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One of the types of trading you are going to hear about when you first enter Forex is currency options trading. This type of trading is very popular with some traders and there are more than 3 billion options traded each year. However, it is also one of the types of trading that has the highest risk involved. Very few brokers will let traders sell these contracts without a lot of capital for their protection because the risk is so high. So, if you are going to get into options trading, it is important that you learn everything about it before you begin.
When talking about options trading you want to remember that we are talking about currency “pairs.” So, let’s first talk a look at the most used options trading called “standard” or “vanilla” options trading. You have a dollar amount on the face of one pair, a put/call, an expiration date for the option, a strike (this is what you’re betting the dollar amount will be) and an exercise.
The option put/call is the right to buy or sell a currency pair at a given exchange rate at some time in the future (the expiration date). A trader has a right, not an obligation to sell. If the put rate runs out of money, the options expire and are worthless. The expiration dates are usually set at one week, one month, three months, six month, and twelve months.
When an option can only be exercised on the last day of its life, it is call a “European” exercise. When exercised, the currency option triggers a cash trade (SPOT) done at the “strike” (what you thought it would be) and for settlement on the spot value date.
An “American” exercise can take place at any time prior to the expiration date. These are valued differently than the European exercise using different numerical approximation methods or a binomial option-pricing model.
You will hear a lot about “Exotic option trading” also. These option have non-standard features and there are many hybrids and different types of exotic option trading choices. The exotic option used most often is the “barrier” or “knock-out” option. Both of these options have a barrier exchange rate that is called an “out-strike.” The out-strike kills the option if it is breached at anytime before the expiration date of the option.
Other commonly used Exotic optionS are the Double Barrier option, Binary option, Double Barrier Range Binary option, Quantos Option (hedgers use this option a lot), the Average Rate option, and Compound options (these are options on options). There are many, many more types of Exotic Options that you will learn about as you delve deeper into options trading.
The advantages of options trading that is most talked about is their increase in leveraging power which makes them cost efficient, the lower cost for this type of option which theoretically reduced the risk, and the ability to hedge against reversals in exchange rates.
Before jumping into the deep end of this pool, it is very important that you have a clear understanding of how currency options trading functions and what the actual risks are. Researching each of the options and talking to traders who have used these options will allow you to set up realistic expectation of what your gains or losses will be. Learning about options trading will require that you take some classes in advanced Forex trading and have an amount of money available that you are comfortable using for these high risk ventures.
If you need to create some more money trading on the foreign exchange, you will need to know a bit about currency trading for dummies and currency day trading. Day trade with self-belief as soon as you learn valuable guidelines from the specialists!
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