The recent massive oil spill that now threatens major wildlife areas along the Gulf Coast is a reminder of how "black swan" events can impact our lives in unforeseen and unforeseeable ways.

This article, on the topic of Covered Calls, will address three things: Buy-Write, Legging In, and the use of the MACD histogram as a timing tool for the sale of Covered Calls.

Iron condors are a relatively straightforward in the pre-trade analysis and order entry process. It is a high cost strategy to trade so most options-centered brokers have made it easy for traders to execute easily. The difficulty of an iron condor is in the trade management and adjustment process. Effectively managing an iron condor trade when the market is moving is ambiguous and subject to your own personal risk tolerance.

An iron condor can be designed to accommodate your risk tolerance and account objectives but those adjustments will always have a trade off. As with most option selling strategies this means there is an exchange of a higher probability of a successful outcome and lower premiums or higher risk and larger premiums.

Confused about options terminology? Join the club.

There are more option strategies than option strategists but at their heart they are all modifications of basically two ideas – buying or selling options. The proliferation of options strategies come from the infinite ways that these two concepts can be combined. Some of these combinations can be great ideas but others are just commission generators with the difference usually resting on how you implement them as a trader. In this article we will start discussing one such combination strategy that is becoming more and more popular with option investors all the time – the iron condor. An iron condor is a combination of a long and short strangle, which is also the same as two credit spreads.

Economic indicators released in the week of April 19 – April 23, 2010.

Every time we sell a call option contract, we take upon ourselves the obligation to sell our long stock. So how can our OTM covered call allow us to have greater potential to hold onto our long stock for greater participation on a move upside than if we had sold an ATM call, while still being protected from not just some, but the majority of the downside risk? Trade a collar…

Economic Indicators being released for the week of April 12 – April 16

Looking at the primal forces of price, time, and implied volatility.

A rundown of the U.S. economic indicators being released the week of April 5 through April 9.

Fundamentals. Without them, options traders don't have a solid platform. Here's your chance for a quick review…