Stock Options and Risk Management

Stock options allow you to make huge returns in thelose all of your money trading smaller positions is the
market. When they are winning it is easy to getway to go. If you had an account and only put
carried away with them and risk too much, but if you$500-$200 into any 1 trade well those trades would
are going to survive as a trader you must make risknot exactly bankrupt you if you where wrong a
management your number 1 concern.fewtimes.
So how do you manage your risk with options,2. Putting Stop Orders on Options
especially considering when you buy options you canAnother thing you can do is to put stop orders on
already lose 100% of your investment? Here twoyour options. Instead of buying an option and risking
different things you can do to help manage your risk100% of that investment, you could always buy an
when dealing with options.option and place a stop if you lose 50% or so of the
1. Use small positionsoption.
The first thing you can do is to use smaller positions.This way you would at least walk away with some
If you have $10,000 and put $10,000 into an optionmoney if you are wrong, even if it is less then what
trade that is foolish. Sure if you are right on that 1you started with.
trade you could double or triple your account, but ifRemember buy and hold does not work with options.
you are wrong you risk the whole account.Options will eventually expire after a relatively short
Over positioning yourself with options is a great wayperiod of time. If you want to make money with
to go broke in the long term. Unless you want tothem it has to be in the short term.