, which is a $20 loss to your bank. However, you have a “Put Option”, which allows you to sell these shares at $120 for a specified period of 3 months.
Now, you can either exercise this Put Option to sell your shares, and earn a $20 profit on your shares, or wait for the value to rise again. Remember, having an option does not oblige you to exercise it, but after the time limit it holds no value.
The pre-determined price at which the investor is allowed to sell is called the Strike Price, and the Premium is the price you pay for the Put Option. The terms are similar for Call Option as well, in which the Strike Price is the pre-determined price at which the investor can buy and the Premium is the price for the Call Option.
Universal Investment Strategies, Los Angeles CA
Universal Investment Strategies is an education platform that specializes in teaching Options Trading, along with many other trading concepts. With us, you can learn how to trade stocks in a way that’s best convenient for you. Here, you can learn Online Stock Trading and Best Options to Trade, along with the access to Best Trading Courses to help you out more.
You can check out our Universal Investment Strategies Reviews page to get some real insights on how our mentors take upon their students to teach them the various concepts of trading.
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