Author: Alex Fotopoulos

My wife and I are both losing our jobs within the next few months.  My contract is ending and her company is being sold.  We’ve planned well for the likelyhood of one of us being unemployed and have lived well beneath our means.  The trouble is that we could both be unemployed by January if…

Every so often when I start feeling some fear of the market’s potential demise I second guess some of the trades I’ve made.  I look in on my Ameritrade account to see that I’m down on a few positions and depending on my overall mood I sometimes start to fear making another trade because I don’t…

I’ve written about the importance of keeping a trading journal numerous times.  (It fits “My Trader’s Journal” title don’t you think?)  Another key reason to keep a trading journal is to keep your greed in check.  This journal should not be limited to only the stocks and options you invest in, but should also include a system…

This is a continuation of an earlier post found here. A common misperception is that most options expire worthless.  This is not true due to people not exercising their options, but because some puts expire out-of-the-money and if a put is in-the-money, the calls at that same strike are out-of-the-money.  In addition, many traders will close their…

I had a good exchange with a reader in the comments of a post from the end of July.  He asked a good question that made me realize that a lot more people are probably wondering the same thing.  In essence, he asked how does selling puts work. Since selling options, mainly selling puts, is the foundation…