You expect the stock price to rise i. By how much do you expect the price to change? A history of the stock's average daily price change volatility provides a good clue to the correct answer. Be aware of just how volatile the stock price has been in the past. It is not necessary to buy OTM options , despite the fact that this is the choice of many traders. They believe their prediction will come true and they want to buy the cheapest options. Our best guess is that most under-educated option traders want to own "a lot" of options, rather than just a few. It is similar to the thought process that makes someone buy lottery tickets.
The odds may be terrible, but the possibility of a huge payoff is too much to resist. Based on volatility data, buy options that have a good chance to be in the money at a later date before the options expire. Deciding how much to pay for options requires some trading experience.
However, you must be aware of several items. When buying options, do not plan on holding them until expiration arrives. Options are wasting assets and your plan should include getting out of the trade as soon as it becomes feasible. It is easy to fall in love with a profitable option trade and hold onto it, looking for a much larger profit. Do not allow that to happen. Sometimes you earn the target profit. At other times it means giving up on the trade and selling the options while they still have value.
If the stock price reaches your target or gets near that target price , it is time to take your gains and sell the option. Was this a good time to make such a bullish play? Do you believe the stock market is headed higher?
Most stocks do not move in a vacuum, and their rise and fall are dependent on the performance of other stocks. In other words, is the market bullish or bearish? Did you consider all these factors? Did you consider any of them? The bottom line is that if you do not pay attention to each factor, then your chances of earning money become smaller, and the loss of your entire investment becomes the most likely result especially when you purchase OTM options.
It is not enough to have a strong belief that the market will move higher or lower. When buying options, the option price has a large influence on the potential profitability of the trade and often matters more than a change in the price of the underlying stock. Thus, do not pay too much based on implied volatility for your options. It is very important to recognize how easy it is to lose money when buying options.
Most traders only think about "how much money can I earn? The Balance does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. That's the true magic of options and can only come from the use of options strategies. Will send you a link to read up on what options strategies are, how they are formed and what they can do.
It's technically possible but as others have said it's not going to be very easy. I'd suggest you save a little more and paper trade in the meantime to see if options will work out for you. Cause that's like saying, I crash every time I drive a sedan, should I start driving an 18 wheeler truck carrying a full load of highly unstable flammable toxic liquid load in a middle of hurricane irma?
Don't be that guy. So you are basically trading stocks but with a massive mathematical disadvantage. Edit:if you really want to do this wait for the next north korea scare or something similar and the next day buy the most expensive call you can for a month out on any of the high fliers this year like BABA or XBI or whatever. Also, don't do that just because I said to. It could be a good way to get your feet wet. Don't do it if you can't afford to lose the money.
If you learn from your mistakes you will get some cheap lessons. Second, leveraged options also means a double edged sword.
Why not paper trade first to just learn the ropes? Not worth learning on live IMO, unless you're prepared to burn hint: don't. Personally I wouldn't think about trading options in an account under 5k. Of course you can, but the odds are against you like flies on shit. This situation will teach you patience, to be very smart with your money and not impulsive. If people take different bets with odds, one of them will win big.
For every "one guy from WSB" who makes it big, there are many more on WSB that are just giving their money away buying lottery tickets. Title-text: They say you can't argue with results, but what kind of defeatest attitude is that?
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