Short dated index options have been all the rage for the past couple of years. The Nasdaq-100 (NDX) option market has been a big beneficiary of widespread use of short-dated options. For example, ...

The straddle is an options trading strategy, so named for the shape it makes on a pricing chart; your position literally “straddles” the price of the underlying asset. With the straddle, you trade on ...

A few months ago, we explored trying to smooth out performance of consistently shorting straddles with a buying dated long straddle using NDX options. We found that a consistent strategy selling NDX 3 ...

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

A straddle can be considered a volatility spread, as the trader who puts on the straddle is speculating on the volatility, or degree of movement of the underlying, not necessarily the direction of ...