what is the big deal about keeping your options open?
817805
go for it, young lady!\n\nnothing wrong at all with keeping your options open.\n\nIn fact, until you are finished with your education and have your career going, normally around the age of 25, you shouldn't even be in a committed relationship, but should be dating different guys... ideally as many as you can manage, and as many as are dumb enough to buy you expensive gifts, vacations, and dinner dates at expensive restaurants.\n\nmore power to you!
144188
Rich, you should avoid blanket statements.\n\nStarting with CFP's is a good idea. you can use the Financial Planning Association's Planner Search feature on their website (www.fpa.net) to find a list of CFP's near you.\n\nAs far as annuities go, they have their uses. To assume that an annuity is wrong for you without knowing anything about you is not very objective.\n\nDon't be afraid to ask hard questions when interviewing planners.\nQuestions to ask:\nHow do you get paid?\nWho is your broker/dealer and how do you determine what financial products to use?(Some B/D's apply pressure to their representatives to sell proprietary products over others. You want to avoid this.)\nHow long have you been providing financial advice?\nDo you have clients that would be willing to talk to me about your services? If not, why?\n\nIf the planner gets nervous or evasive about answering these questions, don't bother asking any more questions. A trusting relationship with a worthy financial planner is an incredibly valuable relationship.
542479
Not an answer: It may be a good thing. It also keeps the company out of your business.
566667
Ok I have my own company with about 75 employees.  I have an open door policy and I quite honestly dont really like it too much - anyone and EVERYONE does come in directly to me with ideas, but mostly complaints - quite honestly, I have better things to do with my time than to listen to stuff that my managers can easily enough deal with on thier own.  I do maintain this policy cause every now and then there comes a person with an idea which really works - and that is more than having to bear with all the pettiness that goes on here.  Does it really benefit employees?  Well you know if someone wants to burst into my office and blow off some steam, then go right ahead, I dont care - I never fired anyone for being insolent - where I think it does benefit employees is that when they do come in with their suggestions, it is not only beneficial for the company, but also the suggestions I get are usually on how to make my employees lives easier, so when I follow through on their suggestions, they definately benefit - Also, anything practical that can help out my workers is always favored by me since a happy employee is a productive employee.
1131514
Options,whether calls or puts are a net zero sum game.  This simply means that for every buyer there is a seller and vice versa.  Estimates say that 70% of all options expire worthless.  If that be the case (and it is) then 70% of all options value is credited to someones account. To answer the actual question, yes, you can make a lot of money selling both puts and calls but you will need to understand the principles behind the strategies and when to employ them. \nCheck out http://www.commoditytrader.ca they specialize in Options short selling
614048
It's the line that shows the possible risk and returns.  As risk goes up, return goes up.  At the very left, with no risk, you're left with the risk-free rate.
186960
I'm not sure what you are asking for, but I'll tell you the meaning of the options.\nLet's use as an option example Yahoo Strike 30 March and say trading at $.65 an option and you are going to buy/sell one contract\n\nBuy to open- Buy to open is to buy this option and for 1 contract you would pay $65 and $8 transaction fee. \n\nSell To Close- You can not do this first, you need to own and option first. So, if you bought the yahoo option and it is now worth $.9 You would sell it and make $90 $-8 transaction fee.\n\nNow what I think you are interested in is the opposite\n\nSell to open- means that you sell this option and you will recieve $65 in your account - transaction fee and you could do whatever you want with your money.\n\nBuy to close is simply to buy back your option. If you think the option will expire worthless and do not want to buyback, then you may not need to do this action. \n\nHope I was some help.\n\nALSO VERY IMPORTANT. If you have sold more than one option contract and it is likely to be exercised, buy back the option. Because buy back is only $7 +1.25(per contract) per transaction, but getting exercised is $8 per contract.
461112
There are people that do make money trading options, but it is not for the faint hearted. You are paying a premium for the right to buy or sell the stock at a particular price within a certain amount of time. \n\nLuck is your most useful tool. If you get lucky and hit a stock during a major move, you will make a lot of money. If you hit a stock at the end of its move, you will loose the amount paid for the options. The more volatile the stock the higher the premium for the option. \n\nMany professionals use the Black-Scholes Pricing Formula for Call Options. Look it up on Yahoo to determine how it works. It is too complicated to go into here.\n\nPersonally I think the best way to make money on options is to write covered calls. That way you get the premium. Of course, if the stock makes a big move on you, some one else gets the benefit of that.
155802
If you have stock options, you have the right to purchase stock at a set price. The price you'll pay is set by the Board of Directors (usually). If the company is pre-IPO, the price may be quite low. The hope is that when the company goes public, your stock will be worth more than the option price.\n\nThe vesting schedule sets forth the time and amount of stock you can purchase.
677997
asking an open ended questions allows the person answering the question to open up which may give more information or insight about what you want to know  \n\ndisadvantage ;  if you are on a time limit for the conference or consultation  you will need to speed things up with a few closed end questions as you guide them to the information that you want
779691
To keep it simple: Better safe than Sorry.\n\nYour money/finance and all related stuff just depends. For myself, I am trying to come up with my own monetary ideas but since anything is possible it is best to always have some kind of back up plan. Typically your retirement money (enlisted) is not a WHOLE lot (granted you do get benefits) so anything else you do to provide your self with more money is a plus.
368846
That is a good question since they have so many stock options, that it would choke a cow. \n\nOne possible reason is that they want their name to appear on the list of insider trades so that people will think the stock of the company is undervalued and buy it to drive up the price so that they can exercise their options and make more money.  I admit that this logic is a little devious, but then again these are devious people we are talking about. \n\nAnother reason is that they think the stock is a good buy. OK, the possibility does exist. \n\nAnother reason is that they are trying to increase their holdings in the company as part of a power struggle for control of the company. This would possibly be the case in a company with only a few million shares outstanding.  \n\nAnother reason would be to put the squeeze on shorts. The classic example of this was Alan Ryan of Stutz Motor Car Company. Members of the New York Stock exchange had shorted the stock of Stutz Motor Car in 1920. Ryan controlled the company. He bought all the available outstanding stock of the company so that the shorts could not cover their positions. He had them by the balls. Then the exchange intervened because their members were in jeopardy of being wiped out and halted trading in Stutz.
1020147
Because then the risk free rate goes up, which makes the cost of carrying higher.  The time value of money goes up, so the money that you "save" by buying the option instead of the underlying costs more.
848511
I don't.  Not every stockbroker has an options specialist, but the larger ones online may have.  They are sold through investment firms, but an options specialist has more training than a Registered Representative, or stockbroker.\n\nYes, there is a much bigger risk, but your risk is the amount of your option price and the transaction costs.\n\nThe only investment vehicle which is more risky is a futures contract or a forward contract.  Investing in a hedge fund runs a close second to trading futures contracts(USA) or forward contracts(Europe and parts of Asia).\n\nBe very, very careful.
129706
If you are an investor in a Private company that is going public with an IPO there is the advantage of selling your stock going up and there is the disavvantage of your stock going down. If you are a private company you don't have a million investor wondering about your finances and about your accounting practices.\nIf you are an investor in a company merging with another one, there is a very good chance you end up making a lot of mnoney because after merger usually thousands of employees get fired and you save millions in payroll and many other benefits. Of course mergers can go wrong and you end up losing money. \nIf you question is about the positive or negative risk to the consumer or to the employees in those companies the answer is entirely diferent.
43009
An option is a contract, If you buy a "call" you have the right to buy a stock at the strike price, and seller is obligated if you "exercise" which means telling the seller you are buying the shares. \nFor Example\nYou buy 1 contract (100 options) of Microsoft for $1 which will cost you $100 and lets say the strike price is at 25. Let's say Microsft is at 24 the option "real value" of the option is worthless because you won't want to  buy it at 25 from the seller if you can buy it from the market for 24. Now if the stock reaches lets say 50, You have the right to buy 100 shares of MSFT at 25, and then sell them immideatly at 50. The real value per share is $25 so you would get 2,500 dollars back.\n\nPut options is the exact same thing, except you have the right to sell at the strike price, so If MSFT is at 15 and you have a put at 25, you have the right to buy the stock at 15 and then sell it at 25. (this transaction does not actually happen like this, but this is what makes it easy to understand).\n\nBad news about options, they expire. They have a date, which they would be worthless the day after expiration.\n\nAlso, you have an option to write, selling options on stocks you own is a way to reduce risk and possibly make free cash and increase yields if you know what you are doing. (that is what I do.)
925703
The brokers catagorize their clients.  You have been catagorized as not allowed to sell naked options.  It is that simple.  I had the same problem and quite frankly it made me very unhappy.  If you have your heart set on that strategy, try Optionsxpress.  They might be more understanding.