The trading of options has turn into increasingly popular amongst retail investors as they turn into aware of the several ways in which options might be used to generate profits. The interesting thing about option strategies is that investors can use them in all kinds of market conditions. The first query becomes: Which securities needs to be used when implementing a certain strategy?

Stocks With Options on Them

Many starting option traders quickly discover that not all securities have an option chain related to them. This implies there could also be no options in the stores or sell on a certain security, leaving the investor no alternative but to purchase or sell the underlying instrument to get exposure.

Exchanges require minimum listing criteria to be met before they may add options. For example, Under rules established on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), there are 4 criteria a public company must meet before options on its stock might be traded on the choices exchange:

• The underlying equity security should be listed on the NYSE, AMEX, or Nasdaq.
• The closing price should have a minimum per-share price for a majority of trading days in the course of the three prior calendar months.
• The corporate should have no less than 7,000,000 publicly held shares.
• The corporate should have no less than 2,000 shareholders.

If an organization doesn’t meet any one in every of these criteria, options exchanges similar to the Chicago Board Options Exchange won’t allow any options to be traded on the underlying security. Moreover, due to second condition listed above, an organization cannot have options traded on it until no less than three months after its initial public offering date.

The simplest solution to discover which securities have options is to ascertain directly using your broker, which is especially easy if you happen to use an internet broker. A lot of these platforms have an options chain or options series function that lets you look up the choices on a stock, if there are any.

You too can visit the web sites of the exchanges where the vast majority of equity options are traded. The exchange listing has grown tremendously lately, with current primary operations at Boston Options Exchange (BOX), CBOE—including CBOE BZX, C2, and EDGX Options Exchanges; MIAX and MIAX PEARL Options Exchanges, Nasdaq BX, MRX and GEMX Options; the International Securities Exchange (ISE); The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), NYSE American Options (AMEX) and NYSE Arca Options. Each website has a directory of options which might be available for trading on that given exchange. For instance, you’ll be able to click here to go to the symbol directory for options listed on the CBOE Exchange Inc.

The Options Industry Council (OIC) is one other resource for locating options series. The OIC is a cooperative formed in 1992 by U.S. options exchanges and the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) to teach investors and financial advisers regarding the advantages and risks of exchange-traded equity options. 

Using Equity Options

Equity options are derived from a single equity security. Investors and traders can use equity options to take a protracted or short position in a stock without actually buying or shorting the stock. That is advantageous because taking a position with options allows the investor/trader more leverage in that the quantity of capital needed is far lower than the same outright long or short position on margin. Investors/traders can, due to this fact, profit more from a price movement within the underlying stock. 

For instance, buying 100 shares of a $10 stock costs $1,000. Buying a call option with a $10 strike price may only cost $0.50, or $50 since one option controls 100 shares ($0.50 x 100 shares). If the shares move as much as $11 the choice is value no less than $1, and the choices trader doubles their money. The stock trader makes $100 (position is now value $1,100), which is a ten% gain on the $1,000 they paid. Comparatively, the choices trader makes a greater percentage return.

If the underlying stock moves within the flawed direction and the choices are out of the cash on the time of their expiration, they turn into worthless and the trader loses the premium they paid for the choice.

One other popular equity options technique is trading option spreads. Traders take combos of long and short option positions, with different strike prices and expiration dates, for the aim of extracting cash in on the choice premiums with minimal risk.