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  Using Options to Buy Stocks : Build Wealth With Little Risk and No Capital
  ISBN: 0793134145
  By Dennis Eisen
    4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"Jim Rogers, George Soros' former partner, onced admonished against the use of put writing, a financial instrument which brought him catastrophic losses early in his extraordinary career. Of course, LEAPS puts did not exist at the time Rogers was making use of them, and one wonders what he might think, or might have done, with Dennis Eisen's book, which makes a compelling case for LEAPS put writing.

This book is a singular, well conceived investment strategy lesson in several respects. It's rare that such a book can captivate an audience of beginning, intermediate and advanced investors, but I suspect investors of just about any caliber will find this worthwhile reading. That is to say, most readers will likely find something new here about calls and puts (both the regular option and LEAP flavors), although the author does well to stick more or less exclusively to LEAPS put writing. Also, the author uses historical runs to substantiate the tactics he's advising, which make his claims all the more informed and interesting.

Eisen addresses the key issues of rate of return, risk, and probability exceedingly well, and he contributes something altogether new to the field --probability tables, based on an issue's earnings growth and volatility. The author also addresses the proper allocation of margin, option taxation, and gives a decent explanation of option volatility. The book's essential and recurrent theme is that LEAPS puts tend to completely disregard an underlying issue's earnings growth potential.

The book's essential shortcoming is that its underlying option pricing formula, which accounts for stock dividends and American style options unlike the European-styled Black-Scholes model, is delineated for copy in the text as a BASIC program rather than as an EXCEL spreadsheet. Unless the reader is using BASIC, which seems unlikely to me, he or she will find the awaiting transcription task a substantial chore. And the volatility calculation Eisen suggests is based on a year's worth of an underlying issue's price data. The book might have included a macro spreadsheet for all of the requisite data and calculations, or the author might have made such a spreadsheet available for extra cost, which I --and I am sure many others-- would gladly pay."
(4.0 stars)

"BARRON'S, page MW 14

Leap Year Poaching profits with LEAP puts

By Michael Santoli

Yes, it's been a treacherous market the past week -- all year in fact -- full of choke lines and obscured quicksand pools to menace anyone who's strayed off the narrow path that leads to the few favored stocks. Yet even in such a trying environment, money is left unattended for the poaching in some corners of the market. In one, the sales pitch is this: "I'll pay you cash today and you can keep the money if, among a selection of high-quality stocks, no more than a few have fallen by 30% or more in a year or two."

In brief, that's the offer that certain disciplined sellers of long-term puts take up with relish. Dennis Eisen, a mathematician and consultant who has devised a system for selling LEAP puts with impressive success, is one such investor. LEAPs (short for Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities) are options that expire in January of each year and mature two or three years from the time of their listing. By selling LEAP puts, one is taking in a cash premium in hopes that the underlying stock won't fall below their strike price by expiration, in which case it's necessary to buy the stock at that level.

Eisen crafted his methods after running a huge simulation of the results of having continually sold puts on each of the 300 or so available LEAP stocks over the past decade. Encouraged by his data, he's been doing so for his own account for years with fine results and has written a new book, Using Options to Buy Stocks, that describes his approach.

Put selling has a partially justified reputation as a high-risk game, exposing the seller to unquantifiable losses should a stock plummet and force the seller to buy it at above-market rates. But by focusing on long-dated puts, restricting the activity to high-grade stocks and following certain risk-limiting rules, Eisen has found that his program acts as a nice profit enhancement to his straight stock portfolio. He says that only five times in over 1,000 trades in recent years has he had a stock "put" to him, a testament to the steady bull market and his discipline.

To locate the most solid companies, Eisen restricts his put sales to stocks with consensus "buy" ratings from research houses Zacks or S&P. One rule he advocates is to select a strike price equal to about two-thirds of a stock's current value, leaving a good deal of room for the shares to fall before the seller goes into the red.

There are logistical issues that put sellers must deal with. A broker has to be found who is comfortable with put-selling programs, margin requirements must be attended to closely and the investors should know all tax angles -- all concerns Eisen deals with carefully in his book.

He also is not promising unrealistically gaudy profits from his strategy. Eisen says he has a rather conservative, blue-chip stock portfolio and prefers to play the flashy technology stocks by selling puts against them as a source of funds to plow back into his core stocks. As a rule of thumb, he says his brand of LEAP put-selling can augment an expected 15% base return from his stocks by an additional 10% or so."
(5.0 stars)

  Stocks for Options Trading : Low-Risk, Low-Stress Strategies for Selling Stock Options- Profitably
  ISBN: 0814404235
  By Harvey Conrad Friedentag
    4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"I started writing covered call options shortly before I read this book. I sure wish I had read this book first. It's hard to lose money writing covered calls because you're getting paid to offer stock that you already own. I feel like I own a bank.

What I really liked about this book more than anything else is that it covered a lot of ground. Particularly, I appreciated the discussion about taxes. I had no idea that you don't report income on writing covered calls until the option expires, someone calls your shares or you cover your position by buying back the option you already sold. This means, as the author points out, that you could sell options late in the year, pocket the money, and assuming nothing happens until January or later of the following year, the income would be taxable to that year. Get paid now, pay the taxes later. I like that idea a lot. It's information like this that helps map out a strategy for investing in the market.

Another thing the author does very well is show numerous examples of his strategies. I was surprised when he showed different ways to purchase a stock, write a covered call against it with a strike price less than the price paid for the stock and still make money. I had to read those sections a few times to figure out just how that worked.

In short, this is an excellent book for beginners and people with some experience in writing covered calls. The lack of hype was a relief. Yes, you can make 50% a year or more easily writing covered calls. It's not some mysterious gambling strategy. I always thought options were some wild trading strategy that only professional traders use. To my surprise and delight I found out that college endowment funds, churches and insurance companies write covered calls as a regular part of portfolio management. As Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" said: "Investing isn't risky. Being uneducated is risky." Do yourself a big favor and get educated about the stock market and writing covered calls. Writing covered calls has very little risk and you get paid for owning and holding stock you already have.

I'm giving this book an enthusiastic 5 stars. If you're an advanced covered call option trader, perhaps you don't need this book. If you're looking for outrageous returns, this book probably isn't for you either. If, like me, you know very little about options or have never traded them, by all means, get this book and study it. The information in this book is excellent, but as with any useful information, you've got to put it into practice. I can't see how anybody with a moderate strategy couldn't earn a decent return on their money using this."
(5.0 stars)

"I have read and applied the strategy for writing covered call options. This IS an excellent manual for trading with far less risk and with much greater return than I thought possible. If you are conservative and yet want better than above average returns with less risk, (heaven right?) then this book is for you!"
(5.0 stars)

  Getting Started in Options, 3rd Edition
  ISBN: 047117758X
  By Michael C. Thomsett
  4.0 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"Options are a very powerful tool in investing. Any stock investor is running half blind if they do not consider using options as part of there investment strategy

This book is a great place to start for anyone who wants to have an understanding of what options are and how they can be used as both speculative and conservative investment tools.

The author provides a very through tutorial on what options are, what they are used for and how you can used them in your investment strategy. Many examples are presented to insure that each topic is fully understood. In fact there are so many examples that you may want to skip one here and there after you already understand the subject described. However, these examples are great in illustrating the various topics presented.

The book will be useful for both beginners and more advanced users who wish to know more about the various techniques used in options trading. Having said that, if you are a very experienced options investor who is looking for complex strategies, you would probably be better of with a more advanced book.

The ideal reader of this book would be a person who has been doing some stock trading and is now ready to move to more complex (and potentially rewarding) options based trading."
(5.0 stars)

"Once again author Michael Thomsett has brought to the new and seasoned investor a concise manual on how to trade options in today's economic market. The examples and accompanying explanations are clear and easy to understand. Unlike other books, his isn't too technical nor full of "pie-in-the-sky" examples. The author provides side-bar definitions on all terms presented in the book. Strategies are laid out with "what-if" scenarios, risks are explained fully and repeated often. The book is a "must read" for new and seasoned investors wanting to get started in the options market. Best of all, it's reasonably priced for such a wealth of information."
(5.0 stars)

  The Options Course Workbook : Step-By-Step Exercises and Tests to Help You Master the Options Course (Wiley Trading Advantage)
  ISBN: 0471249491
  By George A. Fontanills
  4.0 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"I have bought this book and the Options Course Book. This book is designed to directly relate to the hardback book (Options Course Book) and has no application to be read on its own.

The author has used the workbook to test your knowledge of the hard back book. The work book pulls the salient points out so that you ensure you got what you need.

The tests are accompanied by the answers at the back of the book. I thought it a great idea to combine the two books as I never know if I got it all when I read a book.

This book has no practical use on its own and should have been bought with the Course Book.

Great idea. However, if you are looking for the detail you should buy the Options Course Book."
(5.0 stars)

"I used this book in tandem with the OCB to pull the points that I wanted to understand. The author has used the additional book to ensure that each chapter of the OCB is pointed and hits the mark.

This book is a must to purchase at the same time as his first book Options Course Book. Great idea to reinforce for the reader the salient points that you want to get over

Thank you Mr. Fontanills

Dana"
(5.0 stars)

  Trade Options Online (Wiley Online Trading for a Living)
  ISBN: 0471359386
  By George A. Fontanills
  4.0 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"Wow! A book that really delivers the goods.

Starting out with Online Investing 101. and moving on to Online Trading Resources Fontanills introduces the world of cyber trading. Then he moves to introduce the options basics strategies. In particular he concentrates on Vertical Spreads. and Covered Writes to show how to trade online.

Then he moves to his trademark of Delta Neutral Strategies. The book covers Ratio Spreads and Backspreads, Sideways Spread Strategies. Now we got to the bits that I really was thrilled by the Cybervesting from A to Z. This is a complete analysis of all the investment web sites that options traders need to know. If it is not here then forget it. This is an exhaustive review of all the players on the web for option trading.

As a frustrated option trader I was enthralled by his review of all the brokers and their rankings. He is candid and brutal in his rankings. he concentrates on their performance not their marketing. I was surprised by his choice for best broker.

He wraps up with good sections on Living Online, Appendices and of course a Glossary.

This was a great read that will live on my desk as a reference guide for my trading. It is the Fontanills trademark of being easy to understand, practical and written for the average reader not the PHD. This man can really write so others can grasp the complex strategies that he conveys.

I like the candid story of his life, cancer victim, Harvard MBA etc. and now a money manager for a living.

Great read and invaluable guide to how to trade options online.

Alison Pearlman"
(5.0 stars)

"This book is absolutely superb, and is a must for the new options trader. Having just recently upgraded my online trading account for options, this book is indispensable to me.

The writing is clear and concise. The information at the end of the book - an everything you ever wanted to know about online resources (web sites for options trading) - is worth the cost of the book alone.

Not only does the author document all of these web sites (a couple hundred of them, if I'm not mistaken), but he even gives candid ratings for them too.

This book is almost like having a personal options mentor at your side."
(5.0 stars)

  The Options Course : High Profit & Low Stress Trading Methods (Wiley Trading Advantage)
  ISBN: 0471249505
  By George A. Fontanills
    3.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"This book finally delivered the subject of options into my head. I have tried for years by reading McMillan and with Schaeffers high priced newsletters (where I lost lots of Money) to understand options. McMillan was far too technical for me to understand and Schaeffer ... well he is all about selling his newsletters. Fontanills appears to have no agenda and appears genuinely interested in conveying his ideas to the public.

The book introduces the basics well with just enough detail. The examples are in stocks and futures which I quickly got used to. I have no intention of trading futures but they were just examples to get the point across. Fontanills he confided his business is actually as a money manager of stocks and stock options.

The book moves on to more advanced strategies including his delta neutral examples. He covers butterflies, condors, long synthetics, spreads and a total of 26 strategies. I recently noticed other people copying Fontanills work but ... then imitators will always copy the master I suppose.

I also bought the Options Workbook to accompany this book as it helped me test my knowledge. The downside of the books is that I was left wanting more and more from this guy, and when I put down the book I started it again. Oh, the appendix were useful and well set out.

In summary, this book delivers. It is easy to understand, written at my level not above my head. It is not all theory but offers a practical application that I have actually started to apply.

Thank you Mr. Fontanills for taking the time to teach us small investors the secrets of your trade.

Michelle"
(5.0 stars)

"Liked the book as it was precise and easy to follow. This man really knows his options and communicates it without all the math that many get stuck on.

The delta section was the reason for my purchase as I was confused after reading other texts how to apply it.

I suppose that after reading many books I found it refreshing that this guy is a full time trader that communicates his ideas to others. Instead of the Cook books this is a real traders guide of how to get started.

I also bought his other books for the online applications of option trading.

I also recommend Sheldon Natenburg's book on Volatility and www.optionanalysis.com for the practical application when you are ready to put it all together."
(5.0 stars)

  The Electronic Trading of Options : Maximizing Online Profits
  ISBN: 0793135214
  By Howard Abell
    3 stars out of 5 on Amazon

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Comments from readers:
"This is a very informative book about trading options electronically. The emphasis is on thoroughly discussing different trading platforms and techniques to be used to trade on them profitably. Howard is very strong on explaining different trading methods. I like all his books."
(5.0 stars)

"People who want to learn about trading options using a computer will do well not to buy this book.In part one this book glosses over options essentials with some of the strategies like straddles explained in just 4 lines.Part Two is filled with one on one interviews with traders which is ok if you are the type who invests after watching interviews on CNBC.Parts Three and four gives a very brief summary of some of the technical analysis methods out there and mentions a few trading psychology theories.It tells you about trendlines but leaves you befuddled about how to apply it.I ended up not learning anything about options but a little about history.I suggest Trade options online by George Fontanills that is an excellent book that is well written and actually gives you websites which is a foreign concept in Mr Abell's book."
(1.0 stars)