Options symbols follow an outline.  Once you know the rules you can assemble and understand options symbols.

The furious rally that the markets have staged over the last three months appears to be running out of steam. The consensus that we are heading for a pullback is growing every day.

Believe it or not, but based on the classic Wall Street definitions, we’re in a new bull market. As of last Friday, all three major market indices recovered more than 20% from their March 9 lows.

We are in the midst of the worst economy in decades. Corporate earnings are falling. Unemployment is rising. And there looks to be no relief in sight. While the stock market is due for a bounce (probably a big one), there is no doubt that the general trend is still down.

Readers often ask me the truth about options and the advisability of buying puts and calls on stocks.

Let me begin by saying that options are tools, nothing more. Tools can be used to build something. Or they can be used to tear something down.

The key is to understand and master your tools and, more importantly, not destroy wealth when your intention is to create it.

Let’s start by defining our terms…

The Difference Between Put & Call Options?

Here are the differences between put and call options:

• A put option gives the owner the option of selling a stock at a specific price, again known as the strike price, over a given period of time.
• A call option gives its owner the option to…

This may turn out to be the week options traders have been waiting for. Since this economic crisis began to unfold in early September, the CBOE’s volatility index (the VIX) has soared to record levels. Only recently has the upward pressure begun to wane.

Today, the situation for the VIX is looking quite intriguing. The highly watched index found the momentum to drop below its 50-day moving average. The VIX is currently indicated at 58.93, just below the moving average’s level slightly above the 60 level.

This is only the second time since the end of August the index has traded below its 50-day average. The last time was in late November and the trend lasted for just a few trading sessions.…

Not every automaker CEO is down on his knees with cap in hand. Some of them are too proud to beg… and Taipan Daily won’t have to beg either with the right options strategy.

Not every auto manufacturer wants charity, you know.

While Detroit’s CEOs were up on Capitol Hill whining and begging like street junkies for a mere $25 billion to tide them over until spring, salesmen from Bentley, Lamborghini and Maserati were working the floor of the Los Angeles Auto Show like madmen in an attempt to stem their stateside sales losses.

Now don’t let their $500 suits and smooth manners fool you. These guys are hurting too. Lambo’s down 15% (pretty much a match to the whole biz’ 2008 decline). And…

At an Oxford Club chapter meeting in Asheville, NC last summer, an attendee asked me what I thought about Wall Street’s much-ballyhooed “structured products.” My answer was brief. “Not much.”

Karim Rahemtulla says covered call investing is a strategy that offers something great in today’s market: steady, consistent income. Here, Karim explains how to make solid gains by selling call options on the shares of your favourite companies.

Ever since the great tech bubble burst in 2000, everyone has wondered what the “Next Big One” would be. For a while it was real estate. Then it was China. Next, commodities had their stellar run.