Options on Futures: New Trading Strategies - Hardcover

Summa, John F.; Lubow, Jonathan W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471436429 ISBN 13: 9780471436423

Publisher: Wiley, 2001

Synopsis

Increased marketplace volatility and the expanding size of capital markets have led to an explosion of interest in options on futures. What makes these instruments so attractive is that they allow traders to profit from movements in the markets using little up-front capital and plenty of leverage. At the same time, they provide an excellent hedge against the risks associated with capital market investments. This book demystifies these notoriously difficult-to-understand instruments and provides state-of-the-art strategies and tools for making the most of options on futures.
John F. Summa (New Haven, CT) is a CTA and cofounder of OptionsNerd.com, an online service providing market commentary, trading advisories, and assistance with trading system development. Jonathan Lubow (Randolph, NJ) is cofounder and Vice President of Trader's Edge, a futures and options brokerage.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

OPTIONS ON FUTURES:
NEW TRADING STRATEGIES

Many of today's investors and traders have acquired a basic understanding of stock options. With the publication of Options on Futures: New Trading Strategies, authors John Summa and Jonathan Lubow show how easy it is for investors and traders to make the transition to commodity options and options on other futures markets. Written as a how-to guide to understanding options on futures terms, characteristics, and strategies, this book also presents a look at some of the authors' favorite strategies in action, under both favorable and unfavorable market conditions. Readers will benefit by having a chance to look over the shoulders of these two experienced options traders as they set up their trades and make adjustments in the heat of battle.

Summa and Lubow present what they call a net selling approach to trading options. The authors persuasively make the case that option buyers (typically inexperienced traders) remain at the mercy of time-value decay, while option sellers have a built-in trading edge because they can profit from the decay of time value and the sale of overvalued options. Option sellers do not totally depend on a market's direction in order to profit, a key advantage to selling options often overlooked by novice traders. The authors compile historical data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which supports their claim that option sellers (also known as option writers) do better than buyers. The data presented by the authors show that the majority of options-most notably over 80% of all S&P futures options-expire worthless. It is the sellers, argue the authors, who are laughing all the way to the bank.

Options on Futures shows you how to incorporate this seller's advantage into a variety of trading strategies, including:
* S&P 500 credit spreads
* Commodity options credit spreads
* Options on futures ratio writes
* Commodity options ratio spreads
* Synthetic call strategies
* Naked calls and puts

Each strategy is explained with hypothetical examples and the reconstruction of actual trades. Investors and traders of all stripes who have any interest in taking advantage of the profit potential of options markets will find Options on Futures full of insights about options and how best to trade them.

From the Back Cover

Learn How to Profit from Option Selling and Time-Value Decay

"John Summa and Jonathan Lubow make a special contribution to the trading literature with their book Options on Futures: New Trading Strategies. Among other notable features of the book, the authors present their favorite trading setups for S&P 500 and commodity futures options, an excellent chapter covering SPAN margin requirements, and actual trades and follow-up adjustments under far from ideal market conditions. The book drives home the point that options on futures should be part of any trader's arsenal. The authors' premium selling approach will come as an eye-opener for many options traders who remain confined to option buying strategies. If you want to learn how to trade options on futures, there is no better place to start. This outstanding book, coauthored by John Summa, who is one of the best options educators and traders in the business, provides a practical, hands-on explanation of how to trade options on futures. Options on Futures is full of trading nuances and key insights that make it uniquely effective. Highly recommended reading!"
-Steve Bell, General Partner, Intraday Investments
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0471436429
• ISBN 13: 9780471436423
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272