investing
When to Use Options
Conventional wisdom tells us to place our money on an investment vehicle we are most familiar with and on investment vehicle we can benefit most. Since understanding the rise and fall of stocks is much easier than knowing the basics of options trading, it is a more popular choice for the many. But the fact is options trading provide several advantages than any other investment vehicles, including the stock market or even the Forex. Let us look at some:
Leverage
Buying a call option gives the investor a good option position that is similar to stock position. For example, if an investor would by 300 stocks selling at $50 per share, he would have to pay $15,000. But if he would choose to purchase three $20 calls (each contract representing 100 lots or shares), he will only have to pay $6,000 (3 contracts X 100 shares/contract X $20 market price). The investor would then have an extra $9,000 to spend or invest on his or her discretion. The process is obviously not as simple as that. The investor would have to know which call to buy to have a good option position, similar to stock position. However, if you are looking for a good investment without risking large sum of money at once, option trading is the better choice.
Limited Risk
Investment is said to be for the risk takers. This is good if your risk automatically yields to profit. But that is not always the case. In options trading, however, you can have unlimited profit potential and at the same time have limited risk. This is because options trading only give you the right to buy or sell underlying asset, and not the obligation. Meaning, if the price is not right at the end of the contract, you can just ignore and let the contract expire. If, however, you can profit for the change in shares prices, you can assert your right and pursue the contract.
For example, you buy a certain call option for $20 (strike price) that will end on the third Friday of March. On the expiry date, shares you bought are trading at $25. Definitely, you can instantly earn $5 per share and would have to pursue with the contract.
What if the at the expiry date is lower than the strike price?
Let us imagine that the shares you have bought went down to $15 or even $5 at the end of the contract, do you have to pursue the contract? No!
You just have to let the contract expire.
What have you lost then?
The option premium you paid the seller. Nothing more.
Unlimited Profit Potential
Say a certain call option you have bought is now trading at $38 per share. You can exercise your right to buy it for the strike price of $20 and earn $18 minus the Option Premium you have paid. This is just an example. The price of shares can go higher than that. And if you have carefully chosen your call, you can get the best profit without breaking your bank. Note: if you are planning to pursue the contract and buy the shares, remember that you have to pay the full amount. So at the expiry date, make sure that you have you the cash.
Some Insight Into Premium Bonds
As with most things that are concerned with the government, conspiracy theories are generated to prove or disprove unfairness between two parties or plots to hurt the population. Premium bonds are not isolated from these kinds of attacks. Conspiracy theorists have accused the National Savings and Investments agency of defrauding the public and being bias in the way they hand out the prizes and pick out the numbers of the bonds. These conspiracy theories are meant to hurt the agency and they are being reported in blogs and other methods to bring the idea of premium bonds to a halt.
The National Savings and Investment agency has issued statements that debunk these theories and preserve their integrity. Their number generating machine, ERNIE, creates random numbers that correspond with the numbers on the bonds. Large drawings are held each month and some people believe that the number generating is fixed. One of the most bizarre theories is that some people believe that ERNIE is a super computer that knows how a person thinks. People have even sent ERNIE Christmas and Valentine Day cards to the computer in hopes that it will sway its picks. This is totally untrue; the machine is totally random and does not have the capacity to know anything.
Psychologists have made the assumption that even the employees of the National Savings and Invest agency does not even know how the numbers are picked by ERNIE. The people that make the theories have a intrinsic need to know how a process works and when they do not know, they will come up with ideas that make them feel more comforted. Ironically, most of the conspiracy theories come from people who have never won any of the cash prizes and they feel that they are not in control of the situation.
The maximum holding for premium bonds is thirty thousand pounds. A theory exists that only the maximum amount in the system will generate winners for those people only. If you do the statistics thirty thousand pounds has a better chance of winning than if you have just two or three thousand pounds invested in bonds. Again people with the lower amount of money invested are perpetrating the theory. With over a third of the population of Great Britain investing the premium bonds system, so people may never win a cash prize nor see their investment grow.
There is a theory that only new premium bonds are winning. This may be true. Though the program has been going on for decades, there has been a surge of new buying since the one million pound prize was introduced. Again the numbers come into play, the more that people play, the less chance you will win a cash prize. As with any lottery system, the more people that play and save, the more people will lose.
The good thing is larger prizes and more money can be put into the system where people who win will make a larger profit. By doing the simple math, most of these theories are debunking themselves.
Be Sharp Like A Hawk and Establish Your Investment Goals
When it comes to investing, many first time investors want to jump right in with both feet. Unfortunately, very few of those investors are successful. Investing in anything requires some degree of skill. It is important to remember that few investments are a sure thing ñ there is the risk of losing your money!
Before you jump right in, it is better to not only find out more about investing and how it all works, but also to determine what your goals are. What do you hope to achieve with your investments? Will you be funding a college education? Buying a home? Retiring? Before you invest a single penny, really think about what you hope to achieve with that investment. Knowing what your goal is will help you make smarter investment decisions along the way!
Too often, people invest money with dreams of becoming rich overnight. This is possible ñ but it is also rare. It is usually a very bad idea to start investing with hopes of becoming rich overnight. It is safer to invest your money in such a way that it will grow slowly over time, and be used for retirement or a childís education. However, if your investment goal is to get rich quick, you should learn as much about high-yield, short term investing as you possibly can before you invest.
You should strongly consider talking to a financial planner before making any investments. Your financial planner can help you determine what type of investing you must do to reach the financial goals that you have set. He or she can give you realistic information as to what kind of returns you can expect and how long it will take to reach your specific goals.
Again, remember that investing requires more than calling a broker and telling them that you want to buy stocks or bonds. It takes a certain amount of research and knowledge about the market if you hope to invest successfully.