Learning Center

Options Trading for Rookies

Are you a visual learner? Skip the reading and check out TradeKing's video library. Educational topics range from stock and options trading to different kinds of analysis and everything in between.

Videos are separated by main category (Stocks, Options, Bonds, ETFs, Tools) and skill level (Rookies, Veterans, Seasoned Veterans), so you'll be sure to find what suits you. Just click on the video title and a video player will open as a pop up window.

Assignment and Exercise

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Join Brian as he explains what happens when options get exercised and the resulting assignment that occurs.

Beginning: Options Trading

Part 1 of The Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Learn important vocabulary and discover how the options marketplace evolved.

Buying Options: The Basics

Part 2 of The Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Join Brian as he covers this popular subject. Topics include the differences between buying options for investing as opposed to pure speculation.

Buying Options: Which Option Should I Buy?

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

When is the best time to buy an option? Should it be in-the-money or out-of-the-money? What strategy would you recommend? Join Brian as he discusses some key topics for beginning option traders.

Choose Your Option Strategy Part 1: How to Determine Your Outlook

Hosted by Nicole Wachs, for Rookies and Veterans

Join Nicole as she explains the three most important words in trading: Outlook, Outlook, and Outlook. Topics include developing ideas on volatility, the direction of the underlying, and the overall market. In addition, Nicole highlights the many news items that can derail any well planned stock or option trade.

Collars

Part 6 of The Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

The collar strategy is when you sell a call and buy a put on a security you own. This strategy limits the downside risk in exchange for capping the upside potential on the stock for little to no cost.

Covered Call Writing

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Brian starts this session with option basics: calls, puts, time value, intrinsic value, and exercise. He continues with a related strategy, Buy-Writes, finding promising trades, trade analysis and order entry and wraps up with a list of items to keep in mind with covered calls. Download Brian's slides.

Covered Call Writing Only

Part 4 of The Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Covered call writing is a great way to start trading options. Brian walks through the strategy step-by-step.

Exercise and Assignment: The Ins and Outs

Part 3 of The Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Brian explains the different exercise styles for American and European options. He also discusses what happens when options get exercised and the resulting assignment that occurs.

Index and ETF Options

Hosted by Nicole Wachs, for Rookies and Veterans

Index and ETF options have unique terms and characteristics. Trading them without full awareness of their significant differences from equity options can be detrimental to your bottom line. Topics include: AM/PM settlement, last trading day, opening rotation, and much more. Download Nicole's slides. Visit the Index forum discussion.

Options Calculator

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Learn how to conduct what-if analyses on a single option position with this calculator. Adjustable variables include date, stock price, implied volatility and more. This tool is best for traders that prefer to work with numbers instead of graphs.

Options Chains

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Start maximizing your option trade research by learning how to use TradeKing's 19 different option chains. Brian walks you through the key features of this extensive and valuable tool.

Options Lingo

Hosted by Nicole Wachs, for Rookies

Nicole breaks down complicated options terms into easy-to-understand language. Buzzwords include call option, put option, underlying, strike, premium, expiration, assignment, exercise, long, short, open and close. Download Nicole's slides.

Options Scanner

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies and Veterans

Discover how to search for a single option trade with this tool. Basic criteria include expiration, liquidity, risk and more. Advanced criteria consist of open interest, volatility, volume and many others. Please review the Option Strategy Scanner for multi-leg trades.

Probability Calculator

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies and Veterans

Become skilled at how to determine the probability of an asset having a certain price at a date in the future. Covered call and credit spread traders may find this tool particularly insightful. Calculations for standard deviation are also provided.

Profit & Loss Calculator

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies and Veterans

Learn how to perform what-if analyses on a single or multi-leg option position. Adjustable variables include stock price, implied volatility, post expiration analysis and more. This tool is best for traders that prefer to work with graphs rather than numbers. Extensive numerical information is also provided.

Profit + Loss Calculator and Option Trading

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies and Veterans

Join Brian as he explains in detail how to use TradeKing's Profit and Loss Calculator. Learn how to perform what-if analyses on a single or multi-leg option position by adjusting variables like stock price, implied volatility, time to expiration and more. Download Brian's slides.

Put Options: Their Many Uses

Part 5 of The Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Brian discusses how to sell puts as a way to buy stocks you would like to own long-term. He also addresses how to lock in gains from a stock that you already own by buying protective puts.

Swing Trading: Options

Hosted by Doc Maher, for Rookies and Veterans

If you enjoy swing trading, step things up when bringing options into the mix. Doc covers topics such as understanding the trend and counter-trend, deciding when to enter and exit, and managing stop orders. If this is a new concept, please review Swing Trading with Stocks beforehand.

Traders Lingo

Hosted by Nicole Wachs, for Rookies

This is a great first video to watch when getting started in the markets. Join Nicole as she covers terms like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds and more.

Trailing Stops

Hosted by Nicole Wachs, for Rookies

In this session, Nicole discusses how and when you can use trailing stop orders while trading. Topics include trigger, peg, increment, plus the pros and cons of this type of order, along with several trading examples. Viewing Types of Orders beforehand is recommended. Download Nicole's slides.

Types of Orders

Hosted by Nicole Wachs, for Rookies

In this session, Nicole explains the difference between Market, Limit, Stop and Stop Limit orders. She also covers how to read important market data such as the quote of a security, the bid, the ask, size, volume and more. Download Nicole's slides.

Volatility Charts

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies and Veterans

Discover how to obtain implied volatility and historical volatility data. Join Brian as he discusses these insightful charts and important tables.

Volatility and Probability

Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies and Veterans

Learn about the different inputs for the Black Scholes model. Brian discusses how he uses options statistics to make an estimate about the future movement of the underlying. Tune it to review his answers to several key questions.

Volatility and Probability Webcast

Part 7 of the Options Playbook Series
Hosted by Brian Overby, for Rookies

Brian discusses all of the factors that affect an option's price. He also illustrates how to determine the potential price range of the underlying security using implied volatility. Understanding these concepts is a must for every option trader.