The tools in the OptionGear features set are specifically designed for trading exchange-based options, that is option contracts whose underlying asset is a stock traded on an exchange.
Option trading strategies involve a single option contract, or, more commonly, the combination of many options contracts, with the objective of entering and exiting the market at a profit.
The variety of types of option contracts, the large range of strike prices and expiry dates normally available, and the exponential number of possible combinations, produces the obvious need for a single platform from which all of a trader's strategies and trades, involving all of the options derived from a particular underlying security, can be compared, analyzed and managed.
In order to properly analyze and trade these types of options, the market performance of both the underlying stock as well as all the options derived from it (a group known as the Options Chain) should be readily available and up to date.
The Options toolbar menu provides links to the features that satisfy these requirements:
From the Options menu users can open new or saved Analysis, open Option Specific Charts for analysis and Option Specific Calculators for pricing.
The Analysis work page contains three inter-related tabbed pages: Strategy, Graph and Summary.
Details for the underlying stock and its option chain are displayed on the Strategy tabbed page. Here users can see the most recent market prices, as well as the system generated model price for each option. Trades for a strategy in either the underlying stock or any of its options can be entered and the profit/loss calculated in a table at the bottom of the page.
Click on the Graph page to display a risk graph for the strategy. The trade table shared by the Strategy tabbed page remains visible.
Additional Strategy tabbed pages can be created and more than one strategy can be displayed on the risk graph, allowing easy comparison to be made.
The Summary page allows easy comparison of the same strategies in a data table format.
For more information, go to the Option Analysis Introduction topic.
Weekly options are currently available only in the US options market and are provided by the CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange).
The introduction of “Weekly” expiring options has given traders even more flexibility to explore in the world of options trading. “Weekly” expiring options behave exactly like Monthly expiring options and carry exactly the same rights and obligations as standard Calls and Puts, except that they only exist for eight days.
The following help topics have been developed to facilitate your use of this powerful tool:
The OptionGear features set provides the following Charts that are dedicated to options trading.
The OptionGear features set provides the following Calculators that are dedicated to options trading.