Sideways satisfaction

摘要

Options offer many opportunities in all kinds of market directions. The market doesn't always have to be moving higher or lower for you to profit. You like the idea of trading options and you know following the trend, even a sideways trend, can lead to profits. If you are confident the market will continue to move sideways, there are a few options strategies you could put on to make some profits. The basics on options can be found in a previous article ("Getting a handle on options," February 2004), which offers an introduction to options and a few basic bullish strategies. Some option strategies allow you to profit without predicting market direction because of time decay or lack of volatility that decreases option value. We cover some of these strategies here. All examples use calls in a single expiration month but similar risk profiles can also be achieved using all puts; puts and calls in combination; or puts, calls and the underlying in certain configurations.