Options as a Strategic Investment: Fifth Edition

by Lawrence G. McMillan

Book Overview

The market in listed options and non-equity option products provides investors and traders with a wealth of new, strategic opportunities for managing their investments. This updated and revised Fifth Edition of the bestselling Options as a Strategic Investment gives you the latest market-tested tools for improving the earnings potential of your portfolio while reducing downside risk--no matter how the market is performing. Inside this revised edition...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735204659
• ISBN13: 9780735204652
• Release Date: August 2012
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
• Length: 1072 Pages
• Weight: 4.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.5" x 7.9" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The CBOE should require ALL traders to read it!

Most people who trade either stocks, options, or futures lose money. This is because they 1) are undercapitalized, 2) have no system or 3) don't understand the instrument they trade. 4) some combination of 1, 2, and 3. This book won't help you if you don't go into the market with enough money, but it will help you develop your own system (after a lot more research) and figure out how to use options to increase returns or limit risk.This book describes just about every fundamental strategy you could try with options. It covers the total return concept of covered call writing, the pros and cons of option buying, examines various types of spreads (vertical, calendar, and diagonal) and the various delta (price) neutral strategies. There is some advanced math here (in an appendix), but anyone of average intelligence and stock market knowledge could follow it.Don't pay attention to those reviewers who trash the book--they have no clue. I constantly refer to this book in order to gain a better understanding of different option strategies. No matter which direction option markets evolve, the information of this book will still apply.

The Authoratative Reference

Quite simply, this book is all you will ever need to trade equity options. The fundamentals are clearly explained and each trading strategy is amply illustrated with the help of many examples and associated graphs.If you buy this book and don't understand its contents, then you must infer that options trading is not for you. On the other hand you will learn quickly why options trading puts you at the top of the food chain (75% of option expire worthless, so why buy them when you can sell them?) The only downside to this book is that you come out the other end feeling like an expert in the subject, engendering you with a false sense of experience. One or two trades should put such arrogance in its place.

Outstanding!

Before I bought this book, I read some of the reviews here. I saw words like "dry" and "too technical" raised more than once to describe the book but went ahead and bought it anyway. It has to be the best investment strategy book I've ever read and I've read many! Admittedly, there is no "fluff" in this book. It contains nothing but valuable text. Anyone who finds it "too technical" or "dry" definitely should not be trading in the options market!