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Source: options-trading.onlinetrading-tips.com If you leaf through the business section of major broadsheets, you will mostly likely notice that some company executives employ strategies called options trading as part of their annual salaries or as bonuses for jobs done well.

But what are options, really? Are they similar to stocks? What does it mean when they say options are exercised? These are some of the options questions whose answers we will learn in this article.

Options are similar to stocks in a way that they also can be traded in the stock market.

However, holders of options can only buy or sell, thus, ‘exercise’, their options at a given price and at a specific time frame. Stocks trading may be conducting at any time of the day as long as the session is progress, whereas options trading happens at a predetermined time and at a predetermined rate.

You should also bear in mind that options are not accessible to just about anymore. Again, such instruments are only awarded by company board’s to people who have shown impressive performances during their tenure, unlike stocks, which are open to be purchased by people both in and out of a certain company.

You might notice that most of the present times’ news about options trading are negative. Where executives are often accused of backdating their options, or setting the timing of the options at times when the stock value is low, so they can sell their options and gain profits when share values go up.

Regulators and authorities are currently cracking down on such activities and many companies and executives have already been found guilty.

The good thing about options is that they help shield traders from volatile market conditions. As mentioned earlier, options allow individuals from buying a low stock price and selling at a later set date for a higher value. The transaction is relatively safer to move in because it is more predictable than trading stocks.

It is not that difficult to learn options trading, again, because you don’t really have much market movements to track given its fixed time frame. Also, since they are actually ‘options’, you can choose not to exercise them immediately and wait for values to rise before you sell, thereby allowing you to maximize your gains.

At this point, we must highlight that options have expiration dates. Nope, they don’t last forever, so they must be exercised before the expiry date lapses. If you hold on too long to your options, you might stand to lose.

This can be a little tricky, especially if a certain companies value goes up and down intermittently in the days leading to the expiration date. If this happens, it is suggested that you sell immediately when the values are high and not try to tempt fate by holding out until the last minute.

Options trading, after all, no matter its fixed nature, is still a gamble. While it is not as risky as stocks, you still have the responsibility to maintain enough foresight and prudence to know when to go forth and when to stop.