Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Option Selling, Second Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I enjoyed this book and if it was titled "The Complete Guide to Selling Options on FUTURES." I would have given it another star. I read the reviews by others that complained that it was really guided towards futures options and still bought it because I wanted to learn about this market. But the title is misleading. I thank the other reviewers who wrote that because I would have been annoyed if I bought this book thinking it was a complete guide to trading options. The book is well written, thorough ( on futures options)and a good read. I learned things and that is one of my major criteria for any book like this: Did it have any new information for me? And it did.
I used to be a professional bond trader. I have Series 7, 63, 8 & 24 licenses. So I am not a novice to the markets but my exposure to option trading was limited to my own account.
The authors are part of a full service broker and towards the end of the book they really push full service brokers against discount or "order clerks." And the only full service broker listed in the resource section is theirs.I would prefer less spin towards their business and more listing of pros and cons of both as well as listing some other full service brokers that specialize in options and futures. That being said. If you're looking for a book on how to trade your own account I highly recommend this book.
That may seem contradictory but the authors really do a good job telling you what you need to know to trade successfully. If you can't do what they recommend or do not wish to spend the time you better not trade these options on your own.
As for me. I just might become a client of theirs. I need to do more research first.

Probably one of the best trading books I ever read.

This book is clearly written by an experienced trader. You will not find a lot of math or complex explanations. Even the greeks, volatility and similar are mentioned very little. But it does provide very useful information and advice, oriented to implement a sound strategy that works.

It does a great job demystifying the risks of selling option, which is usually that make retail trailers afraid of using this lucrative trading approach.

In other review, someone complained this book uses a lot future options as opposed to equity options. Yes they do, and if you have an open mind, you will be glad they did so. Usually retail traders see futures as very risky, and therefore assume future options will be even more riskier. With the approach proposed by this book, they can be traded with a well managed risk, much lower than dealing directly with futures.

As they say in the book, when you start checking the marging required to sell future options as opposed to sell equity options, you will realize that you were missing a whole new trading world. Equity options usually require much larger margin, and therefore your ROI is very tiny. With futures options your ROI can be huge, and with a controlled risk. This is why they devote several chapters to introduce you to commodities trading. They explain it clearly and are very honest on what works and what doesn't.

Interested in trading options AND earning money?
This book is what you are looking for.

The book has some decent content. However, after purchasing I returned the book because it is aimed at the Futures Market. It does not let you in on this little fact until you are reading the book. It claims to be for all markets. It is not. It covers a topic and then tells you what the differences are compared to equities. I have traded both. If you wish to learn more on covered calls on Equities or ETF's this is NOT THE BOOK TO USE.

Book focuses on options on futures which is good as most texts focus on stock options. So if you're looking for something about stock options, this isn't for you although the techniques, in theory, can be applied to any underlying.
My main criticism with the book has to do with the fact that its central premise, selling of options, is not discussed in sufficient detail, or at least won't explain the clear gap between the book's thesis and reality.
The idea to sell far out of the money options with long durations is a good idea in principle. However, finding a market which has sufficient premium at 75-100% OTM in ANY month, no matter how far out you go, is nearly impossible, inspite of the author's claims.
I have tried to raise a number of issues/questions I have had about the book and it's recommended techniques with the authors directly, wondering if I was missing something. They have not honored me with an answer.
The authors try to avoid advertising their brokerage business but I couldn't help but think that in addition to lacking real substance, this book was more of a vehicle to get people interested in becoming their clients. Given that they claim to run a business managing 100s of accounts using the book's advertised method, I cannot help but wonder what they're NOT telling the reader. Their unwillingness to answer more specific questions probably means they want you to become their client first.
In short, don't buy this book if you really want to learn a practical approach to options trading. Instead, I would recommend David Caplan's classic The New Options Advantage.

After reading this book was excited enough about the material to want to add some exposure to my investing portfolio. They recommend throughout the book to work with an experienced futures option selling broker to get started and "surprisingly" they have their company Liberty Trading as a contact at the end. To me, I figured who better to prove out the methodology being preached than the authors, so with moderately high expectations I opened an account with Liberty Trading and had them trade their "system" for me. Unfortunately, this has not turned out to be much more than what seems to be a loose form of robbery. So far just this year they have TAKEN 15% of the opening account value in commissions, currently it is down almost 10% and has realized losses of 30%. With the minimum amount to open an account being $100K, my conclusion is they wrote the book to get "clients" (suckers like me) to make some real money. Yes, I know all investing has risk, etc, etc...been involved in the markets for years. But, this approach has been far from what the book described and definitely not one that lets you "sleep at night" as they tout. I will say that they are excellent writers, and this is a well-done piece of marketing for unsuspecting clients. But if the "pro" can't follow their own methodology from their book and still feels good about taking over 15% of every winning and losing trade, I can't see how the information in this book can be deemed much more than propaganda. Thankfully I have stopped the bleeding.

I picked the first edition of this book while browsing a chain bookstore. I could tell that it was written clearly in a no-nonsense style, so I bought it to read completely. This book is a detailed, thoughtful introduction to the dangers and rewards of selling naked puts in COMMODITIES not equities. Nevertheless, the parameters of risk that the author uses (studying the market and stock well so there are no surprises, very low trading activity, be happy with the boredom of time decay) also translate into selling puts on equities.

Anyone who is a trader or investor knows that many 'investing' books are only shills for the author's trading service. This book is NOT a shill and provides a great introduction to the steady, slow, worry-free returns that can be obtained from selling far OTM puts. Though I am still searching for a decent book about equities puts, this book got me started on a profitable path. I will be purchasing the 2nd edition as soon as I am finished writing this review. Thank you, Authors!

It is a good book if you plain to write options on futures... I would have liked to have known this because I am looking for a good book on selling options on stock equities...
bssr

James Cordier does a great job of explaining the world of option "selling" in this book. His strategy for selling options works great on the equities and futures markets and can be implemented by both beginner and experienced option sellers. I recommend this book to anyone looking to get started in the futures markets, or someone who just wants to develop a straightforward trading system that produces predictable cashflow each month. Being a seller of options is the only way to go!

James Cordier & Michael Gross have put together one of the most complete explanations on options selling on futures ever written that even the layman can understand. Once you read this book you may well switch your portfolio from buying options on equities to the selling of commodity options....I know I did.

These are knowledgeable & most importantly honest brokers who have my enormous respect. Their firm Liberty Trading Group offers managed accounts to individuals & I can verify that they can bring you consistant returns rarely found in any other investment vehicle.

Read the book, it may be one of the smartest moves you can make this year!

Amazing book! Completely changed my views on trading/investing. Must read for anyone wanting more consistency in their trading/investing.