,  AMEX,  Nasdaq,  regional  ex-
changes, and European, Asian, and Canadian stocks and futures.
• Commodity and futures option information from CBT, CME, NYBOT,
NYMEX, KCBT, MGE, MidAm, and COMEX.
• Quotes on stock and currency options from the Option Price Author-
ity Exchange.
• Money  market  funds,  mutual  funds,  and  indices  direct  from  the 
exchange ﬂoors.
• A variety of news services including the Dow Jones News Service and
Broadtape.
• Market commentary, fundamental analysis, historical charting, and com-pany research are prepared daily by leading experts and wire services.• Advanced  GET—Advanced  charting  package,  including  indicatorssuch as Elliott waves for Types One and Two Trades, Ellipse, Make-or-Break, Expert Trend Locator, and False Bar Stochastics.
• Market Scanner—Powerful tools that screen the market in real-time
including:
• PreMarket Scan: Focuses on the best trading opportunities before
the opening bell.
• Rally Scan: Captures every big move as it happens.• Hot Groups Scan: Points to sector investment opportunities.• Power  Scan:  Tracks  trading  opportunities  throughout  the  market
day.
• End-of-Day: Scans user’s entire database of issues on any number
of simple or complex triggers.
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Provider Costs
493
Your  service  fees  are  based  on  the  kind  of  service  you  choose  to  re-ceive. If you are not going to sit in front of a computer all day long, thenyou don’t really need real-time feeds. You can easily get away with de-layed or end-of-day quotes. Depending on the kind of data you chooseand  the  exchanges  that  you  sign  up  for,  data  feeds  can  cost  you  any-where from $25 to $400 per month. Subscribing to only what you needcould keep your costs as low as possible. You can always upgrade lateras your trading progresses.
For  instance,  a  basic  real-time  subscription  from  eSignal  that  givesyou access to all exchanges starts at around $185 per month. It goes upfrom this price depending on a variety of criteria, including how you wantto  receive  the  data.  If  you  want  to  place  longer-term  trades,  delayed  orend-of-day quotes should be sufﬁcient for your needs. Remember: If youare just starting out, keep your overhead as low as possible. Only requestinformation on the markets you want to initially trade. Too much informa-tion can create “analysis paralysis.” It is essential to start small and buildyour proﬁts systematically.
INTERNET SITES
Optionetics.comwww.optionetics.comLearning about options and various innovative strategies is the key to trad-ing success in today’s volatile markets. The Optionetics.com web site offerstraders  an  exciting  journey  into  the  world  of  options  trading.  It  providescomprehensive  information  detailing  the  interactive  nature  of  stocks  andoptions,  as  well  as  options  strategies  that  enable  traders  to  navigate  themarkets successfully. Optionetics.com features the following areas:
• Stock and Option Quotes and Charts: Find delayed stock and op-tion  quotes  and  charts,  most  active  gainers  and  losers  lists,  marketanalysis, index charts, research, bond quotes, and updates on all ma-jor markets. Use the free Options Ranker to sort through the universeof options to ﬁnd the cheapest and most expensive contracts.
• Educational  Articles: The  Optionetics  trading  team  provides  in-sightful  articles  and  monthly  columns  to  a  variety  of  newspapers,magazines, and e-zines. Now you can read them before they hit thenewsstand!
• Market Commentary: Get the lowdown on the mood of the market-place three times a day with speciﬁc tips on stocks on the move andproﬁtable market strategies from the Optionetics trading team.
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• Stock and Options Portfolios: A portfolio is an electronic methodof  tracking  stocks  and  trades  as  they  change  value  due  to  marketmovement. Track hypothetical paper trades for the purpose of learn-ing; or monitor real trades by receiving daily updates and news alertsconcerning the stocks you are watching.
• Discussion Boards: Chat with other traders from around the worldto  hear  what  they  think  about  speciﬁc  stocks,  options  strategies,  orupcoming events that could rock the marketplace.
• Broker  Review: See  how  various  brokerage  ﬁrms  stack  up  in  thebroker  review  section.  In  addition,  compare  options  services,  com-missions, fees, and more from one broker to the next.
• Trader’s  Resource  Store: An  electronic  store  featuring  videos,books, newsletters, and software applications for the avid trader.• A  Comprehensive  Trading  Bookstore: Utilize  the  extensivescope of Trader’s Library to ﬁnd the latest best-sellers, hard-to-ﬁndinvestment must-reads, and ﬁnd out what critics have to say abouteach book.
• Seminar  Information: Find out where, when, and how you can at-tend the next Optionetics.com seminar in your area. Learn to managerisk the Optionetics way!
Platinum Site at Optioneticswww.platinum.optionetics.comPlatinum  is  an  online  software  analysis  program  that  enables  traders  toselect  from  millions  of  possible  trades.  In  just  a  matter  of  seconds,  youcan look for single-option or combination trades that meet your strict cri-teria! Platinum provide options traders with:
• Risk graph analysis of your own personal trades!• Implied volatility rankings tailored to any and every option you choose.
Find the right skew for the trade.
• The  Trade  Selection  Matrix,  which  allows  you  to  match  trades  with
your market preferences.
• Option trade portfolio management with nightly e-mail of proﬁt/loss
performance. Paper trading made easy!
• Historical back-testing capabilities on options going back more than
two and a half years!
• Access  to  the  Greeks  for  any  option  position  including  delta,  vega,
gamma, and theta.
• If  you  use  the  volatility  of  options  and  stocks  to  locate  promising
trades, this site is a must-have.
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Educational Web Sites
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InvestorWords.comwww.investorwords.comA comprehensive ﬁnancial glossary that allows participants to browse byletter and to receive a daily e-mail containing the “Term of the Day.”
The Motley Foolwww.fool.comThe Motley Fool site was created to educate, amuse, and enrich, and con-tains quotes, charts, ﬁnancials, education, portfolios, news, and ideas, aswell as some of the most heavily trafﬁcked bulletin boards on the Internet.Also,  check  out  their  Broker  Center.  Don’t  be  fooled  by  their  foolishbravado—this site has plenty of investor clout.
Options Clearing Corporationwww.optionsclearing.comAs the largest clearing organization in the world for ﬁnancial derivatives,the OCC web site offers a wealth of options-education information. OCCissues put and call options on several types of underlying assets includingstocks, stock indexes, foreign currencies, and interest rate composites.
Options Industry Councilwww.optionscentral.comThe  OIC  is  a  nonproﬁt  organization  dedicated  to  educating  the  publicabout  options  through  seminars,  videos,  and  brochures.  Its  web  siteserves  as  an  educational  arm  offering  free  educational  material  to  helpyou learn about trading options.
Securities and Exchange Commissionwww.sec.comThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the regulatory entitythat supervises U.S. ﬁnancial markets. On its web site, readers will ﬁnd alot  of  detailed  securities-related  information.  SEC  has  reports  on  listedcompanies, investor guides, and EDGAR—a database that performs auto-mated collection of corporate information and ﬁnancial statements.
Stock-Trakwww.stocktrak.comStock-Trak  provides  portfolio  simulations  featuring  stocks,  options,  fu-tures, bonds, and more. This terriﬁc educational site is used by more than10,000  college  students  each  semester  in  their  ﬁnance  and  investmentcourses. Stock-Trak is now available to anyone, allowing you to manage a
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fake  brokerage  account  of  $100,000  in  order  to  test  strategies,  placetrades, and learn about the ﬁnancial markets.
Exchanges
American Stock Exchangewww.amex.comThe  American  Stock  Exchange  (AMEX)  is  comprised  of  companies  thatwere  too  small  to  be  listed  on  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange.  Require-ments include a pretax income of $750,000 in two of the past three years,stockholders’ equity of $4 million and a minimum market capitalization of$3 million.
Chicago Board of Tradewww.cbot.comThe  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  (CBOT)  is  primarily  a  futures  and  optionsexchange,  where  the  Dow  Jones  Industrial  Averages  (DJIA)  futurestrade. The CBOT also has a trading simulation through the Auditrade sys-tem. There is a charge of $10 per month to participate in Auditrade’s sim-ulated  trading.  This  will  allow  you  to  practice  trading,  using  a  fakeaccount and real prices until you get comfortable with the strategies andtheir results.
Chicago Board Options Exchangewww.cboe.comThe Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has news, new option list-ings, and exchange information on equities, options, and LEAPS. Special-ization includes calls and puts on NYSE stocks, the S&P 500, U.S. Treasurybonds, and other indexes.
International Securities Exchangewww.iseoptions.comAs the newest U.S. exchange, the ISE is the ﬁrst all-electronic network fortrading stock and index options. Since its ﬁrst day of trading on May 26,2000, ISE has grown into the third largest options exchange.
Nasdaqwww.nasdaq.comThe  Nasdaq  is  the  over-the-counter  market  where,  via  online  computertransactions,  securities  are  bought  and  sold  through  licensed  securitiesbrokers and dealers. The web site includes indexes, quotes, charts, and in-dividual company news, as well as updated stories from Reuters.
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New York Stock Exchangewww.nyse.comThe New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), or the Big Board, is the world’slargest equities market with a capitalization of more than $12 trillion. Atremendous  amount  of  information  is  available  about  new  and  previ-ously listed companies, with annual reports, research, publications, andnews.  The  NYSE  ensures  marketplace  integrity  by  taking  disciplinaryactions  when  necessary  and  is  considered  the  international  market  ofchoice.
Paciﬁc Exchangewww.paciﬁcex.comThe Paciﬁc Exchange (PCX) is the third most active stock exchange in thecountry and the third largest stock options exchange in the world. Morethan  2,600  stocks,  bonds,  and  other  securities  issued  by  publicly  tradedcompanies as well as options on more than 550 stocks are traded on thePCX, along with a variety of indexes. Quotes on equities and options aredelayed 20 minutes.
Philadelphia Stock Exchangewww.phlx.comFounded in 1790, the PHLX trades more than 2,800 stocks, 700 equity op-tions, 12 index options, and 100 currency options. Fifteen-minute delayedquotes and volatility charts are available, along with news, research, anddaily market analysis.
Charts and Quotes
BigChartswww.bigcharts.comBigCharts  is  sure  to  become  one  of  your  favorite  sites  with  intradaycharts,  historical  quotes,  and  quotes  on  more  than  34,000  stocks,  mu-tual funds and indexes. It provides an excellent array of information onthe big movers and losers in the main markets, momentum charts, andother goodies.
eSignalwww.esignal.comeSignal is a leading real-time quote service that delivers continuously up-dated, time-sensitive ﬁnancial data over the Internet. The web site offersmarket quotes for stocks, options, and futures, as well as charts, news,research and alerts to the growing base of online investors.
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North American Quotationswww.naq.comOne of the top preferred data suppliers to brokerage ﬁrms, web sites, cor-porations,  and  private  investors,  this  site  offers  real-time  quotes  andcharts for a premium.
PC Quotewww.pcquote.comOne  of  the  world’s  premier  electronic  providers  of  real-time  securi-ties quotations, news and investment tools, PC Quote hosts a multitudeof  innovative  investment  tools,  software  applications  and  excellent articles.
Quickenwww.quicken.comIn  addition  to  its  TurboTax  products,  the  Quicken  site  has  quotes,  ad-vanced  charting,  portfolio  information,  news,  analysis,  proﬁles,  SEC  ﬁl-ings and reports.
StockMasterwww.stockmaster.comStockMaster is another excellent site that includes quotes and clear dailyprice  charts  with  separate  volume  charts.  Check  out  its  investor  senti-ment surveys.
News Sources
Bloombergwww.bloomberg.comBloomberg’s  site  has  a  staggering  selection  of  ﬁnancial  information  in-cluding headlines, market updates, and equity indexes. Currency calcula-tors and cross-currency rates are useful bonuses. Real audio sound bitesare available for up-to-the-minute updates.
BusinessWeekwww.businessweek.comBusinessWeek  Online  has  daily  brieﬁngs,  quotes  and  portfolio  informa-tion.  Many  interesting  and  well-written  articles  make  this  a  worthwhilesite, while the banking, technology and education centers are interesting.The searchable archives date back to January 1991.
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CBS MarketWatchwww.cbs.marketwatch.comCBS MarketWatch is sure to be on everyone’s bookmark list, with compre-hensive coverage of news, headlines, and market data. Delayed quotes aresupplied by eSignal.
CNBCwww.moneycentral.msn.comThe  CNBC  television  news  channel  is  the  leader  in  business  news.  TheCNBC site has programming information for CNBC in the United States, Eu-rope, and Asia. Biographies for the CNBC staff are also online. Extensiveexecutive and job search Web listings and phone numbers are available.
Dow Joneswww.dowjones.comThe  Dow  Jones  site  has  global  market  updates,  economic  indicators,quotes, and the newswires. Access to other business publications is alsoavailable.
Dun & Bradstreetwww.dnb.comDun & Bradstreet specializes in press releases and company proﬁles, fo-cusing on news, views and trends.
The Economistwww.economist.comThe Economist is the international journal of news, ideas, and opinions.Thought-provoking analysis and articles abound on its web site, as well asaccess to archived editions.
Forbeswww.forbes.comForbes  Digital  Toolbox  is  a  great  site  that  offers  the  popular  Forbeslists, interesting commentary, and quotes. Includes several key sectionsincluding  Manufacturing,  Technology,  Commerce,  Services,  Energy,HealthCare,  Bonds,  Emerging  Markets,  Enterprise  Tech,  Future  Tech,Networks,  E-Business,  and  Sciences  and  Medicine.  The  site  also  haslinks to their magazine.
Investor’s Business Dailywww.investors.comIBD’s site has incorporated many topical daily news articles from sectionssuch  as  Inside  Today,  Front  Page,  Computers  &  Tech,  the  Economy,  theMarkets and Vital Signs.
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Kiplingerwww.kiplinger.comKiplinger online is an excellent source of business forecasts and personalﬁnancial  advice.  The  PAWWS  Financial  Network  provides  20-minute  de-layed quotes.
Moody’swww.moodys.comMoody’s Investors Service is the leading provider of credit ratings, research,and ﬁnancial information to the capital markets.
Nasdaq Traderwww.nasdaqtrader.comThe  Nasdaq  Trader  has  trading  and  market  data  services,  volume reports on shares, lists share volume leaders, trading halts, and timelyaccess to Nasdaq news.
Pathﬁnderwww.pathﬁnder.comTime Warner’s Pathﬁnder site has links to all the online publications in theTime  Warner  family,  such  as  Time, People, Money, Fortune,  and  Enter-tainment Weekly. The scrolling newswire is useful, as are the other linksto CNN types of news sites.
Red Herringwww.redherring.comOne of the most popular ﬁnancial e-zines, this site offers a multitude of in-sider news, analysis, and commentary by highly respected journalists pri-marily focused on the business of technology.
Reuterswww.reuters.comReuters  has  market  briefs,  indexes  updates,  the  market  snapshot,  busi-ness news, company news, quotes, and top stories.
Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commoditieswww.traders.comThe online site of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities maga-zine has monthly featured articles and excellent educational informationfor the novice trader. A wide variety of links and resources make this auseful site.
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The Wall Street Journalwww.wsj.comThe  Wall  Street  Journal  requires  a  small  fee  for  its  online  subscription.You’ll  ﬁnd  all  the  bells  and  whistles  on  this  comprehensive  site  that  theJournal is famous for worldwide. There is also an updated job and careersearch  section  with  technical,  professional,  and  management  positionslisted.
Zackswww.zacks.comZacks is a very popular ﬁnancial site that offers a variety of free and sub-scription services. It provides access to research produced by more than3,000  analysts  and  approximately  240  brokerage  ﬁrms.  It  also  features  avast array of brokerage and equity research, screening, and advisory tools.Check out the daily “Bull of the Day” and “Bear of the Day.”
Analysis Tools
iVolatility.comwww.ivolatility.comAn options-related web site that offers subscribers the ability to rank andsearch options based on different variables. This site offers daily impliedvolatilities  and  catalogs  this  information  in  a  powerful  database.  Traderscan utilize this database to scan for a variety of opportunities based on his-torical and implied volatility and to evaluate overbought/oversold options.
VectorVestwww.vectorvest.comThe  VectorVest  site  provides  services  that  integrate  fundamental  andtechnical  analysis  to  sort,  screen,  rank,  graph,  and  analyze  more  than6,500  stocks,  industry  groups,  and  industry  sectors  for  price,  value,safety, timing, and more. If you’re not ready for a subscription, you maywant  to  take  advantage  of  their  free  in-depth  stock  analysis  service—just click on the “Free Stock Analysis” box on the upper left-hand cornerof the home page screen.
Informative Sites
Brieﬁngwww.brieﬁng.comBrieﬁng’s  site  has  live  market  commentary,  stock  analysis,  quotes  andcharts, sector ratings, and an economic calendar. Other premium servicesare available.
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Daytraderswww.daytraders.comA  day  trader’s  paradise,  full  of  news  and  resources.  Delayed  quotes  aresupplied by Quote.com. The trading strategies section has some wonder-ful commonsense information for all traders.
ICLUBCentralwww.iclub.comServes as an online clearinghouse for all the communicative and adminis-trative needs of investment clubs including products and services targetedto both new and established investment clubs such as the National Associ-ation  of  Investors  Corporation  (NAIC).  It  recently  acquired  Doug  Ger-lach’s Investorama, a wonderfully comprehensive directory for investors.
Investor Guidewww.investorguide.comInvestor  Guide  is  a  tremendous  resource  for  personal  investing  on  theWeb. In addition to quotes and news, it has more than 1,000 responses toinvestment  questions.  This  excellent,  comprehensive  site  focuses  on  in-vesting, personal ﬁnance, and education. It also runs the Hedgehog Invest-ment Competition. Have you ever wanted to create and manage your own$1 million hedge fund? Here’s your chance.
Investor Homewww.investorhome.comThe  Investor  Home  page  is  a  treasure  trove  of  links,  quotes,  charts,  re-search, proﬁles, and earnings estimates. This site had won 12 honors andawards the last time we checked.
TheStreetwww.thestreet.comControversial analyst Jim Cramer hosts this extremely popular and inﬂu-ential site. TheStreet.com’s engaging articles and perceptive market analy-ses no doubt help to shape the mass psychology of the marketplace.
World Wide Financial Networkwww.wwfn.comThe World Wide Financial Network has an excellent variety of investor re-sources,  including  indexes,  charts  and  quotes,  extensive  research  tools,feature articles, and access to online brokers. Overall, a great site.
Yahoo!ﬁnance.yahoo.comThe  Yahoo!  Finance  site  has  a  wealth  of  information  including  top  newsheadlines, market overviews, stock and index quotes, economic indicators,and a host of excellent articles on national and international business.
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APPENDIX B
ImportantChartsand Tables
TABLE B.1 Option Expiration Month Codes
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Jul Aug Sep Oct
Nov Dec
CallsPuts
AM
BN
CO
DP
EQ
FR
GS
HT
IU
JV
KW
LX
TABLE B.2 Strike Price Codes
A
5105
J
50150
S
95195
B
10110
K
55155
T
100200
C
15115
L
60160
U
D
20120
M
65165
V
7.5037.50
12.5042.50
E
25125
N
70170
F
30130
O
75175
W
17.5047.50
G
35135
P
80180
X
H
40140
Q
85185
Y
I
45145
R
90190
Z
22.5052.50
27.5057.50
32.5062.50
503
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TABLE B.3 Option Delta Value
Calls
Puts
Long
+50
Short
–50
Long
–50
Short
+50
+60 to +65+70 to +75+80 to +85
–60 to –65–70 to –75–80 to –85
–60 to –65–70 to –75–80 to –85
+60 to +65+70 to +75+80 to +85
At-the-Money
In-the-Money
1 Strike2 Strikes3 Strikes
Out-of-the-Money
1 Strike2 Strikes3 Strikes
+35 to +40+25 to +30+15 to +20
–35 to –40–25 to –30–15 to –20
–35 to –40–25 to –30–15 to –20
+35 to +40+25 to +30+15 to +20
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TABLE B.4 Option Quote Terms
Data
Last
Open
Change
% Change
High
Low
Bid
Ask
52-Week High
52-Week Low
Deﬁnition
The last price that the option traded for at the exchange. For delayed quotes, this price may not reﬂect the actual price of the option at the time you view the quote.
The price of the ﬁrst transaction of the current trading day.
The amount the last sale differs from the previous trading day’s closing price.
The percentage the price has changed since the previous day’s closing price.
The high price for the current trading day.
The low price for the current trading day.
The bid is the highest price a prospective buyer (ﬂoor trader) is prepared to pay for a speciﬁed time for a trading unit of a speciﬁed security. If there is a high demand for the underlying asset, the prices are bid up to a higher level. Off-ﬂoor traders buy at the ask price.
The ask is the lowest price acceptable to a prospective seller (ﬂoor trader) of the same security. A low demand for a stock translates to the market being offered down to the lowest price at which a person is willing to sell. Off-ﬂoor traders sell at the bid price. Together, the bid and ask prices constitute a quotation or quote and the difference between the two prices is the bid-ask spread. The bid and asked dynamic is common to all stocks and options.
The highest price the stock traded at in the past 52-week period.
The lowest price the stock traded at in the past 52-week period.
Earnings per Share
The bottom line (net pretax proﬁt) divided by the number of shares outstanding.
Volume
The total number of shares traded that day.
Shares Outstanding
The total number of shares the company has issued.
Market Cap
P/E Ratio
Exchange
Shares outstanding multiplied by the closing stock price.
Stock price divided by the earnings per share; P = price/E = earnings per share.
This indicates where a company lists, or registers its shares (e.g., New York Stock Exchange).
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TABLE B.5 Exchange-Traded Funds
Exchange-TradedFund Type
Exchange-Traded FundDescription
MarketRepresentation
DIAMONDS
Diamonds Trust Series
FITRS
HOLDRS
Fixed Income Exchange Traded Securities
Holding Company DepositaryReceipts
iShares
Index Shares
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Various Treasuries 
Very narrow industry sectors
Various countries and market sectors
Nasdaq 100 Index
QUBEs
Spiders
StreetTracks
VIPERs
Nasdaq 100 TrackingStock (QQQ)
Standard & Poor’s DepositaryReceipts (SPDRS)
Various Standard & Poor’s indexes
State Street Global Advisor ETFs
Various Dow Jones style indexes
Vanguard Index ParticipationReceipts
Several Vanguard index funds
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TABLE B.6 Time Line of the Stock Market
Year
1791
1792
1829