The Darvas Box Theory

A Darvas box is an area of price consolidation wherein the stock treads over a long period of time. For example, imagine a set of toothpicks lined up in a row. Now, each toothpick is a different length, and represents the trading range for the stock in any given week. The idea behind the Darvas box is that when we line up all these toothpicks, we can easily draw a horizontal line at the top and the bottom of the toothpicks, which represents the support and resistance lines. Darvas’ premise is that when the stock breaks out above the top of the box, it triggered a buying opportunity.

Note that the Darvas method is not a day trading system. While it may be possible to use it as such, Darvas himself used weekly charts.

Why Use Stock Options

The beauty behind buying stock options is the limited risk and the leverage. The risk is limited only to the amount put into buying the options (that’s the obvious part). The not so obvious part is the leverage. When we buy an options contract, we are buying the right to control 100 shares of whatever stock the option is written on. In most cases, it costs much, much less money to hold the contract that the equivalent 100 shares. For example, 100 shares of Decker’s Outdoor would cost us almost $16,000 as of this writing. However, an at the money call option would only cost us $2,100. Yes that’s still a lot of money, but it’s only 1/8th of what we would have to pay otherwise.

Trading the Box Theory with Options

When Darvas was trading stocks, options were not available (options were not publicly traded until the 1970’s). In today’s world of financial innovation, we as investors can do almost anything so long as we are willing to pay. Such is the case with the Darvas method. With stock options, we can buy the right to profit from both sides of the stock movement by using the options strategy called a Straddle.

In a straddle, we buy a call and a put on the same underlying stock at the same strike price with the same expiration date. That way, it doesn’t really matter what the stock does. So long as it moves a lot in either direction during the period that the option is alive, we will make money.

One thing most people don’t think of when you buy a straddle: Once one leg is in the money and profitable, you can sell it and keep the other leg. That way, if the stock reverses course your worthless option is suddenly making you money again.

So what actually is stock option Greeks? Why is it important to understand how they can affect the profitability of your trade or investment? Stock option Greeks are actually sensitivities of the stock option to risks characteristics. These risks are actually factors that affects the pricing of the option. By learning how the stock option greeks relate to risk characteristics in addition to other basic technical analysis skills such as identifying the market trend, knowing when to and not to trade or invest according to timing ( Eg. Not to trade during lunch hours ), interpreting technical indicators correctly, have a risk and money management system to assist in making decisions when trading or investing ( This helps to eliminate and not involve your emotions that affect your trading decisions ) …etc We are able to have certain control over our risk exposures to leverage, time decay, volatility and interest rate risks. Each option risk characteristics, is represented by a greek word and they affect the option pricing differently. It is important to know whether you are purchasing a stock option at a under or over priced value as this can be another factor that will affect profitability of your trade or investment. You do not want to be in a disadvantage position at all times when trading or investing as the majority of the factors are against you and you have absolutely no control over them. ( Eg. Interest rates )

Mastering each risk characteristics will certainly help to reduce risk tremendously when trading or investing in stock options, what’s more, there are lots of stock option strategies that can be utilized once you understand the mechanics of the stock option greeks and make them work for your trade or investment.

Ben Ang is a entrepreneur, trader, investor, internet marketer and blogger. He has been trading and investing for the past 2 to 3 years, and always keen and willing to learn new knowledge or techniques to improve his trading, investing and also enhance his business. He has a investing blog where he shares knowledge and past experiences on his trading and investment.

1. The stock’s past history and movement.

2. Expected earnings reports of the stock’s parent company.

3. Volatility and volume of shares traded daily.

4. Any current news concerning the company’s growth or profitability.

5. The price of the option with respect to how you think the stock will perform. If you do not feel the stock’s movement will handily offset the cost of the option, plus the trading fees, then buying or selling the option would be fruitless.

6. Supply and demand of the underlying stock. (Industry group market action.)

Once you have decided upon which stock to pick, you next need to decide whether you believe the stock’s price is likely to rise or fall. (With stock options you can make money in either direction.)

By purchasing a Call option:

1. You expect the price of the underlying stock to rise, so you can then purchase it at the lower strike price, making a profit in the transaction.

2. You have the right to control 100 shares of stock for a fraction of the cost of purchasing the stock outright.

3. You are managing your risk by limiting the downside to the premium paid for the option. The major downside to buying any option is time decay. Your option expires within a finite period of time. If the underlying stock price behaves as expected, you will not need to be concerned about execution.

Having shown you the benefits of buying Calls over the risks of purchasing the stocks outright, we must emphasize the fact that buying short-term Calls has its associated risks as well. A Call buyer, especially a short-term Call buyer, is severely limited by the time-decay factor. The nearer to the expiration of an option, the less the option is worth, and the less time is remaining for the option to become profitable. Within the leverage used by gambling casinos (the house), the concept of short-term Call buying is completely understood, as well as exploited, as gamblers are considered short-term Call buyers.

Example: Consider your long-term Put, or Call, as a 6 to 8 month license to operate a casino. It allows you to capture short-term premiums; money that gamblers continuously give to you in attempting to beat the odds by speculating they will make profits on very risky bets. They feverishly feed the slot machines, ante up at poker, double-down on blackjack, or spin the roulette wheel. The odds are overwhelmingly against these short-term buyers. You, as the casino owner, continuously capture these short-term premiums, easily offsetting the expense of the license to operate the casino, then earning substantial, clear profits in the following months. They know the odds are with the casino owner, but they still take the enormous gamble on the slim chance they will hit a jackpot. The lottery works in the same manner.

On one side of the position, the transaction is definitely gambling, while on the other, the casino is simply engaging in business. Would you rather bet on the remote chance of a gambler’s rare, limited success, or rake in the steady, routine premiums captured from operating a successful business? Yes, occasionally a gambler does beat the odds to enjoy a limited, windfall return on his bet. For the casino owner, that is simply part of the cost of doing business. But we all know where the true, long-term profits lie. 30%, 40%, 50% and more, are common, and in short periods of time. The odds are with the short-term option seller, not the buyer.

When you choose a stock for short-term Call buying, you not only must carefully consider the proper stock for the type of option you are purchasing, you must also decide which direction the stock will move, then, that movement must occur within a specified, very limited period of time. Many investors have gone broke by attempting to make those same decisions. In short, time is not on the side of the short-term option buyer. It is on the side of the option seller.

Summary: 1. Buying stocks is risky.

2. Buying short-term options is less risky, but still risky.

3. Selling short-term options is the least risky, especially with a hedge, or insurance.

By selling a Call option:

1. You expect the underlying stock price to fall, so the option will not be exercised, but expire, worthless.

2. You can capture the entire premium that was paid to you, as profit. If the underlying stock price rises, you are obligated to sell 100 shares of stock at the lower strike price. If you do not already own those shares, you would then have to buy them at a higher market value, then sell them at the strike price, in order to meet your obligation. This situation is called a “Naked,” or “Uncovered” position, and is extremely dangerous. Anytime you sell a Call option you should consider buying the same option with a slightly lower strike price, and longer expiration date. This will reduce your profit potential, but will also reduce your risk considerably. (Remember the parallel twins, Risk and Reward

- If you want to reduce risk, you must also give up some degree of potential rewards. You may wish to lower your cost basis in the stock, to the extent of the premium received.

By purchasing a Put option:

1. You expect the price of the underlying stock to fall, allowing you to sell stock at the higher strike price, and thereby earning a profit.

2. This option is also used in a combination strategy as a hedge against selling Puts. We will explore that strategy later, in detail.

3. Buying Put options could also be used as a hedge, or insurance, against the possibility of a price drop in stock you already own. Consider the following:

You own 100 shares of ABC stock, and are concerned that the stock price could suddenly fall. You purchase a Put option on the same stock, with a strike price at current market value. If your stock falls in price, you would have the right to exercise your option and sell 100 shares of ABC stock at the higher strike price. The premium you paid for the option could be far less than the loss you would have incurred without that insurance. In this instance buying Puts acted as a hedge against the possibility of a price decrease in the stocks you already own. If the price of the underlying stock increases, your loss is limited to the premium you paid for the option. The option acts as an insurance policy against possible loss.

Selling a Put option without an opposing hedge -”Naked” You expect the price of the underlying stock to increase, causing the Put option you sold to expire worthless. You can then capture the entire premium paid to you, as profit. If the underlying stock price were to fall below the strike price, then you would be obligated to purchase the stock at the strike price, or pay the difference between the strike price and the stock price, if you do not want to own the stock. Your upside is limited to the premium received for selling the option. Your downside is potentially unlimited to the base value of whatever you could sell the stock for on the open market, or to the difference between the strike price and the stock price. This is a “Naked,” or “Uncovered” position, and should never be allowed to occur, unintentionally. Without the implementation of combination strategies, the main objective of the Put seller is to hope the option expires, allowing him to capture the entire option premium as profit. Nearing expiration, if the stock price moves below the strike price, changing the option’s value to ITM, and highly vulnerable to exercise, then the option seller must move quickly to buy back the option, perhaps lessening his profit potential, while also managing his risk. Even so, a small loss would be better than having to buy 100 shares of stock at inflated prices. Also, the loss can be immediately compensated for by simultaneously selling another Put expiring in the following month. We use OPM (Other People’s Money) to buffer downside risks, while buying more time for the stock price to rise.

Stock Option Trading, when done properly, can drastically reduce, or even eliminate, these two stumbling blocks to stock market success. In the first place, A trader of stock options never is not required to own the underlying stock in which an option is based. He or she can design a trade in such a way that downside risk is limited to the cost of the option, which in itself is a fraction of the cost of the stock. We capitalize on traders and speculators greed to get rich who purchase overvalued short term options bid up to inflated levels by an excess of demand over supply, by being the house or casino owner and capturing the inflated premium from the players or buyers. We buy reinsurance at a low cost by purchasing a longer term ( 5 to 6 months) out of the money option to sell the stock at a fixed price no matter how low it may drop. We buy this reinsurance ( puts ) to create a profitable hedge and sell overvalued puts repeatedly, month by month to bring the cost of our hedge down to zero and a credit so that we can enjoy a free ride capturing this inflated premium income. This strategy is known as diagonal put spreads and you do not need to pick a winner to profit.

In the long run, you better determine precisely how and what you would like to trade and when you want to do it, as it’s your income that’s laying on the line. Although I can’t tell you how to trade in such a short article, and wouldn’t even set about to do so, I can share with you a couple of tips that I use and apply in my stock options trading. If you choose to use them, you do so at your own risk. You are able to adjust them as you wish, or dismiss them altogether, that’s up to you.

The first thing you had better do if you are thinking of getting into options trading is to become acquainted with all of the language, and just exactly what is what. You need to learn just what stock options are, and the difference between call options and put options. You need to become acquainted with option premiums, and their outcomes on the costs of your trades. If you don’t understand these basic principles, you will never be able to become a successful options trader. There are tons of information about these subjects available on the web, just do a search on “online option trading” or “option trading schools” and you’ll see tons or results. You may also want to join an option trading forum or newsgroup as well, so that you can learn from other options traders. This is often one of the better techniques to learn something new, by having a mentor who has already made it through the mistakes. You can also join option trading courses or seminars, or buy e-books on the internet with respect to this. Whatever you do, make sure you educate yourself before heading into the markets.

Once you’ve taken the time to become comfortable with the points of options trading, the following thing you need to do is work out just how much disposable cash you have to trade with Article on how much capital to invest. If you don’t know this, you can’t even start to trade. Don’t consider putting any money in this that you cannot afford to lose, as there are no guarantees in the stock market, no matter how skilled you may be. If you’re somebody who pays their bills and has little to no cash leftover, then you shouldn’t even try to invest until your financial state of affairs improves, but again, that is of our own choice. Just know that if you invest or trade with money that you can’t afford to lose, and you do lose it, it can be very hard to get caught back up again.

When you first begin with options trading, start by “paper trading”. After you have acquired some confidence and your paper trades are doing well, then possibly you are able to jump into real trading. Always remember to try and downplay your risk, so when you first start you should try to trade options that have lower option premiums (priced at very low rates), so that you don’t bear a lot of risk, and don’t stand to lose a lot of money if you make a error. Many starting out options traders will invest in many small stock counters, so that they have a wide spread, which gives them better financial trade protection. It unquestionably isn’t a good idea to invest everything you have in one option, at least not for most novice traders.

Set yourself a time frame, and then appraise your trading at the end of that time to see how you have done. Most fresh traders begin with 6 months, which gives them time to create an option trading system, and fine-tune it so it works for them. If you feel that you have become a good trader and have made more cash than you have lost, then by all means, continue if you wish, and maybe even move on to larger trades. If you have made bad selections, and have finished up in the minus side, then you might want to go back to paper trading or spend some more time learning from other people, and try again in the future, or at least stay with small trades until you hone your skills.

In the end, you’ll have to find the best method that works for you. Just be sure that you don’t invest money that you can’t lose, take time to learn as much as you can about options trading, and then just give yourself time to become comfortable as a trader.

One thing about stock options is that they are cost efficient that is they are well capable of leveraging or borrowing money in order to increase returns. Another good advantage of it is that by spending less money also you can make almost the same profit. Once you are knowledgeable and have some experience, trading options can be a great way to make money.

As a beginner you should go for spread. Basically a spread is where you can purchase calls and puts. How to spread money is entirely dependent on how the market is swinging. Beside this buy only those options that don’t expire right away. It is because if it expired very quickly then you will not get the time to observe how your stock is moving.

Stock market is very risky and it needs lot of guts, especially for beginners. It takes time and experience to research the market as a whole. Many factors influence what happens in stock market everyday. Hence it’s necessary to have complete knowledge of market before making any move. By making a chart of earnings and losses you can easily figure out your areas of strong trader.

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Option trading, in and of itself, is not inherently risky. Options are simply tools. Imagine a big dial labeled, Options. You turn the dial one way and your risk goes down (as do your potential rewards). You turn the dial the other way and your risk goes up (as do your rewards, either in the form of upfront cash, or in the form of potential profits). In short, you can use options (for the right price) to reduce your risk, and you can use options (if the price is right) to generate lucrative income or receive other compensation in exchange for taking on someone else’s risk.

Let’s look at some scenarios that show each side of the risk trade.

Using Options to Reduce Risk

There are various option trading strategies you can employ to reduce the risk to your stock holdings. The price you will have to pay may come in the form of an actual cash payout to purchase that protection, or it may involve exchanging some of your future potential profits in order to acquire that protection.

Here are two trades that will reduce your risk:

Using Options to be Compensated for Assuming Someone Else’s Risk

If you are willing to assume someone else’s risk you can be compensated–and sometimes quite handsomely–for your trouble. The compensation may take the form of sharing the capital gains on someone else’s stock, or it may simply take the form of a cash payment.

Here are two types of trades in which you are compensated to assume someone else’s risk:

Conclusion:

The option trade examples above are all relatively simple but they illustrate the true nature of stock options. Trafficking in options is essentially trafficking in risk. No matter how elaborate and complex an option trade becomes, the core equation of risk is still present.

Developing and maintaining an awareness of this reality of options is crucial to your own option trading success. Whether you’re looking to reduce your risk or to be compensated for assuming someone else’s, a conscious awareness of what’s really happening in any given options transaction is invaluable. Once you know what’s really at stake, you’re in a much better position to consciously look for ways to accomplish your objectives as efficiently as possible. The outsourcer of risk will seek to reduce risk as cheaply as possible, and the assumer of risk will seek the highest compensation for the risk assumed.

How much money do I need to start?

One of the beautiful things about options trading is it’s one of the few businesses that you can take for a free test drive to see if you can be successful at it. By trading in a simulator you can start your business with no money. Obviously you won’t be earning anything either, but you will be gaining valuable knowledge. You can find a simulator at CBOE.com. After you’ve traded in the simulator for a few months and become consistently profitable you can start with as little as $2,000.

Finding a broker

The first step in getting started in an options business is finding a broker. There are many (excuse the pun) options available, a few of the good ones include, OptionsXpress, TradeStation and Interactive Brokers. These are all members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which are two organizations that protect you against fraud from financial brokers.

Putting the Odds in your favor

While this isn’t a comprehensive list there are a few things that you can do to stack the odds in your favor when dealing in stock options. First of all rather than buying puts and calls you can use credit spreads. This method of selling a higher priced option and purchasing a lower priced option alone will stack the odds enormously in your favor simply because this method can allow you to make money whether the markets go up, down or sideways. As a matter of fact using this method can allow you to win as much as 80-90% of the time, which is why professional traders use this type of trade to generate consistent income. The next thing you want to do is a bit of technical analysis and look at the S&P stock index. If the index is moving above it’s 200 day moving average you generally want to be purchasing stocks or using bull put credit spreads. If the index is moving below it’s 200 day moving average you should short sell stocks or use bear call spreads. How much can I earn? This can fluctuate depending on market conditions but by using credit spreads you can make anywhere from 5-20% a month. So with $10,000 you can generate anywhere from $500-$2000 in extra income a month.

Reducing Your Risk

1.Start off by trading in a simulator at CBOE.com

2.Always use a stop loss or have your positions hedged.

3.Never trade with money that you need to pay for you day to day expenses with such as rent and bills. Nervous money always loses.

If you’d like to find out more about options trading and credit spreads click on the link in the resource box below and sign up for a free 10 part course.