Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Benefits Of New Options Trading Software

Options trading software has really become more powerful in recent years. At one time, the software that option traders used did little more than calculate the fair value of an option and possibly create in options P&L chart. These days, options traders can perform analysis which was not previously available to them.

If you look, you can find options trading software which includes the ability to create price charts. This means that you can do technical analysis and options analysis all in one piece of software. While this is not common, the fact that you're able to perform technical analysis and options analysis in one piece of software allows a trader to have a lot more flexibility in his approach to the markets.

Another development that options traders have benefited from is the availability of options data. Not that long ago, options traders were not able to obtain options data so easily. Options traders used to pay heavy monthly fees for the options data that they needed to obtain in order to create the types of spreads necessary to trade options affect only. But, in recent years, online brokers make a option data available for free to clients.

Modern day options trading software also has the functionality to scan the available options for different types of spreads and compile a listing for the active options trader. Selecting from a list of different options spreads is a feature which allows a trader to select those which meet his trading criteria. So, since a trader maybe looking at a diagonal spread, this can will show a listing of different diagonal spreads which more easily allows a trader to observe the characteristics side by side.

Options trading software which is and accessible has really changed as the need of options traders have changed. While the more sophisticated options trading software available today can take some time to learn, this added time can really help you select the spreads that help you achieve your trading goals.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Benefits of Trading The Elliott Wave

Professional traders that use the Elliott Wave to understand the market's direction place themselves in a considerable advantage over those who do not. The decision to incorporate Elliott waves and their trading may seem obvious to some people and not others.
Some traders may not realize that that integrating Elliott waves into their trading can allow them to assess where the current market move falls within an overall sequence. This type of information can be quite beneficial. Being able to determine whether not the current swing in signaling the end of the current move, he in a position to more accurately assess the current trend.
Elliott waves allow a trader to observe one wave within another. One of the primary benefits that Elliott waves delivers is that the current wave can be broken down into a smaller wave which allows a trader to more easily correlate different time intervals. Knowledge of this type allows a trader to more easily understand how the relationship between a daily time frame in a 60 minute time frame complement each other.
After a trader is somewhat adept that it's Elliott wave understanding, he can begin to apply Fibonacci ratios to what he is seeing in the markets. This is the kind of information that could allow a trader to project where the current market swing could end. This is the type of benefit that that would allow a Elliott wave trader to have a significant advantage over others in the marketplace.
Even though you don't necessarily need to have a full understanding of Elliott waves, it is beneficial to understand that there is different information that can be derived from these techniques. For some, this information is pretty obvious. For those traders who haven't been exposed to Elliott wave trading before, using them can help them gain a different perspective on the postions that they may want to take in the markets.