November 18th, 2008
See me in the latest issue of “Technical Analyst”, Trading Volatility with the VIX
Directionless stock market trade may point to lower indices.
All eyes were on Capitol Hill as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke defended the $700 billion bailout.  Paulson reiterated reservations in regards to tapping the bailout money [...]

Learning Options- Part 3
Two of the more common option strategies are horizontal spreads (identical strike prices, different expiration days) and vertical spreads (different strike prices, same expiration day). Other spread types are combinations or variations of these categories: Diagonal spreads are a mixture of horizontal and vertical spreads; butterfly spreads combine two different vertical spreads.
Selling [...]

Learning Options- Part 2
Many people like options because they believe them to be less risky than futures. Options sometimes offer reduced risk, but usually at the cost of reduced profit potential.
One drawback of options is that a trader must consider market speed (volatility) as well as direction. Traders who buy or sell options outright to [...]

The Safest Way to Sell Options
Commodity markets have not been spared the mood swings pounding other markets in late 2008, and futures traders continue their quest to find safe methods of receiving consistent returns as they trade the markets. Futures traders often stumble on option writing as a strategy that “makes sense,” at least from [...]

Using Options to Protect a Futures Position
by Rick Thachuk
[ A version of this article appears in the July 1999 issue of Futures magazine. ]
Many traders use protective stop orders to limit the loss of a futures position. Whenever the market price reaches the stop price, so that the open futures position is incurring loss, [...]

Lessons for the Beginner
by Rick Thachuk
The WLF Futures, Options and Forex Education Network has been helping the beginning trader for many years. Below are some observations that may, in turn, help you with your trading:
Don’t set stops too tightly.
It is appealing to think that risk from trading, whether futures, options or forex, can be minimized [...]