Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

An option gives traders the right, but not the obligation, to trade the underlying asset that it is linked to. Whether the underlying asset moves up or down in value, an options straddle is a trading ...

Buying a straddle profits from significant price swings regardless of direction. Selling a straddle profits when the stock price remains stable near strike price. Straddle buying is risky before ...

Options straddles and options strangles are two advanced options strategies that can be used to capitalize on changes in implied volatility (IV) and stock price volatility. Options straddles and ...

Staying neutral can be difficult, whether in lunchroom arguments at work, watching a battle between rival sports teams or trading stocks in a volatile market. But one of the advantages of markets is ...

We recently published a performance review of at-the-money (ATM) NDX straddles with between one and five days left to expiration. One finding was that consistent sellers of 3-Day, 4-Day, and 5-Day NDX ...

Options allow for greater flexibility when it comes to expressing a wide variety of market outlooks. Implied volatility tends to rise into earnings events, providing options sellers with potential ...

When traders first start using options, they often employ them either as a way to take a directional view on an asset (buying a call if they expect it to rise or a put if they expect it to fall) or as ...