Futures are much more closely aligned to the underlying index than
options. Futures are in bigger "chunks" than options for trading.
On Feb 27, 2008, at 10:36 AM, Louis Préfontaine wrote:
Hi,
I have some experience with options, and it seems to me that options
far in the money can be a good alternative to actually buying the
stock itself. My real question was to know if there is really a big
difference between futures and options and how futures actually
compare to options in term of profit possibilities.
But you are right: options can be disastrous if one is not cautious!
Louis
2008/2/27, Dennis Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Louis,
Bid/Ask Spread, IV, Theta, Beta, Gamma, life cycle of the time
decay. Don't trade options until you have internalized what these
mean to your profits. Otherwise, it would be like trying to play
chess without knowing how the knight moves --you will get
slaughtered. Profits are in the marginal areas. Do some
simulations and see how sensitive the profits are to the cost of a
trade.
I have strayed a bit far from the purpose of this forum at this
point. You would be better off looking for more specialized places
for these basics. I learned by using the option tools at
thinkorswim, and living through the life cycle of many trades. Once
you understand options, futures will be a piece of cake to
understand --though much riskier in a significant news event
environment.
Best regards,
Dennis
On Feb 27, 2008, at 8:45 AM, Louis Préfontaine wrote:
Hi Dennis,
What do you mean by option having a heavy « overhead »?
I had the plan to buy options in the money when I get a signal from
my system. Wouldn't that be a good plan? In what futures would be
better than options?
Thanks,
Louis
2008/2/26, Dennis Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Louis,
I trade stock, options, and futures.
Futures are leveraged. That means that you are essentially
borrowing the money to buy and sell an index with a small "down
payment". Say you wanted to trade the SPX S&P 500 index ($1381.29
close today). You could trade the SPY ETF for $138.36/share. It
will cost you $69,180 for 500 shares and you get $50 profit per SPX
point ($34,590 on 2x margin, or $17,295 on 4x day trader margin).
You could trade the ES futures contract for about $5000 down
payment on 1 contract to get the same $50 profit per point. That
is a lot more leverage. With a $100K account, you can do a lot
more with futures than stock. However, with leverage, you can lose
more than the size of your account --very quickly. Money
management and working your way up to more leverage with experience
is an absolute requirement. In the US, futures profits are given
more favorable tax rates.
Options allow you to have leverage similar to futures and risk no
more than your purchase. However, they have a heavy "overhead" per
trade.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages and it is best to tailor
their use to a particular situation.
Best regards,
Dennis
On Feb 26, 2008, at 10:35 PM, Louis Préfontaine wrote:
Would you consider there is more money to be made from futures
than from stock?
Louis
2008/2/26, brian_z111 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Williams_(trader)
http://www.robbinstrading.com/worldcup/standings.asp
Scroll down for historical results.
--- In [email protected], "brian_z111" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> Howard,
>
> >Any time someone suggests a growth of more than about 40% per
year,
> >take that with a very large grain of salt.
>
> I expected you to disagree with my statement.
> I'm sure a lot of traders would be aghast at the numbers I quoted
as
> the theoretical potential.
>
> At his website Professor John Price posts audited returns of
approx
> 20-25% PA over a 5 year period, or more, using simple Techno-
> fundamental methods (as I recall the figures).
>
> The caveat there is that the sample period is short and selective.
>
> Trading on margin that would return 30-35% PA with less than half
an
> hour a days work and no effort to use any other timing mechanisms.
>
> If your statement is true we can all give up any further efforts
and
> simple trade his method.
>
> Similarly, the ASX, which is a high dividend paying market (due to
> franking) has total returns of in excess of 15% PA on average over
> longer time periods.
> Using simple leveraged buy&hold strategies that is 20-25% without
any
> ongoing effort required what-so-ever.
>
> In "Stock Market Wizards", Schwager, Jack.D, Harper Business 2001
the
> first page of the first chapter in the book quotes Stuart Walton,
> fund manager, who achieved "115 percent average annual compounded
> return in trading profits" un 8 consecutive years during the
nineties.
>
> As I understand it Schwager's books are well researched and based
on
> verifiable case studies?
>
> I only opened the book at the first chapter and didn't need to go
any
> further or to his other 2 books containing similar testimonies.
>
> brian_z
>
