What do I need to start trading options?
What do you think is the minimum amount of money I need?
Answers
1782 points
ChaosNantuko answered 5 months ago …
In terms of money... I would say if your just doing standard buying calls and puts, 10000. If you want to do covered calls or straddles, around 25000. If your going to be doing vertical spreads/calender, as low as 3000-5000.
I would strongly suggest you spend at least 4 months papertrading first, and i would suggest you DON'T start for real unless that papertrading is successful in the last 2 months, and you have good reason to believe your methodology will continue to be successful for the foreseeable future.
124 points
Einstein answered one week ago …
I would suggest getting some good option books and study like crazy. A good book I recommend is
Options Made easy by Guy Cohen you can find it on Amazon
Options have great profitability but you must have a good understanding of the general market, good technical skills
and make sure your choosing the right under lying stock to trade options on..... Unlike stocks where you can hold to stock
for as long as you want, options are different and if your option strike price has not hit your strike, time decay and expiration can wipe out your whole premium and you get nothing in return. I would only suggest options if your well tuned to the market, have good capitol and understand all your risk.
Far as what you need to get started you need an approval from your broker, and at least 1500.00 ( you can use a few hundred) but to in order to be leveraged 1500.00 is a good start.
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