3 Common Mistakes Made When Trading Options

Wednesday, 9. September 2009


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#1 Trading options in only one direction and that’s usually up.

A very common mistake that traders make is options omission. They forget or fail to realize that options trading allows one to make money on falling prices as well as rising prices. By not trading in both up markets and down markets, they are not maximizing their investments. When you stop trading when the market is in a downturn, you are potentially leaving half the available money on the table.

Additionally, security prices tend to fall faster than they rise, so some of the biggest, quickest gainers are executed via falling share prices. So if an options traders is not considering short trades for their investment portfolio, they are missing out on some really solid trades.

#2 Not having money-management rules in place.

Another common mistake is to not strictly adhere to sound money-management rules. Critical metrics arise from guiding principles such as how much should you trade and how much should you risk? Where should you set your stops or in what manner should you hedge?

Solid money management rules control help you to control your trades. And the most important thing is they are helpful in preventing big losses and many sleepless nights.

#3 Letting your emotions dictate your trade entry and exit points.

Many times behavior that is illogical makes investors execute trades that lack the necessary fundamentals. Instead of letting sound principles guide their investing decisions, they move on pure emotions. Fear of price reversal drives traders out of winning trades too soon and fear of loss makes them stay in losing trades for too long.

And because there is zero way to eliminate your emotions completely, you must learn to control them. The most realistic and effective way to do so is to develop a set of trading rules to constrict your trading activities and to conduct the majority of your research and trading decisions outside of open trading hours.

Understanding The Gann Square of Nine

Saturday, 5. September 2009

Gann Square of Nine or Gann Pyramid as it is also called, is one of the most useful tools in the investment industry. Though it is somewhat more complicated than other tools, once mastered it is very useful when applied to financial analysis.

The Gann Square of Nine is most often used to confirm the significance of highs and lows in terms of stocks, commodities and other types of investments. Imagine being able to predict when to buy a particular stock and how much to pay. The Gann Square of Nine makes this not only possible, but also a reality that has worked for many investors over the past century.

It is important to note here that Gann Square of Nine should never be used to choose tops and bottoms when selecting stocks, but it can be utilized to provide additional information to confirm how significant a recent high or low point in the market was when a break in a trend occurs. Gann Square of Nine is similar in shape and concept to a wheel or circle, and is often also referred to as the Gann Wheel.

It starts with the number 1 in the center and radiates out to the first square of nine. This begins with the number 2or number 1 to the left of the center, it then spirals clockwise to the number 9 in order to form its first rotation around the square of nine. This rotation then shifts one unit to the left of nine and the next rotation begins at the number 10. It then continues its spiral to the number 20 and so on.

Here is a picture of the Gann Square of nine:
http://www.stock-commodity-trading.com/gannsquare.gif

The Gann Square of Nine is a time and price calculator that figures the square root of numbers, both odd and even and their midpoints as well. It also seeks time and price alignments from a specified starting point or price level. One example of this would be a significant high or low point in a given market.

If you look at the numbers that appear on the grid that run down to the bottom left corner on the Gann Square of Nine, you will find them to be the square root of odd numbers. An example of this would be 5×5 = 25. If, on the other hand, you look at the numbers that run up to the top right corner on the Gann Square of Nine, you will find they are the square root of even numbers. An example of this is 4×4 = 16.

The numbers that run down on the right corner on the bottom will show you the midpoint between the squares of odd and even numbers. Let’s use the numbers 25 and 16 mentioned above to illustrate this. Here, the number 21 would represent their midpoint because it falls exactly between them.

The Gann Square of Nine is an arrangement of numbers with a specific order and a used in a number of ways. Further review of Gann Square of Nine will show you how it works and illustrate its usefulness in determining market highs and lows.