Author: Mark Wolfinger

For years, I’ve been publishing, and updating weekly, a graph of VIX closing prices at my website.The current graph represents data from Jan 2007 through the present time. I find that most option traders are interested in...

Updated two hours laterMark, On timing- here’s a simple style I’ve had good luck with: When you “see” a trade, initially execute and things don’t start happening as hoped for (immediately) then...

I discuss the importance of risk management so frequently that I’m sure some readers are tired of hearing about it.On the other hand, I get enough e-mails from readers who thank me for spending so much time on that topic....

Part I Part II. It’s Your Money.Protect It. This topic is one I take very seriously and I admit that I have difficulty convincing people of the truth of the following statement: When you own a position, unless there is...

Part I.There’s More to Trading Than the Mechanics Any investor can buy or sell options.The position can be hedged with stock or other options.You choose a position to own, enter the order (at a limit price), and become the...

With General Motors (GM) facing bankruptcy this weekend, this is a suitable time to discuss what happens to the options, when the underlying company declares bankruptcy. It’s traditional for existing shareholders to lose...

I’m one of those who has looked at the record and decided that active mutual fund managers cannot – on a consistent basis – outperform the market averages.Obviously there are always going to be a few...

As I’ve discussed previously, when you trade options, managing your positions is far more important to your overall profitability than choosing the ‘best’ strategy.More money is lost by mismanaging risk than is...

In options terminology, ‘dividend risk’ refers to the chances of not collecting the dividend when you have written a covered call. If you own stock and want to collect the dividend, and if you also want to write...