The Option Advisor: Wealth-Building Techniques Using Equity & Index Options (A Marketplace Book) (Hardcover)

by Bernie Schaeffer (Author) "The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate why measuring investor expectations is so important for your success in determining the future price movement of..." (more)
Key Phrases: contrarian implications, regression channel, target exit point, Omega Research, Wall Street, Apr Jul Oct (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Acclaim for Bernie Schaeffer's expert approach to options trading.

"Bernie Schaeffer's penchant for contrary investing is terrific, and his market calls on that strategy have been excellent. He shows how to apply contrary thinking—and many other types of 'expectational analysis'—to option strategies. All option traders should enjoy reading this book." —Lawrence G. McMillan President, McMillan Analysis Corp. Author, Options as a Strategic Investment and McMillan on Options.

"A superb book that will benefit both stock and options investors. It blends technical analysis, fundamentals, investor psychology, and strategy to come up with an excellent approach to the markets. A good read for the investor seeking new trading ideas in today's fast moving markets." —Leo Fasciocco Stock Market Columnist, Investor's Business Daily.

"A breath of fresh air for options traders. Most options books are textbook in nature. Schaeffer cuts right to the chase and provides solid ideas on how to use options effectively for both conservative and trading-oriented investors. It's innovative and fresh. Get a copy." —Thomas J. Dorsey President, Dorsey Wright & Associates Author, Point & Figure Charting.

"Hercule Poirot once observed that 'the methods of detection change, but the crimes, they remain the same.' Bernie Schaeffer has proved this basic truth anew by using contrary opinion analysis brilliantly to navigate a stock market that has left most other 'contrarians' foundering on the rocks. The insight his book offers into how he has managed this feat makes The Option Advisor very timely as well as very valuable." —Paul Macrae Montgomery Analyst, Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc.

When nationally renowned options expert Bernie Schaeffer talks, everyone listens. A "Market Maven" on CNBC, a frequent guest on CNN, and a top-rated Timer Digest market timer for the past decade, he has also been a featured speaker at numerous investment conferences. His views on the stock market and the economy are regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Barron's, and Investor's Business Daily. Thousands of subscribers eagerly await each issue of his Option Advisor newsletter, and when he distills his decades of knowledge and experience—as he does in this remarkable book—savvy investors everywhere pay close attention.

In The Option Advisor: Wealth-Building Strategies Using Equity and Index Options, Schaeffer offers his own carefully tested, prudent, and profitable strategies for trading options. He begins by dispelling outdated folklore and beliefs about the options world, and reveals instead how options can be used as an inexpensive, leveraged vehicle for profiting from the movement in an equity. With clarity and logic, he explains the basic principles of options trading, emphasizing, in particular, why options cannot be traded like stocks—a very common and potentially very costly mistake.

Schaeffer delves into the psychology of options trading, demonstrating how to distinguish between "high" and "low" expectation stocks, how to measure sentiment, and how to master the valued Contrary Opinion Theory for successful trading. He shares his wealth-building techniques for selecting the right stocks, assessing risk, managing your options portfolio, and, most important, for reading market timing indicators. What The Option Advisor boils down to is expert guidance on managing your money, while avoiding the most common errors of options trading.

In a detailed section on applications, Schaeffer gives you practical, hands-on advice on how to use a full array of real-world trading strategies, including quick trades, aggressive trading strategies, conservative approaches, portfolio protection, and the increasingly popular Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities (LEAPS). With characteristic thoroughness, Schaeffer also offers invaluable information on selecting an options broker, opening an options trading account, and doing research on the Internet.

From the novice to the experienced investor, The Option Advisor offers a gold mine of information on how to achieve success in options trading.

From the Publisher
With over 15 years experience in option trading, one of the leading experts in the field offers his conservative, yet highly successful trading strategies. The text includes a thorough explanation of the basic options principles, important differences for trading options and stocks, money management techniques and trading rules.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471185396
• ISBN-13: 978-0471185390
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #500,268 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Forbes 1-16-00 Ranks Bernie a Loser for trading, January 16, 2000

By	david (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

In this weeks issue of Forbes Bernie and by default his theory is ranked 60 out of 65 for his trading and newsletter Option Advisor.

Over the course of ten years ranked as a high risk trader you would have lost 10% of your money following Bernie's ideas. In fact he got the lowest grade of D.

The book follows the same vein. Nothing new and simple trying to make more money from people that believe he knows something.

Give the book, Bernie and his company a miss.

Forbes says so. My experience is the same. Beware his telemarkers too.

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste your money on this Book, January 5, 2000

By	David Black (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book from Bernie's sales force. He has a high powered telephone telemarketing crew that look to sell you the world of promises and riches. Beware!

I bought a newsletter and lost money. I bought the book and found it wandering. This man has lost his way confused about whether he trades or sells his wares. If he is so good trading and market timing then why does he not manage money for a living?

The answer is simple can't trade then you sell your opinion and proclaim yourself a guru. Well I bought in as a sucker and am out a lot of money. I asked for a refund and am told it is non refundable. Convenient. I would give the book away but I don't want anyone to get caught like me. Firewood is an idea!

I have since found other books on the Amazon top 10 option bestseller list that hit the mark and taught me what I wanted to know.

Oh, Bernie above Wade. Well talk about scraping the barrel of comparisons.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK, I guess, February 5, 1998

By A Customer

This book surprised me because it was much better than I expected. It presents a very readable--the most readable I've seen--summary of the mechanics and strategies of option trading. Moreover, the book covers topics I've never seen covered before in a book on options, such as the benefits of using information from established sources on the Internet; and cites several academic studies without slipping into the stale writing style associated with academe. Still, there is reason for a reader to be skeptical of the effectiveness of the strategies discussed in the book. The reason for this is the long-term performance record of the author's newsletter, which like the book is entitled "The Option Advi$or." According to Mark Hulbert's ratings, which have been regarded in some circles as the most accurate standards for measuring the quality of investment newsletters, this newsletter's long-term record ranks near the bottom of all letters covered. Only Joseph Granville's "Market Letter," as far as I remember, has a worse ten-year record. That said, one has to wonder whether the strategies discussed in the book are going to be effective in the future. On one hand, past performance does not necessarily portend future results. On the other, however, Schaeffer's picks in the past, assuming they've been chosen according to the strategies discussed in the book, have been less than outstanding in the past. Careful readers should remember that if they want to use this book more than as a decent general reference guide.