Every investor aims to gain profits from their investments. This, of course, depends on making quick decisions with regards to buying or selling assets. What if you had a way to lock the price of an asset and then wait to see its value on the market without purchasing it? This is what options trading is about. It has gained popularity in recent years. Read on to know more about options trading.

Types of options
Before you begin options trading, you have to understand its types – calls and puts. Let us break down these variants.

Calls
Call options give a person the right to buy the specified shares of a stock at the strike cost anytime within a contract period.

Puts
If a person opts for a put, they have the right to sell the specified shares of a stock at the strike cost, anytime until the planned contract expires.

A beginner’s guide to options trading
According to the Options Clearing Corporation, in 2021, a total of 9.87 billion options contracts were cleared. This marked an increase of 32.2 percent in options contracts. Thus, it can be said that options trading is quite favorable among the masses. If one is new to options contracts and trading derivatives, here are a few things to know.

An options trading account
When compared with creating a brokerage account, opening an account for options trading requires huge amounts of capital. One may need to have anywhere between $5,000 and $25,000 in order to make any profit while trading options. Given the complex nature, brokers will demand to know more about an individual as an investor before one can start trading options. A certified brokerage firm will screen the candidate by instructing them to submit the necessary documents, as listed below:

• Investment objectives, including income, growth, and capital preservation
• Experience in trading, including the years spent in trading
• Understanding of the risks involved
• Personal financial information, including one’s liquid net worth, annual income, and employment information
• Types of options one wants to trade like calls, puts, or spreads.

Options to buy or sell
If one thinks the stock price will go up, one can consider buying a call option and selling out a put option. On the other hand, if one predicts that the stock price will go down, one can think about buying a put option and selling out the call option.

Strike price of the option
One should consider buying an option where the strike price reflects their prediction of the position of this stock during the lifetime. One can also choose the strike price. Option quotes or option chains, or matrices have a specified range of available strike prices with increments standardized for every industry. The price one pays for the option is known as the premium, which has two components – intrinsic value and time value.

Intrinsic value is the difference between the share price and the strike piece if the stock is above the strike price.

Time value is the left-out value and predicts the volatility of the stock, the period for expiration, and the rate of interest.

Timeframe for options
Every options contract has a specific timeframe that indicates the expiry date, by which one has to fulfil the contract. The expiration period can range in days, months, or years. The longer the time frame, the better the options’ value will be. A longer expiration period is also beneficial in rating time value, even if the stock trades go below the predetermined or strike price.

Advantages of option trading
Options trading is an attractive accessory for traders, as it allows them to gain significant exposure to the market. But the benefits don’t end here. Let us explore some important benefits of options over other approaches in the market.

Flexibility
The unique risk to reward ratio of options trading allows a number of combinations to be used. One can get multiple investment alternatives. Such investments and contracts eventually result in profits while safeguarding your investment.

Leverage
The equity option allows you to fix the price for a set timeline where you can purchase or sell 100 shares for a premium. It means you can leverage the investment power while boosting your potential reward from the price movements.

Liquidity
Transactions in options trading can be executed quickly and simply. This way, one’s investment does not remain stuck for an extended time. One can also re-invest as many times as they want to make more profit.

A profitable investment portfolio should ideally comprise diverse asset options, including stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and EFTs, with options as an added advantage. The world of options trading has no limits and may sound like a complex approach, but they aren’t. When approached in the right way, options contracts may be advantageous in the long run.