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When writing covered calls, it's important to accurately compare one expiration to another, to make certain that your analysis is accurate based on both rate and time. You can compare annualized returns under the following guidelines:

1. Make all yield comparisons to the strike. Use the strike for consistency, based on the rationale that if exercised, the strike will be the price at which you sell shares. Alternatives are to base the analysis on your stock basis or current price, but both of thes

Using options to focus more on either uptrend or downtrend is an effective method for augmenting the swing itself. The strategy assumes that you have an opinion about the prevailing direction of movement in the underlying, and that momentum confirms your opinion. So as a starting point, you can coordinate a weighting decision by checking some of the best momentum oscillators like RSI or MACD.

There are numerous methods for weighting one side or the other. On the bottom of the swing, bullish weigh

Think about your keychain. It probably holds the necessities: car keys, home keys, work keys, miscellaneous keychains you bought on your previous vacations. Now, imagine you have a keychain full of these keys that all look the same, but each only opens a specific door.

Sounds kind of like your list of passwords, right? But what happens when you have all of these keys, and you need to get into your house? In either situation it can be easy to forget which key, or password, goes to what door or web

You’ve been “Googled.” No matter how small a speck you think you are in this universe, you have without a doubt created an online footprint that is attached to your name. Chances are high that someone out there has followed this footprint of yours via a Google search.

Whether by a business colleague, family member or even a significant other, it’s reasonable to assume that your name will be “searched” online for personal information about you. But, what are the results of these searches? Are you

Traders hear about all kinds of risk, but one specific type is common to traders at all levels, but rarely if ever discussed.

Are you the victim of "self-discipline risk?"

Most traders are. You set rules for yourself but make the mistake of breaking them later, based on how prices change. For example, you go long on an option with the intention of selling under one of two circumstances. If the price rises, you will sell when you double your original investment. If the price falls, you will bail ou

Not all computer viruses immediately crash your device in a dramatic display. A virus can run in the background, quietly creeping around on its tip-toes, stealing things and messing things up along the way. If your computer has a virus, here’s what may happen:

• Windows suddenly shuts down.
• Programs automatically start up.
• Some programs won’t start at your command.
• The hard disk can be heard constantly working.
• Things are running awfully slow.
• Spontaneous occurrence of messages.
• The activity light on the

Creating synthetic long stock lets you open an options-based position that behaves exactly like 100 shares of stock, but without requiring you to invest in shares. In exchange, you are required to deposit collateral in your margin account equal to the strike value of a short position.

An example: You want to buy 100 shares at $60. You create a synthetic long stock position in options. The following options are available:

September 60 call 2.00
September 60 put 1.52

The synthetic long stock position

Hello all,

I am producing the new Marcus Evans Global Anti-Corruption and Risk Management conference and I am currently looking for experts in the field of anti-corruption and risk management to speak at the event in London, 18th to 20th November. 

I also still have one remaining workshop that still needs a leader. The workshop will be looking at the importance of education and training effectively your workforce so that they are aware of current regulation surrounding corruption and bribery. As w

CNN recently reported that the data breach of the IRS, which occurred between this past February and May, originated from Russia. The crooks were able to steal tax returns from over 100,000 people. The thieves filed a total of $50 million in tax refunds, having obtained personal data to get ahold of the data.

In other words, this crime wasn’t a hacking job. The Russians didn’t hack into the IRS’s network through some “back door” or social engineering scheme. They actually entered through the fron

The Harvard Business Review’s article “How to Live with Risks” reveals a common misconception that risk managers have about the sources of their risks, and how they should be conducting risk assessments.

This study suggests that while risk managers spend nearly half their time on legal and compliance related risks, they face a much greater threat of loss events from strategic and operational concerns.

A common risk assessment mistake is the inability to relate high-level strategic concerns to the

The short straddle is dangerous because, well for one thing, both sides are short. Making things even riskier, one side or the other is always in the money.

Even so, the true risk of the short straddle might not be as severe as traders often assume. Consider how much risk is reduced in the following circumstances:

1. Premium is very rich. The best short straddles (a short straddle is selling a call and put on the same underlying, same strike and same expiration) are those that, given the at-the-mo

The entire question of how the options pricing model can be used has been underway since the early 1970s when the original model was developed. Below is a repeat of the previously published discussion on this, published here is the recent past.

The big question, of course, is: How can we rely on a formula with a series of variables that are provably inaccurate and based on a flawed assumptions, exponentially inaccurate variables, and outdated models about the nature of options?

The pricing model u

There is good news for the tech-unsavvy out there: Google has made their privacy settings easier to work with. This day has not come a moment too soon. “My Account” is Google’s new dashboard.

When you use any Google account, the giant company collects information on you. The new dashboard will reveal what information this is. My Account also has other privacy related features; check it out first chance that you get. It has the following three sections.

Security

• If you get locked out of your Google

Traders are wise to select stocks for trading based on a few powerful fundamental signals and trends. Fundamental analysts can find value in dozens of ratios and trend. However, three exceptionally valuable indicators, when used together, provide a reliable method for narrowing down the list of candidates. These are debt ratio, P/E ratio, and dividend yield.

1. Debt ratio.

The debt ratio is easily overlooked because in focused on long-term debt. For tests of working capital, it is easier and more

Many option strategies are designed to create profit potential and also reduce risk. If you are willing to accept a limited level of both profit and risk, many spreads will do the trick. But these strategies are complex, and might not be worthwhile, given transaction costs and the need to monitor positions constantly. One solution is found in the box spread.

Spreads can be broadly defined as bull or bear. Either may be constructed using calls or puts. In a box spread, you combine bull and bear sp

Gamma confuses some options traders because it's a "secondary" indicator. It measures the speed of change in another indicator, delta.

Delta measures the rate of premium change in the options related to changes in the underlying (and of course is affected by time and proximity). Gamma measures how quickly delta moves. It tracks delta and reflects changing volatility, so looking at delta and gamma together is a great way to compare volatility between two or more issues.

Delta is measured with a sin

The latest report says that Darron Dellon Dennis Wint did not act alone in the arson murder of a Washington, D.C., family and their housekeeper. You might wonder how a $4.5 million mansion—presumably with top-flight smoke alarms—could burn enough to kill the occupants.

A cnn.com report says they were held against their will since the day prior to the May 14 fire. Wint is being held without bond.

It’s too soon, however, to draw conclusions, as other people are being interviewed by police.

Wint was a

The short call is an intriguing position to open, if only because so many traders see it as way too risky to even consider. But some strategies are perfectly suited to take advantage of two great short call features: offset of risk, and premium income.

One variation is the short call butterfly, which employs three strikes. An expansion of this which adds even greater risk spreading is the short call condor. This expands the butterfly by adding another mid-range strike. Thus, there are four strike

Cyber threat intelligence is unquestionably a hot buzzword in the security industry these days. It is being used to seek venture capital and fund startups. It is being pitched to the enterprise market by providers and consultants. However, in this paper, we argue that the majority of what is being billed as “threat intelligence” isn’t. It’s data. From lists of bad IPs or application vulnerabilities to malware signatures, social media data or indicators of compromise (“IOCs”), none of these thing

The information explosion, the proliferation of endpoint devices, growing user volumes and new computing models like cloud, social business and big data have created new vulnerabilities. Data security is a moving target—as data grows, more sophisticated threats emerge; the number of regulations increase; and changing economic times make it difficult to secure and protect data.

Because data is a critical component of daily business operations, it is essential to ensure privacy and protect data no