Author: Mark Wolfinger

In response to a reader (rluser) who raised an important question about The Rookie’s Guide to Options, here’s the question and reply. When you discuss covered calls and collars, you indicate that ATM is a most...

I remember the summer of 1982 very well.The market had been heading lower and the DJIA was about one tenth of its current value.One blowhard, but very influential, market prognosticator was predicting the markets would move...

The 7 Habits and Me “You should only worry about things that are within your sphere of influence.” That’s the only advice from Stephen Covey’s 1989 classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People that I...

From Jim; Hi Mark, If I’m short the 630/640 put spread and the index is trading at 645 then I agree it does not matter what I collected and I should just get out. But I don’t know if that is actually a good point at...

Jim made this comment: “I sold an IC as one unit. Now I realize that I don’t know how much credit I received for each leg which will make it more difficult to make adjustment decisions.” Jim, Your simple lament...

I stress the importance of getting a solid options education before you begin trading. But it’s not that easy. The world is filled with bad advice. Each of you must decide if the statements made by an author make sense....

The market’s been higher for a few consecutive days, and as I write this, futures for today’s trading are also higher.As a result, implied volatility has come tumbling down.And that offers opportunities that have...

I recently responded to this question on a public forum (EliteTrader: “Why are vertical debit spreads (bull call & bear put spreads) not discussed much? Instead, it seems that Iron Condors and credit spreads are the...

Here’s part of my investment philosophy (You can read more of it here.) When initiating a new position most investors recognize the importance of placing a trade that they believe will produce a profit. Those who...

If you own an option, you have three choices. And that’s true whether you own a call or a put. 1)You can sell it. If you collect more than you paid, you have a profit. If you collect less than you paid, you have a loss....