Customer Reviews

Options as a Strategic Investment, Third Edition

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Most people who trade either stocks, options, or futures lose money. This is because they 1) are undercapitalized, 2) have no system or 3) don't understand the instrument they trade. 4) some combination of 1, 2, and 3. This book won't help you if you don't go into the market with enough money, but it will help you develop your own system (after a lot more research) and figure out how to use options to increase returns or limit risk.

This book describes just about every fundamental strategy you could try with options. It covers the total return concept of covered call writing, the pros and cons of option buying, examines various types of spreads (vertical, calendar, and diagonal) and the various delta (price) neutral strategies.

There is some advanced math here (in an appendix), but anyone of average intelligence and stock market knowledge could follow it.

Don't pay attention to those reviewers who trash the book--they have no clue. I constantly refer to this book in order to gain a better understanding of different option strategies. No matter which direction option markets evolve, the information of this book will still apply.

Try as I might, I cannot understand the negative reviews here. This is THE book on options. McMillan writes clearly and well. There is nothing glib here -- no promises of great wealth, no hype, no pandering to fools. What is here is solid information presented well and thoroughly.

A criticism that came up more than once (copy cat reviews?) is that the book doesn't show practical stuff. What! It provides all the information that any reasonably intelligent person needs to UNDERSTAND exactly what the strategies are and when to apply them. To ask for more is to ask for easy and oversimplified answers that will part you from your money.

The book is thick. True. You don't need all that is in it. True. The book is frightening or dull or not as useful as (gimme a break!) Wade Cook!!!

Hey! It's a text book, not a novel. Wake up! You can use it to find what YOU want to know.

There is more useful information in this book than in any hustler's high-priced and hype-filled seminar. It's all you need and it's currently selling for less $. Don't get scared off by the negative reviews or you'll miss out on the most respected and best of all the many books written on options.

If you're not willing to spend $ and a little effort to learn about options, you're not likely to profit from them. Buy the book. Then, sit down and read in it to find the definitive answers to your option questions. It simply doesn't get any more accurate, any clearer, or any better.

(Oh yes, one or two reviewers suggested that the book is out of date.

If you like detailed descriptions of every option strategy known to man, then this is an excellent book. I have spent thousands of hours pouring through this book; analyzing and trying many of the numerous strategies. To be honest, I have learned a lot about options, but I have also lost a lot of money. I still trade options. But now, most of my trades are limited to the basics: straight calls, puts, and vertical spreads.

After learning things the hard way, I believe that the small investor should focus on a few simple strategies and avoid the temptation to get into the more complex strategies. For some reason, I thought that the more complex,"advanced" strategies were better than the simpler ones. That isn't true. There is still plenty of money to be made in options without getting overly complex.

If, in spite of my recommendation, you are dying to try out some more advanced strategies, then this is the book for you. Good luck!

When I began trading options on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (early 1980s) an earlier edition of this book was the most complete options reference manual available. Ditto for the current edition. I'll admit that the book is rather dry, but I am curious as to the expectations of some readers who wrote reviews. Do they need reference works to provide them with stimulating prose? If you want an options manual you will return to time and time again, buy this book. True, the bulk of the material is theoretical, but so is every options valuation model in existence. The hedge ratio of an option (delta) is theoretical too, but understanding the hedge ratio gives rise to many applications. Those of you who want interesting trading "stories" read "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator". Those who want track records read my Disclosure Document. Those who believe "striking price" is not correct terminology should call the Options Institute as some of the questions on the required entrance exam for perspective market makers at the CBOE commonly refer to "striking price". If you are looking for applications in lieu of foundational knowledge, buy a "black box" system. For those readers who want to understand options well enough to design their own trading systems, this book is the best. I will venture to guess that those critical individuals who do not want to understand the theoretical aspects of options also believe that PE ratios don't mean anything anymore. If this sounds like you, consider hiring a professional to trade for you. If not, I hope to trade with you soon.....and then we'll have lunch. Yours!

I won't say I've read every book on Options out there, but I've looked at a range, from the very complex, full of calculus equations and whatnot, to the very simple, and to my mind, this is the best. First of all, it is very thorough and well organized. It goes step by step through virtually every option strategy, analyzing the various payoffs, follow-up actions if the market goes against you, etc. It is written clearly and concisely, with lots of examples. One reviewer says it's too complicated. If you think this book is too complicated, then you simply should not be trading options. Period. Another critic says there are too many examples. Yes, there are a lot of examples, and if you find you understand the concepts the author describes just fine without the example, then you'll probably just skip them. However, if there is something you don't quite get, the examples are a real help. I think some reviewers were hoping for a book that would tell them how to get rich in a few months trading options. Well, good luck, and let me know when you find it. But for a terrific reference that every serious amateur will go back to time and again, then this book should be the first on your Options bookshelf.

Quite simply, this book is all you will ever need to trade equity options.

The fundamentals are clearly explained and each trading strategy is amply illustrated with the help of many examples and associated graphs.

If you buy this book and don't understand its contents, then you must infer that options trading is not for you. On the other hand you will learn quickly why options trading puts you at the top of the food chain (75% of option expire worthless, so why buy them when you can sell them?) The only downside to this book is that you come out the other end feeling like an expert in the subject, engendering you with a false sense of experience. One or two trades should put such arrogance in its place.

Before I bought this book, I read some of the reviews here. I saw words like "dry" and "too technical" raised more than once to describe the book but went ahead and bought it anyway. It has to be the best investment strategy book I've ever read and I've read many! Admittedly, there is no "fluff" in this book. It contains nothing but valuable text. Anyone who finds it "too technical" or "dry" definitely should not be trading in the options market!

I've browsed/read a number of equity options related books and this is the best one I've come across for someone that is kind of at the intermediate level. It's very much a "how to" book that goes really in-depth on strategy. Almost as if the author were reading your mind, he addresses what the options trader/speculator is thinking and breaks everything down in a nice, simple manner. For instance, he has sections on what the alternatives and their pros and cons are if you have an option that has moved in-the-money and what things you need to consider. This book focuses on strategy, application, and practice...not much, if at all, on theory (Black Scholes, etc.) and that's what I like so much about this book.

This book reminds me of most of my old engineering textbooks. Really easy to fall asleep to. BUT... there is truly a wealth of information in here. It would be suicide to trade options without the information in this book. I really liked the analytical no-hype approach to it. I've already built several profitable computer trading tools based on this book.

As a broker I've read quite a few books on options and option trading. If you read one, you read them all. However, this book is excellent; it includes much more in depth analysis and shows detailed examples of concepts and formulas. This is a great book for the beginner, as well for the more sophisticated option trader.