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The Comprehensive, Up-to-Date Reference for Every Options Trader

• By Michael C. Thomsett, author of the global best-seller Getting Started in Options
• Illuminates virtually every technique and form of options trading--including options on futures and ETFs
• Helps you consistently choose the right options strategies and understand your true risks

For millions of traders and investors, options have become an indispensable tool: not just for increasing profits but also for systematically controlling risk. Now best-selling author Michael C. Thomsett has brought together all of today’s most important options strategies in a single authoritative reference. Using this readable, practical guidebook, you can select the right strategy for any application or market environment, clarify all your risks, and structure trades that accomplish your specific goals. Thomsett covers everything you need to know, from the core principles of options trading to the calculation of returns and taxes. He also provides a complete, easy-to-understand options glossary and extensive resources and links for traders at all levels of experience.

Options offer investors multiple opportunities to enhance their profits. However, options trading is complex, and the sheer scope of available strategies can overwhelm traders. Today, options can support a wide range of strategies, from high risk to conservative. Moreover, options are available not only for stock equities but also for futures, indices, and mutual funds. To trade successfully, traders need an authoritative, up-to-date guide to all the strategies available to them. Now, renowned options expert and best-selling author Michael C. Thomsett has created the definitive reference for options traders at all levels of experience.

Thomsett systematically illuminates each key technique and strategy: how trades are structured, how to assess risk, and when each strategy is most applicable. For most strategies, Thomsett presents detailed tables and illustrations identifying profit zones, loss zones, and breakeven points. This book thoroughly explains how option premium develops based on various elements of value, walks through the calculation of returns on options trading, discusses how federal taxation works in the options market, shows how stocks are picked for options trading, and provides a complete glossary and additional resources for traders.

• Thoroughly comprehend options trading risks
  Systematically evaluate risks associated with markets, volatility, inflation, taxation, portfolios, and knowledge
• Understand all the elements of value in an options trade
  Master concepts ranging from time-to-expiration to implied volatility
• Use the right strategies at the right time
  Know when to use covered calls, spreads, straddles, combinations, and synthetic positions
• The options marketplace: history, evolution, and trends
  Understand both the “forest” and the “trees”