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Product Description

Options trading offers unparalleled opportunity for rapid profit, but most options guides are difficult to understand and even harder to use successfully. Not this one. Options Made Easy has earned a worldwide reputation for simplicity, clarity, and practical value. In this thoroughly revamped Second Edition, renowned options trader Guy Cohen delivers even more of what makes this book so valuable: better graphics for easy visual learning, updated hands-on examples that walk step by step through real trades, and the clearest plain-English explanations of trading techniques you'll find anywhere. Unlike its competitors, Options Made Easy, Second Edition shows you how to design your own trading plan for high probability trades and consistent profits, offering proven strategies you can begin using right now. Best of all, Cohen teaches through easy-to-understand charts and graphs, not complicated math! Coverage includes: filtering for moving stocks; selecting the right strategy for each situation; bull call and put spreads; covered calls; straddle/strangle; volatility and sideways strategies; trading and investing psychology; and much more. This edition also contains a completely revamped introduction to the Greeks-- the standard sensitivities to options risk characteristics that every trader must know.

Customer Reviews:

• Understanding OPTION's TRADING with Graphs tand Charts.
  This book is great for learning the terminology of OPTION's. Easy to understand graphs augment the words for learning what VERTICAL and what CALENDAR SPREAD's are. Everything else is/are just various combination(s) of these very basic two. That's it!! It's that simple.
  
  From there, learn the four Greeks...
  - DELTA,
  - GAMMA,
  - THETA, and
  - VEGA...
  
  then,
  - find a product with MASSIVE LIQUIDITY (like the SPYders),
  - place a Position (SELL JUNK (OTM Options) with either an IRON CONDOR or a BUTTERFLY)) 4-10 weeks out before expiration with 60% to 75% chance of success,
  - collect $$$ off the THETA DECAY (24/7, including Sat, Sun, & Hol),
  - GET OUT 4-10 days before expiration,
  - MANAGE RISK (try to keep a DELTA NEUTRAL situation), and
  - Be happy with your small change... they do add up!!
  
  The rest? IMHO,
  - Charts,
  - Technical Analysis,
  - Fundamental Analysis,
  - Supports,
  - Candles,
  - watching MSNBC,
  - consulting your Fairy Godmother, etc etc... FORGET IT.
  
  Nobody knows anything. 85% of Mutual Fund Managers CONSISTENTLY FAIL to outperform the S&P500.
  Also, please remember, the DJIA is a MANIPULATED NUMBER!! I think of the original 30, only GE is left. All the rest were replaced (some numerous times) to keep it coninuing on in an Upward Trend... did you know that?
  ...more info
• I cannot suggest this book with a clear heart.
  I was too harsh on this book in my first review. After reading it twice, I will give it 4.... stars instead of two. Read this book along with other books also.This book is a must in Options education. The author touches on subjects others miss. Look at David Caplan also....more info
• Definitely not for Beginners
  I bought this book thinking that I will learn to invest in stock options (as I dont even know O of options). This book defeated me completely. What I was looking for a book which will say "Sam is thinking of investing options he chooses some company XYZ, He sees that current stock price is 50 dollars. How can he go about making a call or put. What is the strict price he shd think. Who decides the premium price. What does bid / ask prices are. What sort of choices does he has. (Day to day story of someone investing in options).
  
  Simply put the book shd have taught options step by step. Instead of repeatedly saying "option is a right but not an obligation ..." (ok this may be necessary). ...more info
• Off to a great start
  I rate this book highly as it really provides a fairly easy to understand foundation for getting started in options. If you already trade in futures then you should be able to fathom all of the concepts and will learn more that will bolster both futures and options trading. This book is a go for the advanced beginner to intermediate level investor! ...more info
• Tough read!
  But let me put it to you this way you always have the option to make a call and and liquidate your positions if you spread your position....more info
• Options Made Easy
  Options Made Easy: Your Guide to Profitable Trading (2nd Edition) Good basic information....more info
• Options Made Easy - not really that easy
  Although this book seems to be well written, with a title like "Options Made Easy" one would assume that it would be a good book for the inexperienced options trader. If you're a beginner, this isn't the book for you. It assumes that you have knowledge about the subject. Read "Understanding Options" by Michael Sincere first. After you become familiar with the subject, then read Options Made Easy....more info
• Best option intro book and more
  This book is very well written, clearly illustrated. It covers all the basics you need to know about option and some most popular strategies. Although it does not include those fancy strategies, IMAO, if you can not make money on these most popular ones (covered option, spreads, strangle and straddle, etc.), probably you won't make money on those fancier ones either. More energy should be spent on market reading and equity analysis, instead of wasting time on calculate fancy combination.
  
  On the other hand, this book also covers FA / TA essentials, trading psychology, money management, which makes it a complete book for trading, not just an option facts book....more info
• The best book about options!
  This is the best book I've read about options. It explains an EASY way to understanding the concepts of options, strategies, technical analysis and trading psychology, as the title says. It also explains the particular risk profile charts for every options strategy the book teaches. It guides you on about what criteria to use when screening stocks for particular options strategies. The technical analysis section offers an in depth and EASY way to spot chart patterns and gives you information on other indicators to monitor that can confirm the patterns. Everything in the book is explained clearly and understandably and at the end of each chapter there is a summary. Most importantly it talks about the investor psychology, which I think is the most important part of the equation. The best knowledge won't help if you don't have the right mind setting. Buy this book first, and then buy the other books you are considering about options....more info
• If you don't want to read this book, don't trade options
  Nowadays options are all the rage. Most of us who are less than encouraged by the economics of working for a living and making other people rich are getting the message that you don't have to, and are taking a second look at the stock market. And that's as it should be. Sooner or later we get introduced to options as a way of reducing the risk of investing and trading. Unfortunately, minimizing risk remains an illusion unless you know what you're doing. It means learning from someone who not only knows what he/she is doing, but also someone who KNOWS HOW TO TEACH. That's a tall order, and it immediately eliminates about 90% of mankind. Knowing how to teach is not an art one acquires by having a command of one's subject. Unless you're a born teacher, you'll never be able to do more than read from someone else's book, or repeat hackneyed mottos and slogans. Happily, the author if this book belongs in that select class of born teachers.
  
  Why do I say this? Because I'm not far from being a beginner in options myself. And I've suffered through a great many books which, by their title, create the impression that a beginner can learn from them. (If you're fortunate enough to acquire one of these books from a dealer who accepts returns with a smile, you can then hope that the dealer will carry only the best books. True, perhaps, in some other world, but not in this one.) "Options Made Easy" is such a book, and, unlike many others, it makes good on its title. There's arguably no other trading discipline in which it's so important to get clear on the basics--terminology and concepts, than options. And that's what too many authors and instructors don't seem to understand, since they don't remember being beginners themselves. For example, the standard approach is to tell students that when you BUY a CALL option, you've got a right to BUY a stock; when you SELL a CALL option, the person who BUYS the CALL option has a right to BUY a stock, which you have a duty to SELL, and so on for BUYERS and SELLERS, CALLS and PUTS. Pretty soon the beginner finds himself/herself lost in a thicket of BUYS and SELLS, CALLS and PUTS, and easily forgets what it is that's being bought and sold. and by whom. Then, to make matters even more complicated, since one has to understand risk profiles for each of the combinations. a lot of numbers get tossed into the options soup. Armed with this level of knowledge, a student is hardly equipped to begin reading and making sense of an option chain, let alone place real trades. And it only gets worse when one is introduced to the more compex option strategies. It's like a pianist trying to play Chopin and having to try to remember where middle C is on the piano. To be sure, seasoned option traders keep things straight, but no one is born a seasoned option trader. And what the beginner is looking for is a book for beginners. And beginners require good teachers. (I really don't care whether the book's dust jacket tells me that the author has been working in the Chicago Board of Options Exchange since he/she was 10, if he/she doesn't know how to teach. The fact is that a lot of "authors" are pedagogically challenged, and have no business writing books.)
  
  A few authors try to remove some of the ambiguity by using the terms "holder" and "writer" for the people who are buying and selling options, respectively. This is OK as far as it goes. Guy Cohen has devised a terminology which goes a very long way toward resolving the ambiguity of options terminology. He introduces it on p. 24 of "Options Made Easy." (Being an unusually slow study myself, I didn't understand what he was trying to do. So I sent him an e-mail, to which he graciously and quickly responded. It's all clear now.) He then links this basic symbolism to a risk-profile chart for the basic option buy-sell combinations. Later on, these basics are applied to the more complex options strategies. It's all quite ingenious. It's hard to overemphasize the value of such an approach, especially when you understand that using options is all about risk management. The book is replete with risk-profile charts of increasing complexity, and each is accompanied by an illustrative number-crunching example. (What Guy Cohen needs to do now is publish a workbook to accompany the text, in which he compels the student to work through a variety of problems.)
  
  "Options Made Easy" has a chapter on Fundamental Analysis and one on Technical Analysis. While each of these chapters offers a lucid introduction to its subject, the reader should be aware that each of these disciplines is complex in itself. And since, once you buy or sell an option, everything turns on the behavior of the underlying stock, there's no getting around the fact that you'll have to learn how to pick the underlying stock, and then track its fate for as long as you're in the option trade. It pays, therefore, to get comfortable with both fundamental and technical analysis (especially the latter).
  
  My only (constructive) criticism of the book is that the option-chain examples are a bit hard to read. Also, the technical charts could be improved to show up a little clearer. But these problems can be remedied when the author brings out an updated edition of the book (which I hope he will soon). Some readers have found typos, but as yet, I haven't.
  ...more info
• Best book to start in options trading!
  I read dozens books about options. I only came across four, which have a real practical value about real options trading. This one - "Options made easy" - the first one. It's a very good introduction to option theory and practical approach of trading. Three others - "Options Workbook" by Tony Saliba, "Volatility" by Natenberg and "Options: Perceptions and Deceptions" by Cottle. All other books so far - theoretical garbage by people who want to make money by only selling books and useless services, but not trading options!...more info
• very displeased!!
  No Quality in this item. A lot of missing pages. whats with this? There are pages with great info. What is this doing to the author? Please strive to get it right or dont sign your name to it. ...more info
• Easier yes. Easy ... no.
  Guy Cohen has done a remarkable job making the world of options more reasonable for the begining investor (such as myself), however I consider myself reasonably intelligent and I struggled with some of the risk profiles. After I gained an understanding of what the author was explaining I felt that some aspects of the book could have been explained more completely.(An example would be explaining that the break even mark on the risk profile was calculated using only the time value of the option and not the intrinsic value and this only applies if the option is sold at expiration.)
  
  Overall I feel that this book is the best content value I have found on the subject and I highly recomend it for beginning traders who may find it difficult to shell out some of the big ticket prices charged by people teaching this subject....more info
• Review of Options made Easy
  I have read about 1/3 of the book and have learned a lot. Great book for a novic elike me. It teached you about Options and also about the market in general. Easy good explanations....more info
• Best intro to options I've found
  Covers the Greeks and most common option strategies very well, along with very good intro chapters to fundamental, technical, and market analysis, and a discussion on trading psychology. Guy writes and explains well, and has a knack for voicing important details and underlying assumptions that many other writers forget their audience of beginners don't know. A very good starting point and survey of the topic, before venturing into more in-depth studies....more info
• Great Book to bring you up to speed
  If you are new to options, this will be a good start. I own over 40 books on options and this was one of the first that I purchased and I still peruse it from time to time....more info
• Good product, good buying experience.
  Good product, good buying experience. Great service and on time delivery. Will buy again from this vendor....more info
• Not well proofread
  This book is clear and easy to read. Unfortunately, the editor was incompetent in financials or the author didn't take the time to review his work carefully. Some of the comments on analysis are clearly worded wrongly; however, the content is so strong and purpose of this book is so well realized in general, that it is easy to recommend it as a "dummy's" book to any person who already has a good grasp of finance - or wait for the next edition. ...more info
• If you don't want to read this book, don't trade options
  Nowadays options are all the rage. Most of us who are less than encouraged by the economics of working for a living and making other people rich are getting the message that you don't have to, and are taking a second look at the stock market. And that's as it should be. Sooner or later we get introduced to options as a way of reducing the risk of investing and trading. Unfortunately, minimizing risk remains an illusion unless you know what you're doing. It means learning from someone who not only knows what he/she is doing, but also someone who KNOWS HOW TO TEACH. That's a tall order, and it immediately eliminates about 90% of mankind. Knowing how to teach is not an art one acquires by having a command of one's subject. Unless you're a born teacher, you'll never be able to do more than read from someone else's book, or repeat hackneyed mottos and slogans. Happily, the author if this book belongs in that select class of born teachers.
  
  Why do I say this? Because I'm not far from being a beginner in options myself. And I've suffered through a great many books which, by their title, create the impression that a beginner can learn from them. (If you're fortunate enough to acquire one of these books from a dealer who accepts returns with a smile, you can then hope that the dealer will carry only the best books. True, perhaps, in some other world, but not in this one.) "Options Made Easy" is such a book, and, unlike many others, it makes good on its title. There's arguably no other trading discipline in which it's so important to get clear on the basics--terminology and concepts, than options. And that's what too many authors and instructors don't seem to understand, since they don't remember being beginners themselves. For example, the standard approach is to tell students that when you BUY a CALL option, you've got a right to BUY a stock; when you SELL a CALL option, the person who BUYS the CALL option has a right to BUY a stock, which you have a duty to SELL, and so on for BUYERS and SELLERS, CALLS and PUTS. Pretty soon the beginner finds himself/herself lost in a thicket of BUYS and SELLS, CALLS and PUTS, and easily forgets what it is that's being bought and sold. and by whom. Then, to make matters even more complicated, since one has to understand risk profiles for each of the combinations. a lot of numbers get tossed into the options soup. Armed with this level of knowledge, a student is hardly equipped to begin reading and making sense of an option chain, let alone place real trades. And it only gets worse when one is introduced to the more compex option strategies. It's like a pianist trying to play Chopin and having to try to remember where middle C is on the piano. To be sure, seasoned option traders keep things straight, but no one is born a seasoned option trader. And what the beginner is looking for is a book for beginners. And beginners require good teachers. (I really don't care whether the book's dust jacket tells me that the author has been working in the Chicago Board of Options Exchange since he/she was 10, if he/she doesn't know how to teach. The fact is that a lot of "authors" are pedagogically challenged, and have no business writing books.)
  
  A few authors try to remove some of the ambiguity by using the terms "holder" and "writer" for the people who are buying and selling options, respectively. This is OK as far as it goes. Guy Cohen has devised a terminology which goes a very long way toward resolving the ambiguity of options terminology. He introduces it on p. 24 of "Options Made Easy." (Being an unusually slow study myself, I didn't understand what he was trying to do. So I sent him an e-mail, to which he graciously and quickly responded. It's all clear now.) He then links this basic symbolism to a risk-profile chart for the basic option buy-sell combinations. Later on, these basics are applied to the more complex options strategies. It's all quite ingenious. It's hard to overemphasize the value of such an approach, especially when you understand that using options is all about risk management. The book is replete with risk-profile charts of increasing complexity, and each is accompanied by an illustrative number-crunching example. (What Guy Cohen needs to do now is publish a workbook to accompany the text, in which he compels the student to work through a variety of problems.)
  
  "Options Made Easy" has a chapter on Fundamental Analysis and one on Technical Analysis. While each of these chapters offers a lucid introduction to its subject, the reader should be aware that each of these disciplines is complex in itself. And since, once you buy or sell an option, everything turns on the behavior of the underlying stock, there's no getting around the fact that you'll have to learn how to pick the underlying stock, and then track its fate for as long as you're in the option trade. It pays, therefore, to get comfortable with both fundamental and technical analysis (especially the latter).
  
  My only (constructive) criticism of the book is that the option-chain examples are a bit hard to read. Also, the technical charts could be improved to show up a little clearer. But these problems can be remedied when the author brings out an updated edition of the book (which I hope he will soon). Some readers have found typos, but as yet, I haven't.
  ...more info
• Good, but very basic
  Very basic book about options. Made really easy to understand the topic, very good for beginners. My rating is 3.5 stars. I did not like that the author indicated a lot of links like "I trade like this..." or "This site explains Fibonacci well..." and when you go there it costs literally an arm and a leg to get the materials. There's some very good stuff for free on the net about fibs and others. In general, is a very good book for beginners ...more info
• Options Made Easy
  "Options Made Easy: Your Guide to Profitable Trading (2nd Edition)" written by Guy Cohen, lives up to its name. His explanations are clear, illustrated, and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book for all novice, intermediate, and even experienced Option traders (and also his book "The Bible of Options Strategies: The Definitive Guide for Practical Trading Strategies "). Both are most useful books....more info
• The Definitive Options Book
  Having decided to trade options I read every book available on the subject and viewed a number of videos. When I finally caught up with Guy Cohen's's book I thought I do not need another book on this subject, wrong. I quickly realised that the title "options made Easy" was correct it was by far the easiest book to understand the different strategies available with the potential risks & rewards of each trade, His trading symbols are unique.

  When I sent a query to Guy's website I was astonished to get an answer in hours, very impressive.

  If you want a thorough grounding in options in an easy to understand format I thoroughly recommend this book...more info