Trading Index Options [Hardcover]

James B. Bittman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 1998

Designed and written for active traders who are interested in practical information that can improve their results, Trading Index Options offers tried-and-true techniques without a lot of theory and math. Bittman provides traders with the know-how to evaluate practical situations and manage positions. Among the key features: the basics of index options, including various spreads; how to match strategies with forecasts; alternatives for losing positions; the importance of price behavior and volatility. A windows-based software program that provides multiple option pricing and graphing is included in the package.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Leverage Strategies to Make High-Volatility Markets Work For You! Today's volatile markets are ideal for profitable index option trading. Trading Index Options was written for active traders-spectators who need to see every trade from every angle-and contains market-tested strategies from one of today's leading options educators and traders. With ready-to-use, battle-tested information on virtually every page, this amazing book: Explains how toption prices behave, letting you stay focused on market activity. Provides proven techniques to understand risk and limit your exposure.

Shows how to take advantage of index options' unique flexibility. Covers trading psychology-how to think and trade with discipline. Presents strategies from basic to complex-buying, selling, spreads, straddles and more (with case studies to demonstrate each). And because today's fast-moving markets require instant calculations and adjustments, the easy-to-use OP-EVAL3 option pricing and strategy graphing computer program lets you analyze option prices, set profit target, implement trading decisions, and of critical importance, monitor multiple positions simultaneously.

No other trader's program can match its speed and versatility! Short on hard-to-comprehend mathematics and long on tried-and-true tactics and strategies, Trading Index Options is fast becoming the bible for index option mastery.

About the Author

James B. Bittman is a staff instructor at The Options Institute, the education division of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), where he teaches seminars on options to investors in the United States and Europe. He is also on the faculty at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and holds a commodity options membership at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). A successful options trader for more than 15 years, Bittman also wrote the best-selling Options for the Stock Investor.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (May 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786312300
• ISBN-13: 978-0786312306
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing for experienced traders., July 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trading Index Options (Hardcover)

I was lead to believe that the book targeted traders who want to trade the index vs stock-options. this is basically a book for beginners who are unfamiliar with spreading, arbitrage etc. The book is based on a software, which in my opinion is not that great. Read Natenberg instead.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Better information in other books, August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trading Index Options (Hardcover)

I found Options Essential Concepts and Trading Strategies (edited by CBOE) to be a better book. I agree with one reviewer who stated the book, Trading Index Options, covers beginning options and does not go into enough depth about using index options.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book with Outdated Software, October 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Trading Index Options (Hardcover)

The good news is that this book is very nicely done, providing a useful foundation to beginner and intermediate options traders. I found that I learned quite a lot about the interactions between option pricing and the various factors influencing pricing. The author provides numerous case study examples utilizing the OP-EVAL(TM) software included with the book. A majority of the book contains detailed examples describing how to use the software and interpret the output. The bad news is that the software will not run on current Windows operating systems (Windows 98 or newer). So don't buy the book if you want to try the software on your own. Efforts to contact the author, through the publisher McGraw-Hill, about the possibility of updating the software, have been unsuccessful. Otherwise a good book.