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Since your interest is in physics, history and math, you should love options
trading as it will challenge your intellectual curiosity to triumph over
numbers and their relationships. It is as much a path of self discovery as
it is of price discovery. In their finest form, options permit you to hedge
against or capitalize on inept government, poor or good management and
psychology of the masses. You would be well advised to start at
http://www.cboe.com and browse all the free info and hit the links to other
exchanges and option websites for a chain of holiday reading. Some of the
option software websites have articles on various aspects of options. Be
sure to get some intro level software such as the Options Tool Box(from the
cboe), or the Mantic software(need to search for an address) that will teach
you about the details of options and let you play whatifs without laying out
big bucks. You must have a handle on time decay and implied volatility to
keep from losing even when you are correct. The books recommended by others
are a good start as is the w.tradehard.com site. One book that is out of
print but worth looking for is "Options, Trading Strategies That Work" by
William F. Eng. A relatively new one, on the expensive side, is "Trading
Options Visually, What You Must Know to Trade Options On Futures" by paul
Forchione.
BR
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian <bribri@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 5:59 PM
Subject: [RT] GEN: Introduction and request for information
> Hello,
>
> I recently joined RealTraders, and so far have been thorougly impressed
with
> the quality of posts as well as the excellent knowledge that many of you
> have shared. I'm happy to be here.
>
> I'm writing this email both to provide a brief introduction to myself and
> also to ask for some general advice and information.
>
> My name is Brian, I'm 22 years old and live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm a
> fourth-year senior at the University of Utah pursuing degrees in Physics
and
> History and a minor in Math. I am presently employed by eBay. I was
disowned
> and disinherited a couple years ago, because I left my parents' religion.
> Shortly after this, my girlfriend dumped me, my friend died, and my dog
got
> hit by a car. My father must have felt guilty about this turn of events
> because I received substantial amount of money. At that time I knew very
> little about money, and I, unfortunately, decided to use most of it to buy
a
> house.
>
> Up until my disowning, I was given stocks and mutual funds by my father
and
> grandfather throughout my life. I retained these through my disinheriting.
> These are mostly Blue Chip stocks and conservative funds. Some of these
> shares have not ever been traded during my life. All are conservative in
> nature and were bought with long-term growth and investment in mind. While
> these belong exlusively to me, I made verbal agreements when I received
them
> that I would never sell them (I suppose 'never' meaning until the
benefactor
> dies) unless the long term viability of the company had changed. To date,
> this has not ever happened and, at this time, I intend to honor my
> agreements. All have been at least moderately successful, from the patient
> investor's viewpoint. (Patience being a virtue that I don't possess.)
>
> My knowledge of the market is generally very traditional. My father
> endeavored to educate me in economics and, as a result, I feel that I have
a
> good foundation of knowledge. Inclusion to this list has, however, made
that
> foundation appear much smaller than I previously thought. :-)
>
> Last July I made my first foray into day trading, blindly following the
> advice of a friend. Three weeks later, I was out a little over $10,000,
> mostly to fees and commissions on top of a few horrendous trades. That
> debacle taught me that never again would I find myself ignorant in regards
> to a market I was vested in. I have conducted zero actual transactions
since
> July.
>
> After losing my money, I read a couple books, all of The Motley Fool
> archives, and decided that anything other than long term investing was
> basically gambling, and that I'd have better odds, not to mention more
fun,
> if I moved to Vegas.
>
> Then I made a friend who had then just begun option trading. In the three
> months I've known him, he's gone from having significant debt to quitting
> his job and paying cash for a nice house. In light of this information, I
> reconsidered my previous determination and am now attempting to gain
enough
> knowledge and insight to follow his example.
>
> My short term goals are to make enough money to: 1) not have to work any
> longer for someone else; 2) find it financially feasible to buy a house
near
> and attend Graduate School in Mathematics at Berkeley. (Thereby escaping
> from Salt Lake Shitty.) My long term goal is to build enough wealth that
> lack of money will never be a factor in decisions regarding my life.
>
> The successful option trader has given me a book, _On Track Investing- A
> Guide To Simulation Trading_ by David R. Herbert. This book is very simple
> and basic, but I have still gleaned some knowledge from it. Apparently it
is
> associated with Wade Cook. I don't know who that is, but from people's
> reactions I surmise he is the Amway of investors. At the direction of Mr.
> Herbert, I have been conducting practice trades.
>
> In light of the recent posts by Clyde and Earl, I have ordered _Technical
> Analysis of Stock Trends_ by Robert D. Edwards, John F. Magee.
>
> Currently I am interested in Options. I like the idea of knowing my
maximum
> loss when I enter a trade. I ground away noticeable amounts of my teeth
> while half-sleeping in July. I'm the first to admit, though, that my
> interest in Options is probably due both to proximity in addition to lack
of
> knowledge of other strategies.
>
> Basically, I'm pretty ignorant about everything. :-) I'm looking to learn
> anything and everything I can which will help me to reach my objectives.
>
> Given my goals and history, are there any strategies that anyone might
> suggest?
>
> What resources would you recommend? (Books, websites, etc.)
>
> What programs are the best? TeleChart 2000 was recommended in the Wade
Cook
> book.
>
> I appreciate your time in this matter. All responses are very appreciated.
> I'm looking forward to belonging to RealTraders.
>
> Regards,
>
> Brian
>
>
>
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