Options

Learn about options trading, from how to place your first options trade to more advanced topics.

Unbalanced Butterfly and Strong Directional Bias

A guide to using unbalanced butterflies for traders who have a strong directional bias but want to generate income and ensure they have defined risk.

A Guide to the Covered Strangle Options Strategy

Learn how covered strangles can potentially help traders earn extra income from options and manage their stock positions during periods of sideways trading.

Risks of Options Assignment

Before entering an options trade, traders should consider the possibility of early assignment. Learn more about assignment and how to potentially reduce risks associated with it.

An Investor's Guide to Options Income ETFs

Options income ETFs offer investors a unique combination of high yields, downside cushion, and reduced volatility, but they come with risks worth considering.

Short Straddles vs. Strangles Options Strategies

Short straddles and strangles can help traders take advantage of range-bound trading or drops in implied volatility. But advanced options strategies carry greater potential risk.

Options Exercise, Assignment, and More: A Guide

This beginner's guide can help new option traders navigate the dynamics of options expiration—especially how exercise and assignment work—before initiating a trade.

Money Due: Handling Credit Spread Assignment

Early assignment is a risk of trading credit spreads. What happens when a trader's notified money is due? Learn how to take an economical approach to managing an early assignment.

Practice Options Trading on the thinkorswim Platform

Stock traders may consider options as way to generate income or speculate on the market, but it takes practice to master the complexities. Learn how to get started risk-free.

Using S&P 500 Put Options to Hedge a Downturn

Using S&P 500 put options for temporary downside portfolio protection when concerns over an event-driven sell-off are elevated.

How to Hedge in a Volatile Market

Options hedging strategies allow investors to insure against market risk, although this protection comes at a cost. Find out how to hedge with options.