Contemplating Options Trades at the Airport

I realize that it has been several days since my last post, and hopefully a few of you have missed me. It is always nice to be missed!

For the last several days I have been in Tampa, Florida, attending meetings and an educational conference. In fact, I am still here! I am sitting in the Tampa International Airport tapping away on my lap top's keyboard, making use of the time before I board my flight.

We talk a lot about whether you should spend money on various educational products. I have always challenged people to think critically about this. This trip cost me a fair amount of money, but it was very much worth the time and the expense. In fact, I expect that my investment will be repaid many, many times over.

There are numerous opportunities for each of us to educate and improve ourselves. Some of those opportunities are better than others. I don't want you to stress over this stuff, but just ask yourself why you are interested in attending a given event or why you are considering the purpose of a particular course. Then ask yourself what benefit you hope to gain and whether the cost is justified.

Okay. So back to options trading!

I have a few positions in my personal accounts. Just one in the private member's account. The limited number of positions was due in large part to the fact that I knew I would be out-of-town, but as I await my flight I have been looking at the market and have a few orders that I plan on executing tomorrow.

There is a lot of uncertainty about the market right now, which translates into a good opportunity for options traders. Premiums are a bit higher, which makes me feel good about selling spreads.

Do not run out and just sell spreads, however!

This is much like buying educational products. Ask yourself what it is you hope to achieve. What is your overall investment and wealth building strategy? Options are simply a tool that you can use to effect a larger strategy. Without that overall strategic plan, you're just gambling on your ability to "be right" with any given trade.

You will never always be right. When you're wrong, just make sure you know how to deal with it and that you're "wrong" for the "right" reasons.

The idea is that you want to fit your trading into a larger plan to grow wealth. Ideally, your option trading will compliment your overall investing activities and even offset some of your investment risk.

From time to time I will try to revisit this issue here. Once you grasp the concept it can make a real significant difference in your financial life.

Trade well!

Christopher Smith
TheOptionClub.com