Tue, Mar 16, 2010

4:30 – 5:30pm ET

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OptionsHouse Chief Investment Strategist Steve Claussen joins special guest Jared Levy, Senior Derivatives Specialist for PEAK6 Investments, L.P.2, to briefly showcase one strategy each week from concept through execution on the OptionsHouse trading platform. Using the market environment as their guide, the pair of trading veterans will walk attendees through different strategies, from covered calls to butterfly spreads, and will take questions at the conclusion of the presentation.

This week will focus on Risk Management strategies.

Make sure to open a virtual trading account to put all the strategies into play without risking any of your hard-earned money!

Wed, Mar 17, 2010

6:00 – 7:00pm ET

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Built by traders with more than a decade of experience trading options for proprietary trading firm PEAK6 Investments, L.P.2, the OptionsHouse platform is streamlined for ease of use and speed. In this interactive 15-minute webinar, attendees will learn the basics of navigating the site and get hints for making the most out of the platform’s professional-grade tools.

Make sure to open a virtual trading account to access the platform during the webinar.

Fri, Mar 19, 2010

3:30 – 4:30pm ET

Register

OptionsHouse clients have exclusive access to our proprietary trading tools, which were built by professional traders at PEAK6 Investments, L.P.2. To help integrate these smart tools as a fundamental part of your trading regiment, we’ve launched a webinar series with Account Acquisition Specialist Bryce Bruner detailing the different capabilities of a trading tool each week.

This week highlights the P&L calculator, which you can access when you open a virtual trading account.

Would you like a handful of options strategies at your disposal to capitalize on volatility swings, both big and small? Join Jud Pyle and Jared Levy as they take you through volatility options strategies that have the potential to make money from large or small equity swings in either direction. Jud and Jared will demonstrate how to be profitable in both bull and bear markets.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•    An overview of options volatility strategies

•    How to be profitable in both bull and bear markets

•    How to find volatility plays that can result in extraordinary profits

This webinar is intended for Advanced Traders.

Think a surprise earnings report is in the near future for a company? Not sure which way the surprise is going to go? Purchase either a long straddle or a long strangle to either profit for the unlimited upside or from the company’s downward spiral. Join Jud Pyle and Larissa J. Miller as they discuss both long and short straddles and strangles, the risks and opportunities for these strategies, and examples of when to place these trades.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The building blocks of long and short straddles and strangles

•     How to generate potential profits from the upswing or downward spiral of an equity
parity

•     How straddles and strangles can generate limited risk with unlimited potential

This webinar is intended for Intermediate Traders.

Looking to protect a nice healthy profit you’ve made on a stock? Concerned your position may start to lose money? Protective puts and married puts can offer the insurance you may be looking for to protect your investment. Traders will sometimes purchase puts as a way to hedge an existing position in the underlying. The hedge protects against most losses and can be purchased for a nominal amount. Join Kevin Cook and Larissa J. Miller for this free webinar as they explore ways to protective your investments.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     What protective puts are

•     How protective puts are used to protect investments
parity
•     When to use protective puts

This webinar is intended for Beginning Traders.

Everyone talks about delta, but what is it? Delta is the first-order derivative which describes how the price of an option changes with regards to a change in the underlying’s price. Professional options traders use delta for many different things such as evaluating risk, creating a delta hedge, and determining fair value. Join Jud Pyle and Larissa J. Miller as they discuss the many different ways professional traders use delta to help them with their trades.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The many different definitions of delta

•     How traders evaluate delta before placing a trade
parity
•     How traders can use delta to gain an edge in their portfolio

This webinar is intended for Beginning Traders.

Want to price an option without using a volatility perspective or a fancy options model? The Put-Call parity will give you everything you want to know. Options traders use put-call parity to gain a better understanding of pricing and to create synthetic options. Join ONN Options Instructor Kevin Cook and ONN Senior Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller as they break down put-call parity.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The balancing act of put-call parity

•     How to pricing options using put-call parity
•     The strategy of creating synthetic options using put-call parity

This webinar is intended for Beginning Traders.

Have a long-term time frame? Looking for a stock or index alternative? Want to maximize profits and minimize risk? Join Senior Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller and CNBC regular Jared Levy as they provide an update for this patient strategy involving fundamentals, hedging portfolios, and mitigating risks. Additionally, Larissa and Jared will discuss how professional portfolio managers utilize LEAPS for protection and diversification in their equity portfolios.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     Using LEAPS as an alternative to stocks

•     Hedging positions and portfolios through the use of equity and index LEAPS

•     Mitigating risks and maximizing potential profits through the use of LEAPS spreads

This webinar is intended for Intermediate Traders.

Think a surprise earnings report is in the near future for a company? Not sure which way the surprise is going to go? Purchase a long strangle to either profit from the unlimited upside or the company’s downward spiral. Join Options Instructor Kevin Cook and Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller as they discuss both long and short strangles, the risks and opportunities, and when to place these trades.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The building blocks of long and short strangles

•     How to generate potential profits from the upswing or downward spiral of an equity

•     How strangles can generate limited risk with unlimited potential

This webinar is intended for Intermediate Traders.

Think the price of the stock isn’t going to move much or will have limited volatility? Want to limit your risk just in case the stock moves significantly in either direction? The long butterfly will help you generate a limited return while at the same time help limit your risk. Join CNBC regular Jared Levy and Senior Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller as they dissect the Butterfly strategy and explore when to apply the strategy in the market.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The building blocks of butterfly spread trades
•     Ways butterfly spreads can limit risk
•     How butterfly spreads generate returns on a non-volatile stock

This webinar is intended for Intermediate Traders.

Looking to spice up your option strategies from a one-to-one ratio? Ratio spreads involve purchasing a different number of long and short positions on an underlying stock, index, or ETF. Join CNBC regular Jared Levy and Senior Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller as they discuss the mechanics of trading ratio spreads, the risks and opportunities, and finally – the timing.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The building blocks of creating ratio spreads

•     The potential rewards and risks when utilizing ratio spreads

•     How to time ratio spreads to maximize potential trading profit from ratio spreads

This webinar is intended for Intermediate Traders.

Think the VIX measures fear in the market? Expecting the VIX to have an inverse relationship to equity prices? Join Options Instructor Kevin Cook and FOX Contributor Jud Pyle as they dispel these popular myths of implied volatility as measured by the CBOE Market Volatility Index (the VIX). During this webinar, Kevin and Jud will also discuss how traders interpret implied volatility and how they use volatility in everyday options trading.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     Measuring the implied volatility of S&P 500 index options

•     Interpreting implied volatility from a trader’s perspective

•     Applying implied volatility readings from the VIX to trading

This webinar is intended for Beginner Traders.

Wed, 28 Oct 4:30 pm ET

Would you like a handful of options strategies at your disposal to capitalize on volatility swings, both big and small? Join CNBC regulars Jud Pyle and Jared Levy as they take you through volatility options strategies that have the potential to make money from large equity swings in either direction and small equity swings (again, in either direction). Jud and Jared will demonstrate how to be profitable in both bull and bear markets as well as how to find these gems.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     An overview of options volatility strategies
•     Learn to be profitable in both bull and bear markets
•     Learn how to find volatility plays that can result in extraordinary profits

This webinar is intended for Advanced Traders.

Time decay increasing at an alarming rate? Want to learn how to take advantage of time decay? Horizontal calendar spreads take advantage of your accelerating time decay, or theta. Join Options Instructor Kevin Cook and Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller on Wednesday as they break down the strategy, give examples, and demonstrate profit and loss points.

•     Simple building blocks of calendar spreads
•     How calendar spreads take advantage of the acceleration of theta
•     When calendar spreads make and lose money

This webinar is intended for Novice and Intermediate Traders.

Looking for a twist on the iron condor? What happens if the options you buy expire after the options you sell? Join Options Instructor Kevin Cook and CNBC regular Jared Levy as they discuss how this simple twist is the equivalent of buying an iron condor and buying two calendar spreads. Learn to take advantage of an acceleration of time decay and a move in the underlying equity toward the strike price. Avoid the pitfalls of this very popular strategy for individual traders.

•     Building blocks of double diagonals
•     Learn how to take advantage of both time decay and a move in the underlying closer to the strike
•     Learn to avoid the common pitfalls of double diagonals individual traders often face

This webinar is intended for Intermediate and Advanced Traders.

Ever hear of the Santa Claus Rally? What about the January Effect? Many investors take advantage of the time off of work during the holiday season to re-balance their portfolio and get ready for tax season. Join CNBC regular Jared Levy and FOX Business Contributor Jud Pyle as they share their expertise of the holiday season from an options-trading perspective.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•    The history of the Santa Claus Rally and January Effect
•     Ways to get ahead of tax season
•     How option traders look at the holiday season

This webinar is intended for Intermediate Traders.

Feeling a little bullish about a particular stock? Looking to generate a net credit from a trade? Selling Put Spreads can generate income from the sale of the options as well as protect the investment from significant losses. The trick is picking options that will expire worthless! Join Options Instructor Kevin Cook and Larissa J. Miller as they dissect Selling Put Spreads and discuss when to use the strategy in the market.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

•     The building blocks of selling put spreads
•     How the sale of put spreads can generate income
•     How selling put spreads can generate limited returns with limited risk

This webinar is intended for Advanced Traders.

•  How to get ahead of fund managers

•  Generating extra income from options

•  Actionable trade ideas

Have a long-term time frame? Looking for a stock or index alternative? Want to maximize profits and minimize risk? Join CNBC regular Jared Levy and Larissa J. Miller as they discuss the fundamentals of LEAPS options and LEAPS strategies such as replacing stocks, hedging portfolios, and mitigating risks. Additionally, Jared and Larissa will discuss how professional portfolio managers utilize LEAPS for protection and diversification in their equity portfolios.

*Using LEAPS as an alternative to stocks

*Hedging positions and portfolios through the use of equity and index LEAPS

*Mitigating risks and maximizing profits through the use of LEAPS spreads

This webinar is intended for Novice Traders.

•  The balancing act of put-call parity

•  Pricing options using put-call parity

•  Creating synthetic options using put-call parity

Expecting a sharp move in a stock but don’t know which way it will move? Long straddles give investors the best of both worlds – the trade can profit if the stock moves in either direction. Does this sound too good to be true? With every strategy, of course, there are risks and pitfalls. Join Chief Investment Strategist Jud Pyle and CNBC regular Jared Levy as they break down the straddle strategy.

• The simple building blocks of straddles

• How straddles can be profitable, even if the stock moves lower

• When straddles can earn unlimited profits and unlimited losses

Ever heard of a 1 x 2? How about a 2 x 3? Ratio backspreads – which can involve the sale of one option and the purchase of two – are a strategic tool that can give traders directional leverage if they are highly confident about a market move. Plus, as a volatility play, ratio backspreads can sometimes be profitable even if you are wrong about the direction. Join Chief Investment Strategist Jud Pyle and CNBC regular Kevin Cook as they break down this strategy and give examples of how to employ it.

• Why ratio backspreads aren’t as complicated as they seem
• How a ratio backspread can be profitable, even if the stock moves against you
• When a ratio backspread can earn unlimited profits

Many option traders bank sizable profits from selling options, but even more fall victim to the inherent risks associated with this strategy. Want to be among the first group? Then join FOX Business regular Jud Pyle and ONN Senior Finance Instructor Larissa J. Miller as they reveal the dark side  of selling options.

* Learn to navigate the risks in option selling
* Discover pointers for those new to selling options
* Understand the returns associated with this strategy

“Want a look into the world of pro options traders?  Then it’s time to learn about dynamic hedging and the strategy known as “gamma scalping” that the pros use to capture profits from their constantly moving positions.  Option pros focused on volatility initiate many trades “delta-neutral,” which means they buy or sell stock that has a delta position equivalent to the puts or calls traded.  Delta is the Greek letter that option traders use to describe the hedge ratio, or how much an options value changes for a $1 change in the stock price.

Gamma is the second-order derivative that describes how the delta changes for a $1 change in the stock.  After a delta-neutral position is established, it doesn’t mean the stock stays still; once the underlying stock moves again, their delta position changes as well.  To combat the risk involved and earn extra profits, option market makers engage in gamma scalping every day, adjusting their net delta position by buying more stock when it moves lower and selling more stock when it moves higher, or vice versa if they are short options.

Jared Levy and Jud Pyle will take you through this concept that is essential to professional options traders.  Beginning to understand the concept will illuminate how both option buyers and sellers can make money on opposite sides of the same transaction while only the stock trader suffers losses. Jared and Jud, trading veterans with a combined 30 years’ experience in the options business, will show you how gamma scalping impacts option prices and the implied volatilities they are valued on.”

In the latest Expert Sessions, www.ONN.tv Chief Investment Strategist Jud Pyle and Market Analyst Kevin Cook provide a painless and interesting introduction to the classic option risk sensitivities.  Join them as they show you how different options strategies exhibit Greeks that can actually help you see your position more clearly and provide a solid baseline to compare competing strategies.  With lots of trading examples, Jud and Kevin will break down the purpose of the Greeks and give you practical ways to use them.

Are you content just trading options for directional leverage or income?  You can still benefit by learning more about the Greeks.  Even if you don’t apply this knowledge on your next options trade, you will come away with deeper insight about the 3-D world of time, volatility, and price risks.  And you will also become more aware of how the option pros manage risk and morph equivalent positions when they take the other side of your trade.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to listen and learn from the man who has led financial education for some the world’s top institutions.  Even if you don’t think you’re ready to try this strategy, Joe’s view of the 1 x 2 ratio call spread will add significantly to your options knowledge and understanding.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) has rallied nearly 35% during the last two months to top the 900 level. Whether we have seen the bottom in equity markets or this is merely a bull run in a bear market, two things are undeniable: (1) this rally has been relentless and fearless and (2) it’s ripe for a pullback when recovery optimism takes a breather and bulls scoop their profits off the table. If you believe, as www.ONN.tv ’s Kevin Cook does, that the SPX will stay in a trading range between 700 and 1,000 in 2009, then the market may soon be giving you a good opportunity to establish put positions to help you profit on the next leg down.

Kevin is joined by Jared Levy, Senior Derivatives Specialist for PEAK6 Investments, for this free web-based seminar as they look at different ways to play the downside by buying puts and trading put spreads and put backspreads. In addition to covering the risk/reward profile of each strategy, they’ll give you some of their ideas for high-probability bearish trades and also discuss how experienced options traders can use short call spreads to help finance their put strategies.

This webinar is ideal for investors with a basic understanding of options and will offer more experienced traders a look at two very different traders’ methods for gauging "overbought" situations and potential price targets on pullbacks.

- We’ll give you at least three actionable trade ideas
- Jud and Kevin will de-mystify the Iron Condor and why it’s not just a nearly extinct bird in California
- A safe strategy for learning to trade volatility like the pros

*This webinar is designed for intermediate level options traders.

Join Jared Levy as he takes you through an alternative to the bull put spread. If you are comfortable trading call options and want to increase the probability of your bullish trades, this session is for you! In these markets, increasing the probability of your trades being profitable may help you attain the level of consistency you are looking for. Increasing your arsenal of available trading strategies can only help you defend against what the market throws at you. No margin required in this trade.

*To get the most out of this session you should have a basic understanding of options.

Warren Buffett stepped into the market meltdown last year and made significant investments in two iconic American brands, Goldman Sachs (GS) and General Electric (GE). Within days of stating publicly that he believed the banking system and economy were "on the precipice," Buffett put his confidence behind Paulson’s TARP plan and put his money where his mouth was. Since those deals, he’s watched their value take severe hits.

Investors who followed Buffett’s show of confidence may have been severely disappointed by the outcome. This is where it pays to understand how Warren crafted these deals with a good amount of built-in protection–with preferred shares and options–so that he could stomach a longer turnaround. Join Kevin Cook and Jud Pyle as they break down the Buffett investments and then discuss a few other names where the same strategy might be appropriate.

*This webinar is intended for options investors with intermediate-level experience.

Beginning your journey down the path of understanding volatility starts with understanding the basics. In this class, Jared Levy will define the different types of volatility in a very simple way. Volatility is one of the most difficult concepts to master and professional options traders live and die by it every day. Get your volatility 101 and get prepared for the steps ahead.

**Attendees should have a basic undestanding of options to get the most out of this webinar.