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Playing Markets

Spot Price

The current price in a marketplace that an asset (eg, a security, commodity, or currency) can be bought or sold for immediate delivery.  Though spot...

Spot Market

A market where financial instruments (eg, commodities, currencies, and securities) can be traded for immediate delivery (ie, exchange of cash). ...

Protective Collar

An options strategy which protects against large losses while also limiting gains.  This is done through two strategies known as protective puts and...

Married Put

An options trading strategy designed to protect an investor from drastic drops in the price of a stock.  The investor, while holding a long position...

Long Strangle

A similar strategy to a straddle but with utilizing options at different strike prices.  A strangle options strategy is achieved when an investor...

Long Straddle

An options trading strategy involving a trader purchasing a long call and a long put on the same underlying asset at the same strike price and with...

Iron Condor

A trading strategy attempting to profit from the low volatility of an underlying asset.  An iron condor options strategy consists of two puts (a...

Iron Butterfly

An options trade that uses 4 different contracts as part of a wider strategy to benefit from stocks or futures prices moving within a defined...

Debit Spread

Also called a net debit spread.  A strategy involving a investor simultaneously buying an option with a higher premium and selling an option with a...

Credit Spread

An options strategy involving the purchase of one option and the sale of a second option in the same class and expiration but with different strike...

Bull Call Spread

An options trading strategy designed to take advantage of a stock's limited increase in price.  It achieves this by placing two call options to...