xjo weekend zoomba lounge, page-184

BrightSpark
I don't profess to being an expert by any sense of the word regarding trading so please take my comments as my own opinion.

In theroy, the notion of "shorting" is to make profit with falling stock prices buy using methods such a cfd's. (I will leave the mechanics of this up to the experts)

With my option trading, I mainly focus on puts and calls, long and short. (See link to page which shows exactly my strategy)

When I say I am going to short the banks, I mean I will use Long Puts and usually close out following a swing in my direction.

As the options market is separate from the Stock Market and you are only buying and selling derivatives, it will have no effect on the market.

Having said that, the Volatility index's eg VIX are a reflection of the number of puts in the market ie a higher number means elevated levels of puts (expecting the market to go down)

The advantage of my strategy is little capital exposure for huge returns...or you can loose your capital very quickly.

To option trade (the way I do)...you need a wholeistic view, strong stomache and a very high level of conviction regarding short term market direction, and a lot of time reading.

If you are looking to expand on your trading, options is not a bad thing to look at....

I have read that 90% of new option traders loose their capital...so education is the key.

Just my thoughts and I stand to be corrected.