The Handbook of Pairs Trading. Strategies Using Equities, Options, and Futures

A guide to using the VIX to forecast and trade markets Known as the fear index, the VIX provides a snapshot of expectations about future stock market volatility and generally moves inversely to the overall stock market. Trading VIX Derivatives will show you how to use the Chicago Board Options Exchange's S&P 500 volatility index to gauge fear and greed in the market, use market volatility to your advantage, and hedge stock portfolios. Engaging and informative, this book skillfully explains the mechanics and strategies associated with trading VIX options, futures, exchange traded notes, and options on exchange traded notes. Many market participants look at the VIX to help understand market sentiment and predict turning points. With a slew of VIX index trading products now available, traders can use a variety of strategies to speculate outright on the direction of market volatility, but they can also utilize these products in conjunction with other instruments to create spread trades or hedge their overall risk. Reviews how to use the VIX to forecast market turning points, as well as reveals what it takes to implement trading strategies using VIX options, futures, and ETNs Accessible to active individual traders, but sufficiently sophisticated for professional traders Offers insights on how volatility-based strategies can be used to provide diversification and enhance returns Written by Russell Rhoads, a top instructor at the CBOE's Options Institute, this book reflects on the wide range of uses associated with the VIX and will interest anyone looking for profitable new forecasting and trading techniques.

A clear and practical guide to using binary options to speculate, hedge, and trade Trading Binary Options is a strategic primer on effectively navigating this fast-growing segment. With clear explanations and a practical perspective, this authoritative guide shows you how binaries work, the strategies that bring out their strengths, how to integrate them into your current strategies, and much more. This updated second edition includes new coverage of Cantor-Fitzgerald binaries, New York Stock Exchange binaries, and how to use binaries to hedge trading, along with expert insight on the markets in which binaries are available. Independent traders and investors will find useful guidance on speculating on price movements or hedging their stock portfolios using these simple, less complex options with potentially substantial impact. Binary options provide either a fixed payout or nothing at all. While it sounds simple enough, using them effectively requires a more nuanced understanding of how, where, and why they work. This book provides the critical knowledge you need to utilize binary options to optimal effect. Learn hedging and trading strategies specific to binaries Choose the markets with best liquidity and lowest expenses Find the right broker for your particular binary options strategy Utilize binaries in conjunction with other strategies Popular in the over-the-counter market, binary options are frequently used to hedge or speculate on commodities, currencies, interest rates, and stock indices. They have become available to retail traders through the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the American Stock Exchange, as well as various online platforms, allowing you the opportunity to add yet another tool to your investing arsenal. Trading Binary Options is the essential resource for traders seeking clear guidance on these appealing options.

A comprehensive resource for understanding and trading weekly options Weekly options are traded on all major indices, as well as high volume stocks and ETFs. They continue to surge in popularity, accounting for as much as twenty percent of daily options volume. And while existing options strategy can be used with weeklys, they are particularly conducive to premium selling strategies and short-term trades based on a news item or technical pattern. With this timely guide, and its companion video, you'll learn exactly how to use weeklys to make more money from option selling strategies and how to make less expensive bets on short-term market moves. Written by Russell Rhoads, a top instructor at the CBOE's Options Institute, Trading Weekly Options + Video skillfully explains the unique pricing and behavioral characteristics of weekly options and shows how to take advantage of those unique features using traditional option strategies. The first book and video combination product focused solely on weekly options Outlines the most effective trading strategies associated with weekly options, including taking advantage of the accelerating time-decay curve when an option approaches expiration Filled with the practical, real-world insights of author Russell Rhoads, an expert in this field Created with both the experienced and beginning option traders in mind, this book and video package will help you make the most of your time trading weekly options.

A newly expanded and updated edition of the trading classic, Design, Testing, and Optimization of Trading Systems Trading systems expert Robert Pardo is back, and in The Evaluation and Optimization of Trading Strategies, a thoroughly revised and updated edition of his classic text Design, Testing, and Optimization of Trading Systems, he reveals how he has perfected the programming and testing of trading systems using a successful battery of his own time-proven techniques. With this book, Pardo delivers important information to readers, from the design of workable trading strategies to measuring issues like profit and risk. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this detailed guide presents traders with a way to develop and verify their trading strategy no matter what form they are currently using–stochastics, moving averages, chart patterns, RSI, or breakout methods. Whether a trader is seeking to enhance their profit or just getting started in testing, The Evaluation and Optimization of Trading Strategies offers practical instruction and expert advice on the development, evaluation, and application of winning mechanical trading systems.

Leveraged index investments, including index futures, options, and ETFs, are one of the fastest growing products in finance, as both retail and institutional investors are attracted to their long-term returns and capital efficiency. With Enhanced Indexing Strategies, author Tristan Yates reveals how you can create and build high-performance indexing strategies using derivatives that can potentially generate much higher returns than conventional index investing. In addition, Enhanced Indexing Strategies introduces six innovative long-term indexing strategies using futures and options, each with its own advantages and applications.

To thrive in today's booming energy trading market you need cutting-edge knowledge of the latest energy trading strategies, backed up by rigorous testing and practical application Unique in its practical approach, The Handbook of Energy Trading is your definitive guide. It provides a valuable insight into the latest strategies for trading energy—all tried and tested in maintaining a competitive advantage—illustrated with up-to-the-minute case studies from the energy sector. The handbook takes you through the key aspects of energy trading, from operational strategies and mathematical methods to practical techniques, with advice on structuring your energy trading business to optimise success in the energy market. A unique integrated market approach by authors who combine academic theory with vast professional and practical experience Guidance on the types of energy trading strategies and instruments and how they should be used Soaring prices and increasingly complex global markets have created an explosion in the need for robust technical knowledge in the field of energy trading, derivatives, and risk management. The Handbook of Energy Trading is essential reading for all energy trading professionals, energy traders, and risk managers, and in fact anyone who has ever asked: 'what is energy trading?'

An accessible guide to the pairs trading technique A leading arbitrage expert gives traders real tools for using pairs trading, including customizable Excel worksheets available on the companion website. Mark Whistler (Denver, CO) is the key developer of pairstrader.com as well as a licensed securities trader and broker and leading arbitrage expert.

Efficient market theorists contend that markets are random and thus not predictable. With the publication of Trading Against theCrowd, however, noted author, economist, and professional trader John Summa convincingly shows that investor sentiment can be incorporated into profitable stock and stock market trading systems. In this groundbreaking book, Summa explains how to use popular gauges of crowd psychology, such as put/call ratios, option-implied volatility, short sales, investor surveys, and advisory opinion to trade against, or contrary to, prevailing market sentiment. He also makes compelling arguments against the efficient markets hypothesis with the presentation of his own quantitative weekly bear and bull news-flow intensity indices, which he builds from news scans. This data series, and other popular measures of crowd psychology, are processed through custom indicators that are programmed into profitable trading systems, such as Squeeze Play I & II, Tsunami Sentiment Wave, and the Fourth Estate. Trading Against the Crowd is the first book to provide a comprehensive assessment of investor crowd psychology, offering valuable market timing tools and trading techniques, including: MetaStock and Trade Station system and custom indicator code; comparative statistical studies of CBOE, OEX, and equity-only put/call ratios; straightforward instructions for combining price triggers with sentiment indicators; a practical guide to understanding put/call ratios, short sales, investor surveys, newsletter opinion, and stock market news-flow intensity; how to use LEAP options as trading vehicles to avoid use of stop loss orders; use of put/call ratios for trading the Treasury bond futures market; and test results and evaluation of trading system performance. Many of today’s professional money managers rely on investor sentiment for improved market timing. They know that at extremes of market sentiment, markets tend to be the most predictable.Trading Against the Crowd shows how you can begin to profit from these short- to medium-term sentiment waves generated by the actions of the speculative crowd. Put into practice powerful sentiment data using thoroughly back-tested trading systems, and rise above the herd mentality of the investor crowd, where potentially large profits await.

For Amazon customers: The new version of the book, printed on higher quality paper, is now available to purchase. The essential futures market reference guide A Complete Guide to the Futures Market is the comprehensive resource for futures traders and analysts. Spanning everything from technical analysis, trading systems, and fundamental analysis to options, spreads, and practical trading principles, A Complete Guide is required reading for any trader or investor who wants to successfully navigate the futures market. Clear, concise, and to the point, this fully revised and updated second edition provides a solid foundation in futures market basics, details key analysis and forecasting techniques, explores advanced trading concepts, and illustrates the practical application of these ideas with hundreds of market examples. A Complete Guide to the Futures Market: Details different trading and analytical approaches, including chart analysis, technical indicators and trading systems, regression analysis, and fundamental market models. Separates misleading market myths from reality. Gives step-by-step instruction for developing and testing original trading ideas and systems. Illustrates a wide range of option strategies, and explains the trading implications of each. Details a wealth of practical trading guidelines and market insights from a recognized trading authority. Trading futures without a firm grasp of this market’s realities and nuances is a recipe for losing money. A Complete Guide to the Futures Market offers serious traders and investors the tools to keep themselves on the right side of the ledger.

The essential resource for the successful option trader High Performance Options Trading offers a fresh perspective on trading options from a seasoned options trader programmer/engineer, Leonard Yates. Drawing on twenty-five years of experience as an options trader and software programmer, Yates has written this straightforward guide. First he provides readers with a solid foundation to trading options, including an introduction to basic options terminology, a thorough explanation on how options are traded, and specific trading strategies. Accompanied by the OptionVue Educational website, this hands-on guide to the options market is a thorough and essential resource for any trader looking to increase his or her practical knowledge of options.