Binary Options E-Book

Alex Nekritin

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Wiley Trading Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 363

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

The first comprehensive guide to trading a unique class of options to manage risk and make smarter bets during volatile trading Providing savvy market players with a way to react quickly to event-driven opportunities and trends, exchange traded binary options are a unique type of derivative instrument offering fixed risk and reward. Available on four asset classes--stock index futures, commodity futures, Spot Forex and economic data releases--they are distinctly different from regular put/call options in that their pay-out structure offers only two potential outcomes, or settlement values: 0 or 100. The first guide focussing exclusively on this fast-growing sector of the options market, Trading Binary Options examines the key differences between regular options trading and binary options trading and describes how binary trading is done. It also gives you the lowdown on the most successful binary trading strategies and how and when they should be deployed. * Outlines a rigorous approach to trading directionally around specific events, such as an earnings release, a shift in currencies, or a release of economic data * Provides the first comprehensive coverage of an increasingly popular but poorly understood trading instrument * Offers in-depth discussions of the six characteristics that distinguish binaries from other options and that make them such an attractive vehicle for hedging risk and improving returns

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Series

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

PART 1: INTRO TO BINARY OPTIONS

PART 2: BINARY OPTIONS THEORY

PART 3: TRADING BINARY OPTIONS

PART 4: BINARY OPTION TRADING STRATEGIES

PART 5: CREATING YOUR BINARY OPTIONS STRATEGY

PART 6: MANAGING YOUR BINARY OPTIONS ACCOUNT

PART 7: PROFITING WITH VOLATILITY

Acknowledgments

Part I: Introduction to Binary Options

Chapter 1: What Are Binary Options?

ON WHAT ASSET CLASSES ARE BINARY OPTIONS AVAILABLE?

BINARY OPTIONS VS. CBOE (VANILLA) PUT/CALL OPTIONS

ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES OF BINARY OPTIONS

REASONS TO TRADE BINARY OPTIONS

Part II: Binary Options Theory

Chapter 2: What Does Binary Mean?

COMPONENTS TO A BINARY OPTION

LONG TRADING

SHORT TRADING

Chapter 3: Pricing

STRIKE PRICE

TIME VALUE

PRICE AS A NATURAL MARKET CONSENSUS

READING A BINARY OPTIONS CHAIN

Part III: Trading Binary Options

Chapter 4: Binary Options Contract Collateral

MARGIN AND DEBIT RISK OF VANILLA OPTIONS AND FUTURES

COLLATERAL EXPLAINED

BINARY OPTIONS EXPIRATION VALUES

COLLATERALIZING A LONG TRADE

COLLATERALIZING A SHORT BINARY OPTIONS TRADE

THE MECHANICS OF A BINARY OPTIONS SHORT TRADE

Chapter 5: Settlement

SETTLEMENT ON BINARY OPTION LONG TRADES

SETTLEMENT ON BINARY OPTIONS SHORT TRADES

COMMISSIONS AND FEES

Chapter 6: Entering and Exiting Binary Option Trades

READING QUOTES

READING AN ORDER TICKET

EXITING TRADES

EXITING YOUR TRADE BEFORE EXPIRATION

Chapter 7: Keys to Trading Binary Options and More Examples

GOLD BINARY EXAMPLES

COPPER BINARY EXAMPLES

Part IV: Binary Options Trading Strategies

Chapter 8: Volatility Trading Explained

TAKING A VOLATILITY LONG POSITION (BUYING VOLATILITY)

REGULATING SUCCESS PROBABILITY AND PAYOUT WITH STRIKE PRICES

TAKING A VOLATILITY SHORT POSITION (SELLING VOLATILITY)

REGULATING RANGE AND PAYOUT WITH STRIKE PRICES

MAX LOSS, COLLATERAL, AND MAX PROFIT SUMMARY TABLE

Chapter 9: Binary Option Behavior as Expiration Approaches

UNDERSTANDING DELTA

DELTA AND PRICE

Chapter 10: Technical Trading Strategies with Binary Options

SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE

BREAKOUT TRADING

Chapter 11: Fundamental Trading Strategies with Binary Options

NEWS RELEASES

POLITICAL EVENTS

SPECULATING ON ACTUAL NEWS RELEASES

ECONOMIC DATA RELEASES THAT YOU CAN SPECULATE ON

Part V: Creating Your Binary Options Strategy

Chapter 12: Systems with Binary Options

FINDING YOUR EDGE

PROPER TRADING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

BACK-TESTING BINARY OPTIONS STRATEGIES

THREE BACK-TESTING RULES

Chapter 13: Negative Emotions

GREED AND FEAR

HOW TO HANDLE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

FIND THE RIGHT SYSTEM FOR YOU

PRACTICAL STEPS TO MITIGATE THE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

Chapter 14: Risk Management

THE PROCESS

DETERMINING POSITION SIZE

RISK MANAGEMENT ON OPTION SPREADS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSITION SIZE AND TRADING PSYCHOLOGY

HANDLING UNEXPECTED MARKET VOLATILITY

BENEFITS OF BINARY OPTIONS ON TRADING PSYCHOLOGY

DISCIPLINE OF EXPIRATION

Part VI: Managing Your Binary Options Account

Chapter 15: Proactive System Improvement

SYSTEM CUTOFFS

DRAWDOWN

CONSECUTIVE LOSING TRADES

REINVESTMENT RATE

DIVERSIFICATION AND ACCOUNT DISTRIBUTION

INTERSYSTEM DIVERSIFICATION

ACCOUNT BREAKDOWN

Part VII: Profiting with Volatility

Chapter 16: The Volatility Short Trading Rules

PREMIUM COLLECTION

RULE 1: CUT OFF YOUR LOSING TRADES

RULE 2: COLLECT ENOUGH PREMIUM

RULE 3: SELL FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM MARKET PRICE

RULE 4: USE UNDERLYING INSTRUMENTS THAT REVERT TO THE MEAN

RULE 5: SELL OPTIONS WITH PROPER DURATION UNTIL EXPIRATION

RULE 6: PERFORM ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS IN ORDER TO GET A FEEL FOR MARKET DIRECTION

RULE 7: ATTEMPT TO MAKE YOUR MARKET

CONCLUSION

Glossary

Index

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons is the oldest independent publishing company in the United States. With offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, Wiley is globally committed to developing and marketing print and electronic products and services for our customers' professional and personal knowledge and understanding.

The Wiley Trading series features books by traders who have survived the market's ever changing temperament and have prospered—some by reinventing systems, others by getting back to basics. Whether a novice trader, professional or somewhere in-between, these books will provide the advice and strategies needed to prosper today and well into the future.

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Cover Design: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cover Image: (c) Andy Hair/iStockphoto

Copyright © 2013 by Alex Nekritin. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Nekritin, Alex, 1980– Binary options : strategies for directional and volatility trading / Alex Nekritin. p. cm.—(Wiley trading series) Includes index. ISBN 978-1-118-40724-0 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-41777-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-52868-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-42182-6 (ebk) 1. Options (Finance) 2. Futures. I. Title. HG6024.A3N448 2013 332.64'53—dc23

2012032301

This book is dedicated to my parents, Nina and Boris Nekritin. Thanks for all your unconditional love and support. Without you, none of this would have been possible.

Foreword

Binary options are a relatively new and unique way to take part in the financial markets. Over the past decade they have become popular instruments in Europe and Asia, and more recently, over the past few years, have not only gained acceptance, but have seen widespread growth in the United States, particularly within the retail trading community.

One may ask, “Why, with all of the investment vehicles available, stocks, futures, forex, options, exchange-traded funds, and so on, would I want to take a look at another contract type?” This is a legitimate question.

One of the main reasons traders may look to a contract like a binary option is risk control. Any seasoned trader in any market knows that profitability on any given trade is secondary, but risk management on every trade is mandatory and of the utmost concern. This is particularly true when participating in leveraged markets such as futures and currencies, where one mistake can not only result in large losses, but in some cases, losses that exceed the amount of capital in the trader's account. This can create an ugly scenario for any trader—the dreaded margin call. If you're not familiar with this concept, just think of the reaction of Randolph and Mortimer Duke at the end of the movie Trading Places and you may have a good idea of the devastating effect a margin call can have.

In the case of a binary option, whether I am buying or selling, my risk is always limited and 100 percent defined up front, before the order is submitted. What this means is that a trader can very closely manage the risk on every trade. No matter what happens in the world while the trade is on—geopolitical tensions, central bank announcements, natural disasters, whatever the case—the investor cannot lose more than is put up for the trade. No worries of margin calls or being margined out, and more importantly, no chance of your broker calling you up and telling you that you have to deposit more funds—funds that you may not have.

Another reason to consider binary options is simply cost. Many of you reading this may have wanted to speculate in the financial markets. You may have been standing at the gas pump and thought, “I knew oil was going up.” Or perhaps you were reading the newspaper, saw something that caught your eye, and said, “I think stocks are going up tomorrow.” Unfortunately for many, the cost of placing a trade in the traditional markets may just be too great. Whether it be because of large margin requirements, or the risk of trading a single contract alone is just too great, you've been shut out of the trading community.

If that is the case, binary options, because of the low barrier to entry, may offer you the opportunity to participate in markets you otherwise wouldn't have access to. Most importantly, you can now take part in these markets while protecting yourself through the limited risk nature of these contracts. Additionally, if you are a seasoned trader, you may look to binary options as an alternative vehicle, giving you opportunity to trade in situations you otherwise wouldn't take in the more traditional markets.

You may be saying to yourself, this sounds really good, but if it is so good, why isn't everyone doing this?

Well, one reason is that trading, in any market, is not easy. It is a skill and, like any skill, takes time to develop. It is a path that one should start down slowly, and trading, in and of itself, is a never-ending process of learning and trying to improve.

Another reason binary options have not become a household name is simply that as a relatively new trading vehicle, there has been a severe lack of quality material on the subject. Some information has been available; however, it often took a great deal of digging to find it, and when one did, it could be difficult to piece it all together and assemble into a sensible format.

Thankfully, with the publication of Alex's work on binary options, this hindrance has become a thing of the past. The following pages in this book provide a clear, concise guide to trading binary options. In a way, it is hard for me to call this just a “book.” It is in fact a complete user manual, providing a step-by-step guide to trading binary options. Starting with the very basics and moving all the way through to advanced strategies, it offers what will undoubtedly be a very valuable reference for traders of all levels.

Whether you've never placed a binary options trade—or, for that matter, a trade in any market—this course will give you a solid foundation from which to enter the market with a full understanding of mechanics, price movement, and, most important, risk.

Even if you're an experienced binary options trader, this work will likely provide new ideas and strategies to enhance your current trading methodology. Even though I have studied binary options for several years, the material covered here gave me new concepts to explore and opened my eyes to looking at familiar concepts in a whole new light.

I hope you enjoy this work as much as I do and wish you much success in all your endeavors.

Dan CookSeptember 2012

Preface

Exchange-traded binary options are fixed-risk/fixed-reward instruments that are fairly simple to trade. They are distinctly different from regular vanilla put/call options and they absolutely should not be confused with over-the-counter binary options. In this guide, we will cover what sets exchange-traded binary options apart and explain to you in great detail how they work.

Please read this guide very carefully and follow along with the examples provided. The text is deliberately packed with a ton of examples, some of which may seem repetitive to you. The idea behind this is that once you go through enough examples, you will be able to grasp the concept. In order to solidify the concepts even further, you can visit www.traderschoiceoptions.com for more trade examples and even quizzes. Once you are clear on the concept, you may find binary options to be simple to implement. You will also see that they have certain unique and clear advantages that provide for potentially great trading opportunities.

This guide is beneficial for beginner, intermediate, and advanced traders who are not familiar with binary options.

If you are a beginner, all concepts are diligently explained, and you will find a detailed glossary to cover all trading-related terms that you may or may not be familiar with. You certainly don't need to be a mathematics genius to trade binary options. The only type of math really involved is basic addition and subtraction. You really need to understand the concept, and the rest will be easy, fun, and potentially rewarding—although, as with all types of trading, there are always risks.

If you are an intermediate or an advanced trader, you should be able to pick up the theory behind binary options pretty quickly. You may still want to take a look at the basic sections of this guide, as the concepts that we introduce build on one another. You should put a great deal of focus on the sections that explain the theory and practice behind binary options. Once you go through a number of examples and learn the key attributes of binary options, you will see how they have certain unique features that, if used correctly, can provide you with many great trading opportunities. By using this guide with a demo trading account, you should be well on your way to taking advantage of this great trading instrument.

After completing this intro course, you may want to take a look at our strategy guide at www.traderschoiceoptions.com to give you some interesting trading strategies and systems that you can use with binary options.

The course is broken down into sections, and each section builds on the previous one. The best way to approach this guide is to read it in order.

PART 1: INTRO TO BINARY OPTIONS

Here, you will learn the basics, like: What are binary options? Where are they traded? What instruments are they traded on? How safe is your money when you are trading them? How do they differ from other kinds of options?

PART 2: BINARY OPTIONS THEORY

Here, you will learn the theory behind binary options and how you can use them to speculate on the markets. Among other aspects, you will cover margin/collateral, expiration times, the mechanics of strike prices, and how to read a binary option chain. Once you are clear on the concepts, you can follow our trade examples to make sure that you understand the logic behind binary options trades.

PART 3: TRADING BINARY OPTIONS

Here, you will learn how to actually trade binary options. You will learn how to read price quotes and order tickets and how to enter and exit positions. You will learn the transaction costs associated with binary options trading and will walk through placing a trade. Once you are clear on these concepts, you can go through more trade examples to make sure that you are ready to start trading binary options.

PART 4: BINARY OPTION TRADING STRATEGIES

Here, you will learn some directional and volatility trading strategies with binary options using both technical and fundamental analysis. With directional trading, you can simply speculate on the underlying asset's price to move in one direction or another.

The great factor of volatility trading strategies is that you can speculate on the underlying asset to stay within a certain range or go outside of a range by expiration. This allows you a lot more options and flexibility in your trading strategies. In order to trade volatility vanilla put/call options, trading accounts require relatively high deposits; however, binary options open up the world of volatility trading to you with only a $100 deposit for every contract traded.

PART 5: CREATING YOUR BINARY OPTIONS STRATEGY

Here, you will learn all about how binary options can be extremely beneficial for setting up a trading system. Binary options can help mitigate the effects of emotion and make calculating potential risks and rewards very straightforward. In addition, this section will teach you about some of the basic trading strategies that you can use with binary options. Long, short, range-bound, breakout-bound—the list goes on and on. The advantages of trading binaries are endless.

PART 6: MANAGING YOUR BINARY OPTIONS ACCOUNT

Here, you will learn that, as with any trading account, there is a large amount of work involved with a binary options account. However, it doesn't have to be very difficult or stressful if you follow our guidelines to control your risk and protect your gains. This section will teach you about many aspects of risk management as they pertain to binary options. Before you start trading, be sure to study this section.

PART 7: PROFITING WITH VOLATILITY

Here, you will learn about one of the most potentially profitable ways to trade binary options: premium collection. This allows you to make money off of instruments doing what they often already do: staying where they are. By using our descriptions of both the basics and the complexities of premium collection, you can set up a trading system that is reliable, robust, and successful.

So strap yourself in and get ready to learn about a new trading instrument that can provide you with endless possibilities and great opportunity.

Acknowledgments

First of all, I want to thank my father, Boris Nekritin, for getting me in the trading game many years ago. Without him, I would never have accomplished even one tenth of what I have accomplished, and I certainly would never have been able to write this book. There are many other people who deserve acknowledgment; the list includes but is not limited to the following: Dan Antonuccio, for pretty much managing all of my projects and, as usual, putting everything together to turn my ideas into reality; Eddie Kwong, who is a great friend and one of the most connected guys I know in the trading industry, for putting me in touch with Wiley and teaching me a ton about the business; Dan Cook, who is the real expert in binaries, for patiently answering all of my complex questions about the product; Abe Cofnas, who is one of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic traders I have met, for getting me excited about binary options in the first place; Patrick Tobin and Even Nelson, who were a lot of help with the writing and many of the images in the book; the team at Wiley—Evan Burton, Meg Freeborn, and Simone Black—for believing in the idea and making the book a reality. Of course, my parents Nina and Boris Nekritin for unconditional love and support in everything I do. And last, but certainly not least, my fiancée, Kendra, for helping me stay focused with her love and support.

PART I

Introduction to Binary Options

This section will provide you with an overview and discussion of the main benefits of binary option trading.

What You Will Learn:

What are binary options?How do binary options differ from traditional options?Which underlying instruments are binary options available to trade on?Where can you trade binary options?What are the benefits of trading binary options?What makes binary options unique compared to other instruments and options?

When you complete this section you should have a basic understanding of what binary options are and be familiar with their main advantages.