Commodity Futures and Options : A Step-by-Step Guide to Successful Trading

by Kleinman, George

• ISBN13: 9780273650331
• ISBN10: 0273650335
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Summary

Definitive practival advice direct from the cutting edge, this is a book for the novice and seasoned trader, it leads the reader step-by-step through the markets and strategies, from the foundations to the trading frontiers.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xiv
Introduction: Do you have what it takes?	xv
Basic training: a futures primer	1	(36)
The futures contract	2	(5)
It's as easy to sell short as to buy long	7	(2)
Margin and leverage	9	(4)
Delivery months	13	(3)
Brokers and commissions	16	(1)
The players	17	(3)
Basis risk	20	(1)
A hedging example	21	(5)
The exchange `open outcry' and the clearinghouse	26	(5)
The regulators and regulations	31	(1)
How to place an order	32	(5)
Advanced futures	37	(12)
Zero sum game	37	(1)
Money management	38	(1)
Contrary opinion theory	39	(1)
Spreads, straddles and switches	40	(6)
Normal or inverted?	46	(1)
The `Voice from the Tomb'	47	(2)
A diabolical story	49	(3)
An options primer	52	(20)
Options	52	(5)
How options work	57	(2)
How are option prices determined?	59	(5)
Should you exercise profitable options?	64	(1)
Should you ever exercise an option?	65	(1)
If selling options puts the odds in my favour, why not do it?	66	(2)
Options - a prime hedging tool	68	(2)
Stock index options	70	(2)
Advanced option strategies	72	(12)
Buying options to protect futures	72	(2)
Writing options as a hedging strategy	74	(1)
Covered option writing	75	(1)
Option spreads	76	(5)
Ratios	81	(3)
Eight winning option trading rules	84	(6)
The rules	84	(6)
Stay away from deep in the money options	84	(1)
Stay away from deep out of the money options	85	(1)
Trade slightly out of the money, at the money, or slightly in the money options	86	(1)
There is a time for all seasons	86	(1)
Covered call writing is a good strategy for what appears to be a bullish environment, and covered put writing is generally good for what looks like a bear	87	(1)
In `normal' markets, write straddles and strangles	87	(1)
Look for opportunities to backspread	87	(1)
Use options to hedge a profitable futures position	88	(2)
How to analyze the markets fundamentally	90	(39)
Fundamental analysis	90	(1)
Technical analysis	91	(1)
Which is the best way to go?	92	(1)
Financial futures	93	(13)
Energy	106	(3)
Agriculturals	109	(13)
Metals	122	(7)
How to analyze the markets technically	129	(52)
Does technical analysis work?	130	(1)
Charts	130	(15)
Classic chart patterns	145	(21)
Open interest	166	(4)
Oscillators	170	(6)
Point and figure charts	176	(2)
Japanese candlestick charts	178	(1)
Why technical analysis makes sense	179	(2)
The most valuable technical tool (TMVTT)	181	(12)
Bottom pickers vs. trend followers	182	(1)
Moving averages	183	(1)
A moving average primer	184	(8)
Bottom line	192	(1)
How to use TMVTT	193	(18)
Use the 30-day WMA to determine the longer term trend	193	(5)
Use the 2-day WMA with the 9-day WMA (simultaneously) to generate buy and sell signals	198	(13)
Additional rules for maximum success	206	(5)
A day trader's secrets	211	(8)
Your nine essential day trader's rules	212	(3)
The trend reversal day trading system	215	(4)
Your state of mind	219	(9)
Motive	220	(1)
The six hurdles to successful trading	221	(4)
Money management	225	(1)
If you don't feel right, you won't trade right	226	(1)
Your advantage	227	(1)
Twenty-five trading secrets of the pros	228	(15)
`Jesse's Secret': the most important lesson	243	(6)
To make the big money you need to catch and exploit the big move	243	(1)
Jesse Livermore	244	(2)
Those who can be right and sit tight	246	(3)
Appendix: World futures and options exchanges	249	(8)
Index	257