I recently signed up for the Options Alerts Newsletter on TheStreet.com. In it, Steven Smith, an options expert, provides a model portfolio as well as weekly updates to his positions. Any changes to the model portfolio results in an alerts email being sent out explaining what he’s going to do and for what reasons. So far I’ve found the service to be worthwhile. Although I haven’t carried out any of his trades yet as a result of my account not being margin enabled (A margin account is a brokerage account in which the broker lends the customer cash to purchase securities. The loan in the account is collateralized by the securities and cash. If the value of the stock drops sufficiently, the account holder will be required to deposit more cash or sell a portion of the stock), I plan on enabling the feature once my portfolio hits a certain value. I’ll need approval of my brokerage firm to trade on margin but I would expect with my gaining experience in the market there won’t be any problems.
If you’re interested in options trading and how it’s best optimized, give his newsletter a shot. I’m currently in a 30 day trial period. As the trial goes along, I’ll update with any results I’ve had as a result of his newsletter.
If you plan on enable the feature once your portfolio hits a certain value. What value would that be?
Comment by Marie Claire — Thursday, September 20, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Well Zecco allows me to enable margin at $2,000. Once I hit that minimum limit I’ll go ahead and have them enable margin, thus letting me trade options like the big boys. I’ve used that Options Alerts newsletter for a couple of days now and the writer’s pulled about $10,000 while risking about $500. Granted, that won’t happen every time, but it’s good enough to impress me!
Comment by Jorge — Thursday, September 20, 2007 @ 4:38 pm