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Can options work in a conservative way and actually help protect your portfolio?

Most conservative investors traditionally have seen options as high-risk, speculative plays on short-term market swings. This is appropriate when you think of the many high-risk option strategies available. But increasingly, options are going mainstream as even the most risk-averse investors find ways to use options to lower risks while protecting their long stock positions.

Three basic ways this is accomplished:

1. Co

An in-depth investigation by the non-profit analysis organization RAND reveals that hackers and their attacks are maturing at a much more rapid pace than organizations’ cybersecurity programs. Hackers now regularly and successfully plan sophisticated attacks to gain valuable information from large, well established organizations. In June 2015, Tony Scott, the CIO of the federal government, stated that organizations need “an architectural model that is secure by design rather than security slappe

So many traders start out with a sensible plan, only to abandon it because of the way the markets move. This abandonment of a smart plan invariably leads to potentially small added gains but large added losses.

In entering a trade, it is sensible to set two goals: the point where profits will be taken, and the bail-out point where losses will be cut. If you buy a long option, you should know going in that 75% of options expire worthless, so setting goals to sell and close make sense.

This does not

Remember the good ‘ol days when you thought of a finger pushing a button that launched a Russian missile that then sped at seven miles per second towards the U.S. to blow it up?

Little did we know back then what would one day be a way for the Superpowers to war on each other: cyber technology!

A new book is out called Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War, written by Peter W. Singer and August Cole. WWIII certainly won’t be wrought with speeding missiles and hand-to-hand combat in the trenche

As non-banks enter the financial services marketplace through innovative payment and banking offerings, it is vital for the financial services industry to establish design thinking and innovation as an underpinning of their business model to incentivize the customer loyalty necessary to regain competitive advantage in banking.

Christopher Whitlock, Vice President, Executive Creative Director at Fidelity Investments recently spoke with marcus evans about key topics to be discussed at their upcomi

The curiously-named "iron butterfly" is a complex strategy offering limited losses and limited profits. It is an expanded version of the basic butterfly (two separate spreads offsetting one another). The "iron" version is a combined straddle consisting of four options instead of the butterfly's three.

An iron butterfly can be either long or short. The long version consists of a long call and long put at the same strike; and a lower-strike short put plus higher-strike short call. For example, a co

Stock investors need good, strong signals to identify timing of entry and exit. Even conservative buy-and-hold investors have to time trades to maximize the possibility of profits.

One candlestick pattern involving two sessions helps to build confidence. Of course, as with all indicators, you have to rely on reversal indicators and confirmation. So before buying of selling shares, master the art of identifying signals and then also finding confirmation in other signals.

One of the best reversal s

When you write covered calls, greater profits will be earned by writing several two-month positions per year, than from writing one covered call with the longest time to expiration. Time decay for further-out options is quite small, so writing options more than a few months away is equal to lost time. Based solely on option premium profits, focusing on short-term ATM or OTM contracts produces impressive annualized returns.

An example of the covered call and how to identify profit, loss and breake

A delta neutral trade is one in which a long and short options contain offsetting delta so that the net delta is at zero. Delta is a measurement of the degree in an option's price movement when the underlying moves.

The theme of delta neutrality can refer to many differently constructed strategies including spreads (covered and uncovered) and straddles. When an option position is covered with long stock (one short call offsetting 100 shares of stock), the delta neutral creates an equivalent stock

Did you know that sometimes, the apps you use for your smartphone have access to your personal information and are capable of sharing it? Are you aware that your privacy can be invaded across the network board? That includes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and more.

And how can you tell which applications can do this? MyPermissions can tell you. Once you load this and do some setting up, you’ll see which apps on your device has access to your information.

For instance, it’s not jus

The dilemma of the long stock position is unending downside risk. This is where options serve their best purpose: as tools for portfolio management. Rather than use only as speculative and high-risk market plays, strategies like the synthetic short stock position protect against downside loss and, unlike the better-known covered call, offer a practical alternative to selling and taking profits. This position combines a long put and a short call. In a pure synthetic short, no stock would be held

In 2015, Amair Saleem was named the Global Risk Management Professional of the Year by the Institute of Risk Management. Saleem manages safety, risks, and regulations for Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which serves many of the same functions the U.S.’s DOT does. So what has made Saleem such a preeminent risk management expert?

According to The Wall Street Journal’s “Risk & Compliance Journal,” the Dubai RTA sees more than a million passengers every day and manages 40 departments, wh

Among the many options strategies, one of the most interesting is synthetic long stock. This involves a long call and a short put opened at the same strike and expiration.

The name "synthetic" is derived from the fact that the two positions change in value dollar for dollar with changes in 100 shares of stock. However, the cost to open the position is close to zero and may even produce a small credit.

For example, a stock is priced at $50.35 per share. The value of the November 50 calls and puts a

Those were the days when all parents had to worry about was the creepy guy lurking near the playground. Now parents have to worry about creeps all over the world reaching their kids via computer. And there’s more to worry about. Here’s what to teach your kids:

• Screen names should not be revealing about location, age or even gender. Never use the full name. Choose a name that would never outright point to the user, such as “Chris J,” when everyone knows the user as Tina Jones. “Chris” can make Tin

Foreign hackers, look out: Uncle Sam is out to get you. President Obama has issued an order that allows the State Department and Treasury Departments to immobilize the financial assets of anyone out-of country suspected of committing or otherwise being involved in cyber crimes against the U.S.

This order, two years in the making, covers hacking of anything. The order refers to hacking as a national emergency. Imagine if entire power grids were hacked into. Yes, a national emergency.

Another reason

The attraction of the ratio write is the potential for higher premium income. However, ratio writes do increase risks. Options traders too often convince themselves that exercise is unlikely, and that time decay is "likely" to outpace intrinsic value even if the calls go in the money.

Here's the thinking: You open ATM or ITM positions with one to two months until expiration. It's all time value, so that will evaporate very quickly. Even if the underlying price rises, you can close the exposed por

Let’s cut to the chase (never mind how you misplaced your phone): There are several ways to sign out of your Google accounts remotely. It takes three steps, and you’ll need the desktop version of Google.

• On a mobile use a browser opposed to the Gmail/Google app and sign in at gmail.com.
• Seek out “Desktop version” at the bottom of the window/browser. Click it. You may need to login again.
• At the very bottom you will see “Recent Activity” in the right corner. Look below that to see “Details.” Click t

Most swing traders use long stock for expected upswings; and either short stock for downswings or just stay out because shorting is high-risk. Two things are problematical with this idea. First, the risk should not be ignored; and second, you miss half of the swing opportunities by avoiding going short.

There is a solution, and it enables you to trade with control of 100-share lots for much less cost than 100 shares. It also reduces market risk. Using options to swing trade is a logical answer, a

Even the most experienced option trader can benefit with an occasional reminder: The most basic strategies often are the best, all depending on the situation and what you hope to accomplish with the option position.

Just mastering a complex strategy does not include the requirement that you abandon the basic ones that might work better. For example, do the conditions can for a long call or put, a covered call, or an insurance put? Admittedly, these are not the most exciting options strategies, bu

To help keep your home and property safe from crime, the New Castle County Police Department provides the following guidelines:

1. Sounds like a no-brainer, but so many people do otherwise: Keep your doors locked at all times. People will actually go to sleep with the front door unlocked.
2. Doors should be locked with a deadbolt that has at least a one-inch throw.
3. Keep windows locked. People have been known to leave a window open overnight in their child’s bedroom. Yes, hot weather is here, but there ar