“We wanted to create an option symbol format that was easier and more convenient for our customers to use.”

Charting, Portfolio Management and Trading Software for active investors.

“Since many of our customers trade options, we wanted to create an option symbol format that was easier and more convenient for our customers to use than the cryptic internal ticker formats the data services were using.”, said Anatoly Ivasyuk, CTO of DTLink Software. “So instead of something like MSQ100220P00030000, customers using Personal Stock Monitor can write MSQ Feb 20 2010 Put 30. The ticker symbol becomes an easy-to-read description of the option, instead of something you have to decipher.”

The new options ticker symbol support is available immediately, in the current release of Personal Stock Monitor Gold software.

About Personal Stock Monitor GOLD

In contrast to strictly web based solutions, Personal Stock Monitor GOLD is a Windows(tm) desktop application used by investors world-wide to automatically monitor their stock market portfolios, freeing them to explore more trading ideas in less time. Light weight enough to run in the background, PSM can monitor a portfolio, track it’s performance and alert the investor based on preset criteria. Built in trading allows the investor to act on events instantly. Personal Stock Monitor GOLD supports tracking stock market equities, options, mutual funds, ETFs and other securities all from the privacy of a dedicated desktop application. It features technical analysis charting, portfolio management calculations, reporting, an advanced alert system, scrolling ticker bar, integration with Microsoft Excel and a comprehensive scripting API for developing custom extensions.

Personal Stock Monitor GOLD works with all major version of the Windows(tm) desktop operating system including Win98 up through Windows 7, and requires a minimum of 512MB RAM, 50MB hard disk space, and an Internet connection.

Evaluation copies of Personal Stock Monitor GOLD are available for immediate download from:

http://www.personalstockmonitor.com/downloads.html

For additional information, contact:
DTLink Software
9608 48th Ave.
College Park, MD 20740
Phone: +1 (301) 441-3103 x1
Fax: +1 (301) 614-2974

On the web: http://www.personalstockmonitor.com/media_room.html

Personal Stock Monitor is a trademark of DTLink Software, L.L.C.
CollabInvest is a service mark of DTLink Software, L.L.C.

Excel, Money and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT).


Bookmark & Share

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 8, 2009 — Gryphon Financial has released a new special report, Future Options Trading: The Must Know Guide to Future Options Trading. This report reveals a detailed look into Futures trading, including the winning strategies used by the best and brightest experts in the field and the attitude and insight needed to succeed.

Futures’ trading is a proven money making strategy that can be used by any type of investor, yet is has a stigmatism attached to it for being too sophisticated to understand and master. Gryphon Financial recognizes just how intimidating Futures Trading could be for most individual traders. And for this reason, Gryphon Financial has released a new Special Report on the subject of Futures trading – available with their compliments, to the general public.

According to Michael Warren, co-founder of Gryphon Financial, “At Gryphon Financial, we firmly believe in the old Chinese Proverb, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ This is our motivation for providing free educational materials for amateur and advanced traders alike. Futures trading is a lucrative strategy that every trader should come to master. We supply the help every investor needs.”

As the economy and the markets stabilize, traders will be looking for new trading methods and systems to help them capitalize in the emerging bull market. Gryphon Financial’s expert advice and insight into the markets will prove to be valuable for traders of every level.

Gryphon Financial wants to make the Stock Market accessible to everyone. Traders at home can download a copy of Gryphon Financial: Future Options Trading: The Must Know Guide to Future Options Trading right here.

Port St. Lucie, FL (PRWEB) September 10, 2008 — T & K Futures and Options, Inc. now offers clients access to a multitude of federally registered and licensed Commodity Trading Advisors. Managed futures funds are professionally managed futures accounts run by commodity trading advisors. These managed futures funds are for investors searching for greater market diversification into the various commodity sectors without having to take the time necessary to actively manage the investments on a day to day basis.

“There are many reasons why managed futures funds may be a good investment for risk tolerant investors.”

Managed futures trading allows for the opportunity to reduce overall portfolio volatility and risk because they can fluctuate independently of the stock, bond and real estate markets. Managed futures accounts can also deliver the potential for higher overall portfolio returns than a strictly stock and bond portfolio. Professionally managed futures funds have the ability to profit in any economic environment because of the ease of shorting or going long any of the various futures markets that are being traded. Managed futures trading also gives investors the ability to invest in virtually all areas of the global marketplace. Visit www.tkfutures.com/managed-futures-trading.htm to view some of the various managed commodity funds that are available to choose from.

“There are many reasons why managed futures funds may be a good investment for risk tolerant investors.”

There is substantial risk of loss involved in managed futures trading. Many managed futures funds will cease trading if the assets devalue by 50 percent but investors should read carefully through and futures fund’s prospectus before investing any risk capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results and only risk capital should be used when investing in any high risk investment. There is substantial risk of loss in managed futures trading and this type of investment may not be suitable for many investors. Visit www.tkfutures.com/risk_disclosure.htm to learn more.

There are many different managed futures funds to choose from. Some focus on only one sector of the commodity markets such as grains or metals while others trade just about every sector. This allows investors to tailor fit a fund into their overall portfolio that specifically meets their needs to have a certain missing commodity sector or asset class as part of their investments. Visit www.tkfutures.com/education.htm to learn more about the basics of commodity trading and see the various sectors involved in commodity investing.

Managed futures trading should be considered by investors as a speculative investment and at most should only make up 20% but probably less of the total assets in a portfolio. Managed futures funds are very similar to a managed stock mutual fund but the extreme volatility may be too much for some investors to take. Unlike a stock mutual fund, futures funds often require a minimum investment of $50,000 or more to begin trading.

The author of this release is a 15 year veteran of the commodity markets and the president of T & K Futures and Options, Inc. Managed futures funds to some degree may be appropriate for many investors but should be implemented sparingly based on the investor’s risk tolerance.

Besides the expert options described above, there are other nontraditional ways to make money on the stock market. In considering these options, however, you should consider making a career of trading stocks and securities. Some types of trading are simply not for the faint of heart, and that means you must have complete motivation and an adventurous spirit to take part in these areas of the market. The chances of taking a giant hit and experiencing a great loss are multiplied.

Day Trading

Day traders take on some of the greatest market risk of all. Because day traders work with investments that change drastically within hours, they are by nature playing in the lion’s den. These stocks are extremely volatile, and for most, day trading is a quick way to lose a great deal of money. It is difficult to make a great deal of cash in this manner, and it is even more difficult to forecast the outcome of these day trade stock options. You cannot be certain of the overnight position (the net value at which a stockbroker or day trader will open the following morning).

And in Forex, there is little room for day trading, as the market never shuts down during the workweek. In these cases, the day trader has to set a time limit for him- or herself to get out, selling all shares, so that he or she can sleep soundly while the world spins round and start the next day fresh.

Day trading is very dangerous and is not recommended to newcomers. In fact, it is not really recommended at all, and most people who partake of this volatile part of the industry are extremely seasoned in trading on the open market, do not consider the risk factors carefully enough prior to entering this branch of the market, or have enough money that they simply wish to try this form of investment and do not care if they lose a goodly sum.

Secondary Markets

Secondary markets are interesting in that they are created by the government to help redistribute money that is used for loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two of the major corporations from which stocks are purchased on a secondary market.

Here is how it works. When a person purchases a home, he or she requests a loan from the bank, usually for about eighty percent of the cost of the house. This is granted, and the house is purchased by the bank for the individual or family, who begins to pay off the loan to the bank.

Meanwhile, to assure that money is available at that bank for the next person who needs a mortgage loan, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, two entities originally established by the United States government, will purchase the loan from the bank. Therefore, the money is returned to the bank for use in the future.

What do these agencies then do with the deficit they have acquired? They sell it. On the secondary market, they break up the loan into shares that are backed by the mortgage itself and sell those shares, recovering the money from investors. Eventually, those securities mature, probably about the same time that the original loan is paid off to the bank, and the investors reap the benefits of their investment with the interest earned.

Another way to take advantage of a volatile international stock market is to make a swap. This is the exchange of securities or bonds in order to take advantage of lower interest rates. For example, if a business entity in Britain is in possession of one security, and another in Japan is in possession of a different security, the two commodities may be beneficially traded or sold to each other in order to save on the interest rates, if the currently held bond or security is kept at a lower interest rate in the opposing market.
For example, let’s say one business is in possession of a bond “A” that is paying out only two percent interest in its current market, and another is holding bonds “B” in its market at three percent interest. If bond A is actually paying out three percent on the foreign market, and bond B can be cashed in for four percent on the first market, both parties can make more money on a trade of bonds. They can mutually benefit from a sale of the securities to each other due to a gain of more interest.

If that seems confusing, then perhaps a swap is not in your near future. This is more often processed between businesses on the foreign market rather than individual parties, though with the correct broker, it could be accomplished. However, should you work the deal, you need know little except that you are looking at a higher profit margin than previously, and your broker will take care of the rest.

If you determine that you should have stock options as a business, you will probably decide to hire a fulltime consultant for all your financial needs, including the handling of your share holdings. In fact, when businesses are large enough and present a strong enough trading presence within the market, especially on Forex, you will find that there are entire departments dedicated to maintenance on the stock options.

There are more kinds of risk than there are investments, since every instrument carries several kinds. But risk isn’t inherently bad. Without it there’d be fewer opportunities for profit.

The fundamental risk, of course, is price uncertainty. No one knows for sure whether GOOG (the symbol for Google stock) will be higher tomorrow or lower.

Options, like futures or bonds, carry an additional risk – at some point, from a day to several months or years, they expire. On or before that date, the holder has to decide whether to sell the contract, exercise the option to buy or sell the underlying asset, or simply let the option expire.

Each of these choices carries implications for gain or loss and all are uncertain (to some degree) with respect to the size of that outcome.

Complicating the price and timing risks of options is their volatility risk. It’s uncertain, on any given day, how much the price will vary and how rapidly.

Ironically, options themselves are forms of risk management. Since the underlying asset, say a stock or bond, has risks as an investment buying options allows holders to compensate for them.

Leverage is one form in which options help to manage risk. Leverage is the ability to control more than you own. Suppose you want to purchase a 100 shares of Google. At the current market price that’s an outlay of around $40,000 (excluding commission). That’s a hefty sum for the average investor.

But you can control 100 shares of GOOG without owning them for less than 1/10th the cost – currently around $2800 – the price of one option. (One options contract typically is written on 100 shares.)

How is that a form of risk management? The reason is there’s another kind of risk: principal risk. I.e the risk of losing (all or part of) your investment. (Actually this is a form of price risk.)

Purchase a 100 shares of GOOG and you stand to lose $40,000 in the (very unlikely) case that Google goes bust. (Unlikely, but not impossible. Rapid shifts in technology or other factors have tanked more than one high-tech stock. 3Com and Cisco are two good examples. Though not zero, their shares experienced considerable declines in the past few years.)

Purchase one option instead and your principal risk is limited to the – painful if lost, but much smaller – amount of the premium: $2800, the cost of the options. (Excluding commissions.)

Of course, the example is a little unfair since the odds of Google stock going to zero is itself close to zero. But there are companies for whom the odds are not so favorable and the principle (pun intended) is the same.

So, how do you manage these risks? Simple. Simple, but not easy.

Start by identifying all the known risk factors and quantifying them. (Simple in that identifying and measuring them is straightforward, but minimizing them is anything but easy.)

Fortunately, there are several different software product offerings that will help you do that. It’s no longer necessary to be a finance and mathematics wizard. The software incorporates the algorithms used by experts to measure various factors – such as delta, theta, vega, volatility and others – that can affect your potential profit or loss.

While the underlying mathematics is heavy going, the basic concepts are simple and can be used by any trader to help measure risk and maximize profits.

The Greeks are based on factors that common sense would suggest affect the price of an option. The determinants are the underlying asset’s market price, the option strike price, the time left to expiration, volatility and short-term interest rates. All these pieces of data are readily available and it’s clear why they would affect an option’s value.

Take the strike price for example. That’s the contractually specified price at which the asset, say a stock, would have to be bought or sold if the option were exercised.

Suppose MSFT (Microsoft) were selling at $28 per share and the option considered was a June 31 call. (Note: the ‘31′ refers to the strike price, not the date on which the option expires.) This option is ‘out-of-the-money’ since the strike price is higher than the current market price.

Clearly, the price of the option itself (the ‘premium’) will be affected by just how far out-of-the-money the option is. One measure of this difference is the first Greek: delta.

Not a simple difference, the delta is a ratio which compares the change in price of the asset to the change in price of the option. For example, if the delta in the above example were 0.7, for every $1 rise in MSFT the call option can be expected to increase by 70 cents ($0.70).

A trader doesn’t need to know how to calculate it, only how to use it. (Any good options trading software will show all four Greeks, along with price, expiration, etc.) Delta tends to increase the closer the option is to expiration for those close to in-the-money. Delta is also affected by changes in implied volatility. (The latter is also frequently provided by trading software.)

Theta measures what is sometimes referred to as the ‘time decay’ of an option. Since all have an expiration date, and since the less time left the less likely the market price will move in a desired direction, theta is a measure of risk and value.

Suppose that MSFT June 31 call were priced at $3 and the theta were 0.5. Then, in theory, the value of the option would drop by 50 cents ($0.50) per day.

As expiration nears, the price for a premium can be expected to decline at a faster rate. An option with, say, two days left is losing value quicker than one with three months remaining. That change is reflected in the value of theta.

An option is a contract giving the investor the right to buy or sell some instrument at a given price on or before a stated date.

Options contracts are written on all sorts of underlying assets: real property, stocks, bonds, even movie screenplays. (Though the latter trade on a rather different sort of exchange…)

The basic idea is simple. Invest a (relatively) small sum today, to control something worth a larger amount today. Bet that the price will move in a given direction before a certain date, then sell and pocket the difference.

For example, suppose Google shares are selling at $400 per share. But buying 1,000 shares of GOOG (the symbol for Google stock) at $400 each would cost $400,000. That’s a substantial investment of cash, one beyond the means of the average investor.

Even buying on margin (borrowing) would typically get you only half the way there. Most stock brokers will lend their clients only up to 50% of the total cost. (There are laws restricting them, in any case.)

But, you can still ‘own’ 1,000 shares of GOOG. Simply buy an option at, say, $20 per share (the ‘premium’). Now your investment is $20,000 – hefty, but within reach. (That’s called ‘leverage’ – controlling more than you own.)

Every option has an expiration date – the date by which the investor must ‘exercise his option’, i.e. execute a decision to buy/sell the instrument or lose his invested money. Depending on the underlying asset, and other factors, the date can be anywhere from a day to several months hence.

Options also have a strike price – the price at which the underlying instrument has to be bought or sold when exercising the option.

Continuing the example, suppose the option for GOOG expires in 30 days and has a strike price of $410. The break-even price would be $410 + $20 = $430 per share. At this point, you are ‘under water’ by $30 per share x 1,000 shares = $30,000. Ouch!

(Note: ‘Under water’ is – obviously – not the same amount as your investment. It’s the amount you have to rise to reach break-even.)

But, three weeks pass and Google announces some good news about earnings. The price per share rises to $440. Now you can exercise your option (’close your position’) and sell.

The options contract price has increased as well, to $25. Your profit is: ($25-$20) x 1,000 = $5,000. (Ignoring broker fees.) Not bad. That’s a 25% profit on a $20,000 investment. (Of course, prices fall as well. More on risk and hedging strategies later.)

Options aren’t for everyone. They’re more complicated (though not too much), riskier, and generally involve shorter term trades and the requirement to watch the market more closely.

But note that purchasing the options contract did NOT involve investing 5% ($20/$400 x 100%) and borrowing 95% of the funds. Options contracts are a straight investment of funds, not a broker loan.

If the price goes in the predicted direction before expiration, you make money. Otherwise, you lose (some or all of) your investment.

As with any investment, do your homework. Make sure you understand how options work and what the relative risks are. In particular, study the market for that type of underlying instrument. Throwing darts blindly is the least successful options trading strategy.

Good luck… or should we say, good research.