If you've ever wanted to learn how to evaluate, buy, sell, and profit from stocks, this course is for you. By the end of it, you will be armed with investment tools that were once thought to be only for the pros!
You will begin by examining the origin of stock options and learn the real risks involved. Then, you will identify the jargon, symbols, and other peculiarities of options in a way that's easy to understand. You will explore exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which offer exciting option investments you may eventually consider.
The course will then give you a look under the hood of option pricing so that you'll understand what contributes to an option's value. You will learn why some options are overpriced and why some are underpriced and know how to tell the difference before you trade. Above all, you will learn how to protect your portfolio and profit in a down market, an up market, or even a flat market. Learn to leverage your investment dollars for potential profits that surpass those possible with stocks.
Matt Crabtree, CFP ®, earned his Bachelor of Science in Business, Information Systems Management, in 1999, a mini MBA certificate from The School of Management at Yale University in 2004, a certificate in Financial Planning from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business in 2012 and has received the financial industry's most rigorous and prestigious professional designation of Certified Financial Planner ™. After many years in project management, office management, and business sales, Matt began training individuals and organizations in areas of business finance, leadership development, successful negotiations, sales management, and customer service excellence. Matt has trained individuals and various units within the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as corporate organizations including IBM (technology), Accuray (healthcare-technology), and Gen-Probe (molecular diagnostics). Matt's natural aptitude for explaining his material in an easy-to-understand and enjoyable manner allows each student to gain insights into areas that are often considered challenging.
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
Defining Stock Options
Are stock options worth your time and effort? You'll find out in this lesson. You'll explore where options originated and whether they are as risky as many people say. Then you'll go over the formal definition of an option so that you'll know exactly what you're dealing with. Finally, you'll look at some easy-to-understand examples to drive home each element of that definition.
Basic Terms and Concepts
What does "GOOG120121C00680000" mean, and why should you care? Every investment specialty has its own jargon, and options are no exception. This lesson will explain option symbols and other peculiarities in a way that's easy to understand. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to identify any option just by looking at its symbol. You'll also explore exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which offer exciting option investments you may eventually consider.
Understanding Option Price Charts
One of the most important things to consider before you buy anything is its price. In this lesson, you'll learn where to find option prices, what they look like, and how to interpret each element in an option pricing chart. By the end of the lesson, you'll be a good option detective.
Understanding Premium Pricing
It's one thing to know an option's price, but it's quite another to know if that price is reasonable and fair. This lesson gets under the hood of option pricing so that you'll understand what contributes to option value. Knowing what makes one option more expensive than another is one of the essentials of option pricing. After you finish this lesson, you'll be able to make educated decisions when you trade.
Option Profit-Loss Graphs
This lesson introduces you to an easy graphing system that will show what kind of profit or loss may be possible when you trade any option. These graphs bring clarity to even a complex option strategy. Armed with this knowledge, you'll enter any option trade fully aware of potential risks and rewards. You'll also know precisely where your break-even point is. All this information contributes to a fully informed trading experience.
Buying Long Call Options
Get ready to learn about your first basic option strategy—the long call. When you finish this lesson, you'll know the best way to profit when you think a stock price is about to go up. You'll also understand which option to buy depending on how bullish you are about that price movement.
Selling Short Call Options
This lesson will tell you where options come from and how you can create them yourself. How? By selling a call option. This is called naked call writing, and it's one way you can use options to profit when you think a stock price is going to hold steady or drop. You'll learn the risk inherent in this strategy and what it means to be assigned.
Covered Call Options
You'll explore covered calls in this lesson. This strategy involves selling call options on stock you already own. It's a popular way of making a profit even when your stock's price isn't going up. You'll learn the how, when, and why of this essentially conservative strategy in one easy lesson.
Buying Long Put Options
Certain options profit when a stock drops. This lesson acquaints you with the put option, which is in many ways the mirror image of the call option. The versatility of the put option is very impressive.
Selling Short Put Options
Few investors know the benefits—much less the in and outs—of selling put options, but this lesson will fully acquaint you with both. Known as writing naked puts, this strategy is also a way to buy stock for less. And there's something to be said for collecting your profit up front and putting that money to use immediately!
Advanced Option Strategies
See the beauty of options as you learn about three combination strategies: the bull spread, the bear spread, and the long straddle. This taste of more advanced option strategies may whet your appetite for other, more esoteric combinations—and there are many. After this lesson, you'll have a good sense of how you can use option combo strategies to make profitable trades.
Course Summary and Guideposts
This is the lesson that pulls together everything you've learned into one cohesive overview. You'll also learn about market sentiment and examine how it influences which option strategy is appropriate and when. Finally, the lesson will discuss the concept of risk and how it's an integral consideration for any option investment strategy.
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