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The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today its back-to-school schedule for investors and financial advisors. Classroom-style seminars focusing on basic, intermediate and advanced options topics such as volatility will be offered at select locations across the US.
These free educational seminars are taught by experienced instructors from the various options exchanges and OIC professionals with the goal of educating investors on the responsible use of options in different market environments.
The fall schedule will offer seminars from September 15 through November 4 in the following cities: Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Boston/Cambridge, MA; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; NY Downtown, NY; Parsippany, NJ; Pasadena, CA; Philadelphia, PA; San Jose, CA; Schaumburg, IL; and St. Louis, MO. Each seminar runs from 6-9pm and registration is required.
Those interested in attending can obtain a detailed schedule (including dates and locations) and also register via OIC’s website http://www.optionseducation.org/seminars/default.jsp or by calling 1-888-OPTIONS (1-888-678-4667).
Course descriptions:
Basic: Getting Started with Options
This basic seminar focuses on options fundamentals for the novice options
investor. An options professional will cover essential concepts and terms of
options contracts as well as their risk/reward characteristics. Attendees will
learn about buying and selling calls and puts, how to work with an expected up
or down movement in a stock’s price with limited risk, and how to revive a
stock already owned that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Options questions
will get straightforward answers. A basic knowledge of stocks, and some
experience with stock investing, is recommended.
Intermediate: Managing Your Portfolio with Options
This intermediate-level seminar extends beyond the fundamentals of buying or
selling calls and puts. After a review of basic concepts, an options
professional will guide the classroom into the world of spread strategies
including vertical spreads and time spreads. This class will demonstrate how
truly flexible options are, and how these limited risk spreads might fit into
even the most conservative portfolios. Participants will learn about straddles
and strangles, and the nature of volatility. They will also learn about ways to
repair existing stock positions. An understanding of the basics, as well as
limited experience trading options is recommended.
Volatility: Measuring Volatility and Understanding Its Significance
OIC’s Volatility seminar begins where the Basic and Intermediate seminars left
off. In this seminar, an options professional will cut through the complexities
of volatility and clarify any misconceptions about this important topic.
Investors will learn how volatility is measured, what that measurement means,
and why it is s factor in an option’s price. Investors will gain an
understanding of implied volatility and its impact on various options
strategies. A solid understanding of option fundamentals, comprehension for
options pricing, and experience with both buying and selling option is
recommended.
