Thomas Cook Airlines Awards A320 & A330 Full Component Support Contract

November 9, 2010 · Posted in Forex · Comments Off 

A J Walter Aviation And Its Partners Win 5-Year Deal Thomas Cook Airlines has awarded A J Walter Aviation a multi-million dollar contract to provide component power-by-the-hour and leasing support for its A320 and A330 family aircraft based in the UK and Scandinavia.

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What are Your Options Regarding Forex Options Brokers?

January 7, 2010 · Posted in Currencies · Comments Off 

Forex option brokers can generally be divided into two separate categories: forex brokers who offer online forex option trading platforms and forex brokers who only broker forex option trading via telephone trades placed through a dealing/brokerage desk. A few forex option brokers offer both online forex option trading as well a dealing/brokerage desk for investors who prefer to place orders through a live forex option broker.

The trading account minimums required by different forex option brokers vary from a few thousand dollars to over fifty thousand dollars. Also, forex option brokers may require investors to trade forex options contracts having minimum notional values (contract sizes) up to $500,000. Last, but not least, certain types of forex option contracts can be entered into and exited at any time while other types of forex option contracts lock you in until expiration or settlement. Depending on the type of forex option contract you enter into, you might get stuck the wrong way with an option contract that you can not trade out of. Before trading, investors should inquire with their forex option brokers about initial trading account minimums, required contract size minimums and contract liquidity.

There are a number of different forex option trading products offered to investors by forex option brokers. We believe it is extremely important for investors to understand the distinctly different risk characteristics of each of the forex option trading products mentioned below that are offered by firms that broker forex options.

Plain Vanilla Forex Options Broker – Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or forex put option contract.

There are only a few forex option broker/dealers who offer plain vanilla forex options online with real-time streaming quotes 24 hours a day. Most forex option brokers and banks only broker forex options via telephone. Vanilla forex options for major currencies have good liquidity and you can easily enter the market long or short, or exit the market any time day or night.

Vanilla forex option contracts can be used in combination with each other and/or with spot forex contracts to form a basic strategy such as writing a covered call, or much more complex forex trading strategies such as butterflies, strangles, ratio spreads, synthetics, etc. Also, plain vanilla options are often the basis of forex option trading strategies known as exotic options.

Exotic Forex Options Broker – First, it is important to note that there a couple of different forex definitions for “exotic” and we don’t want anyone getting confused. The first definition of a forex “exotic” refers to any individual currency that is less broadly traded than the major currencies. The second forex definition for “exotic” is the one we refer to on this website – a forex option contract (trading strategy) that is a derivative of a standard vanilla forex option contract.

To understand what makes an exotic forex option “exotic,” you must first understand what makes a forex option “non-vanilla.” Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific’s investor’s needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.

Exotic forex options are generally traded by commercial and institutional investors rather than retail forex traders, so we won’t spend too much time covering exotic forex options brokers. Examples of exotic forex options would include Asian options (average price options or “APO’s”), barrier options (payout depends on whether or not the underlying reaches a certain price level or not), baskets (payout depends on more than one currency or a “basket” of currencies), binary options (the payout is cash-or-nothing if underlying does not reach strike price), lookback options (payout is based on maximum or minimum price reached during life of the contract), compound options (options on options with multiple strikes and exercise dates), spread options, chooser options, packages and so on. Exotic options can be tailored to a specific trader’s needs, therefore, exotic options contract types change and evolve over time to suit those ever-changing needs.

Since exotic forex options contracts are usually specifically tailored to an individual investor, most of the exotic options business in transacted over the telephone through forex option brokers. There are, however, a handful of forex option brokers who offer “if touched” forex options or “single payment” forex options contracts online whereby an investor can specify an amount he or she is willing to risk in exchange for a specified payout amount if the underlying price reaches a certain strike price (price level). These transactions offered by legitimate online forex brokers can be considered a type of “exotic” option. However, we have noticed that the premiums charged for these types of contracts can be higher than plain vanilla option contracts with similar strike prices and you can not sell out of the option position once you have purchased this type of option – you can only attempt to offset the position with a separate risk management strategy. As a trade-off for getting to choose the dollar amount you want to risk and the payout you wish to receive, you pay a premium and sacrifice liquidity. We would encourage investors to compare premiums before investing in these kinds of options and also make sure the brokerage firm is reputable.

Again, it is fairly easy and liquid to enter into an exotic forex option contract but it is important to note that depending on the type of exotic option contract, there may be little to no liquidity at all if you wanted to exit the position.

Firms Offering Forex Option “Betting” – A number of new firms have popped up over the last year offering forex “betting.” Though some may be legitimate, a number of these firms are either off-shore entities or located in some other remote location. We generally do not consider these to be forex brokerage firms. Many do not appear to be regulated by any government agency and we strongly suggest investors perform due diligence before investing with any forex betting firms. Invest at your own risk with these firms.

Author: John Nobile
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Pressure Cooker

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How to Enter and Scale Out of an ES Emini Trade

December 29, 2009 · Posted in Currency Trading · Comments Off 

My observation is that most day traders buy and sell with market orders.  This strategy tells your broker or platform to buy when you execute an order as soon as you hit the enter button on your computer and buy immediately at whatever price the market is trading.   I want to qualify this before getting too far down the road, I trade in a scalping style and run reasonably tight stops and try to let my winners run.  Of course, who does not try to let their winners run?  Many people, believe it or not, especially if they are to heavy on the number of contracts they are trading relative to their futures account balance, trade not to lose, as oppose to maximizing their profit potential.  They are fearful, and trade defensively.  It’s not unusual to see a fearful trader trade the ES contract and bail at one point, even though the market is signaling there is good potential for the trade to continue in the direction of the trade.  They just want out before something bad happens.  Needless to say, trading in a fearful condition is not an enjoyable experience and makes for a long day.

Let’s take a moment and talk a little about a strategy for entering trades.  We will assume you have identified a potential trade to the short side and are ready to take that trade.  Instead of putting a straight market order in place and buy at whatever the market is trading at when your order is filled, why not set your short entry several ticks above the current market price and let the market come to you?  Granted, you run the risk of missing out on the trade if the price dive bombs straight down, but that is a rare occurrence.  Even in a trending market, the price tends to bounce around and you are likely to get filled at your buy order above the market price.  You just saved yourself a half point.  You can look at your Average True Range Indicator to see how the range of the market has been and base your entry, to a certain degree, in a manner within the range.  In dead flat markets, though, this may not be such a good strategy.  Then again, I am not very excited about trading flat and choppy markets anyway.

Now let’s talk a bit about scaling out of a trade.  If you have read any of my articles you know that I usually have a specific profit target in mind and a specific stop loss point.  In this example I am going to trade 3 contracts and my profit target 15 ticks on the ES Emini contract.  On a trade like this one I will generally scale out of the trade.  A good trading platform will allow you to set specific strategies for selling at different prices.  I use Ninja trader, and I can preset my exit strategy as follows:  I am going to sell 2 of the contracts at 10 ticks profit and 1 contract at the 15 tick profit target I had in mind.  You can use any variation of selling strategies you feel comfortable with and most good trading platforms allow up to 3, sometimes 4, separate levels to scale out of your trade.  You can preset these strategies and name them in a manner which will allow you to choose which one you are going to use simply by clicking on the strategy you will employ.  For example, this strategy on my platform I named 3x10x15.  It’s my own nomenclature, but I know this means 3 contract with exits at 10 and 15 ticks.  I generally exit a larger portion of my contract on the first exit to lock in a nice profit and let the last contract run.  I can even move the stop on the single contract if I see a market start a sharp move in the direction I am trading.  

One of the maxims I live by is to never let a winning trade become a losing trade, and scaling out of a contract is an excellent way to assure you lock in a nice profit while allowing yourself the latitude to let a contract run.  Needless to say. there are an endless number of potential scaled exits you may employ.  In my trading, and I cannot fully explain why, I tend to trade an odd number of contracts and lock in the majority of my contracts at the first exit point, then manage the remainder of the contracts as the trade develops.

Entering a trade in the proper fashion and scaling out of the trade is an idea you may wish to employ in your trading, especially if you are trading out of fear.  (on the other hand, if you are trading overly fearful, it might be wise to take a break from trading and regroup)

On single contract trades I generally just bracket trade, as no scaling is possible with a single contract.  Try buying at the price you want with the method above and scaling out of a trade and see if it doesn’t prove to be a profitable strategy for you to employ.  It does give you a bit more control of the trade, and incrementally lowers the risk in the trade.

I endorse a state of the art trading program for beginners at Trading Concepts, Inc It’s an awesome product that will have you well on your way to success. Plus, it has a money back guarantee…you have nothing to lose and thousands to gain.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/day-trading-articles/how-to-enter-and-scale-out-of-an-es-emini-trade-1641066.html

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Learn How to Trade Options

November 14, 2009 · Posted in Currency Trading · Comments Off 

A trade option is an agreement/contract between two parties to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price (i.e. strike price) on a fixed date (i.e. expiration date). Trade Options are financial instruments with rules and terms, and include a buyer and a seller. The buyer known as the holder has the right but not the obligation to buy the asset at a specified price on or before the expiration date. The buyer can forfeit the contract on finding out the contract worthless. The seller known as writer, however, has the right to sell and is obligated to fulfill the terms of the contract.

Option trading startegy provides various advantages like leverage, insurance, profits, betting, etc. With option a trader can take a view of market direction with lesser risk and get unlimited profit.

Types of Option Contracts

•Call Options: Call option gives the buyer the right to buy an asset at a specified price on or before the expiration date. Call buyers hope that the stock will increase before the expiration date. Call buyers are not obligated to buy or sell. They have the choice to exercise their right to buy or not.
•Put Options: Put option gives the seller the right to sell an asset at a specified price within a given time frame. Put buyers hope that the price of the stock will fall before the option expires. Put buyers are obligated under the contract to buy or sell until the expiration date.

Financial Trade Options

•Exchange Traded Options: Exchange traded options are the listed options in which terms for the option are standardized by the exchange. In this the assets, quantity, expiration date, strike price are known in advance. Some of the exchange traded options are: stock options, commodity options, options on future contracts, index options, etc.
•Over the Counter options or OTC options: OTC options are traded between two parties, and the terms of the option contract are customized. OTC options are not listed on an exchange. Some of the OTC options are: swap options, interest rate options, currency cross rate options.
•Employee Stock Options: The employee stock options are given to a company’s employees as compensation.

You can learn more about option trading at www.Trading-courses.org.  Ideal Trading International the premiere Options Trading Education resource which provides Stock Option Trading System knowledge through our online Option Trading Course. Our proven Options Trading education System facilitates the traders and institutions to gain maximum profits and increase their wealth.

Trading-courses offering Options Trading System and Stock Trading Course from Options Trading International. Learn Day Trading Strategies used by highly-successful professional traders in the business.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/day-trading-articles/learn-how-to-trade-options-1458280.html

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