best of financial blogs online trading

CondorTrader of Condor Options May 11, 2008 Email this article to a Friend  Printer friendly page

One of the more frustrating aspects of mainstream financial journalism (and journalists) is that, while plenty of time and energy is devoted to coverage of stocks, commodities, and even the more esoteric financial products - counterparty risk on credit default swaps, anyone? - very little attention is paid to the kinds of news that options traders care about.

OptionsNews, as you might guess from the name, aims to change that. They provide daily market updates, coverage of major movements in the options market, educational videos, and trade ideas. They’re a subsidiary of PEAK6, one of the major market making firms in Chicago, and have a staff of experienced traders and hosts who cover a wide variety of topics on the site’s six shows. Among those shows are:

• Options Physics - the educational arm of the site, including articles and videos broken down by skill level (Basic, Advanced, Professional). The pieces are pleasantly concise and yet substantive.
• Sidewinder - a neat daily trading tool that highlights unusual options volume in equities.
• Mad About Options - this show is touted as covering Jim Cramer’s Mad Money picks, but they’re totally underselling it: the real value is that the commentators teach you how to position yourself with or against Cramer’s pick using options, which will be very helpful for novice options traders.

The OptionsNews website is still in beta - either that, or they’re touting the fact that their picks merely track the market (just kidding) - but it already looks great and loads quickly, especially given how video-intensive it is. Other features include forums, a market data page, and a calendar function. Oh, and they’re apparently going to allow users to upload videos going forward.

This site definitely targets an unfilled niche in the world of online financial journalism: nobody else is providing quality video coverage of the options markets, and if they keep adding new educational posts and videos at anything like their current pace, this could become one of the best resources for options education anywhere on the web.

by CondorTrader (Condor Options)

Disclaimer:

Please note that charts and commentary provided by the moderator are for educational purposes only. Any trades placed upon reliance on the moderator’s charts or information is taken at your own risk for your own account. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. While there is great potential for reward trading stocks, futures and options, there is also substantial risk of loss and you must decide your own suitability to trade. Future trading results can never be guaranteed. This is not an offer to buy or sell stock, futures, options or commodity interests.

Most trading systems are based on historical formulas which have worked in the past. However, what has happened before may or may not happen again. You can lose all your money trading stocks, futures, and options and you must decide your own suitability as to whether or not to trade. Only trade with true risk capital you can afford to lose. Only trade markets you can properly afford to trade. Properly funded trading accounts typically perform better than those that are not. Never risk more than 2-3% of your account on any one trade. Always define your risk before entering a trade and place a stop to limit your risk.

There are no guarantees or certainties in trading. Trading involves hard work, risk, discipline and the ability to follow rules and trade through any tough periods during a system’s draw downs. If you are looking for a guarantee, trading is probably not for you. Most people lose money trading. One of the reasons is that they lack discipline and are unable to be consistent. A system can help you become consistent. Ironically, worrying about the monetary aspect of trading can contribute to and cause a trader to make trading errors. Therefore, it is important to only trade with true risk capital.