McMillan on Options (A Marketplace Book) [Hardcover]

Lawrence G. McMillan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471119601 | ISBN-13: 978-0471119609 | Publication Date: October 7, 1996 | Edition: 1

From the nation's top options expert and best-selling finance author--the very latest strategies in option trading

McMillan on Options is like Buffett on stocks--savvy, street-wise, and always ahead of the investment curve. Which is why results-hungry options traders, institutional investors, and portfolio managers snapped up more than 100,000 copies of his first book, Options as a Strategic Investment, and tens of thousands more exhaustively study his three advisory newsletters. In this eagerly-awaited book, one of the financial world's leading market makers reveals the very latest in options pricing strategies and hedging techniques. Traders will welcome the definitive coverage of volatility, pricing strategies, hedging techniques, and, of course, the author's personal options philosophy.

LAWRENCE G. McMILLAN (Randolf, New Jersey) is the editor of The Option Strategist Newsletter. He writes a weekly investment advisory letter, Hedged Options Strategies, and as well as Thompson MacKinnon's Options Letter, and How to Make Money with Stock Options. He was formerly senior vice president of the Equity Arbitrage Department at Thomas MacKinnon Securities.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Thousands of investors turn to Larry McMillan, leading finance writer and advisor, for expert advice on options. In this reader-friendly book, McMillan offers the latest information on the high-profit world of options trading. This up-to-date guide provides an information-hungry marketplace with in-depth coverage of pricing strategies, volatility and risk control, hedging techniques and option philosophy, as well as key insights into the predictive power of options, the versatile option and buying and selling. Real-world examples provide hands-on applications and clear illustrations to turn theory into practice.

From the Inside Flap

McMillan on Options is savvy, streetwise, and always ahead of the investment curve. That's why results-hungry options traders, institutional investors, and portfolio managers made his Options As a Strategic Investment a bestseller. Now, Lawrence G. McMillan, the country's top options expert, has written his definitive guide on options trading strategies. Information is the most vital tool an investor can possess, and McMillan on Options is packed with thorough, up-to-date coverage of pricing strategies, hedging techniques, options philosophy, volatility, and risk control. In short, exactly the information you need to stay on top in a continually evolving marketplace. This eagerly awaited book illustrates how to establish self-contained strategies, substitute options for other instruments, and protect your position-whether it's in stock, index, or futures options. McMillan will help you discover ways of applying options that you may not even be aware of. With revealing insights on the predictive power of options, trading systems, and strategies, both short- and long-term investors will appreciate McMillan's in-depth coverage of:
* stock, index, and futures options
* a wide range of strategies-and how they can help you make money
* numerous case studies, figures, and examples that illustrate key concepts and ideas
* the methodology of trading, from order entry to data sources
* the integration of theoretical issues with practical applications of techniques, strategies, and trading methods
Illuminated by the author's personal options philosophy, McMillan on Options is the most up-to-date, innovative, and complete options strategy resource available.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 7, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471119601
• ISBN-13: 978-0471119609
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exercise your option and buy this book!, June 21, 2001

By 

Lance Mead (Traverse City MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: McMillan on Options (A Marketplace Book) (Hardcover)

As a ROP (registered Options principal) I feel I am uniquely qualified to review this book. First, understand that Larry McMillan is considered by many to be the best options mind on Wall Street (sorry Bernie Schaeffer). His knowledge of this less-than-logical derivative investment is the equivalent of Alan Greenspan’s knowledge of the economy.

My assessment: this is a good book. McMillan covers virtually every aspect of options trading: history, terms, strategies, volatility, theoretical approaches, etc. I am particularly impressed by Larry’s use of historical examples to bring complicated strategies down to basic levels.

This is not to say this is an easy read. An easy investment read is Peter Lynch’s "One Up on Wall Street". McMillan on Options is more like a doctor’s guide to brain surgery: the pictures are cool but the content can be complicated. Topics covered include spreads (verts, calendar, diagonal), straddles, combos, the greeks (delta, rho, theta, vega and gamma) and strategies that employ these. If volatility is your life, and you hold a hefty position in Rolaids futures, then this book is for you. I have not read a more comprehensive, useable options book. I believe all options traders and speculators should own McMillan on Options.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, December 16, 2006

By 

Carl F. Mclaren Jr. (Haines City, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: McMillan on Options, Second Edition (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

Some of the negative reviews sounded like they wanted a short book that said "Do the following and you will be very rich very quick". Guess what, that book doesn't exist and will never exist. Options are very useful if used properly but to use them properly you need a deep understanding of risk and the mechanics of options. These concepts are mathematical in nature and so is this book. For a variety of reasons just buying a bunch of options is a suckers game as many have learned, but used to reduce risk as a hedge is a different matter. McMillan's other book Options as a Strategic Investment would be the place to start learning. This advanced text explains many things professionals are doing and gives insight to why the markets behave as they do. If you want to get involved with options you need to understand this book thoroughly.

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nitty-gritty street smarts for options traders, December 22, 2004

By 

Dr. Jeffrey O. Katz - See all my reviews
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This review is from: McMillan on Options (A Marketplace Book) (Hardcover)

"McMillan on Options" is a rare kind of book, and one of the very best. Especially revealing are the discussions in Chapter 4, "The Predictive Power of Options", on how certain patterns of option trading volume and implied volatility can be tip-offs to insider activity and sharp moves in the underlying stock, and on how to take practical advantage of such patterns. The chapters on trading systems and on how to trade volatility and the volatility skew were also well written and useful to the active options trader. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone seriously contemplating getting involved in the options game.

In fact, "McMillan on Options" and "Options as a Strategic Investment" (a real classic, also by McMillan), were among the very few options books that I made reference to in my own recent work ("Advanced Option Pricing Models", McGraw Hill, Feb 2005)

Jeffrey Owen Katz, Ph.D.