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The Importance of Regulated Markets: Crypto vs. Stocks

Tools and trends change, but good design is timeless. Learn how to quickly develop an “eye” for design.

The Importance of Regulated Markets: Crypto vs. Stocks

January 30, 2023

The Important of Regulated Markets: Crypto vs. Stocks I have seen a ton of hesitation and general frustration in the crypto markets recently with the growing popularity of crypto currency as a portion of retail traders asset strategy. It is important to know the difference between regulated and unregulated markets when choosing where and if to participate. With the FTX scandal continuing to dominate headlines, now is as good of a time as any to revisit the basics of market structure, regulation, and consumer protection (or lack

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Stocks vs. Single Options vs. Options Spreads: What’s the Difference?

January 30, 2023

Stocks vs. Single Options vs. Option Spreads: What’s the Difference? Do you know the difference between trading stocks, single options, and option spreads? The risk and return parameters between the three can be drastically different and it is important to understand the differences for your investment strategy. Let’s work though an example together, comparing the three investment methods performance using a 2% increase in the hypothetical stock, ABC, which has a current stock price of $100. For this example, we’re going to ignore trading fees and commissions.  Example 1: 10 shares of

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Options and Time Decay – What to Know!

January 11, 2023

Options and Time Decay – What to Know! At the most basic level, an equity option is a contract that gives the buyer the right (but not an obligation!) to either buy or sell an underlying stock at a specified date and with a specified price. This makes the price of the stock one of the most important factors of the value of the option, as it is the largest and most obvious factor that affects whether the option will finish with value (“in-the-money”) or worthless (“out-of-the-money)

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Different Options Trading Strategies

November 2, 2022

Different Types of Trading Strategies When it comes to retail trading, there are more than a few strategies that casual retail traders typically employ. We’ll cover the basics of the most commonly used strategies, shedding light on the important components of each. Scalping – probably the most technical of the bunch, scalping involves extremely short time-frames, typically only a few seconds to a few minutes. Scalping is based on short-term pattern recognition in prices, and traders attempt to be in and out of trades very quickly for a

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Stock Markets and Recessions

October 10, 2022

Stock Markets and Recessions There has been a lot of talk recently about the chances of a recession over the next few years, with some economists calling it ‘all but a certainty’ and others casting doubt. However, the one thing we already know for sure is that it has caused a lot of volatility and fear in the stock market. Most broad market indexes are near or approaching yearly lows, and the moves down have been at times fast and furious. With that being said, it begs

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Why Options Spreads?

October 7, 2022

Why Options Spreads? Options trading can be somewhat of a mysterious and intimidating topic. Unlike traditional equities or even ETF’s, options contain a large amount of additional metrics and information that can further complicate the picture, especially for the untrained eye. In addition, there are potentially hundreds of options to select from on any given stock! So why is there so much buzz around options trading?Options present a unique potential benefit to the end user that relates back to leverage. Each contract represents 100 shares of stock,

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Disclaimer: Optionality by Lightspeed. Equities, equities options, and commodity futures products and services are offered by Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC (Member FINRA, NFA and SIPC). Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC’s SIPC coverage is available only for securities, and for cash held in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, in equities and equities options accounts. You may check the background of Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.
All investments involve risk and past performance of any security does not guarantee future results or returns. Please refer to our fee schedule for a complete listing of relevant charges. System response, trade executions and account access may be affected by market conditions, system performance, quote delays and other factors. The risk of loss in electronic trading can be substantial. This is not an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where we are not authorized to do business. Optionality makes no guarantee as to the currency, accuracy, or quality of information published and/or archived on the platform, nor will Optionality accept any responsibility for other organizations, businesses, and private persons that provide information on this platform. All information on the platform regarding products and services provided by Optionality is subject to change without notice. Optionality is not responsible for misprints, out of date information, or errors. Optionality does not provide any financial or investment advice.
Terms: “call spread,” “Expires” “positions” “71% positive” (pie chart) “positive snippets” and “negative snippets.”
“*Pre-packaged spreads are option spreads formed by our algorithm and offered as a package.”
“A bull call spread is an options trading strategy designed to benefit from a stock’s limited increase in price. The strategy uses two call options to create a range consisting of a lower strike price and an upper strike price. The bullish call spread helps to limit losses of owning stock, but it also caps the gains.”
“An expiration date in derivatives is the last day that derivative contracts, such as options or futures, are valid. On or before this day, investors will have already decided what to do with their expiring position.”
“Positive and Negative Snippets are a proprietary output from our partner Stocksnips that aggregated the total amount of media mentions of a certain stock and takes the percentage of those that are positive or negative, as in the example shown above referencing 71% positive”
“As with all your investments, you must make your own determination as to whether an investment in any particular security or securities is right for you based on your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation.” · “0.50 per contract”
*Options trading involves a high degree of risk and may involve total loss of investment. Options spreads, specifically, offer the benefit of projected maximum gain and loss positions (defined above as “defined risk trades” and “defined outcomes”, but in rare situations may result in gain/loss in excess of the projected cap. Optionality has several mechanisms to greatly reduce these occurrences, but we cannot guarantee they will never happen. For more information on options, Please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before deciding to invest in options.