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 ...

A short straddle is an advanced options strategy used when a trader is seeking to profit from an underlying stock trading in a narrow range. Since it involves having to sell both a call and a put, the ...

A few months ago, we explored trying to smooth out performance of consistently shorting straddles with a buying dated long straddle using NDX options. We found that a consistent strategy selling NDX 3 ...

When most traders think of making money in the markets, they picture buying low and selling high — or riding a trend. But what’s the best trade to make when a stock does absolutely nothing? That’s ...

Please Note: Blog posts are not selected, edited or screened by Seeking Alpha editors. A strangle is a variation on the straddle, and it presents some interesting possibilities in terms of profit ...

A straddle can be considered a volatility spread, as the trader who puts on the straddle is speculating on the volatility, or degree of movement of the underlying, not necessarily the direction of ...

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 ...

Straddles and com-binations are volatility trades unique to the options market. A straddle or a combination is profitable if the underlying security trades inside (if you are selling a straddle or a ...

Learning how to trade options helps expand your trading choices. It’s a powerful tool you can use to speculate on and hedge against market moves. But how do you know which strategy to use in a certain ...